January 8, 1R97.] 



SCIENCE. 



67 



the frequency of respiration somewhat greater 

 than in the white; that tlie lifting strength of the 

 white is the greater, and that the vision of the 

 blaclc is inferior, though he is less liable to dis- 

 ease of the eye. The impressions and opinions 

 of various students appear to indicate that dur- 

 ing slavery the black was ' physically the equal 

 if not the superior of the white, and this view 

 has been fully sustained by the statistics of 

 mortality, which also ranked him the equal if 

 not the superior of the white thirty years ago ' 

 (pages 175-6); but that since emancipation the 

 black has deteriorated materially, both in phy- 

 sical development and in viability. "And the 

 opinion is warranted that * * * the tendency 

 of the race has been downward. This tendency, 

 if unchecked, must in the end lead to a still 

 greater mortality, a lesser degree of economic 

 and social efiBciency, a lower standard of nur- 

 ture and a diminishing excess of births over 

 deaths. A combination of these traits and 

 tendencies must in the end cause the extinction 

 of the race" (page 176). 



The fourth chapter deals with ' Race Amalga- 

 mation ' in a statistical way, so far as the avail- 

 able data permit, but with abundant references 

 to the opinions of students. It is recognized 

 that the American negro ' is largely a cross be- 

 tween the African and the white male ' (page 

 177), and that very little pure African blood 

 remains; it is also recognized that, since the 

 emancipation, the admixture of the races has 

 been materially checked and is constantly di- 

 minishing, with a concomitant tendency toward 

 the development of a distinctive race of mixed 

 blood, to which the foregoing facts and figures 

 apply, and of which the before-mentioned fea- 

 tures and tendencies are characteristic. It is 

 shown that the roseate dreams of radical Aboli- 

 tionists thirty years ago concerning the absorp- 

 tion of the blacks, with attendant improvement 

 in the whites, have faded as time has widened 

 the chasm between the races; the shocking im- 

 morality of the blacks, as indicated by illegiti- 

 mate births in Washington and elsewhere, is 

 set forth in the records; and the physical de- 

 terioration of the black race is, at least impli- 

 citly, ascribed to the moral inferiority. 



Under ' Social Conditions and Tendencies ' it 

 is shown that the blacks take kindly to religious 



institutions, though education pervades their 

 ranks more slowly, and that neither counteracts 

 criminal tendencies so completely as has been 

 hoped ; it is also shown from ample statistics 

 that crime is nearly thrice as prevalent among 

 the blacks as among the whites, this relation 

 holding even when the negro is compared with 

 the most criminal nationalities. The statistics 

 for different cities and sections appear to indi- 

 cate also that crime is increasing among the 

 blacks, though decreasing among the whites. 

 A considerable body of data relating to lynch- 

 ing has been brought together, which seems to 

 indicate that neither this summary mode of 

 punishment nor the crimes for which it is the 

 penalty .are decreasing. Efforts are made also 

 to tabulate the statistics of pauperism, and the 

 tables indicate the great preponderance of pau- 

 perism among the blacks, though it is evident 

 that the figures do charitable justice to this 

 phase of the character of the alien race. Un- 

 der ' Economic Conditions and Tendencies ' the 

 negro is considered as an agricultural laborer 

 and as an industrial factor, and it is shown that 

 he profits little, and, according to many opin- 

 ions, suffers from education, and displays a 

 lamentable lack of thrift and public spirit as a 

 citizen, though filling fairly well a subordinate 

 position in industrial society. 



In the final chapter (a ' Conclusion ' in name 

 and in the fact that it ends the book, though 

 not at all as a summary of the investigation) 

 comparisons are instituted between the Ameri- 

 can negro and various other races, including 

 the American Indians, the Maoris, etc.; the 

 author not only concurring in, but adding 

 weight to, the general opinion concerning the 

 decadence of the lower races when brought in 

 contact with the higher. 



From a sociologic point of view, if not from 

 that of the statician or economist concerned with 

 great masses rather than inconspicuous (albeit 

 important) principles, a criticism maybe lodged 

 against the book; and it may be stated the 

 more starkly, first, because all or nearly all cur- 

 rent statistical discussions of the subject are 

 open to the same criticism, and second, because 

 another Federal census is in contemplation, and 

 it would seem especially timely to direct atten- 



