THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 29 



physical trait so liable to disturbance by circumstances outside 

 the human body is correspondingly invalidated as an indication 

 of hereditary tendencies which lie within. We are compelled 

 for this reason to assign the third place to this characteristic 

 in our series of racial tests, placing it below the color of the hair 

 and eyes in the scale. This does not mean that it is entirely 

 worthless for our ethnic purposes. There are many clear cases 

 of differences of stature which can be ascribed to no other cause ; 

 but it bids us be cautious about judging hastily. It commands 

 us to be content with nothing less than hundreds of observations, 

 and to rigidly eliminate all social factors. The best way to do 

 this is to take the broad view, by including so many individuals 

 that locally progressive and degenerative factors may counter- 

 balance one another. Turning back to our world map of statures, 

 it will at once appear that we can not divide the human species 

 into definite continental groups characterized by distinct pecul- 

 iarities of stature. The so-called yellow Mongolian race comprises 

 both tall and short peoples. The aborigines of America are, as a 

 rule, tall ; but in the Andes, the basin of the Columbia River, and 

 elsewhere they are quite undersized. The only two racial groups 

 which seem to be homogeneous in stature are the true African 

 negroes and the peoples of Indonesia and the Pacific. In Africa 

 the environment is quite uniform. In the other cases racial 

 peculiarities seem to be deeply enough ingrained to overcome the 

 disturbances due to outward factors. The Malays are always and 

 everywhere rather short. The Polynesians are obstinately in- 

 clined toward tallness. With these exceptions, racial or heredi- 

 tary predispositions in stature seem to be absent. Let us turn to 

 the consideration of Europe by itself, and inquire if the same rule 

 holds here as well. 



The light tints upon this map * indicate the tall populations ; as 

 the tint darkens, the people become progressively more and more 

 stunted. Here again we find that Europe comprehends a very 

 broad range of variations. The Scotch, with an average height 

 of five feet and ten inches, stand on a level with the tall Polyne- 

 sians and Americans, both aboriginal and modern white. At the 

 other extreme, the south Italians, French, and Spaniards, range 

 alongside the shortest of men, if we except the abnormal dwarf 



* This map is constructed from a great number of detailed local investigations, the re- 

 sults of which have been, as far as possible, correlated and reduced to a common base. 

 Many serious difficulties have to be overcome, and the final result must be regarded as 

 merely approximate. For example, some observers have studied the entire population of 

 districts ; others draw their figures from the army alone, from which, of course, all the 

 abnormally short men have been eliminated. Some give averages alone ; others work by 

 percentile grades. To be sure, these two methods give parallel results ; but how discover 

 the average from them ? Complete details will be published in due season. 



