THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 147 



snakes of the mainland from Ireland — we are speaking seriously of 

 an established zoological fact and not a myth — was responsible for 

 the absence of the peculiar race of men who brought the culture of 

 bronze and other arts into England in prehistoric times. It also 

 accounts for the relative scarcity of the Teutonic invaders after- 

 ward. As we may grade both the flora and fauna of the islands in 

 variety of species from the continent westward, so also may we dis- 

 tinguish them anthropologically. In flora, Ireland has but two 

 thirds the species indigenous to England and Scotland; for the same 

 reason her human population contains much less variety of human 

 type.* Among the Irish peasantry there are no such contrasts as 

 those we shall show to exist between the highland and the lowland 

 Scotch, or between the Englishman in Cornwall and in Yorkshire. 



A second geographical peculiarity of the British Isles has not 

 been devoid of importance to us. The eastern island contains both 

 extremes of fertility and accessibility. Ireland is far more uniform. 

 A point for us to note is that the backbone of each island lies along 

 the west coast. Both England and Scotland certainly present their 

 best sides to the continent: all the wav from Caithness to Kent 

 either the most fertile lands, or the mouths of rivers leading to 

 them, lie on the east. The same thing is mainly true of Ire- 

 land. The result, of course, is the accentuation of the contrasts 

 between the populations of the east and west sides in either case. 

 The best lands are at the same time nearest the mainland. All in- 

 centive to further invasion ceases at once. The significance of this 

 will appear in due time. We may realize its importance in advance, 

 however, by supposing the situation reversed, with the goal of all 

 invasions on the farther side of each island. Is there a doubt that 

 Wales, the western Scottish highlands, and farther Ireland would 

 have been far more thoroughly infused with foreign blood than they 

 are in reality to-day? It makes a great difference whether a district 

 is on the hither or the hinter side of Canaan. 



The most remarkable trait of the population of the British Isles 

 is its head form; and especially the uniformity in this respect which 

 is everywhere manifested. The prevailing type is that of the long 

 and narrow head, accompanied by an oval rather than the round 

 face. This uniformity makes the task of illustrating types by means 

 of portraits peculiarly difficult; for the shape of the head is the 

 main characteristic directly shown by them. It should also always 

 be borne in mind that when we speak of broad or oval faces we refer 

 to the proportions of the bony framework alone. We must look 

 below the flesh, behind beard or whiskers, or else endless confusion 

 will result. Full cheeks need not imply a broad face as we mean it ; 



* Sir A. Geikie, in Macmillan's Magazine, March, 1882, pp. 367 seq. 



