INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 147 



to feelings of antipathy, as when the color of the skin or the facial fea- 

 tures of one ethnic stock are regarded as ugly, if not repulsive, by 

 another, or when the odor of the skin of one ethnic type is unpleasant to 

 another. But it is evident that in some, if not all, of these cases esthetic, 

 and sometimes moral and religious, ideas as well are involved, so that 

 these antipathies are due in part, and perhaps sometimes entirely, to cul- 

 tural differences. It would, therefore, be difficult to say in the case of 

 any one of these antipathies whether it would exist on the basis of the 

 ethnic difference alone if the cultural differences were lacking. 



It is now evident that this article must consist largely of a study of 

 the degree and permanence of ethnic differences. Since our interest is 

 mainly with respect to the future the discussion may take the form of 

 an attempt to answer two questions. The first is as to whether ethnic 

 differences are sufficiently great to keep the contrasted ethnic stocks 

 permanently in different cultural statuses. The second is as to whether 

 these differences are sufficiently great to prevent a final amalgamation 

 of all the ethnic stocks. In a word it is a question of the possibility and 

 probability of cultural and ethnic uniformity in the future. 



There have been many theories as to the part played by ethnic char- 

 acteristics in determining the culture of a people. At one extreme we find 

 such a writer as Gobineau, who in his treatise on the inequality of the hu- 

 man races tried to prove that there is a great deal of difference between 

 the ethnic stocks as to their capacity for culture. At the other extreme 

 is Boas, who insists that there is practically no difference between the 

 ethnic types in their capacity for culture. It is evident that many of 

 the physical differences between the ethnic types do not imply mental 

 differences. For example, color is in the truest sense only skin deep, 

 and is a racial adaptation to climate. Stature, the shape of the nose, 

 etc., do not in themselves involve specific mental characteristics. But 

 great differences in the brain and the rest of the nervous system, and in 

 certain other of the viscera, would necessarily involve important mental 

 differences and therefore variation in the capacity for culture. Such 

 differences would be in the instinctive, intellectual and emotional 

 make-up of the representatives of the type. Let us see how probable it 

 is that there are such great differences. 



There is a certain amount of variation in the size of the brain be- 

 tween the different ethnic types, but it is not at all certain that this 

 variation is sufficiently great to cause any material difference in mental 

 characteristics. This is indicated by the fact that as great variation is 

 to be found in the brains of the members of the most civilized peoples 

 and even among the ablest representatives of these peoples. In the 

 structure of the brain and of its cells, also, there is probably no great 

 variation, though such variations would be of even greater significance 

 than variations in size. In similar fashion, in the rest of the nervous 



