Page:A discourse upon the origin and foundation of the inequality among mankind (IA discourseuponori00rous).pdf/286

long, ſome inſtead of Hair have nothing but a curled Wool; ſome are in a Manner covered all over with Hair, others have not ſo much as a Beard; there have been, and perhaps there are ſtill Nations of a gigantic Size; not to inſiſt on the Fable of the Pigmies, which perhaps is no more than an Exaggeration, it is well known that the Laplanders, and eſpecially the Greenlanders, are greatly below the middle Stature; it is even pretended that there are whole Nations with Tails like Quadrupeds; and without blindly giving Credit to Herodotus and Cteſias, we may at leaſt draw this very probable Opinion from their Relations, that if good Obſervations could have been made in theſe early Times, when the Manners and Cuſtoms of Nations differed more than they do at preſent, more ſtriking Varieties would have likewiſe appeared in the Figure and Habit of their Bodies. All theſe Facts, of which inconteſtible Proofs may be eaſily given, can aſtoniſh thoſe only who never conſider any Objects but ſuch as ſurround them, and are Strangers to the powerful Influence of different Modes of Life, Climate, Air, Food, and above all the ſurprizing Power of the ſame Cauſes, when acting