234 HEREDITY AND EUGENICS 



well known that men of exceptional abilit}^ frequentl}^ 

 have small brains. Ferguson (1921), in a sane dis- 

 cussion of the mental status of the American negro, 

 concludes that psychological study of the negro in- 

 dicates that he will never be the mental equal of the 

 white man. Comparison of school children in the 

 elementar}^ grades shows that onl}' 20 or 25 per cent, 

 of negro children equal or exceed the average score 

 of white children. But the term " negro " in these 

 and other American statistics includes every grade of 

 mulatto, and the latter ma}^, of course, inherit the 

 ability of their white ancestor. If only pure negroes 

 were considered, their average mental ability would 

 probably be much lower. The United States census 

 of 1 910 show^ed that mulattoes constituted ap- 

 proximately one-fifth of the coloured population, 

 a fraction which continues to increase and is now 

 probably one -fourth. Mental tests of coloured 

 children in schools show that, on the average, lighter 

 skin goes with higher intelligence. 



The American army intelligence tests showed a still 

 more marked difference between whites and blacks. 

 Only one-third of the negroes were sufficiently literate 

 to read a newspaper or write a letter, while three- 

 fourths of the whites passed this test. The result 

 was probably partly due to a difference in educa- 

 tional opportunities, but the Binet tests, which 

 measure ability apart from education, showed that 

 only 20 to 25 per cent, of the " negro " recruits 

 equalled or exceeded the average white recruit. 

 Moreover, the percentage of mulattoes among the 

 literates was about twice as great as among the 

 illiterates, and when the illiterates were removed 

 from a " negro " company its complexion was thereby 

 notably lightened. While the negro's mental status 

 is thus undoubtedly more primitive than that of the 

 white man, yet there is apparently no evidence for the 



