The New Student's Reference Work/Races of the World

Ra′ces of the World. The most general division of the human family is into five great races: the Caucasian, the Mongolian, the Malay, the Ethiopian and the American. The Caucasian race is the most numerous and the most widely spread over the earth of all the races. It is distinguished by a fair complexion, a high forehead, straight hair and a beard varying in color. This race is dispersed over nearly the whole of Europe and North America, northern Africa and large areas in Asia, Australia and southern Africa. It leads the other races in literature, commerce and all the arts of civilization. The Mongolian race has a yellowish complexion, small eyes, prominent cheekbones and rather coarse, black hair. It comprises the Chinese, the Japanese, the Turks and many other nations in Asia, with the Magyars of Hungary and the Esquimaux of North America. The Malay race has a dark-brown complexion, with a skull like the Caucasian; a flat face like the Ethiopian; and straight, dark hair like the Mongolian. This race is found in Madagascar, Australia, the islands of the Pacific and the Malay Peninsula of Asia. The Ethiopian or African race has a black complexion, a rather low forehead, a broad, flat nose, thick lips, thin beard and woolly hair. It inhabits the greater part of Africa, although it has ten million representatives in North America. The American race (Indians) has a red or copper-colored skin, high cheek bones, coarse, black hair and scanty beard. It is found in certain portions of North America and South America. The population of the world may be estimated in round numbers at 1,500,000,000, of which more than 1,000,000,000 belong to the Caucasian and Mongolian races. Various divisions and subdivisions of thece races have been made by ethnologists durng the last twenty-five years.