Page:The Negro a menace to American civilization.djvu/37

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THE NEGRO
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the most anthropoid apes—gorilla and chimpanzee,—and that these bimanous and quadrumanous species are both of a pronounced dolichocephalic type (index nos. 72-75), some anthropologists have suggested the direct descent of the former from the latter. But against this view may be urged the different texture of the pile, which, although black in both, is woolly in the negro but true hair in the ape." The negro has a large black eye, with the sclerotic coat tinged with yellow, a distinctive character, frequently noticed in the typical west coast negroes of the United States. The jaws exhibit decided prognathism, or projection forward, the facial angle being seventy degrees against the eighty-two of the average white man. Another marked feature is the nose, which is broad, flat, dilated nostrils, and with the ridge concaved often showing the red inner surface of the mucous membrane. The lips are very large, protruding, and heavy. The malar bones and zygomatic arches being prominent, the cheeks are made equally so. These full-blood negroes have black skins, or of a deep brownish tint. Climate has nothing whatever to do with this, nor has any special pigment. It is due, however, to a superabundance of coloring matter between the true and the scarf skins. Soft and velvety to the touch, the negro epidermis is for the most part quite free of hair, and would be to many more or less attractive were it not for the outrageous odor it emits, especially under heat and excitement. This is sometimes so strong that I have known ladies of our own race brought almost to the stage of emesis when compelled to inhale it for any length of time. Usually the negro is of but average height, by no means always erect, presenting curves

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