THE CROSSING OF THE RACES 487 



opportunity. The German will marry any woman of any white race. 

 The Italian will do the same. The Alpine races have intermarried to 

 the north and south of them until their mental traits shade off almost 

 imperceptibly into those of the German and Italian. As a general rule, 

 marriage between different branches of the white races is not governed 

 by laws essentially different from those governing individuals of the 

 same branch. It is chiefly a question of proximity of the sexes and the 

 lapse of sufficient time to make the mutual desires mutually understood. 



The vital question is, whether this inevitable amalgamation is worth 

 the fostering care and regulation of our government. The answer to 

 this question depends altogether upon what will be the results of this 

 immigrant blood upon our own individual selves and upon our social 

 and political institutions. 



In regard to the influence upon the individual physical type, we 

 often hear it said that we are becoming a smaller and a darker race; 

 that our average stature is less than it used to be, and that we are 

 becoming dark eyed and dark haired, instead of the race of tall blonde 

 we once were; and there is a tendency to blame the immigration of the 

 last half century for this alleged change in physical characteristics. If 

 such a change is taking place, it should be attributed to the influence of 

 our climate rather than to the effect of blood admixture. The stature 

 and complexion of a people seem to be determined, in the long run, more 

 by the locality and climate in which they live than by any other influ- 

 ences, although it takes many generations for that physical type to be 

 finally evolved which is best fitted to the climatic conditions of its partic- 

 ular locality. Once evolved, the type remains fairly constant for the 

 given region. Judging the future by the past, we should not expect 

 the tall blonds of northwestern Europe to permanently survive in the 

 United States. There is scarcely a trace of the physical traits of the 

 conquering northern hordes left upon the general mass of the population 

 of Italy or the Alpine regions of Europe. The colony of Swedes which 

 settled along the Delaware in our own country have entirely disappeared. 

 The Scandinavian, according to Dr. Karlsen, who has made the subject 

 a matter of special study, rapidly deteriorate, physically and mentally, 

 under the changed climatic conditions which he encounters in his new 

 home in the northwest of our own country, and no less an authority 

 than Woodruff, believes that he will soon die out in the United States 

 unless active measures are taken to offset the baneful influences of a 

 climate to which he is temperamentally and physically unsuited. 



In evolving the type of man physically fitted to best survive in a 

 given locality, nature seems to work according to some mysterious laws 

 entirely beyond human control. This is exemplified in the population 

 of modern Egypt, where the mass of the people as represented by the 

 villagers along the Nile and in the country districts, conform almost 

 exactly in physical ajrpearance to the colored portraits of the ancient 



