UlIAP. VII. 
THE RACES OF MAN. 
221 
been said that when mulattoes intermarry they produce 
few children; on the other hand, Dr. Bachman of 
Charlestown 11 positively asserts that he has known 
Mulatto families which have intermarried for several 
generations, and have continued on an average as fertile 
as either pure whites or pure blacks. Inquiries formerly 
' na de by Sir C. Lyell on this subject led him, as he 
informs me, to tire same conclusion. In the United 
States the census for the year 1 S54 included, according 
t° Dr. Bachman, 405,751 mulattoes ; and this number, 
e °Hsidering all the circumstances of the case, seems 
Stt >all ; but it may partly be accounted for by the de- 
graded and anomalous position of the class, and by the 
profligacy of the women. A certain amount of absorp- 
u °n of mulattoes into negroes must always be in pro- 
gress ; and this would lead to an apparent diminution 
°f the former. The inferior vitality of mulattoes is 
spoken of in a trustworthy work 12 as a well-known 
Phenomenon ; but this is a different consideration from 
heir lessened fertility ; and can hardly be advanced as 
a proof of the specific distinctness of the parent races. 
doubt both animal and vegetable hybrids, when 
produced from extremely distinct species, are liable to 
Premature death ; but the parents of mulattoes cannot 
( 3 put under the category of extremely distinct species. 
Die common Mule, so notorious for long life and vigour, 
a nd yet, r 0 sterile, shews how little necessary connection 
’* 0ni ent, that Australian women who have borne children to a white 
are afterwards sterile with their own race, is disproved. M. A. de 
J'tuatrefageg has also collected (‘ Revue des Cours Scientifiques,’ March, 
“■ P- 23!)) much evidence that Australians and Europeans are not 
e iile when crossed. 
of ' An Examination of Prof. Agassiz’s Sketch of the Nat. Provinces 
12 , Ani ma i World,’ Charleston, 1855, p. 44. 
n . * Military and Anthropolog. Statistics of American Soldiers.’ bv 
A. Gould, 18G9, p. 3J9. 
