Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 69.djvu/262

258 expect that the Jews in every country would present the same peculiarity.

I will begin with the question of the fertility of the Jews.

From the enormous mass of vital statistics collected during the past century, nothing definite could be established as to the influence of race on the birth rate. On the one hand, one would be led to believe that the Teutons have a high birth rate, when judged by the proportion of births in the German empire, but, on the other hand, in Scandinavia, where the Teutons have preserved themselves in a much greater purity, the rates are comparatively low, and the same is true of England. The Slavonic races in eastern Europe have a very high degree of fertility, but the differences in the various provinces of Russia, Poland and Austria are so great as to disprove directly the contention that race is necessarily the cause. In the same manner, the differences in the rates in Italy and southern France are striking. The racial elements are about the same in both countries, yet the birth rate of Italy is much higher than that of France. The Jews in Europe, owing to their isolation and alleged abstinence from intermarriage with other peoples, should offer good material for the solution of the question on the influence of race on fertilty.

It has been observed all over Europe that the birth rates of the Jews are low. When compared with the non-Jewish population of some countries, like Prussia, Bavaria, Bohemia, etc., they are only one half as fertile as the christians. Some authors have asserted that