1 66 Eugene Rollin Corson 



the cranial and facial characteristics which have the direct 

 bearing upon the points at issue. The prognathism, the 

 facial angle, the weight of the brain, the thickness of the 

 skull, and the early closure of the cranial sutures, all point to 

 a lower intellectuality and an inferior nervous system. 



The negro infant starts apparently with a great advantage 

 over the white child ; it is more precocious in every way, and 

 maturity comes sooner. But this rapid growth soon reaches 

 the end of its tether, and at a time when the negro has at- 

 tained its full growth, the white child is but beginning to de- 

 velop qualities which in time advance it to a point unattain- 

 able by its less fortunate rival. Even when educated up to a 

 certain point by the efforts of, and association with, a higher 

 race, the mind is in a condition of unstable equlibrium which 

 reverts in time back to its original level when the civilizing 

 influences have been withdrawn. Throughout the animal 

 world whenever artificial conditions have been brought to 

 bear to produce results different from those which nature at- 

 tains by her slow methods, the new products when left to 

 themselves fall back to their original starting points, or but 

 little in advance of them. It will be like the stone of Sisy- 

 phus. In the two centuries and a half of association with the 

 Caucasian the race in certain directions has been much bene- 

 fited by the higher civilization. If these associations were to 

 be suddenly and completely cut off, and the race were to be 

 left to its own resources, its future would be a retrogression 

 rather than an advance. 



In this connection let me quote from Sir Spencer St. John, 

 a most impartial and moderate critic, who, in his " Ha3'ti or 

 the Black Republic,"* gives us a dismal picture of the state 

 of affairs in that unfortunate country. I am glad to find my 

 own views substantiated by so good an authority. 



"The vexed question as to the position held by the negroes 

 in the great scheme of nature was continuously brought before 

 us whilst I lived in Hayti, and I could not but regret to find 

 that the greater my experience the less I thought of the capa- 



* Hayti or The Black Republic. By Sir Spencer St. John, K. C. M. G., 

 New York, 1889. 



