l6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I ID 



upon the careful study of all the factual material in literature, this 

 work is a most complete and systematic summary greatly superior 

 to anything on this subject heretofore printed. Cheboksarov's work 

 corrects many widespread views concerning the racial composition 

 of the population of Germany. While reaffirming the formerly ex- 

 pressed view concerning the limited distribution of the North Euro- 

 pean racial type proper and the preponderance of Baltic and Central 

 European types in northern Germany, Debets points out that the 

 Alpine type is also not the main element of which the present popu- 

 lation of southern Germany is composed. This type spreads over a 

 very small region. At the same time the existence of a peculiar com- 

 plex of distinctive features, which Debets classifies with the Atlantic 

 racial form described by Deniker, has been established in the upper 

 Rhine zone. 



The great advance in the modern theory of race formation and race 

 analysis as compared with previous views is evident from the above 

 review. The human race is not something unchangeable. In the course 

 of ages the various distinctive features of human groups alter ; the 

 size of the population within which marriages among members take 

 place grows or diminishes. As a result, the concentration of various 

 hereditary features varies and under certain conditions changes take 

 place in the average size of the group. At the same time changes 

 in external conditions influence one and the same tendency. The 

 influence of intergroup marriage, as well as group isolation, should 

 be added to these two general factors of racial differentiation. 



Considering these facts it would be incorrect to draw a line for 

 racial types based on the absolute existence of one or another trait, 

 or even of several traits. Observing the changes of features within a 

 certain territory one can see that these changes are very gra"dual ; 

 for example, the region with the highest cephalic index is surrounded 

 by a zone where this index is slightly lower, and so forth. The region 

 where a certain feature is most clear is evidently that region where 

 certain hereditary traits are most concentrated, or as it is usually 

 called, the "center of distribution." The entire zone within which 

 the trait alters in one direction (plus or minus) comprises the region 

 of the distribution of one type, despite differences in magnitude. The 

 boundaries of the type are located where the alteration is in the 

 opposite direction, i.e., where, instead of finding a reduction of the 

 average index, it begins to increase. 



However, for races the combination of several features in a given 

 territory is always characteristic, as for example, blue eyes, wide 

 heads and tallness. The boundaries of the distribution of the racial 



