The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-12-27
SCIENTIST DISCUSSES
WIFE CALLED NEGRO
DR.. Boas Finds Question Raised
i'm Divorce Suit Hard to
Answer.
NAGARIES IN HEREDITY

,.r science determine accurately
r1etner a person has negro blood In his
~ her vcinsc Shall We have scientists.
ID. cvpert witnesses. asserting OIL the
,rcrrth Il their equation That the de-
,.rdlnt IL pure white. Just as insanity eS-
,,-t, nave figured in recent years in many
criminal and civil cases"
Dr Franz Bols, anthropologist of CO.
Iir,b.a University AID of the American
Museum OF Natural History. who was
ur. STORED yesterday al his home in
Crsntvood. y. ". believes that men know
comparatively little as yet about hcredity,
wherein Ills discussion really comes. but
thinks that there are many character
i.tlcs 4 the negro that run through gen
,,,tlors He says that IL is not possible
Z, say positively that person
h,s no negro blood In his or her
veins. Us racial characteristics hidden IN
one generation may appear in another.
The question as to whether II IL pos
sb'c for science TO say positively that
rerson apparently white has negro blood
has been raised in divorce case In De-
iroit. Mich. This case was submitted to
n Bols.
Mrs Arthur Little, wife % the son OF
one of tho most prominent physicians i'll
Detroit Is being sued by her husband.
~ho alleges that she is not white
-ouan. but q quadroon Yet she Is de-
s-fbed 4s q golden haired blonde, with
beautiful gray eyes and regular features.
Little hled his suit for divorce after
b. had been married year He asserts
ina, Mrs. Little is the daughter of a full
tlooded rcgro and ~ Mrs r. jefferson, a
colorcd natron Of a railroad station In
Cincinnati.
Mrs Little is NV seeking scientific
rrpcf that she IL white and has white
blood only in her veins. She always had
understood that she was the daughter OF
white couple in Denver who died when
s5e Vas baby.
rr. Eoas looked at the newspaper pic
t'ros Of Mrs Little yesterday and said
onhand that she was not the daughter OF
full blocded negro. He made II clear
that q woman. such as the newspaper
clippings described. could not have been
the daughter ofsa full blooded negro.
Then. In answer to the questions Of the
reporter for THE Sun. he outlined the
various methods by which an anthropolo-
rist would decide whether person had
negro characteristics.
OF course you know that every race
las certain characteristics" said DR. Boas,
and in the event of a marriage of persons
o. different races ono Characteristic or the
other predominatss" The scientist ex-
planned that while The characteristics Of
orc race might not be apparent in ono
generation they might be seen in another.
If this woman whom YOU mention" he
added. has any OF the characteristics OF
the negro race II would be easy to find
them. II she has negro blood in her veins
she ina! nave them, though I have seen
oc'proons that apparently had no charac-
tsr!s;ics OF the negro race. though never
n 'de a thorough examination.
"une Characteristic that is regarded as
reliable is the hair. For instance. you
can tell by 4 microscopic examination OF
cross section of "A hair of a persons
bead 10 what race that person belongs.
Thr cross section Of a hair from a Chinese
IS round, Of a white person oval and OF a
negro II is like the outline of a bean II
mis- woman has the hair that we define as
tho characteristic of "a negro l would say
That she has negro blood in her veins.
But again, her hair might pass that test
satisfactorily
Next we know that the eyes OF negro
have certain characteristics likewise his
nose. his lips, his jaw. His teeth are set
In certain way. or course the pigmer-
tt'ion in the skin is important. Expert
fr"e and tests have shown that a person
OF mixed blood may have several of the
characteristics OF one race and other char
scteIistics OF another race. You can't.
however, rely on one feature or one char
YOU may ind in different countries one
feature or another that is described as the
Characteristic of another race and yet you
would nos say that the person in question
had the blood In his veins OF the nation Of
which the special feature was a character
iStc.
The characteristics of the negro race,
~ any race, may run through many
Generations. There are others than those
have mentioned and while of course II
Is easy 70 decide whether this woman has
ANY of those characteristics. the lack OF
them would not on the other hand prove
mat she has no negro blood in her veins.
rs matter OF fact we know compare.
lively little OF heredity.
1T has been asserted that a chemical
examination OF the blood of person
will show whether he or she has negro
ancestry. but l do not believe that 1t Is
reliable test. I do not think that 4,
has worked out accurately
We know little about the hereditary
characteristics of the negro much less in.
deed than of other races. II seems to me
mat much good could be done for the negro
~ making a thorough study of the race
with view of obtaining more scientific
data along this line. 1t would in the end
prove more helpful than the giving OF
great sums for the education OF the negro
Il has been said, for instance. that In
mixed marriages only the unfavorabls
characteristics of the negro remain, bu,
mat has not been proved scientifically
al | do not think Il IL n fact 4"