Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-01-06
NO DISTINCTIVE
AMERICAN TYPE
Study of Old American Stock
Shows Heredity Is Still in
Evidence.
RESULT OF EIGHT YEAR STUDY
Intermarrlaoe of Old Stock With More
Recent Elements In Population,
Leaves Little Hope for Truly
National Type.

there is In this country an approach
to an American type of man and woh-
an. the Smithsonian Institution, Win
Or. Ales Hrdlicka. curator OF the III
vision of physical anthropol0gy In the
IL. =. national museum, In charge, mas
been carrying on an extensive inVes-
tiQatIon. which has covered eight
years, of the physical and physiology
cal features OF the Oldest ana most
American element In the population
of this country. Doctor HrdlicRa
made the first announcement or THIS
fundamental study In paper gwen
before the second International con
gress OF eugenics at the American
museum OF natural history here.
"There Is no American type OF
either man or woman as yet; Dut
there Is an approach 10 such type
Ia physiognomy, stature. build. pig
mentation and In other directions,
Doctor Hrdlicka said. "Heredity II
still most In evidence, but Is no long
er absolute. The old Americans are
to an important degree still the Eng
lish, Scotch, or Dutch of their ances-
try, but In part they are already
something new. common, acquired In
this land: they are American. Were
It possible for this stock to breed ex-
cinsively among themselves for sSy,
eral more centuries they, according to
all Indications, would produce az dis
tinct q national type as have the va
nous older European nations. But
antermarriage with more recent ele-
ments of the population Is so common,
that no hope can be entertained for
any rapid progress In this direction.
Form Of head. that was supposed once
20 show rapid changes. was found, un-
der the new environment to be one
of the most persistent of characters.
Blondes Are Disappearing.
Another prevalent notion that finds
no support In the results Of these In
vestigations, IL that Of any physical
difference between the old Americans
Of the northeast, the Yankees, and
those Of the South; there ID 20 diff
ference Of any Importance. The peo-
ole Of the South are not darker. the
Yankees are not taller. The only re-
giOnal differences In the old Amer
lean stock are such as are due to diff
ferent ancestry English. Scotch,
Huguenot. etc. But the whole strain
shows a plain tendency towards dark
ening OF hair and diminution Of
blondness."
The main characteristics Of the
old Americans are, first OF all. q tall
stature. They are. II we disregard
a few small groups, the tallest of
whites. averaging 8 feet inches In
the men, and 8 feet 4 inches In the
women. This superiority is In part
a distinctly American acquisition.
They are mostly relatively spare
IN early adult life, with rather a ten
dency to overweight later on. In this
connection there appears one serious
feature-many Of the younger women
are behind their due standard. Their
chest, their muscles, are relatively not
AZ well developed as are those Of the
men. The men, In the average, are
In every way a fine lot. The nom
working women, many Of them. are
physically somewhat neglected. which
calls for an Improvement. Naturally
this does not apply to the farm girl
or the athletic girl.
"But the American woman shows a
superior head. The size of her head
Ia somewhat above what It usually
10 In, 20 yha -
the male. and II is also perceptibly
above that indicated by her stature.
AS the size OF head means CORE
spending size Of brain, we have here
highly favorable condition.
1.-The form OF the head In the old
American stock differs widely. accord
Ing to parentage.
Face Shows Progress.
"A much greater progress In Amer
icanization' is shown by the face. This
has lost the prominence Of the cheek
bones and that Of the angles OF the
lower jaw; and In the well-nourished
approaches characteristic straight.
sided, rather high oval.
THE nose is variable, with tendency
to convex (aQuiline) In males, and
concave-convex In females. The
hands, feet, mouth. ears, are not
large. but also not small.
"Only healthy men and women be
tween twenty-four and sixty.five
years OF life and at least three gen.
erations American born on each par.
entail side, were included In the study,
and the majority Of the subjects were
examined under standardized condi.
tons and with best instruments as
well as care at the U. S. national
museum" Doctor Hrdlicka explained
They included unsolicited individuals
from all walks Of life and all occupa.
lions. The length Of the study was
caused by the unexpected rarity OF
those who could fill the requirements.
The studies extended to a total of zoo
persons, but to obtain so many II was
found necessary to make trips TO parts
OF New England as well as southwark
A particularly interesting group was
obtained among the mOuntaineers OF
Tennessee and neighborlng regions"