266 THE TREND OF THE RACE 
reverse direction. Will the outcome be, as some think it will, 
the ultimate fusion of all races into one? As Metcalf remarks, 
“The amalgamation of the races of man into one race as homog- 
eneous as the present European population will doubtless take a 
few thousand years to accomplish, but as far as we can judge from 
the conditions now existing and those seemingly necessarily about 
to come, such union of the races seems inevitable.” 
It is evident that the intercommunication between races will 
in the future increase rather than decrease, and it is probable that 
amalgamation of races will go on more rapidly than before. The 
superior races may take more efficient means to protect them- 
selves from the infusion of inferior blood, but among the less 
advanced races and peoples intermingling seems destined to wipe 
out the individuality of many existing stocks. The distinct 
races will doubtless become narrowed down to a relatively small 
number, and what diversity remains will be maintained either 
through conscious efforts to retain racial integrity, or the action 
of climate or other conditions which will tend to keep certain 
parts of the earth in possession of those races which are especially 
adapted to thrive there. The tropics are apparently unsuited for 
continuous habitation by the white man. The diseases which 
have tended to exclude the Caucasian may all in time be con- 
quered. But there will always remain the outstanding factor of 
climate which, in the long run, proves to be a very effective 
barrier to the expansion of races. It is not improbable that large 
parts of tropical Africa will have to be left permanently in the 
hands of the negro race. On the other hand, the black race does 
not thrive in northern latitudes. It would be absurd to assume 
that each part of the globe is inhabited by the racial elements 
which are best adapted to them; nevertheless there are certain 
broad, general adjustments which have doubtless largely deter- 
mined the ubiety of the chief racial subdivisions of the human 
species. With the breaking up of old racial boundaries there may 
be effected a redistribution of ethnic stocks so that they will be 
more closely associated with climatic zones. Racial distinctions 
may then be permanently kept if they are favored by differences 
