Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/280

 266 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

occupied by the Alpine type, are tlie necessary outcome, not of racial proclivities, but rather of the geographical and social isolation charac- teristic of the habitat of this race. The ethnic type is still pure for the very same reason that social phenomena are primitive " (p. 529). With reference to the theory that the unusual tallness of city popu- lations indicates that the Teutonic race manifests a tendency to migrate into the cities, he collects a " formidable array of testimony " to show that " the tendency of urban populations is certainly not toward the pure blond, long-headed, and tall Teutonic type. The phenomenon of urban selection is something more complex than a mere migration of a single racial element in the population toward the cities. The physical characteristics of townsmen are too contradictory for ethnic explana- tions alone. A process of physiological and social, rather than of ethnic, selection seems to be at work in addition" (p. 559).

There are many things of interest in the book aside from the main discussion. There is a chapter on " European Origins," in which the probable sources of the European races and the European culture are discussed. The "Aryan question " here again comes up for a brief but clear statement of the facts as they exist at present. A chapter is devoted to the Jews and Semites, the conclusion of which is that " the Jews are not a race, but only a people after all. In their faces we read its confirmation, while in respect of their other traits we are convinced that such individuality as they possess — by no means inconsiderable — is of their own making from one generation to the next, rather than a product of an unprecedented purity of physical descent" (p. 400). In other words, he attributes the persistence of the Jewish type to an arti- ficial selection, and gives evidence to show that the Jewish features per- sist, in spite of much intermixture with other peoples. The question of the intermixture of the Jews with other peoples is still disputed by some authorities, among others by the eminent authority on the Jews, Mr. Joseph Jacobs. Another chapter is given to a discussion of that interesting people of the Pyrenees, the Basques. Dr. Ripley maintains that the round-headed variety on the north slopes of the Pyrenees comprises the purest representatives of the group. He follows Col- lignon in his theory of the origin of this peculiar people as an off- shoot from the Mediterranean race. The peculiar facial features and the breadth of the head above the temples are attributed, as in the case of the Jews, to an artificial selection among an isolated people. The last chapter of the book is of peculiar interest at this time — "Acclima- tization : the Geographical Future of the European Races." After a