The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-16
AMERICAN TYPE.
1t Is Rapidly Developed Among
the Children
Born of Foreign Immigrants in
the United States.
PHYSICAL CHANGES
Are Noted in Head, Face and
Bodily Contour.
Immigration Commission Files
Preliminary Report.

LII mIS dUlOH OOluiulSSlOu EllcS
Preliminary Report.
| Washington, Dec. 16.-That the physi-
| cal for as well as the habits of living
and ways of thinking of the descend
i ants of foreigners who immigrate to
America Is different from that Of their
ancestors is the conclusion of the i'm
migration commission as embodied in
the preliminary report of that body
! which today was presented to congress.
The discovery is regarded as of i'm
portance in anthropologicaI science as
| indicating the development Of distinct
American physical type in persons of
| European descent.
| The investigation. w.lich has brought
this fact to the surface was undertaken
soon after the appointment of the COM
mission and 1t was conducted in d
/ scientific manner by the comparison of
measurements of the bodies of such i'm
migrants and their descendants at diff
| ferent ages and under different circum-
stances. The investigation was placed
! in the hands Of a committee composed
of members of the commission and
Professor Franz Boaz, of Columbia uni
/ versity, was engaged as expert The
| inquiry was confined to New York city
and so far as the present report shows
was restricted to Sicilians and east
Europe9- Hebrews.
A later report will give the details of
the investigation among Bohemians,
Hunsarians and Scotch.
Change of Type.
The repor- indicates that the descend
! ant of the European immigrant changes
his type, even in the first generation
almost entirely. Children born even a
| few years after the arrival of the i'm
: migrant n Aroarioa n
such a way that they differ in type,
essentially from their foreign born par
ents. These differences seem to de-
yelop during the earliest childhood and
persist throughout life. Every part of
the body is Influenced in this way, and
even the form of the head which has
always been considered as one of the
most permanent hereditary features,
| undergOeS considerable changes.
| In an official synopsis Of the COM
| missioners' report attention is called to
the fact that even most stable racial
| characteristics seem to have changed
under the new environment and this
fact is commented upon as follows:
| This would indicate the conclusion
that racial, physical characteristics do
| not survive under the new social and
climatic environment of America. The
| adaptability of the various races com
| ing together on our shores seems, If
| these indications shall be fully borne
out in later study, to be much greater
| than had been anticipated. If the
American environment can bring about
| an assimilation of the head forms in
the first generation may it not be that
other characteristics may be as easily
modified and that there may be a rapid
assimilation Of widely varying nation
alities and races to something that may
| well be called an American type?"
1.-The commission feels that it is too
early to pronounce absolutely upon the
question.
THE investigation is by no means
complete aud moreover. considering
the importance of the subject, it should
clearly be conducted on larger scale
and in different surroundings in various
parts of the country and perhaps also
be checked up by certain Investigations
made upon the same races elsewhere. -
Amalgamation Is Rapid.
Among other results noted, it is
shown that the American born chill
dren of the long headed Sicilians and
those of the roundheaded east Euro
pean Hebrews have very nearly the
same intermediate head form. The
children of the longheaded Sicilians
are more longheaded than their pa
rents. Similar changes are traced in
the development of the faces of these
types.
The amalgamation is most rapid
during the period Immediately follow
ing the arrivals of the immigrants. The
difference in type between parents and
children manifests itself almost i'm
mediately after their arrival here.
Among individuals born a long time
after the arrival of the parents in
America the difference is increased but
! only slightly as compared to the great
| difference that develops at once.
Up to this time the investigations
have not been carried SO far as to de-
| termine what happens in the second
generation cf immigrants, but it seems
| likely that the influence at work
among the first generation born in
| America will be still further accentu-
ated.
The commission has also made the
discovery that as a rule there is a fall
| ing off in the size of families after
their arrival in the United States, and
coincident with this discovery has
come the more important revelation
creases the size of the individuals in
creases- This fact is discoverable
among the children of the well to do
as we'll as nose of the poor.
! Another result of the investigation
| is the development of the fact that
while removal from Europe to New
York has lad a beneficial effect upon
the physique of east European He
brews. the result has been just the
sion being hat bad they are, the
surroundings in New York are better
| for the Jews than in their city homes
| in the old world, while the cramped
! quarters which the Sicilians occupy in
New York city are not SO desirable as
their rural surroundings in southern
Italy.
lIAcT nE TIE MnulnANc