Two essays : one upon single vision with two eyes ; the other on dew : a letter to the Right Hon. Lloyd, Lord Kenyon, and an account of a female of the white race of mankind, part of whose skin resembled that of a negro ; with some observations on the causes of the differences in colour and form between the white and negro races of men / by the late William Charles Wells, with a memoir of his life, written by himself.

Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Two essays : one upon single vision with two eyes ; the other on dew : a letter to the Right Hon. Lloyd, Lord Kenyon, and an account of a female of the white race of mankind, part of whose skin resembled that of a negro ; with some observations on the causes of the differences in colour and form between the white and negro races of men / by the late William Charles Wells, with a memoir of his life, written by himself. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    more refined mode of life, it has been found, that an adherence to their ancient customs and practices will preserve them long as a distinct race from the original inhabitants of the coun- try to which they had emigrated. Examples of this kind are frequent in the islands in the eastern seas in the torrid zone, where the in- habitants of the sea-coast, evidently strangers, are in some degree polished, and of a brown colour, while the ancient natives, who live in the interior parts, are savage and black. Simi- lar facts occur in respect to other species of animals. It seems certain, for instance, that fine woolled sheep, like the Spanish, never both arose and sustained their breed in the northern parts of Europe; yet, by care, this feeble race, after being formed in Spain, has been propa- gated and preserved in very cold countries. Thus the late Mr. Dryander, the learned libra- rian of the Royal Society, informed me, that the breed of fine woolled Spanish sheep had been kept perfect in Sweden during a very long term of years, I think he said a century. If, then, my memory be accurate upon this point, we have here an example of a variety of animals, much more liable to be affected by external circumstances than the human race, being pre- served without change, in a country very dif- ferent from their own, by assimilating their new