ANTHROPOLOGY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS 189 



population is of tall stature, the Jews display the same char- 

 acteristic, and the reverse. 



The Influenxe of Social Conditions on Stature. 



The deficiency of the stature of the Jews, as compared with 

 their non -Jewish neighbors is an interesting topic for investiga- 

 tion. It is true that the difference is but little, only one to three 

 centimeters in favor of the Gentiles, but it is evident in almost 

 every country where measurements have been taken. It is of 

 scientific interest to inquire into the reasons why the stature of 

 the Jews depends to a great extent upon the statute of their 

 neighbors, wherever the latter are short of stature the Jews dis- 

 play the same characteristic ; and the reverse, but what is most 

 remarkable, they are always somewhat shorter than the Gentiles. 



One reason may be the fact that the Jews are mostly town- 

 dwellers, while nearly two thirds of non-Jews are living in the 

 country. The Jews are only rarely engaged in agricultural 

 pursuits. *'The general rule in Europe" says Ripley, "seems 

 to be that the urban type is physically degenerate." ^ Beddoe 

 considers as proved that the stature of men in the large towns 

 of Britain is lowered considerably below the standard of the 

 nation and that such degradation is progressive and hereditary. - 

 The same has been obser\ed by Ranke in Bavaria,^ Anutchin 

 in Russia ■* and by many others. Ripley^ points out that " the 

 unfavorable influence of city life is often obscured by the great 

 social selection which is at work in the determination of the 

 physical t}^pe of the population of great cities. While the course 

 of the town type by itself is downward, oftentimes the city 

 attracts another class which is markedly superior, in the same 

 way that the immigrants of the United States have been distin- 

 guished in this respect." This advantage is of course not enjoyed 



"^ Loc. cit., p. 95. 



^J. Beddoe, "On the Stature and Bulk of Man in the British Isles," Mevi. 

 Ant/ir. Soc. London, III, 1867. 



3 J. Ranke, " Der Mensch," Vol. II, p. 131. 



* D. N. Anutchin, "On the Geographical Distribution of Stature of the Male 

 Population of Russia, St. Petersburg, 1889, p. 165 (in Russian). 



^Loc. cit., pp. 95, 552-555. 



