Evening star., 1924-08-12
RACE DIFFERENCES
SEEN IN MENTALITY
German Thinks in Abstrac-
tions. Briton in Concrete
Things, Speaker Says.
BY DIR. EDWIN T.. SLOSSON,
Director, Science Service.

TORONTO, August II Especially
F. c. Shrubsall of London. president of
the anthropoligical section. endeavored
| last night before the British AsSocia-
tion for Advancement of Science to
give some concrete illustration of
racial difference. although he admit
] ted the difficulty inherent in the fact
that no modern nation is of any sin
gle racial stock. He thought that the
. English would be clasSed as tough
| minded" eXtrovert, practical and in
clined to think in concrete images
/ and models, while German thinkers
i were more introvert and inclined to
abstract ideas. This might be due to
the Alpine racial element in Ger
many. OF the three racial elements
I in Europe. commonly recognized by
4 5anthropologists, he defined the tall,
! blond Nordics as Unconditional the
/ dark Mediterraneans as unrestricted
/ emotional and the round headed
AlpineS of Eastern Europe as re
strained emotional" the dreamy type.
Most of the speakers questioned
very strongly whether il were possi-
BILE in view of imperfect racial classi-
ficationS and the inadequacy OF pres
ent mental tests. to reach any definite
conclusions as to the superior and
inferior races. DR.. a. A. Golden
weiser thought that unconsciously
we graded other races by their de-
gree of historical success, particular
( ly in war, and pointed out how great
w we revised our opinion of Japanese
mentality after the victory in Man
churia.
Judgment of Negro.
: The real differences in culture ap-
pears to be duo not to differences
h,lf RI
ments of a very small number or
leaders of great genius. 1t is un-
fair to judge the negro by ms
failure to compete successfully with
the white man in the United states
without taking into consideration the
too frequent moral degeneration Oh
the white man in Africa.
Every one from the blondest Nordic
TO the darkest son of Africa had
some stake in the symposium on the
mental differences of races. Prof
William McDougall of Harvard. ad-
svanced the theory that wide differ
iances existed in the mental traits
exhibited by racial groups as wen
as individuals. The psychoanalysists,
Freud and Jung, go so far as 10
assert that each race has mind
pattern of it's own, using the mental
symbols typical of and peculiar TO
L IL
own opinion as 1.-The more conserva-
tive view" that races differ mainly
in the strength of certain instructive
tendencies.
Making of Protein.
Protein made in test tube IN
Is minutes was the unprecedented
experiment demonstrated to the brit
ish Association for the Advancement
- h1y WaSteneyS
the University of Toronto. Protein
is the characteristic and essential
substance of all living matter, and
while it is easy to break 1T down
into simpler compounds, as we DO
whenever we digest 1T, the reverse
process has never been accomplished
with such certainty and celebrity be-
fore. The secret of success is the
control of the temperature ana or the
exact degree of acidity. Prof. was
teneys first digested A sample of egg
albumin with pepsin in an acid solu-
ton. a process similar to that of the
stomach.
This reduced the large and complex
molecule of the protein to mixture
of it's various components. Then by
reducing the acidity and increasing
the concentration he reconstructed
protein that satisfied all the tests for
that class of compounds.
He is able to get as high as 80
per cent of such synthetic protein.
great step toward bringing vital
processes within the control Of the
chemist.
Kinds of Fat in Food.
Another demonstration of the
rapid advance of our experimental
knowledge of physiology was given
by Prof. r. Mellanby of st. Thomas
Hospital, London, who showed by pho
tographs on the screen that it makes
a vast difference to the teeth and
bones which kind of fat is in the food.
Certain fats and oils contain vita
min that is necessary for the proper
formation of bone from the lime
and phosphates supplied in the food.
Others equally palatable and giving
as many calories of energy are par
TALLY or completely devoid of this es-
sential vitamin. Prof. Mellanby has
raised puppies of the same litter on
three diets-differing only In the kind
of fatty food. Cod-liver oil proved to
be the best, butter was fair, while
linseed oil was woefully deficient.
The dogs raised on the first had fine
ly formed teeth, strong and we'll ar
ranged. Those fed on linseed had
weak, defective and poorly spaced
teeth. They were also ricketty. The
butter-fed dogs were intermediate.
The diet in all cases had plenty of
lffne and phosphate; in fact, the more
of these there were in the food the
worse the results unless the Vitamin
was also present. Where the vitamin
was lacking, oatmeal and wheat germ
caused bad cases of ricketts,. The
speaker thought that oatmeal and
other cereals contain some substance
that interferes with the deposition of
lime unless the anti-rachitic vitamin
is> present. But little of 1t will
suffice. A teaspoonful of cod-liter
oil turns out a handsome hound.
Short daily exposure to the ultra