THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY Ot EUROPE. 



193 



cies on every hand. Even in the most secluded hamlet of the 

 Alps, where population has remained undisturbed for thousands 

 of years, he will be able to point out blond-haired children whose 

 parents were dark, short sons of tall fathers, and the like. Our 

 portraits of four Corsicans chosen at random offer a case in point. 

 The people of this rocky island are as highly individualized as 

 any in Europe. They offer the purest examples of the southern 

 or Mediterranean type of Europeans ; and yet these four men are 

 quite different from one another. As the indexes show, the heads 

 are quite unlike in their proportions. The man on the right is 

 apparently broader-faced than either of the fellows next him, 

 although he is relatively much longer-headed than either. The 

 four vary considerably in the color of the hair and eyes. Nor in 

 stature is there any greater apparent similarity. Such diversities 



72-3. 80-8. 80-1. 



Cephalic Index of Corsican Peasants. 



^5. 



confront us on every hand even in this retired corner of Europe. 

 What may we not anticipate in less favored places, especially in 

 the large cities ? 



Traits in themselves are all right, our objector will maintain : 

 but you must show that they are hereditary, persistent. More 

 than that, you must prove not alone the transmissibility of a single 

 trait by itself, you must also show that combinations of traits are 

 so handed down from father to son. Three stages in the develop- 

 ment of our proof miist be noted : first, the distribution of separate 

 traits; secondly, their association into types; and, lastly, the hered- 

 itary character of those types which alone justifies the term races. 

 We have already taken the first step : we are now entering upon 

 the second. It is highly important that we should keep these dis- 

 tinct. Even among professed anthropologists there is still much 

 confusion of thought upon the subject so much so, in fact, that 

 some have, it seems to me without warrant, abandoned the task 

 in despair. Let us beware the example of the monkey in the 

 fable. Seeking to withdraw a huge handful of racial nuts from 

 the jar of fact, we may find the neck of scientific possibility all 

 too small. We may fail because we have grasped too much at 

 once. Let us examine. 



VOL. LI. 15 



