The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, Volume 2Browne, Thomas, Sir
Religion
The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, Volume 2
Browne, Thomas, Sir
Christianity; Ethics; Religion and medicine
Thirdly, It is not indisputable whether it might not proceed from such a
cause and the like foundation of Tincture, as doth the black Jaundise,
which meeting with congenerous causes might settle durable inclinations,
and advance their generations unto that hue, which were naturally before
but a degree or two below it. And this transmission we shall the easier
admit in colour, if we remember the like hath been effected in organical
parts and figures; the Symmetry whereof being casually or purposely
perverted; their morbosities have vigorously descended to their
posterities, and that in durable deformities. This was the beginning of
_Macrocephali_, or people with long heads, whereof _Hippocrates_ [SN: De
Aere, Aquis, et Locis.] hath clearly delivered himself: _Cum primum
editus est Infans, caput ejus tenellum manibus effingunt, et in
longitudine adolescere cogunt; hoc institutum primum hujusmodi, naturæ
dedit vitium, successu vero temporis in naturam abiit, ut proinde
instituto nihil amplius opus esset; semen enim genitale ex omnibus
corporis partibus provenit, ex sanis quidem sanum, ex morbosis
morbosum. Si igitur ex calvis calvi, ex cæciis cæcii, et ex distortis,
ut plurimum, distorti gignuntur, eademque in cæteris formis valet ratio,
quid prohibet cur non ex macrocephalis macrocephali gignantur?_ Thus as
_Aristotle_ observeth, the Deers of _Arginusa_ had their ears divided;
occasioned at first by slitting the ears of Deers. Thus have the
_Chineses_ little feet, most _Negroes_ great Lips and flat Noses; And
thus many _Spaniards_, and _Mediterranean_ Inhabitants, which are of the
Race of _Barbary Moors_ (although after frequent commixture) have not
worn out the _Camoys_ Nose [SN: Flat Nose.] unto this day.
Artificial _Negroes_, or _Gypsies_ acquire their complexion by anointing
their bodies with Bacon and fat substances, and so exposing them to the
Sun. In _Guiny Moors_ and others, it hath been observed, that they
frequently moisten their skins with fat and oyly materials, to temper
the irksom driness thereof from the parching rayes of the Sun. Whether
this practise at first had not some efficacy toward this complexion, may
also be considered.
[Sidenote: _How sundry kinds of Animals come to be found in Islands._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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