Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1886 — Marriages in Brazil. [ARTICLE]

Marriages in Brazil.

Consanguineous marriages in Brazil are the rule and not the exoeption, there being really more® such than of those between parties trot related by blood. There are many, not oiily between the first cousins, but also between the double first-cousins, and there are probably more marriages between a man and his Dieee, or a woman and her nephew, than there are of first cousins in America, even without taking into consideration the fact that the population of the United States is four or five times as large as that of Brazil. It,seems most ludicrous to the stranger to hear a man and his wife address euch other as copsins, as they generally db when such was their relationship. In .many cases not only was the union of the parents consanguineous, but also that of the grandparents, and in some cases even further back. Surely this has its effect on the intellect of their offspring, though not so marked and invariable as one might naturally suppose. For some of the children are apparently as intelligent as those of people not related by blood. But this proves nothing unless it is their good fortune, and even these probably pay the penalty in some other way. The people of Brazil are by no means intelligent os a race generally, but this is chiefly due in part to the absence of educational facilities; for it is no easy matter for the poor people in any part of the country to acquire even the rudiments of an education, and for those outside of the towns it is virtually impossible. Probably to consanguineous marriages are due, not Only some loss of intellectual power, but also the facts that the people are, as a rule, homely, exceedingly nervous, and not vigorous, though these conclusions may be qualifialrle, for the lack of vigor may be due partly to the climate and their lazy, inactive lives, and their nervousness may* be attributable to the quantity of strong coffee they all drink from early childhood, and the habit of excessive smoking among men and boys. The features of the white people are, for the most part, irregular. Generally, they have coal-black hair and beautiful black eye; Sometimes the teeth are very fine, and the hands of those of the best families are beautifully soft and very flexible, a most natural sequence, as these people haring many slaves, never perform any work themselves, nor have their immediate ancestors before them, to impair their delicacy. But whatever beauty they do possess will frequently be marred by ugly skins, noses, mouths, or other features, whilst the face may lack a cultivated, refined expression, which gives place to the sensual. But this is no invariable rule, for some are handsome, intelligent, and refined lobbing. — Brooklyn, Magazine.