§ 3: That Varieties Can Arise From the Action of Climate, Diet, and Civilization

That climate acts upon the human body and has the power to produce varieties both in color and in the structure of the body, this is demonstrated, first, from the migration of peoples. Who today can distinguish the races that swept over Europe in the Middle Ages? Who can now find the distinctive character of the conquerors of the Eastern Roman Empire? Who can distinguish the Bulgarians who invaded Moesia from the peoples of the surrounding lands? Who can discern the Roman colonists along the Ister from the other colonists? And who does not acknowledge that the Gypsies, or Bohemians, expelled from India by Tamerlane and scattered throughout all Europe, did not assimilate toward the inhabitants of the climates in which they settled? What is the difference that distinguishes the Indo-Germanic or Indo-European races—the Indian, Persian, Roman, Germanic, Slavic, and Celtic—which present unambiguous signs of kinship; various races from all parts of the world invaded Egypt and settled in it. All today bear the same type of the ancient Egyptian, which the same monuments of antiquity preserved.

The Semitic races—namely the Iraqi, Syrian, Median, Arabian, and Abyssinian—although they have their origin, as we will be able to show from linguistics, to such an extent have climate, diet, and civilization changed them that complete dissimilarity distinguishes them from each other; that climate, diet, and civilization act greatly upon the formation of the character and characteristics of a race is testified both by the described characteristics of mountain and plain dwellers of the same and single race, as well as by the distinctive characters of townspeople and country people.

The history of ancient times describes the character, temperament, color, and characteristics of different nations as well as the differences distinguishing the inhabitants of different climates; but who today can recognize these migrating peoples? Who can find their kinship to their kinfolk?

Those who have written against the unity of the human race could not raise the number of independent races above fifteen, and yet we can raise the varieties to the hundreds. From what do we distinguish the various races inhabiting Europe, those belonging to the Caucasian race? How many varieties from the northern to the southern extremity of it! And from the Urals to England and Iceland! And who can assert that the same peoples always inhabited the same countries? And yet the same character always distinguishes the inhabitants of the same country. The peoples of Asia are distinguished from the peoples of Europe, and are also distinguished from each other in both color and other characteristics; these never remained stationary, but turned hither and thither and conquered new territories, and yet the different climates maintained their characteristic and assimilated the conquerors to the character of the place. Many peoples from Asia invaded Europe and Africa, but not even a trace of their character was preserved; very many examples from ancient and modern times confirm this truth. Climate itself is often very peculiar; in some places the changes and variations are diverse and rapid, in others they are simple and the action is weak. Bishop Heber describing his first entry into Calcutta expresses himself thus: “The great variety of colors among the native inhabitants greatly astonished me; in the crowd surrounding us, some were found having color black as Ethiopians; others were copper-colored; others somewhat blacker than the Nubians, whom I saw in Liverpool. M. Blill, the gymnasium director of the Bihar gymnasium, who came to meet me, having seen as many Indians as no European has seen, told me that he could not explain this difference, which is general throughout the country and equally astonishing everywhere. This is not purely simply the action of the sun, for this variety of colors is observed also in the fishermen, who are all equally naked; this does not depend at all on the order of the race, for there exist Brahmans of the highest order who are black, whereas the pariahs are comparatively white.”

Concerning this variety, Prichard and others, starting from the distinction of orders, conclude that India was populated by two distinct nations, one of which conquered the other, bringing it into a lowlier position and dependence; but the hypothesis does not seem true, for if it were true there would be a distinction of colors between the upper and lower orders.

The action of climate appears more vivid in Abyssinia. The inhabitants of it are entirely black, and yet it is certain that by origin they belong to the Semitic family and consequently to the white race. Their language is nothing other than a dialect of the Semitic languages, and the very national name shows that they crossed the Red Sea. From this the Holy Scripture places the borders of the tribe of Cush in Abyssinia and on the opposite shore; and they have not the slightest resemblance to the neighboring Ethiopians, neither in characteristics, nor in skull structure, except for the coloring, but their face is entirely European.

Another more striking example is presented to us by the traveler Burckhardt; the city of Suakin, built on the African shore of the Red Sea, contains a mixed population, initially formed of Bedouins and Arabs, having afterwards included descendants of the ancient Turks. Thus the inhabitants of it derive their descent partly from the Arabs, partly from the Turks. Concerning the inhabitants of this city, behold what M. Burckhardt says: “the first Hadendoa or Bedouins of Suakin have exactly the same characteristics, the same language and clothing of the Bedouins of Nubia. Generally their characteristics are beautiful and expressive; their beard is thin and sparse; their color is a deep brownish-black tending toward black. But in their physiognomy nothing exists that characterizes the Ethiopian. The others who derive their descent from the settlements, coming from Mosoul, Matalinasaf, etc. And from the retinues sent there by Sultan Selim after the conquest of Egypt underwent the same alterations; the present generation, says Burckhardt, in both characteristics and customs, is distinguished in no way from the Bedouins of Nubia.” Thus we have two nations distinguished—the Arabs and the Turks—who in the passage of a few centuries became black in Africa, although white by origin.

The ship’s captain Tuckey, speaking of the natives of Congo, says: “it is evident that they are a mixed nation, not having any ethnic physiognomy, and most have the characteristics of the inhabitants of southern Europe. One can suppose that this arises from kinship to the Portuguese, and yet there are very few descended from mixed marriages.” This last observation refutes the hypotheses of Rauch and others, that the varieties in Calcutta arise from the fusion of two heterogeneous races; for here, even if it is supposed that the similarity of the characters of the natives of Congo to those of southern Europeans arose from miscegenation, the conclusion will be wholly contrary to their hypotheses; for a small number assimilated to itself the entire character of the inhabitants of the country, although this is impossible, and it only shows that this people did not originally belong to the black race.

In the general observations upon the travels of Captain Tuckey it is concluded that “the characteristics of the natives of Congo, although some approximating toward those of the black races, are neither so emphatic nor so black as those of Africans in general; these have not only a more pleasing appearance, but likewise some representation of great simplicity and innocence.”

There are very many nations not only on the coasts of the shores, but also in central Africa of black and glossy color without any characteristic of the Ethiopian; among them are the Felatahs, whom Park describes as “not being black, but of a dark sun-tanned color, rather glossy and rather yellowish; and they have beautiful characteristics and sweet and smooth hair, the lips without the thickness, and the hair not at all kinky as other races have it.” Zobeir depicts them “with a yellowish color with black hair not very long and almost kinky like that of the Ethiopians.” Lieutenant. Moore speaking of the Yolofia says: “these are much blacker and more beautiful than the Mandingoes or the Fulos, not having at all the flat nose and fleshy lips that distinguish the Ethiopian peoples, and that none of the inhabitants of these countries can be compared to the Yolofia for the blackness of the complexion and the beauty of the characteristics.”

From the above examples it appears that color alone cannot be regarded as the characteristic sign of the Ethiopian race; for many can be black without being of Ethiopian descent, and that we can distinguish the Ethiopians into two kinds or two families different from each other, distinguished from each other by the shape of the head, the characteristics of the face, and the whole bearing. D’Avezac distinguished the existence of these two races in Africa—one indiscriminately black with all the characteristics of the race, and one black with entirely beautiful European characteristics; but he calls them indiscriminately Ethiopian.

The distinction into two races of the Ethiopians because of the difference of characteristics and the action of climate toward assimilation of inhabitants leads us to suppose two things, either that they are distinct kinds and that one from prehistoric times belonged to the Caucasian race, or that civilization and moral formation preserved in one race the nobility of character while in the other barbarism and moral degeneration deformed the original character; (for the form of the soul shapes that of the body, and truly said is the statement “such as the soul, so too the form”); for the disposition of the soul, with the cooperation of time, makes permanent the expression upon the face; which, like a mirror, displays the disposition of the soul; (for the intellect and the bones themselves are shaped with such a disposition as the necessity of use imposes).

Both hypotheses are of particular importance, since if either were accepted, it would lead to the solution of the problem; if we accept the first, the problem can be regarded as solved; if we accept the second, which explains the manner of deformation of the character of the different races, corrupted in character through the gradual fall of pride, government, custom, worship, and finally of reason. The third hypothesis—or as the opponents of this view could suppose, that they could be two independent kinds—cannot be supported, as having no foundation, for they have no sufficient argument to support it; and if it were permitted to express hypotheses without strong support, then we could suppose that each variation belongs to and one independent kind; which is most false; for investigations demonstrate the opposite; each region, each corner of the earth should have and one autochthonous, which no theory has yet accepted or supported.

Our hypotheses are supported by documented facts; for it has been observed that the races most corrupted morally are also degenerate in character; and those preserving the form of human nobility have civilization and religion, as much as can be, more perfect, and more temperate customs, etc. “I believe,” says Cardinal Wiseman, “that in general we shall find that the races not having the characteristics of the Ethiopian, but only the color, are elevated in civilization to a degree superior to those surrounding them, and they practice worship showing a revelation, as the Abyssinians a corrupted Christianity, the natives of Congo having adopted some similar ideas, and all others the Mohammedan worship. Whereas those having the characteristics of the Ethiopian throughout their development, as the Dahomeyans, the Kaffirs, or the Hottentots, are in the highest degree of natural and moral degradation, and they practice a miserable system of worship of fetishism or idolatry”. From these observations the positive conclusion is drawn, that climate indeed acts upon color, while government and the rest of spiritual development acts upon characteristics, and that the action of climate can change the color of the race, whereas civilization and spiritual development in general can shape the characters toward the more perfect or the less perfect.