It is a curious fact that most of the blond races of the earth live
either in the temperate or frigid zones, while the brunettes live in
the hotter, tropical countries. Thus, the Swedes, Norwegians, Danes,
Germans, English, etc., are generally blond or fair people; while the
Spanish, French, Italians, Portuguese, Greeks, Turks, etc., are dark.
The further south we go, the darker do the inhabitants become: witness
the Turks, Arabs, Moors, Hindus, etc.,--ending with the Negroes in
Africa and other tropical countries. (I am speaking, of course, of
original, native inhabitants of these zones, and not individuals of
races who have lately migrated there.)
Nations once fair and blond in coloring become brunette in time, if
they continue to live in southern climes. The Greeks are a good example
of this. They were, as we know, originally fair, with beautiful golden
hair; yet today they are dark, with swarthy complexions and black hair.
They no more resemble their ancestors than chalk resembles cheese!
Why is this?
The answer undoubtedly is that the intense heat of the tropical sun
darkens these people, in succeeding generations. As a defense against
the intense heat-rays, Nature begins to lay down pigmentation under the
skin, as a protection from the sun. This pigmentation under the skin
serves to shut off the most burning rays, and to protect the individual
against excessive “scorching.” We notice an extreme example of this in
the Negro, whom Nature has evidently adapted to live in a hot climate.
Even white people living in the tropics soon become so tanned that they
remain permanently brown. The gradual darkening of the skin and hair,
therefore, is a protective mechanism on the part of Nature, showing us
that brunettes are more adapted to warm climates than are blonds, who
are the natural inhabitants of temperate or cold climes.