848 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 752 



differences in eliaracter and in the direction 

 of specific aptitudes. There is, howeYer, no 

 proof whatever that these differences sig- 

 nify any appreciable degree of inferiority 

 of the negro, notwithstanding the slightly 

 inferior size, and perhaps lesser complexity 

 of structure, of his brain; for these racial 

 differences are much less than the range of 

 variation found in either race considered 

 by itself. This view is supported by the 

 remarkable development of industry, politi- 

 cal organization, and philosophic opinion, 

 as well as by the frequent occurrence of 

 men of great will-power and wisdom 

 among the negroes in Africa. 



I think we have reason to be ashamed to 

 confess that the scientific study of these 

 questions has never received the support 

 either of our government or of any of our 

 great scientific institutions; and it is hard 

 to understand why we are so indifferent 

 towards a question which is of paramount 

 importance to the welfare of our nation. 

 The anatomy of the American negro is not 

 well known; and, notwithstanding the oft- 

 repeated assertions regarding the heredi- 

 tary inferiority of the mulatto, we know 

 hardly anything on this subject. If his 

 vitality is lower than that of the full- 

 blooded negro, this may be as much 

 due to social causes as to hereditary 

 causes. Owing to the very large num- 

 ber of mulattoes in our country, it 

 would not be a difficult matter to investi- 

 gate the biological aspects of this question 

 thoroughly; and the importance of the 

 problem demands that this should be done. 

 Looking into a distant future, it seems 

 reasonably certain that with the increasing 

 mobility of the negro, the number of full- 

 bloods will rapidly decrease ; and since there 

 is no introduction of new negro blood, there 

 can not be the slightest doubt that the ulti- 

 mate effect of the contact between the two 

 races must necessarily be a continued in- 

 crease of the amount of white blood in the 



negro community. This process will go on 

 most rapidly inside of the colored com- 

 munity, owing to intermarriages between 

 mulattoes and full-blooded negroes. 

 Whether or not the addition of white blood 

 to the colored population is sufficiently 

 large to counterbalance this leveling effect, 

 which will make the mixed bloods with a 

 slight strain of negro blood darker, is 

 difficult to teU ; but it is quite obvious, that, 

 although our laws may retard the influx of 

 white blood considerably, they can not 

 hinder the gradual progress of inter- 

 mixture. If the powerful caste system of 

 India has not been able to prevent inter- 

 mixture, our laws, which recognize a 

 greater amount of individual liberty, will 

 certainly not be able to do so; and that 

 there is no racial sexual antipathy is made 

 sufficiently clear by the size of our mulatto 

 population. A candid consideration of the 

 manner in which intermixture takes place 

 shows very clearly that the probability of 

 the infusion of white blood into the colored 

 population is considerable. WhUe the large 

 body of the white population will always, 

 at least for a very long time to come, be 

 entirely remote from any possibility of 

 intermixture with negroes, I think that we 

 may predict with a fair degree of certainty 

 a condition in which the contrast between 

 colored people and whites will be less 

 marked than it is at the present time. Not- 

 withstanding all the obstacles that may be 

 laid in the way of intermixture, the condi- 

 tions are such that the persistence of the 

 pure negro type is practically impossible. 

 Not even an excessively high mortality and 

 lack of fertility among the mixed type, as 

 compared with the pure types, could pre- 

 vent this result. Since it is impossible to 

 change these conditions, they should be 

 faced squarely, and we ought to demand a 

 careful and critical investigation of the 

 whole problem. 



It appears from this consideration, that 



