CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES 251 



contended, the crosses of related peoples or races may be advan- 

 tageous, while the union of the more distinct races, such as white 

 and negro, may result in a very undesirable product. This is 

 quite possible if not probable, and has the support of numerous 

 analogies among plants and animals. But it would be possible to 

 support almost any conclusion on race crossing by an appeal to 

 such analogies. Those who condemn race mixtures point to the 

 inferiority of many mongrel breeds and the infertility of crosses 

 between distantly related stocks, while the advocates of mis- 

 cegenation refer to the benefits that have so often resulted from 

 crossing different varieties. Our only recourse in such a case is 

 the study of the actual facts. 



It is sometimes stated that the hybrids between distinct races 

 must have a relatively inharmonious constitution containing 

 many incongruous hereditary tendencies. But the grounds for 

 this are largely a priori. The mule is a very valuable animal with 

 an unusually efficient organization notwithstanding the marked 

 differences of the horse and the ass. There are many crosses 

 between forms more closely related which are poor and weak 

 products that cannot be compared with the tough organization 

 of this familiar beast of burden. How characters of different 

 types will harmonize cannot be told until they are combined in a 

 cross. 



With the varied considerations which may prejudice opinions 

 to say nothing of the differences presented by the observed facts 

 in different parts of the world, it is not surprising that students of 

 race mixture should have arrived at opposed conclusions. The 

 sociologist Novicow 1 sings the praises of miscegenation as loudly 

 as other writers have condemned it. "II est connu qu'une race 

 s'abatardit par les unions consanguines et qu'elle s'ameliore par 

 les croisements. . . . Les croisements sont done indispensables 

 pour soutenir et augmenter la vigueur d'une race. . . . Les 

 croisements sont d'une utilite si incontestable qu'il faudra les 

 favoriser le plus possible. De nous jours encore, nombre de 

 societes non seulement barbares mais meme civilizees, tachent 



1 Les luttes enire les societes humaines, pp. 201-204. 



