THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 607 



tion, if not absolutely necessary, at least conduces to acuteness of 

 sense; and that where abundantly present it is often an index of 

 vitality.* This eminent naturalist even ventures to connect the 

 aggressiveness of the male sex among the lower animals with its 

 brilliancy of coloring. 



Applying these considerations to man, evidence is not entirely 

 wanting to support De Candolle's (1887) thesis that " pigmentation 

 is an index of force." Disease often produces a change in the direc- 

 tion of blondness, as Dr. Beddoe has observed ; asserting, as he does, 

 that this trait in general is due to a defect of secretion. The case of 

 the negro, cited by Ogle, whose depigmentation was accompanied 

 by a loss of the sense of smell, is a pertinent one. The phenomenon 

 of light-haired childhood and of gray-haired senility points to the 

 same conclusion. A million soldiers observed during our civil 

 war afforded data for Baxter's f assertion that the brunette type, 

 on the whole, opposed a greater resistance to disease, and offered 

 more hope of recovery from injuries in the field. Dr. Beddoe finds 

 in Bristol that the dark-haired children are more tenacious of 

 life, and asserts a distinct superiority of the brunette type in the 

 severe competitions induced by urban life.:}: It is not for us to 

 settle the matter here and now. The solution belongs to the physi- 

 ologist. As statisticians it behooves us to note facts, leaving choice 

 of explanations to others more competent to judge. It must be 

 said in conclusion, however, that present tendencies certainly point 

 in the direction of some relation between pigmentation and gen- 

 eral physiological and mental vigor. If this be established, it will 

 go far to explain some of these curious differences between country 

 and city which we have noted. 



From the preceding formidable array of testimony it appears 

 that the tendency of urban populations is certainly not toward the 

 pure blond, long-headed, and tall Teutonic type. The phenomenon 

 of urban selection is something more complex than a mere migra- 

 tion of a single racial element in the population toward the cities. 

 The physical characteristics of townsmen are too contradictory for 

 ethnic explanations alone. A process of physiological and social 

 rather than of ethnic selection seems to be at work in addition. 

 To be sure, the tendencies are slight; we are not even certain of 

 their universal existence at all. We are merely watching for their 

 verification or disproof. There is, however, nothing improbable 

 in the phenomena we have noted. Naturalists have always turned 



* Address in Transactions of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 1876, pp. 100 et seq. 



f 1875, i, pp. 61 and 72. \ 1885, p. 223, and 1893, p. 115. 



