714 
ANTHROPOLOGY: F. BOAS 
type different from the others. In order to express this assumption, 
I should Hke to use the term that these races and sub-races represent, 
'genetic' types — genetic in the sense that their characteristics are de- 
termined by heredity alone. The question, however, has not been 
answered, whether these types are really genetic types, or whether they 
are what I might call 'ecotypes,' in so far as their appearance is deter- 
mined by environmental or ecological conditions. If we include in 
this term not only environmental conditions in a geographical and social 
sense, but also conditions that are determined by the organism itself, 
we might, perhaps, still better call them physiological types, in the 
same sense in which the biologist speaks of physiological races. My 
investigation then was directed to the question in how far a certain 
type of man may be considered a genetic type, in how far a physiologi- 
cal type. If there is any kind of environmental influence, it is obvious 
that we can never speak of a genetic type per se, but that every genetic 
type appears under certain environmental or physiological conditions, 
and that in this sense we are always dealing with the physiological form 
of a certain genetic type. The question, then, that demands an answer, 
is, in how far genetic types may be influenced by physiological changes. 
I believe, that, on the basis of the material that I collected, we must 
maintain that the same genetic type may occur in various physiologically 
conditioned forms, and that so far as stature, head-form, and width of 
face are concerned, the differences between the physiological forms of 
the same genetic type are of the same order as the differences between 
the races and sub-races which have been distinguished in Europe. 
I must add, however, that these remarks do not refer to pigmentation, 
for, contrary to a widespread belief, we have no proof of en\ironmental 
influences upon pigmentation. For this reason the classification of 
European races cannot be considered as proving genetic differentiation. 
The whole investigation which I carried on, and certain comparable 
observations obtained from older literature, do not indicate in any way 
to what physiological conditions the observed changes may be due. 
The only physiological causes in regard to which evidence is available 
relate to the bulk of the body, and to a certain extent to the proportions 
of the limbs. The size of the body depends upon the conditions under 
which growth takes place. Growth depends upon nutrition, upon 
pathological conditions during childhood, and upon many other causes, 
all of which have an effect upon the bulk of the body of the adult. When 
these conditions are favorable, the physiological form of a certain ge- 
netic type will be large. If there is much retardation during early life, 
the physiological form of the same genetic type will be small. Re tarda- 
