190 FISHBERG 



by the Jews in Europe, because the numerical value of the 

 Jewish rural population is almost insignificant. The superior 

 stature of the Jews in the United States is to be ascribed to this 

 very cause. 



The wretched social, economic and sanitary conditions under 

 which they labor in the Eastern European Ghettoes, will also 

 account for the deficiency they display in body height, when 

 compared with their Gentile neighbors. As a matter of fact, in 

 Galicia, where the economic conditions of the Jews are worst, 

 they are shorter than any other class of Jews. Even the immi- 

 grants of the United States from this poor country are the short- 

 est, as we have seen above. The artificial selection which in- 

 fluences favorably the average stature of immigrants, had no 

 effect at all on these Jews. In Poland, where the economic con- 

 ditions are better, the Jews are taller ; w^hile in South Russia 

 the Jews are quite tall, corresponding possibly to superior 

 economic conditions. The influence of poverty and social con- 

 ditions on the stature of the Jews has been illustrated in a strik- 

 ing manner by Zakrzew^ski in his w^ork " Ludnosc miasta 

 Warszawy."^ He prepared maps showmg the social status of 

 the various districts in Warsaw, the capital of Poland and the 

 average stature of the Jews and Poles in that city. A com- 

 parison of these maps shows in a striking manner how short- 

 ness of stature goes hand in hand with poverty. Another in- 

 direct proof of this theory is the increase of stature of the first 

 generation of Jew^s in New^ York city, w^here the social and 

 economic conditions are much improved. 



The Jews are mostly engaged in indoor occupations. 720 of 

 the 1528 individuals investigated in New York (47.12 percent) 

 were working indoors. That workingmen who spend most of 

 their time in closed rooms, particularly amid unsanitary sur- 

 roundings, such as are generally obtainable in sweatshops, are 

 shorter of stature, is well known. Ripley ascribes it to two 

 causes : The first is artificial selection, *' The physically well 

 developed men seek certain trades or occupations in which their 

 vigor or strength may stand them in good stead ; on the other 



^ Materiali anlr.-archeol. Akad. tiniicj., Krakow, I, dzial I, pp. 1-38. 



