180 FISHBERG 



is represented, the curve runs progressively downwards, until 

 the stature of 1 50 cm. is reached, when the number becomes 

 almost insignificant. But to the right, where heights above the 

 average are shown, a significant point is to be seen. Up to 168 

 cm. there is shown an elevation of the curve, which is not seen 

 on the curve for the Jews of Eastern Europe, but exactly corre- 

 sponding to the elevation in the curve representing the Jews in 

 New York City. This again shows plainly the process of selec- 

 tion which is usual for immigrants as regards their physical con- 

 dition — the taller ones are more adventurous and are more apt 

 to leave their native land in search of fortunes in a distant land. 



The first impression one gets while examining this curve is 

 that the Jews do not show any evidences of intermixture with 

 other races. It has been accepted by many anthropologists 

 that the seriation and coordination of any physical character of 

 a people, in which there has taken place an appreciable amount 

 of racial intermixture will not show a smooth curve. It will 

 display more than one apex, corresponding to the racial ele- 

 ments which have entered into the composition of the people. 

 On the other hand, when a curve shows a single apex — one 

 maximum of frequency, around which are clustered all the other 

 observations, the lesser values to the left and the larger to the 

 right, it may be accepted as good proof of the purity of the race. 

 Viewed from this standpoint, the Jew^s can be considered as pure, 

 showing no evidence of foreign blood in their veins. 



The fallacy of such a contention will be evident when we will 

 consider at first the stature of the races and peoples among 

 whom the Eastern European Jews have lived for centuries. 

 They are primarily those whom ethnologists class under the 

 vague term "Slav" races. Of these we find in Poland the 

 Poles, whose stature is quite short, 162 to 164 cm. in height 

 (Majer and Kopernicki, Olechnowicz, Elkind, Snigiref, Zakrzew- 

 ski, etc.) In Lithuania and White-Russia, the Lithuanians, 

 Letts, and the White-Russians are somewhat taller — 163 to 

 165 cm. The Little-Russians in South Russia, and the Ru- 

 thenians in Galicia are taller, to be sure, but their height does not 

 exceed 166.7 c"^- ^^^ ^^ some localities it is much lower — 



