and separated into heaps. It was observed of the Persians, that their heads were so extremely soft, as to yield to the slightest impression, even of a pebble; those of the Egyptians, on the contrary, were so firm, that the blow of a large stone could hardly break them."
Thus we see, that the same circumstance — that of the great thickness of the negro's head — was always, as it is now, a formation suited to their condition.
The peculiar form of the negro's foot goes, also, to establish the doctrine of adaptation. This peculiarity consists in the great length and width of that limb, the extraordinary protrusion of the heel backward, placing the leg nearly in the middle of the foot in many instances. This circumstance is also favorable to them in passing over deep miry and sandy places, morasses and swampy grounds, which trait, it is said, characterizes much of the wilds of Africa.
This circumstance — the great size of the negro's foot, is noticed by Pliny, a Roman Historian.
In the production of the negro's skin, there is a circumstance no less curious and admirable than are the other two peculiarities; and this is the placing, by the Divine hand, in the cutaneous covering of their bodies, myriads of little cups of pellucid water mingled with the capillary vessels. By this means, the sun's rays are thrown off, as they are from the face of the waters of lakes, seas and rivers, or the dew drops of the ground, by which that cool and moist condition of the surface of the negro's body is produced — but this is not so with the white man.
On this account, the prevalence of these water cells,
