THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 



633 



call attention to it later in other portions of Europe, particularly 

 where isolation prevails. The form of the nose, the proportions 

 of the face, nay at times the expression, seem to be localized and 

 strongly characteristic. It is easy to conceive of an artificial 

 selection in an isolated society whereby choice should be exer- 

 cised in accordance with certain standards of beauty which had 

 become generally accepted in that locality. It is merely an illus- 

 tration of what Giddings, in his Principles of Sociology, aptly 

 terms a recognition of " consciousness of kind " ; or as Dr. Beddoe 

 puts it, of " fashion operating through conjugal selection." An 

 example of the effect of selection of this kind in producing 

 strongly individual types is offered by the Jews. They as a race 

 vary greatly in the proportions of the head ; and in color of eyes 

 and hair to a lesser degree. Nevertheless, despite all variations 

 in these characteristics the prominent facial features remain 

 always the same. The first, being inconspicuous traits, are 

 allowed to run their natural course ; the latter are seized upon 

 and accentuated through the operation of sexual preference for 

 that which has become generally recognized either .as beautiful 

 or ethnically individual. 



In the attempt to justify this interesting sociological explana- 

 tion for the peculiarities of the Basques, causing them to differ 



^ ^vitmnm-'^K' 



French Basuue. Basses-Pyr6nees. 



from their parent Mediterranean stock, several corroborative facts 

 have come to light. Certain customs among the peasants seem 

 to imply a recognition of their facial individuality. These all 

 tend to accentuate the peculiarities which have now apparently 

 become hereditary among them. The chin is almost invariably 



TOL. LI. 48 



