The Descent of Man

late Dr. Daniell, who had long lived on the
West Coast of Africa, told me that he did not
believe in any such relation. He was himself
unusually fair, and had withstood the climate
in a wonderful manner. When he first arrived
as a boy on the coast, an old and experienced
negro chief predicted from his appearance that
this would prove the case. Dr. Nicholson, of
Antigua, after having attended to this subject,
writes to me that dark- coloured Europeans
escape the yellow fever more than those that
are light- coloured. Mr. J.M. Harris altogether
denies that Europeans with dark hair withstand
a hot climate better than other men: on the contrary,
experience has taught him in making a
selection of men for service on the coast of Africa,
to choose those with red hair. (62. 'Anthropological
Review,' Jan. 1866, p. xxi. Dr. Sharpe
also says, with respect to India ('Man a Special
Creation,' 1873, p. 118), "that it has been noticed
by some medical officers that Europeans with
light hair and florid complexions suffer less