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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



expressed by the cephalic index. The 

 cephalic index expresses the proportion 

 of the width of the head to the length 

 of the head in terms of percentage. A 

 small index denotes a relatively long 

 head and a large index denotes one in 

 which the width and length are more 

 nearly equal and hence relatively short. 

 This index ranges from 60 to 95. In 

 the United States we have a great va- 

 riety of head forms but the averages 

 for the various states are probably not 

 very different. The range of these aver- 

 ages is approximately from 76 to 83. 

 The longer heads are more numerous in 

 the south, northwest and New England 

 states while shorter heads predominate 

 in the north central states. 



The only other character on which 

 we have sufficient data to base an 

 estimate is the relative frequency of 

 blond and brunette types. A high per- 

 centage of blond types indicates a 

 higher percentage of individuals belong- 

 ing to the North European racial type. 

 While the various percentages plotted 

 on map. 25 are not intended to denote 

 accuracy they must show the relative 

 frequency of blondness in the different 

 states. By blondness we include those 

 individuals popularly called blonds and 

 others having blue or mixed eyes and 

 light brown hair. From the map it is 

 apparent that blond types are much 

 more numerous in the northwest and 

 New England than elsewhere. The 

 high percentage of Negroes in the south 

 accounts in part for the relative scarcity 

 of blond types in that region. 



Action of the "Melting Pot" Slow 



We have seen, then, that a consider- 

 ation of our population l)oth as national 



groups and as racial types exhibiting 

 certain peculiarities of physical make- 

 up shows them to be distributed in a 

 more or less orderly fashion. While we 

 do have the most diverse physical types 

 living side by side, one or the other of 

 these types is usually far more numer- 

 ous. The greatest amount of intermar- 

 riage is between individuals of the 

 same national or racial type. This 

 statement is fully substantiated by our 

 census reports. The more diverse two 

 types are nationally and physically the 

 less frequent are intermarriages be- 

 tween these groups. It is probably only 

 after several generations of a type have 

 lived in this country that many of the 

 national barriers are broken down and 

 free intermixture takes place. In the 

 case of some groups of very diverse 

 physical type it is probable that these 

 barriers never will be wholly removed. 

 So then we should not expect too much 

 of the "Melting Pot." 



We are having repeated in this coun- 

 try in a somewhat more intense form 

 the same processes that have Iseen going 

 on in Europe and other parts of the 

 world for centuries. Many of nature's 

 own biological experiments of the past 

 are lost to us. We in this country have 

 the unusual opportunity of seeing some 

 of these experiments repeated before 

 our own eyes. It is our duty to observe 

 carefully and record the results of these 

 experiments. It is only in this way 

 that we can hope to throw any light on 

 the past and future history of the vari- 

 ous racial types of mankind. This sur- 

 vey aims only to indicate a very few of 

 the many interesting results a careful 

 anthropometric survey of our country 

 might reveal. 



