Both as a matter of anthropology and of practical politics the
suitability of particular races to particular climates is of great
interest; sometimes this depends on one race being free from a disease
from which another suffers, as in the well-known immunity of negroes from
yellow fever. Or it may be evident that tribes have become acclimatised,
so as to resist influences which are deadly to strangers; for instance,
the Khonds flourish in the hills of Orissa, where not only Europeans but
the Hindus of the plains sicken of the malaria in the unhealthy season.
That such peculiarities of constitution are inherited and pass into the
nature of the race, is one of the keys to the obscure problem of the
origins of the various races of man as connected with their spread over
the globe. As yet this problem has not passed much beyond the stage of
collecting information, and no pains should be spared to get at facts
thus bearing on the history and development of the human species.
European medical men in districts inhabited by uncivilised races have
often made important observations of this kind, which they are glad to
communicate, though being occupied with professional work they do not
follow them up. In all races there occur abnormal varieties, which should
be observed with reference to their being hereditary, such as Albinos,
whose dead-whiteness is due to absence of pigment from the skin. Even
such tendencies as that to the occurrence of red hair where the ordinary
hue is black, or to melanism or diseased darkening of the skin, are worth
remark. It is essential to discover how far these descend from parents
to children, which is not the case with such alterations as that of the
Chinese feet, which, in spite of generations of cramping, continue of the
natural shape in the children.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account