266 THE TREND OF THE RACE 



reverse direction. Will the outcome be, as some think it will, 

 the ultimate fusion of all races into one? As Metcalf remarks, 

 "The amalgamation of the races of man into one race as homog- 

 eneous as the present European population will doubtless take a 

 few thousand years to accomplish, but as far as we can judge from 

 the conditions now existing and those seemingly necessarily about 

 to come, such union of the races seems inevitable." 



It is evident that the intercommunication between races will 

 in the future increase rather than decrease, and it is probable that 

 amalgamation of races will go on more rapidly than before. The 

 superior races may take more efficient means to protect them- 

 selves from the infusion of inferior blood, but among the less 

 advanced races and peoples intermingling seems destined to wipe 

 out the individuality of many existing stocks. The distinct 

 races will doubtless become narrowed down to a relatively small 

 number, and what diversity remains will be maintained either 

 through conscious efforts to retain racial integrity, or the action 

 of cHmate or other conditions which will tend to keep certain 

 parts of the earth in possession of those races which are especially 

 adapted to thrive there. The tropics are apparently unsuited for 

 continuous habitation by the white man. The diseases which 

 have tended to exclude the Caucasian may all in time be con- 

 quered. But there will always remain the outstanding factor of 

 climate which, in the long run, proves to be a very effective 

 barrier to the expansion of races. It is not improbable that large 

 parts of tropical Africa will have to be left permanently in the 

 hands of the negro race. On the other hand, the black race does 

 not thrive in northern latitudes. It would be absurd to assume 

 that each part of the globe is inhabited by the racial elements 

 which are best adapted to them; nevertheless there are certain 

 broad, general adjustments which have doubtless largely deter- 

 mined the ubiety of the chief racial subdivisions of the human 

 species. With the breaking up of old racial boundaries there may| 

 be effected a redistribution of ethnic stocks so that they will be 

 more closely associated with climatic zones. Racial distinctions 

 may then be permanently kept if they are favored by differences 



