East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-10-09

there is no danger of laws being passed
to prohibit the study Of anthropolo-
giCal subjects. Mr.. Kassel's conclus-
ions might be right or wrong; that he
admits. Many readers will notice the
name of Thomas jefferson is missin-
from his list and jefferson had red
/ hair. other names as conspicuous
may also be missing. so that men with
red hair and men with light hair will
find comfort in the admitted short
comings of the investigation.
/ Apparently ii would be unsafe to.
put Mr.. Kassers conclusions to such
la test as going upon the crowded
street and picking out genius by the
color of their hair. but | had been
set To wondering why one mans hair
was black and another's brown or
red or yellow, and I appealed to the
ex-schoolma'am. who revels as much
in theology as in ethics and psy-
chology
You will find in almost any text
book" she said, that the color of the
hair seems to depend on the presence
of a peculiar oil which is of black
ish green color in dark hair. blood red
in red hair and nearly colorless In
white hair. Each hair consists of
shaft and bulb. the bulb originating
in a follicle on the true skin. The
hair grows from the bottom of the
follicle. and when it is colored the
cells containing the coloring matter
are developed there also"
But If all mankind has arisen from
. single stock can environment. ac-
count for the variety of races
: "In ancient times such authorities
as Aristotle and Vitruvius found in
climate and circumstance the natural
cause of racial differences and the
general belief was that the Ethiopian
had been blackened by the tropical
sun. In the Encyclopedia Britannica
you will find that physiology explains
color as a consequence OF climate
and even of diet. The pigment or col
Oring matter under the epidermis it
says is not peculiar to the colored
races but is common to all human
beings. 1t Is simply more abundant
In certain people, and this abundance
. Is attributed to the stimulating ac-
ton of the solar heat, combined with
, moisture and an excess of vegetable
food, yielding more carbon than can
be assimilated. the character being
, then fixed by heredity.' one great DIFF
ficulty in following the teachings Of
the monogenist school has been to ex-
plain how races that have remained
k.,,a In n y m q
. some thousands of years, such as the
white man and the negroes should
have passed by variation from a com
mon original"
But how?" / started, with eager
desire to know.
"Can you explain why some of those
cannas you see from the library win
dow are red and others are Yellow"
AbsalOm was very vain of his hair;
at II Joseph was childish enough to
still curl his hair; Elijah had hair
naturally so curly that his enemies
mocked him and declared that he
curled it: David and Esau had ruddy
hair. In biblical times black hair was
considered beautiful and blond or
light hair seems to have been eXcep-
tional
Figures given by the Jewish En-
cyclopedia. show a considerable pro-
portion of Jews have blond or red hair,
although dark hair predominates. In
the Baltic provinces Blechman found
32 per cent of blonds; in England, ac-
cording to Jacobs, more than 25 per
cent have blond hair; the proportion
of red hair, reaches 4 per cent In
some observations. Climate and en-
vironment are believed by some an
thropologsts to account for the ex-
lstence of Jewish blonds. while others
believe their existence due to racial
termixture-particula the admis-
sion OF Aryan blood The fact that
red and blond Jews are found in North
Africa, Syria, Arabia, Persia and
other lands Is pointed to by Andree
as proof that intermarrying has had
little to do with the production of the
blond type in eastern Europe.
In the article by Mr.. Kassel already
quoted are given some statistics rel
, ating to the structure Of the hair Of
men of genius. OF the sixty persons
under consideration in his investiga-
, ton twenty-five possessed curley or
wavy hair. at is an interesting cir
cumstance," he says, that of these
, twenty-five personages no less than