NEW TYPES AMONG MEN 179 



north. The answer lies in one of ^sop's fables. Was it the fox 

 or some other animal that refused to have anything to do with 

 an inconsistent creature like man who blows on his fingers to 

 warm them and on his soup to cool it? We all know that coffee 

 that is painfully hot to one throat may be highly refreshing to 

 another. And does not alcohol make some people affectionate and 

 others pugnacious? The south Italians, it must be remembered, 

 and especially the Sicilians, represent the extreme Mediterranean 

 type of man; while the Jews and the Bohemian group represent 

 quite different racial types. Moreover, the physical environment 

 of Italy w^th its long monotonous dry summers is very different 

 from that of east central Europe with its long monotonous cold 

 winters. Both, again, are in strong contrast to New York with 

 its cold variable winters and its warm variable summers. 



The fact that no changes could be detected in the Scotch chil- 

 dren strengthens the force of Boas' argument. When the Scotch 

 come to the United States the change both in physical environ- 

 ment and in mode of life is much less than for the other races. 

 Yet even among the Scotch the new environment may cause 

 changes of many kinds that were not measured by Boas. There 

 may be pronounced changes in mental reactions which cannot be 

 detected by the calipers. It is indeed most significant that the 

 greatest evidence of physiological changes arising from a new 

 habitat should be in the head. We have already seen that the 

 most noteworthy fact in all man's later evolution is the rapidity 

 of mental development. The brain appears to be the most plastic 

 part of the human organism. We have also seen that at the 

 present time the effect of environment and of health upon mental 

 processes seems to be even more important than their effect on 

 the so-called lower functions such as nutrition. If a change of 

 environment can alter the form of the head, it seems only reason- 

 able to agree with Boas in the conclusion that it is still more 

 likely to alter the mental processes. 



Finally, let me hark back once more to the surprising agree- 



