Evening star., 1941-03-15
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

There are nine types OF 1rlShmen.
They represent the various invasions
| of Europe'S WeSternmost island since
about $500 B. C. when the Old Stone Age
| peoples of France made their way into
an uninhabited land.
The types naturally have become ex-
| tremely mixed in more than 1000 years,
| but the physical characters of the diff
/ ferent raceS-Such as the combination
of black hair and blue eyes-have per-
sisted in many individuals, due to the
complex linkages of human heredity
This is the finding of a two-year
study of Irish racial types by the De-
partment of Anthropology of Harvard
| University. Observations were made
| and measurements taken of more than
$4,000 men and women from all parts
of the island-presumably a fair SAM
pling of the general population. The
data still are being analyzed, but a
preliminary report has just been made
by Prof. Earnest A. Hooton. Harvard
anthropologist, in his book, why Men
Behave Like Apes"
Prof. Hooton believes that there
should be similar studies for every
country. Ireland was selected for this
investigation because of its compact
ness, the intricate makeup of it's popu-
lation, and the relative ease of working
there.
The nine races into which Dr. Hooton
divides the Irish of today are anthro-
biological races, the ancestors of the
various European peoples of today. No
where do any of them survive in great
numbers as pure races. Perhaps there
has been less mixture in Ireland than
in several other European countries be-
cause of the relative isolation of the
island. All the racial types may be
found in single community, although
even to this day there are some group
ing-such as that of the Nordc types
in the north and around Dublin and
that of the supposed Old Stone Age sur
vivors in the west.
DR.. Hooton describes as follows the
nine races in present-day Ireland:
l. Pure Nordic - Moderately long
headed with ash blond or golden hair
and blue, pure gray or gray-blue eyes.
They probably do not constitute 10 per
cent of the population anywhere in the
world, except parts of Norway and
Sweden. In Ireland they comprise a
little over half of l per cent.
2. Predominantly Nordic-Long head
ed with mixed hair and eyes About 7
per cent Of Irishmen belong in this
group.
3. Classical Mediterranean - Long
heads with black, dark brown or red
brown hair and pure brown eyes. In
Ireland this type accounts for less than
fifth of l per cent of the population.
4 Pure Alpine-Round heads with
pure dark hair. dark eyes and broad
noses. There is barely a trace of this
race in the Irish makeup.
5. East Baltics-Round heads, blonds,
with blue, blue-gray or gray eyes and
broad noses. They are common in Fin
land, Lithuania, Esthonia and East Ger
many. About l per cent of Irishmen
belong to this type, probably descendants
of a minor element in the Viking in
vasions.
6. o d &c Mediterraneans - Long
heads, black or dark brown hair with
mixed eyes or light brown hair with
dark eyes and stature around 5 feet 6
inches. This type includes the majority
OF the people of the Old Stone Age in
Europe at the end of the last Ice Age.
About % per cent of Irishmen belong to
1t. They inherit their characteristics.
DR.. Hooton, believes, from the original
inhabitants of the island during the Old
Stone Age.
T. Keltic-Long heads with pure blue
eyes, black, red-brown or red hair. They
constitute about fourth of the popula-
ton and presumably are descendants of
very early invaders from France and
Spain who were builders of the great
New Stone Age stone monuments in
Ireland. They are perhaps the most
enthusiastically Irish of all
It used to be believed, DR.. Hooton
says, that they resulted originally from
a cross between the blond and blue
eyed Nordics and the brunette, black
eyed Mediterraneans, both long headed.
Such segregation of characters is
biologically extremely doubtful, he
points out Throughout the human race
there is strong hereditary link between
eye and hair color. They are inherited
together and the link is practically i'm
possible to break. Recently, he says,
blue-eyed peoples have been found in
Persia and Iraq who otherwise are of
the pure Mediterranean type. There
seems to be a tendency for Mediter-
ranean blue eyes to turn blue and this
is probably what happened in Ireland
8. Dinaric-Round headed with dis
harmonious mixtures of hair and eyes
and long, narrow noses. The type is
common In the Near East. It includes
about 18 per cent of the Irish population.
9. c-Alpine-Similar to the Di-
mario, but with broad, fiat noses. This
type also comprises 16 per cent.