180 MARRIAGE AND HEREDITY 



harsh-featured, red-haired native tribes. The pre- 

 vailing Celtic colour, at all events, is dark brown, with 

 extremes of red and black. On the other hand, the 

 Danes and Scandinavians of the Eastern counties are 

 fair and occasionally flaxen. In character the difference 

 of race is hardly less marked, the Danish and Scandi- 

 navian population being plodding, industrious, and 

 good-natured, and the Celtic fiery and impulsive, 

 more quick than accurate in observation. It is no 

 straining of probability, in these circumstances, to 

 assume that complexion has something to do with 

 our elective affinities. As Nature is an incorrigible 

 leveller, there ought to be a tendency on the part of 

 dark people to seek fair partners, and fair people 

 dark ones. For this reason, combined with the 

 greater facilities for communication now existing 

 between one locality and another, the amount of 

 very fair and very dark hair in this country, and 

 probably in Europe generally, would seem to be de- 

 creasing, medium shades of brown taking its place. 



The majority of marriages are contracted probably 

 without much regard to the subtle preferences we have 

 been discussing. Young people are throMm together 

 by accident and marry as a matter of course. There 

 is a general average of attractiveness in the sexes 



