250 THE TREND OF THE RACE 



the cross between a white man and a negro is a negro , the cross 

 between a white man and a Hindu is a Hindu, and the cross be- 

 tween any of the three European races and a Jew is a Jew." 



The unfortunate cross breed has come in for condemnation 

 from all quarters. The favorite description is that the mongrel 

 inherits the vices of both parents and the virtues of neither. Ac- 

 cording to Schultz, it is according to a '' law of nature," — although 

 why it is so is inexplicable, — that "only the bad qualities of the 

 whites and the negro are transmitted to the mongrel offspring." 

 Certainly the results of hybridization in plants and animals are 

 very far from proving Schultz's thesis. And it is rather surprising 

 that a writer who appeals to biology as affording a support to his 

 views on race mixture should have ignored so much that fails to 

 corroborate his theory. It is nonsense to say that the inferiority 

 of the hybrid exemplifies a law of nature. There are abundant 

 plant and animal hybrids that are superior types, and biology af- 

 fords no a priori reason why the hybrids of races and peoples 

 may not be superior also. We can only decide the question by an 

 impartial appeal to the results of race crossing, after making 

 due allowance for the social and other influences which may affect 

 the character of the mixed stock. 



That mongrel nations are often decadent is not an infallible 

 proof that biologically or psychologically the effect of race cross- 

 ing is bad. Mr. James Bryce states in his work on South America, 

 — a work which, by the way, gives a verdict quite different from 

 that of Schultz on the mixed people of that country, — "No one 

 has yet studied scientifically the results of race fusion. History 

 throws little light on the subject, because wherever there has been 

 a mixture of races there have been also concomitant circum- 

 stances influencing the people who are the product of the mixture 

 which have made it hard to determine whether the deterioration 

 (or improvement) is due to this or some other cause." 



Mr. Bryce is no apologist for miscegenation and he has else- 

 where warned the American people of the danger of absorbing the 

 blood of the negro. Race crossing may have unfortunate social 

 consequences without being bad biologically. As Topinard has, 



