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136 tribes, as well as of that natural veil of modesty* which has been ascribed to them by others, there hardly now remains a doubt. The peculiar form of the legs in certain nations may, from the manner in which they have been remarked on by several eminent anatomists, justly claim a portion of our attention. -Among the Tartar tribes some have these limbs remarkably short, and widely bowed between the knees. On the other hand, there are nations among the Indians as much distinguished by their length. These constitutional peculiarities are with great probability ascribed to some influence of the climate or of the habits of society, or manner of living. This conjecture is corroborated the United States who are brought up in genteel families, are said to have breasts as well formed as the Anglo-Americans. *Voltaire, who is equally a wretched philosopher and a brilliant wit, is fond of magnifying this veil that he may find in it one important character of a peculiar species. It is probably no more than that lax and corrugated skin on the abdomen which sometimes becomes pendulous in women who have borne many children, and especially in those who have suffered great hardships. Or it maybe only a protraction of the labia, which takes place, as we are informed by anatomists, in some women of all nations; and which, in particular instances, may be very much increased by the filthy habits of several of the African tribes. 137 by the known effect of climate and of the manner of feeding o different species of quadrupeds, and of fowls. Passing other instances, at present, I will take an example only from the neat cattle of Holland removed to the Cape of Good Hope. The deep bodies and short legs of the herds which feed in the rich meadows of Holland disappear entirely in the meagre pastures of the Cape; and, in a few descents the whole race of the beeve kind are deformed with long legs, and comparatively narrow and lank bodies. It is observed, likewise, of the cattle in the United States, and especially in those states which lie southward from Pennsylvania, and in the districts eastward between the Appalachian mountains and the ocean that they are longer in the leg, and shallower in the body, than the British stocks from which they are derived. This effect, however, is, perhaps, less to be imputed to climate, than to the scantiness and poverty of their food in a country as yet imperfectly cultivated, and to the inclemency and changes of the seasons. For we find that, in other parts of America, in which the cattle are properly fed, and sheltered during the winter, and, in summer, suffer- [[symbol]]