ZOOLOGY. 303 



per cent. ; of indifferent, city fourteen per cent., country twelve per 

 cent. ; of bad, city four per cent., country one per cent. Another 

 reason why the Irish are double the Americans in bad physique, 

 seemed to be that they were often recruited, for several Irish regiments, 

 almost exclusively from the sixth ward, one of the most active recruit- 

 ing stations being the Tombs prison itself. 



*" Still these considerations do not affect the actual standing of the 

 American recruits, for whatever the causes maybe that have aided 

 them, I feel safe in voting their physical development as of the highest 

 order, and I have seen specimens of the armies of nearly all European, 

 as well as .eastern nations. With the exception of a general loss of 

 fat, I do not believe that there is another race that can show a larger 

 proportion in the average population of excellent osseous and muscu- 

 lar development. This I would ascribe almost wholly to the widely dif- 

 fused blessings of meat and drink, and to comforts of life possessed by 

 nearly all. Least of all would I set it down to the score of race, for 

 it is doubtful if there is such a thing as an unmixed race in America. 

 No sooner does one nationality reach this shore, where all the political, 

 social, and religious distinctions of the Old World fail to survive the sea 

 voyage, than it rapidly merges into another, and all the rare elements 

 of Europe soon become utterly dissolved in a well-stirred mixture of 

 An o-lo- Saxons, Hollanders, Celts, Germans, and Norwegians." 



