243 THE PYGMY RACES OF MEN 



which lays down that " who drives fat oxen should himself 

 be fat." The pygmy buffalo of the island of Celebes, the 

 Anoa, is cited as an instance, and the pygmy men of the 

 Andaman Islands as another. But there are plenty of 

 facts which would lead to an exactly opposite conclusion. 

 Gigantic tortoises are found in the Galapagos Islands and 

 in the minute islands of the Indian Ocean, and never on 

 the big continents. Gigantic birds bigger than ostriches 

 abounded in the islands of New Zealand and Madagascar. 

 Some of the tallest races of men are found in the Pacific 

 islands, whilst the tallest European population is that of' 

 the north of the island called Great Britain. Probably 

 the real relation of islands to the matter is that owing to 

 their isolation and freedom from the general competition 

 of the vast variety of living things in continental areas, 

 they offer unoccupied territory in which either excep- 

 tionally small or exceptionally big races may flourish — if 

 once they reach the island shelter, or are by variation 

 produced there — without competitive interference. ^ 



An important consideration in regard to the formation 

 and segregation of a human variety or race is that 

 mankind shows a tendency to segregate in groups, like 

 with like. To a large extent this is true also of animals, 

 but in man it acquires a special dominance, owing to the 

 greater activity in him of psychical or mental influences in 

 all his proceedings. The " cagots " of mid-France are the 

 descendants of former leper families. They remain 

 separated from the rest of the population, and do not now 

 know why, nor do their hostile neighbours. Such 

 " outcast " or " accursed " tribes and family groups are 

 found also in Great Britain, and throughout the world. 

 Possibly the " pygmies " owe their preservation to this 

 tendency. Virchow regarded the Lapps as a race 

 produced by disease — a pathological product. It is 

 possible that former liability to disease and present 



