ANTHROPOLOGY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS 275 



It is evident from these figures that the farther we go south 

 and east of Europe, the smaller the proportion of brunettes 

 among the Jews, and the larger the proportion of blonds. With 

 the non-Jewish population of this region the reverse is the fact, 

 as can be seen graphically from the maps prepared by Virchow 

 and Ranke.^ Most of the blonds are found in Prussia, Pome- 

 rania, Sleswick-Holstein, Hanover, Westphalia, etc., and the 

 farther east we proceed reaching Posen, Silesia, Bohemia, 

 Moravia, Upper and Lower Austria, and finally the Bukowina 

 and Galicia, the percentage of pure blonds decreases, and the 

 brunettes increase in frequency. It is noteworthy, as has been 

 pointed out by Virchow, that in localities where the Jews have 

 lived for centuries in strict isolation from other races, owing to 

 religious and social prejudices, and presumably did not inter- 

 marry with their Gentile neighbors, the proportion of blond 

 types is larger than in the Prussian provinces where they are not 

 socially isolated but on the contrary have entered into general 

 social intercourse with the non-Jewish inhabitants. Here the 

 largest proportion of brunette types is found among the Jewish 

 school children. 



This fact, which is fully confirmed by our observations on 

 the immigrant Jews in the United States, is of peculiar signifi- 

 cance, particularly when considered in connection with the fact 

 that other somatic traits of the Jews depend greatly on the 

 characteristics of their non-Jewish neighbors. 



The high percentage of red-haired Jews is interesting. Among 

 the Jews in New York we found that 3.23 percent of the men, 

 and 3.95 percent of the women had red hair. Majer and Koper- 

 nicki, Weissenberg and Talko-Hryncewicz find 4 percent of 

 red-haired Jews, and indeed erythrism has been regarded as 

 characteristic of the Jews, both in Europe and the Orient. We 

 find that the red hair, particularly the beard, is usually frizzly 

 and nearly always accompanied by freckled skin. This erythrism 

 appears not to be of recent origin ; it was not unknown among 

 the ancient Hebrews, for Esau was said to have been ** red all 



!/)<?;- Alensch, Vol. II, p. 290; reproduced in Ripley's "Races of Europe," 

 p. 222. 



