130 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 157 



the interests of anthropology on the relative propor- 

 tions and geographical distribution of blondes and 

 brunettes in the German empire. Before the An- 

 thropological congress at Carlsruhe, Professor Vir- 

 chow gave an account of the results of these obser- 

 vations, illustrating his remarks by diagrams. An 

 account of the study, together with the illustrations, 

 will appear in full in German}'. 



The study included all children of school age 

 throughout Germany. Those only were classed as 

 blondes who had light hair, blue eyes, and a fair 

 complexion. The brunettes included those who 

 had black hair and eyes, though the complexion 

 might be more or less fair. All others were 

 classed as mixed, including those with gray eyes. 

 It is to be regretted that the same method was not 

 followed in Belgium, where similar studies had 

 been in progress, so that a direct comparison could 

 be made. 



Thirty-two per cent, or almost a third of the 

 German youth, are blondes ; 14 per cent are bru- 

 nettes ; while all the rest, 54 per cent, must be 

 classed as mixed. This mixture is not a homo- 

 geneous one, but includes all intermediate varie- 

 ties. One class of the German population forms 

 a decided exception to these averages, viz., the 

 Jews. Jewish children show only 11 per cent of 

 blondes, but 42 per cent of brunettes. Their greater 

 purity of race is shown by the small ratio of the 

 mixed class amongst them. The blond type is 

 particularly prevalent in Oldenburg and the neigh- 

 boring more northerly communities : it is rarest in 

 eastern Bavaria and in Alsace. A canton (Wildes- 

 hausen) in Oldenburg has 56 per cent of its popu- 

 lation blondes, while Roding, a town in the second 

 group, has only 9 per cent, a difference of 47 per 

 cent. The former has only 4 brunettes to each 100 

 inhabitants, while a southern town in Alsace has as 

 many as 31 to 100. The distribution of the blond 

 type is much wider than that of the brunette 

 type, which is only a secondary type. A canton 

 in Wurteniberg shows the largest ratio of the 

 mixed class, 60 per cent, while Pomerania shows 

 the smallest, 40 per cent. The same contrast be- 

 tween the north and the south is shown in Belgium 

 and in Switzerland. In southern Austria the bru- 

 nette type is especially marked, but here the 

 mixture with the Slavic people adds a complica- 

 tion. 



What is the origin of this dark race amongst 

 the Germans? Ancient writers describe them as 

 baying fair hair and eyes. One can assume that 

 the immigrating races were of two types,— blondes 

 and brunettes. But this would not account for 

 the present geographical distribution, or perhaps 

 a gradual transformation has taken place : this is 

 improbable, because the climatic and other differ- 



ences between north and south Germany are not 

 sufficient to bring about such marked differences. 

 The true explanation is suggested by the large 

 proportion of the mixed class. The Germans were 

 blondes, and spread to the east and south as such ; 

 but in Switzerland and Alsace they encountered a 

 dark race, which was not expelled, but forced a 

 mixture with the conquering race. The gray eyes 

 are an indication of this great mixture of types, 

 and not a mark of a third type. The questions 

 regarding the brunette type must be resolved into 

 a series of secondary problems connected with the 

 general development of all the types. It must 

 also be remembered that the characteristics by 

 which the Germans have been described are not 

 peculiar to them, but are common to other anthro- 

 pologically different nations, of which the Finns 

 are an example. Professor Virchow expressed the 

 opinion that a comparative study of this question 

 in different European nations would be of great 

 importance. 



DEFORMITIES OF BONES AMONG THE 

 ANCIENT PERUVIANS. 



Nearly fifty years ago Dr. v. Tschudi, in the 

 disinterment of a number of Indian graves in the 

 vicinity of Lima, found one containing the parts 

 of three skeletons, in which the bones showed 

 peculiar deformities, due to disease. The graves 

 were near the famed temple of Pachacamac ; 

 and from the position, as well as the associated 

 objects, Tschudi determined them to belong to 

 one of the earlier epochs of the Incas, in the thir- 

 teenth century of the Christian era. From the 

 accounts given by the native Indians, Tschudi 

 learned of other graves, farther south, in which 

 numerous skeletons with similar deformities had 

 been found, and from which he concluded that 

 persons thus afflicted had been buried together, as 

 has been more recently done with the bodies of 

 those dying from cholera. 



These specimens were studied a few years later by 

 Zschokke, who found the deformations so different 

 from those produced by other known causes, that 

 he pronounced the disease a new one. Very re- 

 cently, however, the bones have come under the 

 examination of Professor Virchow, 1 who has de- 

 termined the cause to have been the affection 

 described under the name of ' multiple exostosis.' 

 This disease is one of the rarest known, and has 

 onlj been recently studied and described. It is 

 due to abnormal development, and appears most 

 frequently near the ends of the long bones, re- 

 sulting in remarkable growths, sometimes as 



1 Ueber krankhaft veriinderte knochen alter Peruaner, 

 vou Mud. Virchow, Sitzungb&ichte d. k. preuaaischen akom 

 d. wiaaenachaften, 1886, p. 1129. 



