The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-16
I I

A student OF the origin and distribution OF
races in Europa lays much more stress upon tho
augmentation Of tho hair and eyes than upon
that Of the skin for three reasons. In the first
place the coloration OF the hair and eyes seems
to lie less directly open to disturbance from
euviroumental influences than is the skin.
that variations in shading may be more easily
and dricatey measured. Secondly. the rela-
tive absence OF color In the hair and eyes is
more truly peculiar to the inhabitants than Is
the liEhtness Of the skin. There are many
peoples in Europe that are darker skinned than
certain tribes in Asia and the Americas. but
Their" is no Asatic or American tribe In which
hlondn"sS Of hair and eyes occurs to any
siderable degree. 1t is in naXcn hair and blue
eyes that the peculiarly European type attains
its fullest physical expression. This fact re-
veals he third induccmont for focusing study
upon these apparently subordinate traits. Eu-
rOre alone Of all tho continents is divided against
itself There alone do we find blondness in all
degrees Of intensity scattered among n multi
tude OF much darker types From the precise
determination OF their geographical distrbu
tiun au in sight may he gained into many inter-
cstinE racial events Of the past. The auther's
anavsis OF the statistics bearing on this subject
leads to the following result: In northern Eu-
rome we nnd that about One-third OF the
people are pure bonds. characterized by light
| nettes: the remainder. over one half. are OF n
! mixed type. with Il tendency to hondncss. On
! the other hand. In the south Of Italy the pure
blends have almost entirely Disappeared There
| about ouo-hnlt Of the population are pure Uru-
| nettcs, with deep brown or black hair and eyes
| Of a corresponding shade; the other half have
| a tendency to hrunetteness. Tho half and half
| Inc seems to lie about where II ought, not far
| from the Alps. Yet it does not follow the pa
| ailels Of latitude. A crcl" described with CO.
| rcnhagen as a centre. sweeping around near
| Vienna across the middl" ofSwtzcrland. thence
NJ through the British Isles. might serve
roughly as line Of demarcation. North of it
| blondness prevails though always with an ap-
| probable percentage Of pure brunettes. South
| Of ii lrune,t"ness dominates.
How is this distribution Of color to be ex-
| piaincd? Some cause other than race has
evidently cxerted an influence on all types
| Of men alike. tending TO obliterate their phvs-
cal differences in regard TO fermentation.
nr, Ripley is convinced that il ! not a ques-
ton Of Cclt. Slav or Tcuton. The cause
lies deepor than these clinical Emergencies.
| The C2echs in Bohemia are as much darker
than the Poles to the north OF them though
both are Slavs, as the Bavarians exceed the
| prussians in the same respect. although the
last two peoples ara both Germans. 1t is not
asserted that thereby any direct relation Oi
climate 10 fermentation is proved, but the
facts nevertheless, point strongly in that
| direction. At the same time, the data
Of Geograpncal distribution indicate that the
traits OF augmentation stand in definite and
permanent relation to the three types OF head
We should here note that. on the anthropo-
logical map inserted in this volume. the broad,
h, AIDED element Of tho European population is
shown to be localized to n remarkable extent
in the Alps. BY the great central highland
two zones Of long NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in
the south, Mediterranean in tho SOuth-art
separated from one another At first sight thi,
| distribution might seem TO prove that coul
has nothing to do with race. since in tn,
northern long headed zone hlondncss prcpon,
d"rates. while in the southern long hcadet
zone brUnotteuess is tha type. In the inter
vening Alpine region occupied b. broad
headed folk, the color typo il mixed. |,
co'or, then, matter Of latitude. so far n,
Europe is concerned? That Inference will b,
recognized as too hasty when we observe tina
the Walloons in the southeastern part o
Belgium. together with strip Of population
running down along the France German from
tier. mr." noticcably darker than tho people al
, around them. The british Isles offer anothc
example ui local differences In respect OF colo
which cannot lie ascrhed to environment
Land ar" aprr,rtah,y brunette in rompurlso
| | with other regions nearby. Tho contrast hr
5 tween Normandy and Brittany in France is eve
. more striking. DarS hair il NOR" than twir
. as common In the Breton cantons tina
it 10 along tho English Channel in NORMANDY
' Then, again, when We look at the Hungarian: