c a u s e s tivc Inhabitants o f that part o f the world, it appears, that exclufive
e t ie s 1 way living and food, the climate alone cannot occafion
this material and ilriking variety ; nay, that even thefe caufes, when
■ united, are not fufficient to produce this effedl, as fome o f the very
•remote Dutch farmers live almoft in the fame manner as their
■ neighbours the Hottentots; they have wretched huts, inftead of
■ houfes ; lead a rambling nomadic life, attend their herds and flocks
all day long, .and live upon milk, the produce o f the chace, and the
flefli o f their cattles it is therefore evident, that i f climate can
•work any material alteration, i t mull require an immenfe period o f
time to produce i t ; and as our Jives are Jo fhort, our hillarical accounts
fo imperfedt, in tegard to the migrations o f the human
Jpecies, and our philofophical obfervations on the fubjedl, all o f a
very modern date, i t cannot be expedited we can fpeak with preci-
Jion on the fubjedl.
Jt mull however be obferved, that when the fair "Northern nations
are removed into the hot tropical climates, they themfelves
and their progeny foon change, and gradually become fomewhat
more analogous in colour, and other circumllances, to the 'former
inhabitants, whole migration is o f fo old a date, that no memorial
o f it is prefented; Hill, however, they may be eafily diftin-
guilhed from thefe aboriginal tribes: it is likewife true, that nations
removed from the vicinity of the line towards the poles, keep
,6 their
their native colour longer without alteration than any other people causes
' . . . L . : OF V A R I -
coming from colder climates-, and going to live in hotter regions; ETJES.
but fuch incidents mull always be compared under fimilar circum-
llances : for i f two Europeans, equally -fair, are removed to the
fame hot climate, and the one is well dreffed, and avoids,- as much
as poffible, being expofed to the adtion o f the air, and power of the
fun 5 whilll the other finds himfelf obliged to work ill the open
air, and-has hardly any rags to cover his Ikin; they will, o f natural
confequence, become widely different in colourmoreover, i f
this diverlity in the mode o f living be kept up for feveral generations,
the charadter o f both mull of courfe become more ftrikingly
different. I f we look upon the inhabitants o f Denmark, we find
them remarkably fair, and with blue eyes, and red hair. The Bohemians,'
Poles, Ruffians, and in general all the, Slavonian nations,
have a hrownilh complexion, dark eyes, and black or brown hair,
though fome o f the latter undoubtedly live in higher latitudes' than
the. former. The reafon here certainly is not the climate, but the
caufe is to be found in their migrations; the Gothic nations are no
•doubt the moll early inhabitants o f the North, and therefore have
had more time to become gradually fairer, than the greater part of
their neighbouring European tribes ; and the y . likewife have had
lefs opportunities of marrying or becoming connedted with fuch
Southern nations, as had a brown complexion and black hair,
N n - The