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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Iberian hypothesis, notwithstanding which it has passed current for 

 generations as if founded upon the broadest array of facts. What if 

 we should conclude that the assumption is correct in the light of 

 modern research! It is no justification for the positiveness with 

 which the law has been laid down by hosts of secondary writers. By 

 such a tenuous historical thread hangs many another ethnic gener- 

 alization. May the day come when the science of anthropology 

 assumes its due prominence in the eyes of historians, and renders the 

 final judgment in such disputed cases of physical descent! 



Thus far all has been plain sailing. It seems as if the case were 

 clear. An Iberian brunette, long-headed substratum, still persistent 

 in the western outposts of the islands, dating from the neolithic long- 

 barrow period, or even earlier; and a Teutonic blond one, similar 

 in head form in all the eastern districts overrun from the continent, 

 seem to be indicated. ISFow we have to undertake the addition of 

 a third physical trait — stature — to the others, and the complexity of 

 the problem appears. Our map on page 165 shows that the British 

 Isles contain variations in average of upward of four inches. Scot- 

 land, as we have shown elsewhere, contains positively the tallest 

 population in Europe and almost in the entire world. Even the 



Brunette Welsh Type. Cardiganshire. 



average of five feet six inches and over in Wales and southwest Eng- 

 land is not low; for this is greater than any on the continent south 

 of the Alps. Broadly viewed, the facts in England alone seem to 

 fit our hypothesis. Here we observe the eastern counties relatively 

 tall, with a steady decrease as we pass westward, culminating in 

 southern Wales. The ancient Silures or their modern descendants 



