THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. i 75 



of New York; despite the unsanitary tenements, the overcrowding, 

 the long hours in sweat shops; that nevertheless, a viability is mani- 

 fested which is simply unprecedented. Tailoring is one of the most 

 deadly occupations known; the Jews of New York are principally 

 engaged in this employment; and yet they contrive to live nearly 

 twice as long on the average as their neighbors, even those engaged 

 in the outdoor occupations. 



Is this tenacity of life despite every possible antagonistic influ- 

 ence, an ethnic trait; or is it a result of peculiar customs and habits 

 of life? There is much which points to the latter conclusion as 

 the correct one. For example, analysis of the causes of mortality 

 shows an abnormally small proportion of deaths from consumption 

 and pneumonia, the dread diseases which, as we know, are respon- 

 sible for the largest proportion of deaths in our American popula- 

 tion. This immunity can best be ascribed to the excellent system 

 of meat inspection prescribed by the Mosaic laws. It is certainly 

 not a result of physical development, as we have just seen. Hoff- 

 mann cites authority showing that in London often as much as a 

 third of the meats offered for sale are rejected as unfit for consump- 

 tion by Jews. Is not this a cogent argument in favor of a more rigid 

 enforcement of our laws providing for the food inspection of the 

 poor? 



A second cause conducive to longevity is the sobriety of the 

 Jew, and his disinclination toward excessive indulgence in alcoholic 

 liquors. Drunkenness among Jews is very rare. Temperate habits, 

 a frugal diet, with a very moderate use of spirits, render the propor- 

 tion of Bright's disease and affections of the liver comparatively 

 very small. In the infectious, diseases, on the other hand, diphtheria 

 and the fevers, no such immunity is betrayed. The long-current 

 opinion that the Jews were immune from cholera and the other pesti- 

 lences of the middle ages is not. to-day accepted. A third notable 

 reason for this low death rate is also, as Hoffmann observes, the 

 nature of the employment customary among Jews, which renders the 

 proportion of deaths from accidental causes exceedingly small. In 

 conclusion, it may be said that these people are prone to nervous and 

 mental disorders; insanity, in fact, is fearfully prevalent among 

 them. Lombroso asserts it to be four times as frequent among 

 Italian Jews as among Christians. This may possibly be a result 

 of close inbreeding in a country like Italy, where the Jewish com- 

 munities are small. It does not, however, seem to lead to suicide, 

 for this is extraordinarily rare among Jews, either from cowardice, 

 as Lombroso suggests; or more probably for the reason cited by Mor- 

 selli — namely, the greater force of religion and other steadying 



moral factors. 



[To be continued. ] 



