The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-11-12
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
THE SECRET OF RACIAL TRAITS
FREDERIC }. HASKIN, Director
Washington, D. @.

Washington, Nov. S.-That the color
and texture of a mans skin and hair,
the form of his features, his stature.
the proportion of his iimbs-al of his
physical characteristics which mark
him as belonging to a certain race
and many of the traits of mind and
character which are associated with
those physical characteristics, are
regulated by half a dozen small glands
in the body, is one of the most revoiu-
tionary of the recent conclusions OF
science.
This much of the evidence for new
theory is set forth by Arthur Keith,
British scientist, in an article re
Gently published by the Smithsonian
Institution in this country.
This new idea is revolutionary in
more ways than one. 1t upSets the
old DarWinian theory of sexual selec-
ton as the mechanism of race vari-
alton, as completely as that, for the
scientist, upset the Biblical notions
on the subject. 1t shows that what
we call racial characteristics are by
no means confined to persons of the
race with which hey are associated
In persons of the pure Nordis strain
there may be Monaghan or negro
physical characteristics and they are
apt to be evidence Of mental and
emotional traits such as are associated
with those races. In a word, here
is a new key to the mystery of human
character. A flat nose, projecting
lower law an exceptional length OF
leg or size of hand has a new sig
nificance for the careful observer,
when he knows that these physical
characteristics show the degree or de-
velopment of certain of the controlling
glands, and that these glands nave
definite effect on mind as well as on
body.
Lastly, it seems certain that in the
course of time knowledge OF the duct
less glands will give man a controi
over his own characteristics such as
he never had before. 1t would be a
rash prediction. of the kind which
every conservative scientist deplores,
to say that race characteristics Will be
controlled, that baby born black
may be turned white. and a stochy'
flat-faced Tartar child be made to
grow tall and have the salient fea-
lures of a Nordic. but something of
the kind is certainly in some degree
possible. Scientists have already pro-
duced marked changes in physical de-
Veiopmeht by administering the eX-
tract of some of these glands Thus
a disease known as MyXoedema has
been found to be due wholly to de-
ficiency of the thyroid gland In 1t
the skin becomes dry and often yell
lowish and the hair tends to fall out.
showing plainly that the thyroid con-
of hair and skin, which are race char
acteristicsl The administration of
thyroid extract is cure for this dis
ease.
The degree of control which man
may attain over his own characters
tics by his knowledge of the ductless
glands is limited chiefly by the factor
of receptivity. Thus it has been quite
definitely proved that the suprarenal
glands control augmentation. And it
has been found that the action of any
of $he ductless glands may generally
be regulated by administering an ex-
tract of those glands taken from the
bodies of animals. Could then a black
or yellow child be made white by a
treatment with suprarena1 extract be-
gun in infancy? Probably only ex-
pertinent would show, and very likely
but it is likely that the tissues of the
child would not be sufficiently recep-
tive of the added suprarenal sub
stances to produce the desired effect.
Each of these ductless glands seems
to have two sets of activities in that
they affect both the immediate activi-
ties of the body and its form of
growth.
The Cause of Giants.
The pituitary gland, which is sit
uated at the base of the brain. and
is about the size of a cherry, is known
body. Disorders of it cause the dis
ease known as acromega,ly, which is
marked especially by enlargement of
the hands and feet. arrangements of
this gland are also known to be the
cause of Au cases of giantism-that
is, of men who grow to be seven feet
or more in height. An unusual de-
velopment of the pituitary gland is
thought to be one of the chief char
acteristics of the Caucasian or Euro
pean race, as distinguished from Negro
and Mongol racial types.
The interstitial glands are known
to control the development of the
body at puberty, and if they are in
any way disordered, the development
of the child into an adult is retarded
or altered. Here again, it is con-
tended, in the Caucasian race the male
traits are more developed than in
the Negro and. Mongol races. In the
latter types men and women are more
alike, While the men have less hair on
the skin and also less of the pug
nacious quality which is typically
male.
The suprarenaI bodies. which rest
upon the kidneys, have been shown to
control fermentation which causes the
color of the skin. Disease of these
bodies has been found to cause a
gradual darkening of the skin. That
skin color is a race characteristic is
obvious. The suprarenals are also
known to have something to do with
the maturing of the individual. Chill
dren with overdeveloped suprarenal
bodies become prodigies of muscular
development and also reach an early
sexual maturity
The pineaI gland, which is buried
in the brain and is no bigger than a
grain of wheat, is the least understood
of any Of the ductless glands, but is
now known to have some definite eff
feet upon the development of the in
divjdual.
Tie thyroid gland is perhaps the
most important of all these glands.
both in its function of regulating bod
lily activities and in its effect on
growth. Disease of the thyroid gland
stunts and changes the growth of the
body to such an extent that the victim
seems to belong to another species of
humanity.
Children in whom this gland is dis
eased become cretins, or dwarf idiots.