468 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



cent, of the population, and 

 the Protestants as 59 per 

 cent. In 1888 the Jews 

 numbered 7,400. Geneva, 

 long noted for its manu- 

 facture of watches, was the 

 home of Rousseau and 

 Necker, and has been a 

 chief stronghold of Calvinism 

 since the sixteenth century. 



ITALY. 



To some extent the political 

 relations during the last 

 three decades have been 

 much the same in Italy as 

 in Germany. Before 1870, 

 when its unity as a kingdom 

 was first achieved, it was 

 divided into a number of 

 separate states. Italy at 

 the present day comprises 

 the states of Sardinia, the 

 Two Sicilies, the Pontifical 

 States, the Lombard and 

 Venetian provinces formerly 

 belonging to the Austrian 

 Empire, the duchies of 

 Tuscany, Parma, and 

 Modena. With a total area 

 of 114,410 square miles, it 

 has a population estimated 

 in 1900 at 31,856,000. 



It would be hopeless 

 to attempt to arrive at a 

 just estimate of the racial 

 elements of which the modern Italian is composed. To describe him as Latin would merely be 

 an easy means of getting over the difficulty by giving him a classical name. When Italy first 

 emerges into the light of history, it is seen to be the home of a number of tribes destined 

 afterwards to be absorbed in a great linguistic family to which the people of Latium gave 

 their name. The Umbro-Sabellian group were the most important of these early inhabitants, 

 although their arrival in Italy was comparatively late. The Latin race, with which the Greek 

 was closely allied, was probably the advance-guard of the great Aryan migration into 

 Southern Europe. The Etruscans were established in Italy some time prior to the arrival of 

 the Latins, and have left a deep impression, both as regards physical character and mental 

 culture, on the Italian race. In later times they were associated more particularly with the 

 portion of Italy now known as Tuscany, but there can be little doubt that they once 

 extended over a much wider area. They were a non-Aryan people, and have been classed 

 by some writers with the Iberians, as a survival from Neolithic times. Others have put 

 forward the untenable view that the Etruscans were a branch of the Finno-Tartars. In 

 appearance they seem to have been small and dark. They attained to a high degree of 



Pluoto by Pilotti & Porpel] 



AN ITALIAN PEASANT-GIRL IN HER WEDDING-DRESS. 



[Milan. 



