Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1858-03-06
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Physical Degeneraoy of the American
..> people,

I
race which inhabits tho opposite shores OF the
Atlantic? Springing from the old English
stock and engraftihg on itself shoots from ev.
cry European people, it liz advancing with
unprecedented rapidityto power and wealth
We ourselves are ofdfe 0ptimists we cannot
believe that Nature or the course of human
events should recede, and that the American
people should be other than what its institu-
tions, its natural advantages, and the sineu.
lar energy ofjts character, secul to promise.
But there arc not wanting prophets on the
other side, and, strange TO sag, they. usually
MAKE etherappcarancc among the Americans
themselves. Ofc0ursc, it is to be expected
that North should dcprecatc South, and the
descendant of Yirginian Cavaliers affect to
look with scprnu upon the dcscenduntof Mas
sachusctts Puritans, But something more
than this sectional rivalry has lately become
the fashion. Indeed, our republican friends,
who are, in many respects only exaggerations
OF ourselves, arc accustomed to mincle sc,
depreciation with boasting, after the mbyt
approved custom of the Old County. Whoth-
Of they believe what they say against them
selves as much as what they say in their own
praise, is another question. Now, within the
last few years, there seems to have arisen a
feeling that the American, phyaically. is not
what he or she ought to be. Whether the
doctors have set tho idea in motion or wheth-
or Mr., KingSley's works, and the example of
the English public schools have had au effect
on the transatlantic mind, 'certainit is that
one cannot take up an American magazine
or newspaper, without finding II lamcntation
ON the muscular degeueracy of the New
World. Parents, and schoolmasters, and
SchoolmlstreSSes, are eXhorted to take care of
the youth Of both sexes who 4are grow
ing ltp under their charge, and to see that
they do not turn out mere intellectual prodi-
gies without Any badly stamina. 10 believe
these writer's, the new race of Americans is
kind of artificial growth, in which all the
substance and vigor which should 30 to make
! arms, legs, IONS, cheeks, tceth, and hair,
have been concentrated in the brain. In the
last century, Button and the natura;ists of
| that time, started n theory, that since the ami
mails toundin the New Worll were of small
Ter and weaker type than those of the Old
| therefore the European race Ofmen must NO
cessarily degenerate, and, alter century or
two, be as far inferior to Englishmcn, French
men, and Spaniards, rs the puma is to the
Barbary lion. This speculation used tocause
great anger among Americans of the old
school, who. after recting their exploits a.
gninst the English. ~rv accustomed to ex-
| plain that even their say6ges were the finest
of'tll possible s;yaGes, and that no Asiatic
or African tribe could possibly comparc with
the red men Of the New World. But the re-
action against this sclfcomplacent estimate
has recently been carried so far, that we
! should not be surprised to sec some American
naturalist rcsuscitating the old theory
An extract which we mako from the Phil
| adciphia Evening Journal gives n fair notion
OF the way in which Americans are accus-
toned TO SPEAK on this subject. From all
SIDES are heard similar complaints of the neg
lcct OF exercise by all classes of the American
! population, and warnings that the physical
structure of the people is dctcriorating in
consequence. There are. indeed certain facts
which are undeniabie but whether want of
exercise be the cause Of them or merely the
effect, 1T is not easy to determine. Among
the well.to-do classes it seems undoubtcd
that the standard Of health is not as high as
in England. 1t is said that, among women
especially, there is a far greater amount OF
general weakness th0nin European countries
and that those families cf healthy girls which
are to be found in England hardly have an
existence in the New World The men, too,
are generally dyspeptic; though often tall,
their limbs arc not developed, the muscle of
the arm and the calf Of the leg seem want
mg the checks are sunkcn and the check
bones high; both sexes are certainly very
subject to badness, and the early loss of tho
teeth is so common that we cannot wopdcr
that American dentists take high place in
the profession. In the words Of the Pl i.adcl-
pima paper: ''The incipicnt man I'VE take
extreme case) is a thin, frail crc;.rnrc His
fac" :5 :harp and sallow, and has n blcarcd
ana bhl1 is appearance. His back can be
spanne with both hands, and there will be
some hand to spare" And 80 the writer
gor.on 20 criticiso the chest arms, and lcgs
of the younger American citizens. The Ia
dies are equally hardly dealt with: "IIer
waist is waspish and her foot is minute, bit
the chances are strong that she stoops or
limbs, has cold, and does no blooming With
out thenid of rouge" Allowing for some
exagScration of language, it may be said,
however,, that this picture of the Younger in
habitantS OF the Atlantic cities has something.
of truth init. Tho cause wo do not pretond
to discover. Probably the influences Of cli-
mate are chiefly concerned. In some parts.
otthe Union the race is certainly very fine,
though still marked by tile Same character Of
leanness, and an absence ofroundcd outlines
The kentuckian or Tcnncaseean, however,
is about the last man who could be charged
with want OF muscular power, of physical'a
tvity and vitality. Ii would almost seem
that the European race undergOesa a change
directly 1T is transplanted into the New World
and that in the course of few generations it
approaches the Indian type. 1t is certain
that the cotemporaries Of Washington look.
ed far more like English people than the slim
gentlemen whom we meet wandering over
the Continent ct the present day. The old
portraits would show this, if even;it were
not to be noticed in many old living Ameri-
cans, who have much less of what is becom-
ing the national casb0fcountenanee than their
sons and grafdsons. It may be, then, that
certain regions. like the Atlantic coast, or
certain modes Of life. do not suit the white