The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races: With Particular Reference to Their Respective Influence in the Civil and Political History of MankindGobineau, Arthur, comte de
Philosophy
The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races: With Particular Reference to Their Respective Influence in the Civil and Political History of Mankind
To those of our readers who may not have the inclination or opportunity
of consulting Mr. Browne's work, the following concise and excellent
synopsis of his views, which I borrow from Dr. Kneeland's _Introduction
to Hamilton Smith's Natural History of Man_, may not be unacceptable:
"There are, on microscopical examination, three prevailing forms of the
transverse section of the filament, viz: the cylindrical, the oval, and
the eccentrically elliptical. There are also three directions in which
it pierces the epidermis. The straight and lank, the flowing or curled,
and the crisped or frizzled, differ respectively as to the angle which
the filament makes with the skin on leaving it. The cylindrical and oval
pile has an oblique angle of inclination. The eccentrically elliptical
pierces the epidermis at right angles, and lies perpendicularly in the
dermis. The hair of the white man is oval; that of the Choctaw, and some
other American Indians, is cylindrical; that of the negro is
eccentrically elliptical or flat. The hair of the white man has, beside
its cortex and intermediate fibres, a central canal, which contains the
coloring matter when present. The pile of the negro has no central
canal, and the coloring matter is diffused, when present, either
throughout the cortex or the intermediate fibres. Hair, according to
these observations, is more complex in its structure than wool. In hair,
the enveloping scales are comparatively few, with smooth surfaces,
rounded at their points, and closely embracing the shaft. In wool, they
are numerous, rough, sharp-pointed, and project from the shaft. _Hence,
the hair of the white man will not felt, that of the negro will._ In
this respect, therefore, it comes near to true wool"--pp. 88, 89.--H.
[138] A full answer to this objection will be found in our Appendix,
under _B_.--N.
CHAPTER XI.
PERMANENCY OF TYPES.
The language of Holy Writ in favor of common origin--The permanency
of their characteristics separates the races of men as effectually
as if they were distinct creations--Arabs, Jews--Prichard's
argument about the influence of climate examined--Ethnological
history of the Turks and Hungarians.
The believers in unity of race affirm that types are different in
appearance only; that, in fact, the differences existing among them are
owing to local circumstances still in operation, or to an accidental
peculiarity of conformation in the progenitor of a branch, and that,
though they all, more or less, diverge from the original prototype, they
all are capable of again returning to it. According to this, then, the
negro, the North American savage, the Tungoose of North Siberia, might,
under favorable circumstances, gain all the physical and mental
attributes which now distinguish the European. Such a theory is
inadmissible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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