DEGLINE OF THE WHITE RACE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3003, 4 October 1911, Page 85

DEGLINE OF THE WHITE RACE.

If we are to take seriously: the predictions of Prbfessor Lionel W. Lyde, of London University, the outlook for tlie white man on the face of this earth is gloomy indeed- Much has been written at one time and another regarding the ability of the white man to live in the tropios and to retain his bodily and mental vigour. The consensus of opinion, as pointed out by the Medical Record, has been that he cannot do so, but that after a time he will* surely deteriorate, physically and mentally. Furthermore, white natives whose ancestors have lived three or mora generations in the tropics are not, with rare exceptions, the peers either in body or mind of their relatives living in the temperate zone. Professor Lyde not only insists that the white man cannot live in health in tropical countries, but he also professes to believe that the white man is doomed to vanish from the face of the earth, giving way to the coloured races. The' professor bases his belief on the theory that the original colour of the human skin, was * dark brown, the variations of that colour being the results of the weakening or strengthening of the pigments under different climatic conditions. .

Taking ordinary precautions, it may be possible for the white man, after two years of acclimatisation, to live in the tropics even more immune from tropical diseases than the black. But this period of immunity lasts for only about seven years, after which the deteriorating effects of the strong solar light. and heat begin to show themselves ion the' white - skin; and render the p'ossesis^r.;%ereO|,;peculiarly susceptible to tropical diseases. In consequence the permanent settlement of the tropics by white, men. is impossible. But while the pigment with which, the coloured i-aces are provided is indispensr able for life in the tropics, it is a source of no danger in the tempei-ature of irigid zones; therefore the dark or yellow man can intrude into the domain of the man of fair skin with little or no danger. ~