196 RACES OF MEN. 



implication, in the majority of the works on heredity, and the same 

 inconsistency between advocacy and facts may often be found 

 between the same covers. 



OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANTAGEOUS VARIATIONS. 



Advantageous variations occur in all parts of the world and 

 among all races of men and animals. If it be true that early repro- 

 duction offers more opportunities for such advantageous variations, 

 then we should look for such variations, and consequently the 

 greatest men, because selection preserves advantageous variations, 

 among those races of people who furnish the greatest number of 

 such "opportunities." These people are the Digger Indians, the 

 Fuegians, the Andamanese, the Bushmen, and some other of the 

 degenerate and degenerating races. That I might be accurate in 

 this matter I have carefully looked up the marriage customs of 

 various races, as far as they relate to the age of reproduction, and 

 will give examples of them in detail to make it clear what relation- 

 ship they bear to each other. 



THE ESKIMOS. 



Though the Eskimo has a rude sort of intelligence from the 

 savage standpoint, he is wholly illiterate and capable of only a very 

 limited education. Extreme cold, like extreme heat, is said to cause 

 early maturity, and boys and girls marry as soon as the husband 

 is able to support a family. As hunting seals is the principal occu- 

 pation, this usually occurs when the boy is about 15 or 16. The 

 mothers nurse their children until about four years of age. Thus, 

 while reproduction begins at a very early age, three or four children 

 would carry the parents to a period between 25 and 30. Th.e aver- 

 age age at reproduction is therefore some time between 20 and 25, 

 probably about 23 or 24. 



