THE EFFECTS OF RACE INTERMINGLING. 



By C. B. davenport. 

 (Read April 13, 1917.) 



The problem of the effects of race intermingling may well inter- 

 est us of America, when a single state, like New York, of 

 9,000,000 inhabitants contains 840,000 Russians and Finns, 720,000 

 Italians, 1,000,000 Germans, 880,000 Irish, 470,000 Austro-Hun- 

 garians, 310,000 of Great Britain, 125,000 Canadians (largely 

 French), and 90,000 Scandinavians. All figures include those born 

 abroad or born of two foreign-born parents. Nearly two thirds 

 of the population of New York State is foreign-born or of foreign 

 or mixed parentage. Even in a state like Connecticut it is doubtful 

 if 2 per cent, of the population are of pure Anglo-Saxon stock for 

 six generations of ancestors in all lines. Clearly a mixture of 

 European races is going on in America on a colossal scale. 



Before proceeding further let us inquire into the meaning of 

 " race." The modern geneticists' definition dififers from that of the 

 systematist or old fashioned breeder. A race is a more or less pure 

 bred "group" of individuals that dififers from other groups by at 

 least one character, or, strictly, a genetically connected group whose 

 germ plasm is characterized by a difference, in one or more genes, 

 from other groups. Thus a blue-eyed Scotchman belongs to a dif- 

 ferent race from some of the dark Scotch. Strictly, as the term is 

 employed by geneticists they may be said to belong to different 

 elementary species. 



Defining race in this sense of elementary species we have to con- 

 sider our problem : What are the results of race intermingling, or 

 miscegenation? To this question no general answer can be given. 

 A specific answer can, however, be given to questions involving 

 specific characters. For example, if the question be framed: what 

 are the results of hybridization between a blue-eyed race (say 



364 



