H.— ANTHROPOLOGY. 197 



an ultimate corner, but among them apparently the specially long-heads 

 are not in the majority. None the less, long-headedness with high- 

 headedness is a feature here. The Ainu also stand out in contrast to 

 most other peoples of East and North Asia in having very hairy bodies. 

 Extreme hairiness may be looked upon as a protective scheme alternative 

 to the development of the very dry skin with very few hairs, characteristic 

 of Mongolia, &c. 



Looking generally at the early spread of man northward in Asia, we 

 note that yellow-brown or brown or red-brown skin is a widespread 

 feature. It is partly a maintenance of early pigmentation, partly, perhaps, 

 an adaptation of that pigment to conditions of snow-glare and sunlight 

 in a cold climate along lines which are being made the subject of physical 

 investigation. The skins are usually well provided with dry epidermal 

 layers, as would be natural in such climates. For the most part, hair- 

 reduction has been carried to an extreme, and such hair as remains grows 

 in firm pores in such a way as to fill the pore very completely. Sweat- 

 glands also are not over-numerous, and, in consequence of this, skin garments 

 can be worn without undue discomfort for a long time. A skin of this 

 kind has a low irritability, an important fact in relation to the equability 

 of temperament and relatively low sensibility to pain that is characteristic 

 of many of the peoples who have spread north-eastwards in Asia ; needless 

 to say, modifying factors affecting the temperament in other ways could 

 be discussed. A moderate nose and strong cheek-bones may be supposed 

 to be a general ancient feature of these peoples, but this matter will be 

 discussed later. The diet generally includes a good deal of fat, thus 

 encouraging production of heat that balances the high cooling power of 

 the environment. Some of the broader-headed spreads in the directions 

 indicated have reached regions with warmer seasons, and have adopted 

 very different diets, especially as the type of skin just discussed does not 

 make easy the dispersion of internal heat. 



Some broad-heads spreading northwards in Asia took the river-bank 

 ways, such as that of the Yenisei, and, arriving on the tundra, ultimately 

 found the westward route via North Kussia to Scandinavia possible as 

 the ice sheet of the latter diminished. This last spread must have been 

 relatively late. 



In concluding this brief review of early spreads of man and of their 

 probable effects on present-day populations, it is well to refer to the 

 interesting new light that is beginning to be shed on racial problems by 

 the study of blood groups.'^^ The results are fragmentary and still lack 

 correlations, but it already seems that, in some extreme peripheral regions, 

 such as Australia, America, Iceland, and, to some extent, N.W. Europe, 

 the proportions of persons with Groups III or IV of the usual blood- classifi- 

 cation scheme are very low indeed. It is as though a large element of the 

 blood of these peripheral peoples was inherited with little alteration from 

 a phase before certain specialisations occurred in the composition of the 

 blood. 



2» Snyder, L. H. ' Human Blood Groups,' Am. Journ. Phys. Anthr., 1926. 



