THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 613 



like. The characteristic of almost all modern tax words or terms 

 is indefiniteness ; and probably in no other department of knowl- 

 edge is there such a lack of exactness in respect to definitions. 

 This to a student may seem at first to be a factor of no little 

 embarrassment, and as assimilating him to the condition of 

 the man who couldn't see the forest because of the multitude 

 of trees; but with the exception of the definitions of tax and 

 taxation, this condition of affairs really constitutes no obstacle in 

 the way of clearly reasoning and determining as to what should --7*^ 

 be the fundamental principles of taxation. 



THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 

 A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY. 



(Lowett Institute Lectures, 1896.) 

 BY WILLIAM Z. RIPLEY, PH. D., 



ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY J LECTURER IN 

 ANTHROPO-GEOGRAPIiY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 



VIII. THE BASQUES. 



rjlHE Basques, or Euskaldunak, as they call themselves, on ac- 

 JL count of the primitive character of their institutions, but 

 more particularly because of the archaic features of their lan- 

 guage, have long attracted the attention of ethnologists. Few 

 writers on European travel have been able to keep their hands 

 off this interesting people. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining 

 information from the original Basque sources, a wide range of 

 speculation has been offered for cultivation. Interest for a long 

 time mainly centered in the language; the physical character- 

 istics were largely neglected. The last ten years have, however, 

 witnessed a remarkable change in this respect. A series of 

 brilliant investigations has been offered to science, based almost 

 entirely upon the study of the living population. As a conse- 

 quence, this people has within a decade emerged from the hazy 

 domain of romance into the clear light of scientific knowledge. 

 Much yet remains to be accomplished ; but enough is definitely 

 known to warrant many conclusions both as to their physical 

 origin and ethnic affinities.* 



* The best modern authorities on the Basques are Broca, Sur 1'origine et la repartition 

 de la langue Basque. Revue d' Anthropologie, series i, iv, 1875, pp. 1-63; R. Collignon, Antb.ro- 

 pologiedu sud-ouest de la France, M6moires de la Socie"te d' Anthropologie, series iii, i, 1895, 

 fasc. 4; De Aranzadi y Unamuno, El Pueblo Euskalduna, San Sebastian 1889; Hoyos 

 Sainz and De Aranzadi, Un Avance a la antropologla de Espana, Madrid, 1892 ; Oloriz 

 Distribution geografica del indice cefalico en Espana, Madrid, 1894 ; and ibid., La talla 



