EVOLUTION OF MENTAL CHARACTEKS 895 



The results of several similar inquiries have been summarized 

 by Popenoe and Johnson. ' The most careful study yet made ', 

 they write, ' of the relative intelligence of negroes and whites, 

 is that of G. 0. Ferguson, junior, on 486 white and 421 coloured 

 pupils in the schools of Kichmond, Fredericksburg, and Newport 

 News, Va. Tests were employed which required the use of the 

 higher ' functions ' and as far as possible (mainly on the basis 

 of skin colour) the amount of white blood in the coloured pupils 

 was determined. Four classes were made : full-blood negro, 

 | negro, | negro (mulatto), and negro (quadroon). It was found 

 that ' the pure negroes scored 69-2 per cent, as high as the whites ; 

 that the f negroes scored 73 per cent, as high as the whites ; that 

 the mulattoes scored 81-2 per cent, as high as the whites ; and 

 that the quadroons obtained 91-8 per cent, of the white score.' 

 This confirms the belief of many observers that the ability of 

 a coloured man is proportionate to the amount of white blood 

 he has. 1 



Summing up a review of this subject Huntingdon writes as 

 follows : ' So far as I am aware, every exact test which has been 

 made on a large scale indicates mental superiority on the part 

 of the white race, even when the two races have equal opportuni- 

 ties. For example, in Washington the coloured children remain 

 in school quite as long as the white ; they do not accomplish so 

 much in the way of study and do not reach so high a grade. 

 In the cities of the south, Mayo and Leram find that where the 

 races are given essentially the same instruction, the proportion of 

 whites who are promoted is greater than than of negroes. More- 

 over, the differences seem to increase with years, which suggests 

 that the average coloured child not only stands below the average 

 white child in mental development at. all ages, but ceases to 

 develop at an earlier age. In the High Schools of New York, 

 superiority of the white race is shown by Mayo's examination of 

 the average marks. By the time the children reach the High 

 School, the processes of promotion have weeded out a much 

 larger proportion of coloured children than of white. Hence, 

 the negroes form a specially selected group whose superiority to 

 the average of their race is more marked than the superiority of the 

 white High School children when compared with the rest of 

 the race. Nevertheless, the average marks of the white children 



1 Popenoe and Johnson, loc. cit., p. 288. 



