592 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



The more I consider the subject to be ex- 

 amined and reported upon, the more I am 

 impressed by its vastness ; the more I see that 

 its proper treatment requires a consideration 

 of political, physiological, and ethnological 

 principles. Before deciding upon any polit- 

 ical policy, it is necessary to decide several im- 

 portant questions, which require more knowl- 

 edge for their solution than I possess. 



Among these questions, this one occupies 

 me most now. Is it probable that the Afri- 

 can race, represented by less than two million 

 blacks and a little more than two million 

 mulattoes, unrecruited by immigration, will 

 be a persistent race in this country ? or will 

 it be absorbed, diluted, and finally effaced by 

 the white race, numbering twenty -four mil- 

 lions, and continually increased by immigra- 

 tion, beside natural causes. 



Will not the general practical amalgama- 

 tion fostered by slavery become more general 

 after its abolition ? If so, will not the pro- 

 portion of mulattoes become greater and that 

 of the pure blacks less? With an increase 

 and final numerical prevalence of mulattoes 

 the question of the fertility of the latter be- 

 comes a very important element in the calcu- 

 lation. Can it be a .persistent race here where 



