254 



The Journal of Heredity 



"If one passes from ostcological 

 characters to those furnished by the 

 living man, we find a complete concor- 

 dance. Generally the dome of the head 

 is high, a little short from back to front, 

 and flattened at the back [from artificial 

 causes]. The forehead is well-devel- 

 oped, but ordinarily a little low; it 

 often becomes beautiful, and the facial 

 angle equals that of a European. The 

 nose, although a little too short, and 

 flattened by manipulation during in- 

 fancy^, is often straight and prominent 

 too; in some islands, it is almost always 

 aquiline, a character which belongs 

 essentially to the white race. The eyes, 

 rather small, are almost always hori- 

 zontal, rarely oblique; and black in 

 color. The cheek bones are prominent, 

 but usually protrude forward, as with 

 certain white poptilations, rather than 

 on the sides. The mouth is well formed 

 and its expression agreeable, although 

 the lips are slightly too thick, and usually 

 present that peculiar clamminess which 

 indicates negro blood; but sometimes 

 they are as fine and thin as those of a 

 European. The chin often projects 

 forward to an exaggerated degree, and 

 then becomes narrow and pointed. The 

 color of the skin varies from a very pale 

 bistre yellow, recalling that of certain 

 Southern Europeans, to a dark brown, 

 which sometimes passes into a copper 



color. Finally the black or light or dark 

 chestnut hair usually has a tendency 

 to roll into curls and is often enough 

 wavy but never woolly. The characters 

 of the hair alone attest that the yellow 

 element forms an inconsiderable part 

 in the composition of the Polynesian 

 race, for hair invariably black, straight 

 and impossible to curl is one of the 

 most general traits of Mongolian popula- 

 tions, without a single exception, to my 

 knowledge. 



"To sum up, the Polynesian race 

 offers characters belonging individually 

 to the white, yellow and black; but the 

 influence of these respective ethnological 

 elements is quite different. The yellow 

 element hardly shows itself except in the 

 color; it seems to have little part in the 

 formation of the facial appearance. 

 The black element has more cft'ect on 

 the face, and often tends to darken the 

 color of the skin. To it also must be 

 attributed the waviness or disposition 

 to curl which the hair often shows. 

 But the element which is by far the 

 dominant, at least in a part of the 

 population, is the white. This assertion 

 will probably surprise many readers; 

 nevertheless, all that is necessary to 

 recognize it for true is to read the nar- 

 ratives of travelers, in particular those 

 which complete the voyages of Dumont- 

 d'Urvillc and his companions." 



'A flat nose is a great perfection and beauty for a woman. — Aloerenhout. 



Bismarck's Heredity 



'I'hc heredity of Prince Otto von Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor," is studied 

 by the genealogist Dr. St. Kekule von Stradonitz in the Mitt, der Zcntralstelle f. 

 deutsche Personcn-und Familicn-geschichte (Heft 7, 1910). The results are 

 briefly as follows: Bismarck's paternal ancestry shows two peculiarities: A rather 

 badly obscured line of ancestry, and a dcrix'ation through the female line from 

 the famous field marshal Derfflingcr. The maternal line is unbroken in its exhibi- 

 tion of literary character (the Mencke family); the maternal great-grandmother 

 of Bismarck, wife of the younger Gottfried Ludwig Mencke, professor at Helm- 

 stadt, belongs to one of the most noted families of the period. But imccrtain 

 links are also found in her ancestry. The great-grandmother referred to was the 

 grand-daughter of Johann Witten, syndic of the Damenstift of Gandersheim, 

 and son-in-law of the chairman of the syndics, Michael Biittner. He is the most 

 noteworthy figure in Bismarck's matemal line; he died in 1677. The account of 

 this man, given l)y Dr. von Stradonitz, shows, as he says, a rcmarkal)le con-esi)ond- 

 ence to the character of Bismarck himself. And when one follows l)ack Bismarck's 

 ancestry until he has inchuk-d 128 of his i)rogenitors. he is inclined to admit the 

 author's exi)lanation, that Bismarck was "the atavistic product of a cross between 

 the Dcrdlinger and Michael Biittner : trains of germ-])lasm." 



