Indigenous Races of the Earth

XGN23N881857 211

302 ACCLIMATION; OR, THE INl•'LUENCE OF It is p rfoctly tru , as respects the mixed pro()'cny of the blacks and whit s; for it is admitted cvet')'whorc, at t~ outh, that tho susceptibility of this class is in direct ratio to tho infusion of white blood; but tho Amcri ·~m Indians of tho table-lands, as tho Mcxi­cam;, a.nd tho mix d bl~ods of paniards and M xicans, arc infinitely more ltablc to yellow Jovcr, thnn mulattoes of any grade. This law of col L' would. s m to apply to African and Asiatic races but not to tho aboriginalrn,c s of America. ' . Tho following oxtm ·t, from a document of the highest authority, Will, I am sure, be road with peculiar interest, in this counocLion.u "Of ttl\ p~otoctiou s, tlmt of complexion was pttramotmt. When tbo ships' crews woro dlsnbl~u by ~1okncss (ttnd thttt was in the majority of instn.nc s), their plttoos wcro supplied by negro Blt•lors nnd labot·crs. On bor~rd many vessels, blaok htbor alone wns to be seen employed; yet, nmon.g those laborc\'S and stovccloros, a ca&c of .'fellow je11er wa8 never 8een. If to. tho table of th1doon months' admissions to the hoHpital, n.lrcady givon, be nddcd a Olti~Hifiorl census of the population of tho colo.ny, informottiou is given whiolt enables us to n.r~:v~ nt ao•~othing li.kc precise knowle(J~;e on this subj~ot. (f:loo table, i11jra, pngo 804.) horn Li~1s table, 1t w~uld appear that the liabilit.y of the wltito l'lloes to yellow fovcr, ns cot~ pared Wltll the da1·k, JS as I :1.10 per cont. to ·00004. Dut this would be mtbor an ovcr­? stnMlo of tho risks of the wlJitos; for, ttltltouglt the calcnlntion is correct for one dn.y, it 18 not for ~Ito whole thirteen mouths. During the yon.r J 852, 7670 seamen, tho crews of vessels, nrr1vod at ~he port of' Ooor~otown. If wo add ono-twclfth to this sum, it will make a total of ~30?, ost1matcd ~~~. n.s wluto, who, for n longer or shorter period, wore exposed to tho ondcm1c tnflucncc. Th18 number should be nlclcd to that of tho white population ox~o8cd, nnd the pereontrtgo of liability will be 1\B follows: white& 8·436. dtlrlta ·OOOO<l Tlns cornputrttion is it·J·ospcctivo of tho effects of re8idence on tho 'constit~tion. 'Dut th~ numbers nffordccl ~y tho census returns arc sumoiontly grottt and dct.n.iled to authorize a purer. ttn~ more ult1~nt? .analysis of tho o!l'octs of complexion, 0 ,., iu othor words, culaneou' orgamzat~on, on ~l~o ltn.b1hty to. ycl:ow fever nmong the popult\tion of tho colony. We find that, of 18!JO A(riCI\u (blrtck) mnn1g1·ants, none oontmotod yellow fever. "Of 0278 Wost India isln.ndoi'S(bltlck nnu mulatto), 15, or ·lG per cont. oontmctod yellow fever. i of 10,078 Madra8 and Oalculta coolie8 (black, but fine-haired), 42, or ·38 per cent. contracted yellow fever; 10,201 Por·tugueso immigrants (whito) 608 or G·2 p . t contraoled yellow fever. ' ' OI con · . "Fro~ tho f?regoin.g, .the importnnoc of t.ho skin, or thn.t constitution of the body which ts assoc1ntod Wtlh vartellcs of the dermal covering, in tho otiolog f 11 r . · once appn.rcnt." Y o yo ow cvo1, 18 nt Tho proportiou of wltite to the darlc races, according to our author w~s 14,726 to 1~7,270; 'Yhilc tho admissions to tho public hospital A: f01 Y llow fovo1, wore 1047 of tho former to 59 of tho latter. IIo pnts.do~n tho Portuguese as wltitea-whorcas, tl1oy arc by no mca11s a ~tn-~kmncd race,. compar~d with tho Anglo-Sa.xons and othc1• ~hi to r.aces; an~ thou· mortahty corresponded with their complexion: It was mtcrmed1ate between the two e.-trcmcs. 0 L r :M A T E A N D D I S F. A S 1~ S 0 N M A N • 303 DL'. J. M nclizabcl Wl'it s me: "Th coolies arc, in this phtc (Vera Uruz), as well as in the West Indios, exempt from yellow fcv t·." From all the information we arc able to procure, it seems clear that the Chinese, in Ottba, arc much lc. s liable to fever than Euro­peans; but th rc arc no statiHti s on this point wllich will cnabl u~ to deal in 'figures. rrho sarno dirticulty exists with L'Cgard to statistics fol' the Moxi 'an races ; but i:t is certainly tho im1 r ossion of tho best-informed physi­cians in tlutt country, with whom w bave col'rcspond d, that tho puro-blooclod Moxi ans suffi r mor ft· rn yellow fever than ith L' tho put·c-bl od paniards, or tho mixed. blo d.i:!. IL is as ol'to<l, ::tlflo, that the cross-ut·o ds of ncgl'ocs and Mexicans arc liable to Lhis uiHcaso just in pt'opot'Lion to th blood of tl1c ln.ttor race-as is the case with · the cross-broods of wldtos and negroes. Yellow fev r, with p 1·haps £ow ex· ptions, has a pr for nco fol' • tho rae s of men in propo1-tion to tl1c lightness of complexion- , showing its gr n.tcst aflinity fol' the pure 'Whit , and least fol' tho jet bhwk.20 It is remarkable that the plague pr fcrs tho rev I'BO course -n.s the following extra t, ii·01n Lho best of all authorities on tho subject, will pt·ovc. "Tho pln.gno, iu ~gypt, attacks tho different races of men; but all a1·o not e<ptnlly susceptible. 'J'hus, i11 all !11e epidemics, the ncgt·o 1·nco s ulf~l'8 most; nft~r th eMe, tho Derbers or Nu1Ji1tns; then the Amhs of ll crljil.z and Yom on; then tho J\nroponnH; 1tnd, among thoRo, eHpocitllly tho !Vhltoso, Greeks, and 'l'urks, nucl generally tho iuh1~bitt1nta of South Europe"! ~T A r f renee to Dr. Do la Roches' ample statistics of mortality from y llow f vel', will show, beyond diflputo, that., of' tho mnn'bcr attacked, tho highest ratio of mortality is almost invn.riauly among the pnro whiLe races-as the Gol'mans, Anglo-Snxoru;, & . '!'his haB boon ac ·onntocl f'or by tho fa ·t, tltat th y omc fl'om colcllatitu<l H; and. it hafl gl'own into an axiom, that th furthct· north the ra ·c, tl~e more liable it is to yellow tcvOI'. Now, it is easily shown that thts position is not t nablo: tho contmry is proven, by ob. rvations on tho Moxi ·an rae s. 'l'h I'O is scrtl'<'oly any pn.L't of the count1·y of Mexico, which is, to any xtont, populat d, that can be call cl cold; and yet th Mcxicanr; from tho tahl •-lands are, p 1·haps, little lcHs liable to yellow f vor than Germans; and their own WL'itors assort that they n.re quite as much so. --------------·---------------------- 26 As frtr ns we can obtnin fhcts, tho dtwk Ru1·opcn.n, Asiutic, ttnd Afl'ionn mccs, all shon• loss suAccptibility to yellow fever thnn tho stt·ictly whilo; n.nd tho rod man of Amoriea, if on exception, we believe iA tho only one. It is 1\R VILiu to attempt to explnin his suscepti­bility, ILS it iR tho exemption of ncgroOR n.nrl m1tl1tttMR: it is n phy.,iologicallnw of race. 2T A. ll. CJ,Ol'-ll~Y, JJe la l'oale, 1840, p. 7; nnd Oo11p d' (b'il aur la l)t8lc, 1851.