Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/278

 264 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

between the influence of environment and that of race, it is necessary to define very clearly what the races of Europe are, to determine their present distribution, and to trace their past history. It is this considera- tion that justifies the introduction into a " sociological study " of a mass of anthropological material that becomes tedious to the ordinary reader. The author, be it said, has succeeded in making this material as entertaining as it can well be made. And its introduction has made the book as valuable for the student of pure anthropology and ethno- logy as for the student of social problems. The three physical char- acters chosen for the determination of race are the cephalic index; pigmentation, especially of the hair and eyes ; and stature. The cephalic index is the most reliable character, since it is not subject to modification by environment, nor by artificial selection. Stature is subject to such modification most of all, and is, therefore, the least reliable of the three characters. Other characters are used in some cases to support the evidence of the three fundamental characters named. From a study of these anthropological data, collected by observers in all parts of Europe, both among the living and among the remains of prehistoric populations, the author establishes the existence in Europe of three fundamental races ; the white race being, in reality, three races. This classification is, in general, in accord with the conclusions of the best modern anthropologists, though there are some who would classify differently. The author mentions in particu- lar the most recent attempt to classify the peoples of Europe into six main and four secondary races ; but he justly maintains that this attempt of Deniker "is rather a classification of existing varieties" than of races. From the varied nomenclatures suggested by different writers for these fundamental races, the author chooses "Teutonic" to desig- nate the long-headed, tall, and blond race whose center of dispersion seems to have been in Scandinavia, or about the Baltic, and who have pushed their way down into central and western Europe ; " Mediter- ranean" for the long-headed, short, and dark race which has, from earliest times, centered about the Mediterranean, though at one time it was quite widely distributed over Europe; and "Alpine" for the round-headed race of medium stature, and with a tendency toward brunetness, which entered Europe from the east at a very early time, separating the other two races. This is the race frequently called Slavo-Celtic, and is characteristic of the Alpine highlands.

After a chapter devoted to the general distribution of the three races, the author analyzes the populations of the various countries of