On the functions of the colouring matter of the skin in the dark races of mankind / by Robert Mortimer Glover.
- Robert Mortimer Glover
- Date:
- [1840?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On the functions of the colouring matter of the skin in the dark races of mankind / by Robert Mortimer Glover. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![coloured races, the existence of something analogous to the dark pigment is only inferred, although the occurrence of Al- binoes in all races should induce us to believe the presence of a pigment universal. So that what is said of the colouring matter in the Negro may be extended to all varieties of colour, reasoning by analogy. It is scarcely possible to regard the dark colouring matter otherwise than as a provision for, in some way, enabling those who possess it in abundance to withstand the heat of the cli- mate they inhabit. Accordingly, there are facts which prove such individuals to be more capable of withstanding the heat j of torrid regions than acclimatized Europeans, or other whites j born there. There are also facts to connect this power of { withstanding excessive heat with the development of the dark ] colouring matter. Thus, Albinoes of Guinea, differing from I both Europeans and their countrymen in this, that they totally | want the colouring matter, according to many authors, are j even less capable of resisting the heat of their native country ■ than European strangers; indeed their skins are said to crack | and blister on exposure to the sun's rays. And I am informed | by Mr Granidge of Barbadoes, that he has observed the same j fact in that island. | Now, when we reflect that the European cannot be without i some colouring matter between the true skin and cuticle, since he must differ in this respect from the Albino, it seems as if a relation were established between the development of the pig- ment, and probably of the rete mucosum along with it, and ! the power of resisting the sun''s heat in torrid regions. It is clear that in this inquiry we should regard, not merely the physical properties of the organization we consider, nor , its vital properties only, but the action and reaction of the j whole, and their effect on the system of the individual. For ; want of a consideration of all circumstances, before the publi- ! cation of Sir Everard Home's views, it was not conceived how j the tint, which, on analogy, should absorb more heat than any other, could, in the hottest regions of the earth, confer any j exemption on its possessor. And perhaps before this paper is | concluded, it may be apparent that, since Sir Everard pub- ' lished, the matter has been misunderstood. I](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21470054_0004.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
