cases it becomes little different from a black pigment. Man, however, exhibits every shade, from the snowy whiteness of the most delicate of European females to the shining jet of the Negro. Though none of these varieties obtain so universally as to be found in every individual of a nation, or are so restricted as not to be found at all among another people under widely different circumstances from those where they constitute the prominent characteristic, yet, so far as relates to native colour, mankind may be arranged under the following classes, viz. White, to which the redness or rose-coloured bloom of the cheeks, is almost wholly restricted.-- Yellow, or Olive, which is a middle tint between those of wheat and dried lemon-peel.-Red, or Copper-colour, which is an obscure orange or cinnamon shade.-Tawny, or Brown, a shade between those of fresh mahogany and dried chesnuts.Black, varying from the sootty shade to that of jet. In classing these varieties, only the most marked and distinguishing tints have been enumerated; for even the most opposite extremes run into each other by delicate and imperceptible gradations. Some other properties of the skin have also been stated as general characteristics. Its soft and silky feel distinguishes the Carib, the Negro, the Otaheitean, and the Turk, while in some races it secretes a matter of a peculiar odour, as in the Carib and the Negro.

The colour of the hair has also been adopted as a distinguishing criterion of the tribes of mankind. This being nourished from the common integuments, is necessarily connected with them by a sympathetic union, and varies with almost every change of complexion; yet it is subject to a few general divisions; as-Brownish, verging towards red or black, which is copious, soft, and long, and sometimes slightly undulated.-Black, straight, and thin.Black, soft, profuse, and curled.—Black and crisp, usually denominated woolly. Though this classification is sufficient for a general view of the subject,

the shades are not only mixed in the same nation, but the gradations often glide insensibly into each other.

It has long been an equally common and just observation, that no two individuals can be found with exactly the same expression of features and identity of countenance; yet it is equally true that the inhabitants of wide regions are generally distinguished from each other by a peculiar physiognomy. These, like the preceding distinctions, have been reduced to separate classes.-1. The oval face, with the different parts well defined. The forehead rather flattened, the nose narrow, and slightly aquiline. The cheek bones have little prominence, the mouth is small, and the lips, especially the under one, slightly turned out; and the chin full and round.-2. The broad and flattened face, with little distinction of parts. The space between the eyes is broad, but the opening of the eyelids narrow and linear. The nose flat, the cheeks rounded, and projecting externally; and the chin slightly protuberant.-3. Face broad, and cheek-bones prominent; forehead short, and eyes deeply seated, with the nose rather flat, but well raised.-4. Face narrow, and projecting towards the lower part; forehead arched, eyes prominent, nose thick, and not well defined; the lips thick, the jaws protuberant, and the chin retracted. 5. The face rather broader than in the last case, slightly projecting downwards, with all the parts more distinct, with the nose full and large, particularly towards the end, the mouth also large.

It is obvious that this classification of the countenance, as well as that of the other distinguishing characteristics of the various divisions of mankind, must admit of numerous exceptions; and we are fully aware that many such have been pointed out by observant travellers and learned physiologists; but these views are intended only to embrace the general outlines. We have already given (see Introduction

to T.T. for 1824, p. civ) a brief statement of the five classes into which M. Blumenbach has divided the human race. This includes most of the above particulars, and is so closely connected with the present subject, that we shall not hesitate to repeat it with some slight additions.

1. The Caucasian race. The distinguishing characters of these are, a white skin, red cheeks, brown hair, sometimes verging towards yellow or black, but always soft, long, and undulating; the head is symmetrical and rather globular; the forehead moderately ex+ panded, the cheek bones narrow, with an oval face, thin nose, slightly aquiline, the lips turned gently out, the chin round, and the facial angle large. This class includes all the Europeans, except the Finns, Samoieds, and Laplanders; with the people of Northern Africa, and those of Western Asia, as far as the Ob on the north, the Caspian in the centre, and the Ganges in the south; and accords best with our idea of beauty. The appellation of this variety is derived from Mount Caucasus: because this is indisputably the seat of the most beautiful race in the world.

The palm of beauty is uniformly ascribed by travellers to the Georgians, respecting whom Chardin observes, 'I have not seen a single ugly countenance in the country, but have seen numerous angelic ones. Nature has bestowed on the women graces and charms which we see in no other place. It is impossible to look on them without loving them. More beautiful countenances and finer figures than those of the Georgian women, cannot even be imagined.' Numerous arguments might be urged for placing the first families of men nearly on this region, and various reasons assigned for considering the Georgians as the nearest approximation to the primitive appearance of the human race: for it requires no stretch of the imagination to conceive a representative of the mother of mankind in one of these elegant females. One strong reason for considering white as the pri

mitive colour of man is, that it easily degenerates into darker shades, which grow lighter only by very slow degrees.

2. The Mongolians, who have olive skin, black hair, straight and strong, the head almost square, the cheek-bones prominent, and the face broad and flat. The features are less distinct than in the preceding class; the eye-brows slightly arched, with the space between them flat and broad, and the aperture of the eyes small and linear. The nose is also rather diminutive and flat; the cheeks project externally, and the chin is slightly protuberant. Under this class are ranked all the remaining Asiatics, except the Malays, besides the Finns, the Laplanders, the Greenlanders, and the Esquimaux, who spread over the northern parts of America, as far as Behring's Straits. The Mongolians are widely diffused over the continent of Asia, and are often erroneously included under the appellation of Tartars; the various tribes of which properly belong to the first division. This circumstance appears to have arisen from the Calmucs, and other Mongolian tribes, who overran the empire of the Saracens under Zenghis Khan, being called Tartars in the Historia Major,' instead of the tribes they had conquered. The Tartars, however, are connected with the Mongols by the Kirgises and other neighbouring tribes, in the same manner as the former are joined to the Indians by the inhabitants of Thibet, with the Americans by the Esquimaux, and the Malays by the people of the Philippine Islands.

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3. The Ethiopian variety have the skin black, the hair black and woolly, the head laterally compressed, the forehead arched, the cheek-bones projecting forward, prominent eyes, flat nose, and not well defined; the lower jaw extended, the front teeth in the upper projecting obliquely forward, and the lips thick. This class contains all the Africans, besides those included in the first variety. These are the

people whose appearance is most contrasted with our own, and against whom the cupidity of commerce and the crimes of Europe have long combind to foster the most unfounded and degraded prejudices. Nature, however, is far less partial in the bestowment of her bounties to all her children, than the lords of one part of the world are inclined to allow to the slaves of another.

4. The American race. In these the skin is red or copper coloured, the hair black, stiff and straight, the forehead short, the face and cheek-bones broad, the eyes sunk, and the nose flat, but prominent; and all the features of the countenance tolerably distinct. This division embraces all the aboriginal tribes in the New World, except the Esquimaux, which have been already assigned to the second variety. The total want of beard has also been considered as one of the characteristics of this race; but this was nothing more than an erroneous conclusion derived from partial premises. Some of these tribes carefully extract the beard from its very first appearance; and from an observation of these it was hastily concluded that the smoothness of the chin was a natural characteristic of the people, rather than an effect of caprice.

5. The Malays. In these, the skin is brown or tawny, the hair abundant, soft, black, and curled ; the head rather narrow, and the forehead slightly arched, the parietal bones prominent, but not the cheek-bones: the nose full, broad and thick towards the extremity; the mouth large, and the upper jaw projecting, but the profile much more distinct than that of the Ethiopean variety. These are diffused over a vast portion of the globe, embracing the peninsula of Malacca, the oriental Archipelago, with the Ladrone, the Molucca, the Philippine and the Polynesian Islands. The name bestowed upon this class has arisen from the general use of the Malayan language, not only in the peninsula itself and the ad