d the climate of
the country do not correspond, but the original characteristics will be
found undergoing the process of gradual change, ultimately adapting
themselves to their new country and situation.[215] The marked and
peculiar countenances of the once "chosen people" vary, in color at
least, wherever they are seen over the world, although uninfluenced by
any admixture of alien blood. In England the children of Israel and the
descendant of the Saxon are alike of a fair complexion, and on the banks
of the Nile the Jew and the Egyptian show the same swarthy hue.[216]

At first sight this American race would appear to offer evidence against
the supposed influence of climate upon color, as one general form and
complexion prevail in all latitudes of the New World, from the tropics
to the frozen regions of the north. Great varieties, however, exist in
the shade of the red or copper[217] color of the Indians. There are two
extremes of complexion among mankind--those of the northern European and
the African negro; between these there is a series of shades, that of
the American Indian being about midway. The structure of the New World,
and the circumstances of its inhabitants, may account for the generally
equal color of their skin. The western Indian never becomes black, even
when dwelling directly under the equator. He lives among stupendous
mountain ranges, where cool breezes from the snowy heights sweep
through the valleys and over the plains below. The vast rivers springing
from under those lofty peaks inundate a great extent of country, and
turn it into swamps, whence perpetual exhalations arise and lower the
temperature. There are no fiery deserts to heat the passing wind and
reflect the rays of the sun; a continual forest, with luxuriant foliage,
and a dense underwood, spreads a pleasant shade over the surface of the
earth. America, under the same latitudes, especially on the eastern
coast, is every where colder than the Old World. The nearest approach to
a black complexion is seen in the people of Brazil, a country
comparatively low, and immediately under the equator. The inhabitants of
the lofty Mexican table-land are also very dark, and on those arid
plains the sun pours down its scorching rays upon a surface almost
devoid of sheltering vegetation.

The habits of savage life, and the constant exposure to the elements,
seem sufficient to cause a dark tint upon the human skin even in the
temperate regions of Ameri