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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..07bd9bb --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62259 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62259) diff --git a/old/62259-0.txt b/old/62259-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f91f11e..0000000 --- a/old/62259-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6237 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Basis of Social Relations, by Daniel G. Brinton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: The Basis of Social Relations - A Study in Ethnic Psychology - -Author: Daniel G. Brinton - -Editor: Livingston Farrand - -Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62259] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BASIS OF SOCIAL RELATIONS *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Julia Miller, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - - THE SCIENCE SERIES - - - 1. =The Study of Man.= By A. C. HADDON. Illustrated. 8º - - 2. =The Groundwork of Science.= By ST. GEORGE MIVART. - - 3. =Rivers of North America.= By ISRAEL C. RUSSELL. Illustrated. - - 4. =Earth Sculpture; or, The Origin of Land Forms.= By JAMES GEIKIE. - Illustrated. - - 5. =Volcanoes; Their Structure and Significance.= By T. G. BONNEY. - Illustrated. - - 6. =Bacteria.= By GEORGE NEWMAN. Illustrated. - - 7. =A Book of Whales.= By F. E. BEDDARD. Illustrated. - - 8. =Comparative Physiology of the Brain=, etc. By JACQUES LOEB. - Illustrated. - - 9. =The Stars.= By SIMON NEWCOMB. Illustrated. - - 10. =The Basis of Social Relations.= By DANIEL G. BRINTON. - - * * * * * - - _For list of works in preparation see end of this volume._ - - The Science Series - - EDITED BY - - Professor J. McKeen Cattell, M.A., Ph.D. - - AND - - F. E. Beddard, M.A., F.R.S. - - - - - THE BASIS OF SOCIAL RELATIONS - - -[Illustration] - - - - - The Basis of Social Relations - A Study in Ethnic Psychology - - - By - - Daniel G. Brinton, A.M., M.D., LL.D., Sc.D. - - Late Professor of American Archæology and Linguistics in the University - of Pennsylvania; author of “History of Primitive Religions,” “Races and - Peoples,” “The American Race,” etc. - - - Edited by - Livingston Farrand - Columbia University - - - G. P. Putnam’s Sons - New York and London - The Knickerbocker Press - 1902 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1902 - BY - G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS - - - The Knickerbocker Press, New York - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - EDITOR’S PREFACE - - -The manuscript of the following work was left by Dr. Brinton at his -death in 1899 in a state of approximate completion, lacking only final -revision at his hands. The editor has contented himself, therefore, with -making such verbal corrections as were necessary and, by slight -rearrangement of certain sections to conform to the obvious scheme of -the work, bringing the text into readiness for publication. The -verification and noting of references have not been attempted. The -author’s encyclopedic acquaintance with the literature of his subject as -well as his general method of quotation has made this impracticable. - -Dr. Brinton’s contributions to anthropology are too well known to call -for especial comment, his writings, particularly in the fields of -American archæology and linguistics, being so numerous and valuable as -to give him a world-wide reputation. His interest, however, was general -as well as special, and the development of anthropology owes much to his -insight and ready pen. Among the doctrines for which he stood at all -times an active champion was the psychological unity of man, a principle -which is now widely accepted and forms the working basis for most of our -modern ethnology. Tacitly assumed, as it is and has been, for the most -part since the writings of Waitz, the need of a succinct statement of -the doctrine has long been felt, and this is now given, possibly in -somewhat extreme form, in the present work. - -Apart from its intrinsic interest the book will be welcomed as the last -word of the distinguished author whose lamented death has deprived the -science of anthropology of one of its ablest representatives. - - L. F. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - INTRODUCTION vii - - - PART I - - THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND - - - CHAPTER I - - THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN MIND 3 - - - CHAPTER II - - THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP. THE ETHNIC MIND 23 - - - CHAPTER III - - PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE ETHNIC MIND. PROGRESSIVE AND - REGRESSIVE VARIATION. MODES AND RATES OF ETHNIC VARIATION 46 - - - CHAPTER IV - - PATHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE ETHNIC MIND 82 - - - PART II - - THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND - - INTRODUCTION 123 - - - CHAPTER I - - THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOMATIC ENVIRONMENT 126 - - - CHAPTER II - - ETHNIC MENTAL DIVERSITY FROM COGNATIC CAUSES. HEREDITY; HYBRIDITY; - RACIAL PATHOLOGY 147 - - - CHAPTER III - - THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT 163 - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE INFLUENCE OF THE GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT 180 - - - INDEX 201 - - - - - INTRODUCTION - - -It is strange that not in any language has there been published a -systematic treatise on Ethnic Psychology; strange, because the theme is -in nowise a new one but has been the subject of many papers and -discussions for a generation; indeed, had a journal dedicated to its -service for a score of years; strange, also, because its students claim -that it is the key to ethnology, the sure interpreter of history, and -the only solid basis for constructive sociology. - -Why this apparent failure to establish for itself a position in the -temple of the Science of Man? This inquiry must be answered on the -threshold of a treatise which undertakes to vindicate for this study an -independent position and a permanent value. - -It has been cultivated chiefly by German writers. The periodical to -which I have referred was begun in 1860, under the editorship of Dr. M. -Lazarus and Dr. H. Steinthal, the former a psychologist, the latter a -logician and linguist. The contributors to it often occupied high places -in the learned world. Their articles, usually on special points in -ethnography or linguistics, were replete with thought and facts. But -they failed to convince their contemporaries that there was any room in -the hierarchy of the sciences for this newcomer. The failure was so -palpable that after twenty years’ struggle the editors abandoned their -task. But the seed they sowed had not perished in the soil. Under other -names it struck root and flourished, and is now asserting for itself a -right to live by virtue of its real worth to the right understanding of -human progress. - -Why, then, this failure of its earlier cultivation? - -To some extent, but not in full, the answer to this may be found in a -critique of the spirit and method of the writers mentioned, offered by -one of the most eminent psychologists of our generation, Professor W. -Wundt. - -With partial justice, he pointed out that these teachers proceeded on a -false route in their effort to establish the principles of an ethnic -psychology. They approached it imbued with metaphysical ingenuities, -they indulged too much in talk of “soul,” and they searched for “laws”; -whereas, modern psychology recognises only “psychic processes,” and is -not willing to consider that any “soul-constitution” enters to modify of -its own force the progress of the race. Wundt also asserted that the -field of ethnic psychology is already mainly occupied by general -ethnology, or else by the philosophy of history. Yet he did not deny -that in a sphere strictly limited to the subjects of language, custom, -and myth such a “discipline” might do useful work. - -In his later writings, however, Wundt seems to have modified these -strictures, and in the last edition of his excellent text-book -acknowledges that there is no antagonism between experimental and ethnic -psychology, as has been sometimes supposed; that they do not occupy -different, but parts of the same fields, and are distinguished mainly by -difference of method, the one resting on experiment, the other on -observation. - -The recognition of ethnic psychology by professed psychologists is, -therefore, an accomplished fact; and this was long since anticipated by -the general literature of history and ethnography. - -Who, for instance, has denied that there is such a thing as “racial” or -“national” character? Did anyone take it into his head to denounce as -meaningless Emerson’s title, _English Traits_? Does not every treatise -on ethnography assume that there are certain psychical characteristics -of races, tribes, and peoples, quite sharply dividing them from their -neighbours? - -Take, for instance, Letourneau’s popular work, and we find him expressly -claiming that the races and subraces of mankind can be classified by the -relative development of their psychical powers; and such a -“psychological” classification is not a novelty in anthropology. - -These mental traits, characteristics, differences, between human groups -are precisely the material which ethnic psychology takes as its material -for investigations. Its aim is to define them clearly, to explain their -origin and growth, and to set forth what influence they assert on a -people and on its neighbours. - -Ethnic psychology does not hesitate to claim that the separation of -mankind into groups by psychical differences was and is the one -necessary condition of human progress everywhere and at all times; and, -therefore, that the study of the causes of these differences, and the -influence they exerted in the direction of evolution or regression, is -the most essential of all studies to the present and future welfare of -humanity. - -In this sense, it is not only the guiding thread in historical research, -but it is immediately and intensely practical, full of application to -the social life and political measures of the day. - -Some have jealously feared that it offers itself as a substitute for the -philosophy of history. True that it draws some of its material from -history; but as much from ethnography and geography. Moreover, it is -not, as history, a chronologic, but essentially a natural science, -depending for its results on objective, verifiable facts, not on records -and documents. - -To allege that this field is already occupied is wide of the mark. It is -no more embraced in general ethnology or in history than experimental -psychology is included in general physiology. The advancement of science -depends on the specialisation of its fields of research, and it is high -time that ethnic psychology should take an independent position of its -own. - -To assist towards this I shall aim in the present work to set forth its -method and its aims as I understand them. In both these directions I -offer schemes notably different from those of the authors I have -mentioned, believing that this science requires for its independent -development much more comprehensive outlines than will be found in their -writings. - -The method, it need hardly be said, must be that of the so-called -“natural sciences”; but it must be based, as Wundt remarks, not on -experiment—that were impossible—but on observation. This is to extend, -not, as he argued, to a few products of culture, but to everything which -makes up national or ethnic life, be it an historic event, an object of -art, a law, custom, rite, myth, or mode of expression. The origins of -these, in the sense of their proximate or exciting causes, are to be -sought, and the conditions of their growth and decay deduced from their -histories. - -We are dealing with facts of Life, with collective mental function in -action, and we can appeal, therefore, to the principles of general -biology to guide us. We can, for example, since every organism bears in -its structure not only the record of its own life-history but the -vestiges of its ancestry, confidently expect to find in the traits of -nations the survivals of their earlier and unrecorded conditions. - -Understood in this sense, ethnic psychology does not deal with -mathematics and physics, but with collections of facts, feelings, -thoughts, and historic events, and seeks by comparison and analysis to -discover their causal relations. It is wholly objective, and for that -reason eminently a “natural” science. The objective truths with which it -deals are not primary but secondary mental products, as they are not -attached to the individual but to the group. For this reason it has an -advantage over other natural sciences in that it can with propriety -search not only into growth but into origins, for, in its purview, these -fall within the domain of known facts. - -We must recognise that the psychical expressions of life are absolutely -and always correlated to the physical functions and structure; and that, -therefore, no purely psychical causes can explain ethnic development or -degeneration. As the past of an organism decides its future, so the -future of a people is already written in its past history. - -As in ethnic psychology the material is different from that in -experimental psychology, so in the former we must abandon the methods -suitable in the latter. The ethnic _psyche_ is made up of a number of -experiences common to the mass, but not occurring in any one of its -individual members. These experiences of the aggregate develop their own -variations and modes of progress, and must be studied for themselves, -without reference to the individual, holding the processes of the single -mind as analogies only. - -While fully acknowledging the inseparable correlation between all -psychical activities and the physical structures which condition them, -let us not fall into the common and gross error of supposing that -physical is in any way a measure of psychical function. All measurements -in experimental psychology, be they by chemistry or physics, are -quantitative only, and can be nothing else (Wundt); whereas psychical -comparisons are purely qualitative. - -A single example will illustrate this infinitely important -fact:—precisely the same quantity of physico-chemical change may be -needed for the evolution into consciousness of two ideas; but if the one -is false and the other true, their psychic values are indefinitely -apart. - -We perceive, therefore, that in psychology generally, and especially in -ethnic psychology, where we deal with aggregates, we must draw a -fundamental distinction between those agents which act quantitatively on -the psychical life, that is, modify it by measurable forces, and those -which act qualitatively, that is, by altering the contents and direction -of the _psyche_ itself. - -The former belong properly to “natural history,” and can be measured and -estimated just to the extent that we have instruments of precision for -the purpose; the latter wholly elude any such attempts, and must be -appraised by the results they have historically achieved, that is, by -arts, events, or institutions. - -The recognition of these two factors of human development, radically -distinct yet inseparably associated, has led me to adopt the division -into two parts of the present work. The first is the “natural,” the -second, the “cultural,” history of the ethnic mind.[1] - -Footnote 1: - - The author had apparently decided to reverse this order of treatment - after writing the above. The “natural history of the ethnic mind” - forms the second part of the work.—EDITOR. - -Note that I say _ethnic_ mind. For let it be said here, as well as -repeated later, that there is no such thing as progress or culture in -the isolated individual, but only in the group, in society, in the -_ethnos_. Only by taking and giving, borrowing and lending, can life -either improve or continue. - -The “natural” history will embrace the consideration of those general -doctrines of continuity and variation which hold true alike in matter -and in mind, in the soul as in the body, and a review of the known -forces which, acting through the physical structure and function upon -the organs which are the vehicles of mental phenomena, weaken or -strengthen the psychical activities. - -The “cultural” history will present something of a new departure in -anthropology—a classification of all ethnologic data as the products of -a few general concepts, universal to the human mind, but conditioned in -their expressions by the natural history of each group. The -justification of this procedure, which is _not_ a return to the ideology -of an older generation, will be presented in the introduction to the -second part. - -The illustrative examples I shall frequently draw from savage conditions -of life. This is in accordance with the custom of ethnologists, and is -based on the fact that in such conditions the motives of action are -simpler and less concealed, and we are nearer the origins of arts and -institutions. - -Only by such direct examples can a true psychology be established. The -time has passed when one can seek the laws of mental development from -the “inner consciousness”; and we smile at even so recent a philosopher -as Cousin, when he tells us that, to discover such laws, “_il nous -suffit de rentrer dans nous-mêmes_.” - - - - - PART I - THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND - - - - - CHAPTER I - _THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN MIND_ - - -In a treatise on psychology we have to do with the Mind; and what is -Mind? So far as we can define it, it is the sum of those activities -which distinguish living from dead matter, the organism from the -inorganic mass. - -So broad a definition would include both the vegetable and the animal -worlds; and this is not an error; but for the present purpose, which is -the consideration of the mind of man, it is enough if we recognise that -this mind of his is a development of that of the brute; the same in most -of its traits, contrasted to it in a few. It is profitable, in truth -indispensable, to scrutinise both closely. - -_Identities and Differences of the Human and the Brute Mind._—There is a -branch of science called “comparative psychology.” Its province is to -trace the evolution of human mental powers to their earlier phases in -the inferior animals. So successfully has it been pursued that not a few -of its teachers claim that there is nothing left as the private property -of man in this connection; that he has no powers or faculties which are -peculiarly his own; that all his endowments differ in degree only from -those evinced by some one or other of the lower species. - -The brute has his fine senses, as acute as, often acuter than, ours; no -one can deny him emotions of love and fear, hate and affection, sorrow -and joy, as poignant as ours, and often expressed in strangely similar -modes; his memory is retentive, his will strong, his self-control -remarkable; he has a lively curiosity, a love of imitation, a sense of -the beautiful, and it is acknowledged that we cannot deny him either -imagination or reason. Mental progress is not unknown in the brute, and -it is well to remember that it is not universal among men. - -What, then, is man’s proud prerogative? What the gift which has given -him the world and all that therein is? The answer is in one -word,—_ideation_. The last efforts of modern science can but paraphrase -the words which the philosopher Locke penned nigh two centuries ago: -“The having of general ideas is that which puts a perfect distinction -between man and brute.” The latest American writer on the subject merely -repeats this when he phrases it “the ability to think in general terms -by using symbols (words) which summarise systems of association.” - -Let us avoid the metaphysical snares which have been spread around this -simple statement. No matter about such words as “concepts,” “notions,” -“apperceptions,” “abstractions,” and the like. Let us fix in mind the -formula of Romanes: “Distinctively human faculty belongs with -distinctively human ideation.” This, the power to form general -ideas,—which are necessarily abstract,—is the one prerogative which -lifts man above brute. By it he can compare what he learns and thus -develop an intellectual life for comparison; to borrow the metaphor of a -famous student of his kind, it is the magic wand, the diamond-hilted -sword, by which man will conquer his salvation through learning the -truth. We exclaim, with Pascal, “It is Thought which makes Man.” - -Outside of this and its developments, all that man has of soul-life is -in common with the brute. Why should he be ashamed of it? What folly to -pretend, as the common phrase goes, to “get rid of the brute in man”! -Parental love, social instincts, fidelity, friendship, courage,—these -are parts of his heritage from his four-footed ancestor. What would he -become, dispossessed of them? - -Already, in that long alienation from his brethren which made man the -one species of his genus and the one genus of his class, has he lost -certain strange powers of mind which excite our special wonder when we -see their manifestations in his remote relations. The chief of these is -Instinct. We are all familiar with its extraordinary exhibitions in -bees, ants, and higher animals, and its seeming total absence in -ourselves. What can we make of it? - -_Instinct and Intelligence._—Throughout all nature there is an unceasing -eternal conflict between the old and the new, between motion and rest, -between the fixed and the variable, between the individual and the -universe. This cosmic contest is reflected within the realm of animal -life in the contrast between Instinct and Intelligence. - -Instinct is hereditary; it belongs to the species; its performance is -unconscious, resulting from internal impulse; its tendency is endless -repetition, not improvement; it is petrified, inherited habit. -Intelligence belongs to the individual; it is neither inherited nor -transmissible by blood; its tendency is toward advancement, progress. It -is the source of all knowledge not purely empirical, and of all -development not of chance. - -Habits which are forced upon organisms by the environment under penalty -of extinction become hereditary modes of procedure. They are persisted -in because vitally beneficial. Comparative anatomy shows us that those -organs and structures which are most persistent have their functions -most instinctive; and conversely, as individual freedom of action -increases, instinct retires and intelligence takes its place, -accompanied by higher plasticity in the structures involved in the -action. - -Intelligent action is personal initiative from compared experiences. It -is not merely repetition, as in the tricks of animals, but deduction; -therefore it introduces new tendencies into life, which instinct never -does; and these tendencies are not the direct sequences of external -stimuli, as are instincts, but are psychic in origin, proceeding from -the mental conclusion reached. - -No more interesting comparison between instinct and intelligence can be -found than that offered by the social communities of the lower -animals,—the bees, ants, beavers, and the like. Their well-regulated -activities excite our surprise and admiration. Each member of the little -state has his duty and performs it, with the result that all are thereby -benefited and the species successfully perpetuated. - -But much of the admiration expended on these societies in the lower life -has been misplaced. Their perfect organisation is due to narrower -development of mental powers. The one object at which they aim is -species-continuation, and to this all else is subordinated. They are in -no sense comparable to the reflective purpose which is at the base of -human society, whose real, though oft unacknowledged, and ever -unsuccessful, aim is to insure to each individual the full development -of his various powers. Hence it is that human society is and must be -ever changing with individual aspirations, and can never be iron-bound -in one form. - -_Imagination._—There is another faculty of mind, which, if not -exclusively human, is so in all its higher manifestations, and indeed -is, in its development, perhaps the best mental criterion we could -select to measure the evolution of races, nations, and individuals. I -refer to Imagination, Fancy, the source of our noblest enthusiasms, of -our loftiest sentiments, of poetic rapture, and artistic inspiration. -These spiritual sentiments are wholly absent in the brute, and are rare -in inferior personalities. They arise from the vivid presentation to the -mind of real or fancied experiences directed to some end in view. But -this is just the definition of active imagination. It is a rehearsal of -our perceptions, real, or those analogous to reality. Though not a -collation of ideas, its processes are closely akin to those of logical -thought; and, as an eminent analyst says, “The principle of an organic -division according to an end in view governs all processes of active -imagination.” - -In this phrase we see why imagination ranks as a criterion of mental -development. Ruled chiefly by unconscious instinct the brute has no -other aims than to feed and sleep and reproduce his kind; men of low -degree add to these, perhaps, the lust of power or of gold or of -amusement, or other such vain and paltry ambitions; but the soul that -seeks the highest has aims beyond all fulfilment, but which by their -glory stimulate its activities to the utmost and lift it into a life -above all mundane satisfactions. - -_The Ideal._—By the plastic power of the active imagination is formed -the Ideal, the most potent of all the stimulants of the higher culture. -Based on reality and experience, it transcends the possibilities of -both, and lifts the soul into realms whose light is not on sea or land, -and whose activities aim at results beyond any present power of human -nature to achieve. But it is only by striving for that which is beyond -reach that the utmost effort possible can be called forth. - -The ideal, some ideal, is present in every human heart. It is the goal -toward which each strives in seeking pleasure and in avoiding pain. -Through the unity of the human mind, the same ideals, few in number, -have directed the energies of men in all times and climes. Around them -have concentrated the labours of nations, and as one or the other became -more prominent, national character partook of its inspiration, and -national history fell under its sway. Constantly in the history of -culture do we see such general devotion to an ideal lead groups toward -or away from the avenue to progress and vitality. - -_Consciousness and Self-Consciousness._—Through ideation arises man’s -consciousness of himself as an independent personality. In its broadest -sense, that of reaction to an external stimulus, consciousness is a -property of all animals, perhaps of all organic tissues. Contractility -and motility depend upon it. What it is, “in itself,” we have no means -of knowing; therefore it is safe to agree with Professor Cope in his -negative opinion that it “is qualitatively comparable to nothing else.” - -In simpler forms of organic life it must be merely rudimentary; but in -most animals it reaches what has been called the “projective” stage; -that is, the animal is conscious of the existence of others, like or -unlike himself, though he is not yet conscious of himself as a separate -entity. This has been held to explain, psychologically, the “gregarious -instincts” of many lower species. - -As a result of the absence of general concepts, the brute does not -contemplate himself as a single individual in contrast to the others of -his species. He is unable to class these under a general term or -thought. Hence _self_-consciousness belongs to man alone. - -Attempting to define this trait, we may say that it is the perception of -the unity and continuity of the individual’s psychological activities. -Just in proportion as this perception becomes clear, positive, sharply -defined, does the individual become aware of his own life, his real -existence, its laws, and its purposes. - -Hence the study of this mental characteristic becomes of the highest -importance in ethnology; for it has been well said (Post) that the -growth or decay of individual self-consciousness is an unfailing measure -of the growth or decay of States. - -Physiologically, the sense of self, the Ego, is produced by outgoing -discharges from the central nervous system which are felt. They may -arise from external forces or from the internal source which we call -Volition, or Will. In both cases the repetition of _feeling_ them yields -the notion of Personality. - -It is instructive to note how differently races and nations have -understood and still do understand this notion; instructive, because it -has much to do with their characters and actions. - -Naturally enough many have identified the _I_ with the body, or with -that portion of the body least destructible, the bones. For this reason, -in Egypt, Peru, Teneriffe, and many other localities there was the -practice of preserving the entire body by exsiccation or mummification, -the belief being that, were it destroyed, the personal existence of the -decedent would also perish. In other lands the bones were carefully -guarded in ossuaries or shrines, for in them the soul was held to abide. - -Not less widely received was another opinion, that the self dwells in -the name. The personal name was therefore conferred with ceremony, and -frequently was not disclosed beyond the family. The individual could be -injured through his name, his personality impaired by its misuse. - -In higher conditions the Person is usually defined by attributes and -environment, as sex, age, calling, property, and the like. Ask a man who -he is, he will define himself “by name and standing.” - -Few reach the conception of abstract Individuality, apart from the above -incidents of time and place; so that it is easy to see that -self-consciousness is still in little more than an embryonic stage of -development in humanity. It differs notably in races and stages of -culture. Dr. Van Brero comments on the slight sense of personality among -the Malayan islanders, and attributes to that their exemption from -certain nervous diseases. Its morbid development in self-attention and -Ego-mania is frequently noticed in the asylums of highly civilised -centres. - -I shall have frequent occasion to insist that the utmost healthful, that -is, symmetrical, development of the individuality is the true aim of -human society. This is directly due to the fact that self-consciousness, -the “I” in its final analysis, depends on the unity and independence of -the individual Will, which in a given moment of action can be One only. -The cultivation of individuality is therefore the cultivation of the -will, to direct and strengthen which must be the purpose of all -education. - -_The Intellectual Process._—The chasm between the human and the brute -mind widens when we come to look more closely at the various steps of -the intellectual process, that is, at the method of reasoning. To be -either clear or conscious, this must be carried on by general ideas, in -themselves abstractions. For example, the so-called “syllogisms” of -logic depend upon the relation of a general to a particular idea; and -thinking can no more be conducted without this relation than talking -without grammatical rules; though neither the formula of the syllogism -nor the rules of grammar are consciously present to the mind. - -The logical process is everywhere and at all times the same, in the sage -or the savage, the sane or the insane. To reach any conclusion, the mind -must work in accordance with its method. This is purely mechanical. An -English philosopher (Jevons) invented a “logical machine,” which worked -as well as the human brain. The logical process has been formulated by a -mathematician (Boole) in a simple equation of the second degree. It must -consist of subject and predicate, of general and particular. But the -process has nothing to do with the proceeds. A mill grinds equally well -wheat, tares, and poisonberries. Not upon the fact that the pepsin -digests, but that it digests proper aliments, depends the health of the -body. So the content of the intellectual operation, not its form, is of -good or harm, and merits the attention of ethnographer or historian. - -_The Mechanical Action of Mind._—The Germans have a saying, framed first -by their writer, Lichtenstein, known as “the Magician of the North,” -that “_we_ do not think. Thinking merely goes on within us”; just as our -stomachs digest and our glands excrete. Another one of their authors -originated the once-celebrated apothegm, “Without phosphorus there is no -thought.” - -The aim of both expressions is to put pointedly the principle that the -intellectual process is of a mechanico-chemical character, a mere bodily -function, to be classed with digestion or circulation. This opinion has -of late years been warmly espoused in the United States. - -That intellectual actions are governed by fixed laws was long ago said -and demonstrated by Quetelet in his remarkable studies of vital -statistics. That the development of thought proceeds “under the rule of -an iron necessity” is the ripened conviction of that profound student of -man, Bastian. We must accept it as the verdict of science. - -What, then, becomes of individuality, personality, free-will? Must we, -as the great dramatist said, “confess ourselves the slaves of chance, -the flies of every wind that blows?” - -Not yet. That we are subject to our surroundings and our history; that -our forefathers, though dead, have not relaxed their parental grasp; -that time, clime, and spot master thought and deed, is all true. But -above all is Volition, Will, a final, insoluble, personal power, the one -irrefragable proof of separate existence, not itself translatable into -Force, but the director, initiator, of all vital forces. - -_The “Psychic Cells.”_—Mind brings man into kinship with all organic -life. Long ago Aristotle said if one would explain the human soul, he -must accomplish it through learning the souls of all other beings. - -The physiologist explains mental phenomena as the function of -specialised cell-life. He points out the cells, strange triangular -masses in the cortex of the brain, with long processes and spiny -branches, touching but never uniting. In the lower animals the network -is simple, the branches short; as mental capacity advances, they become -more complex and longer. - -These are the “psychic cells” in whose microscopic laboratory is worked -the magic of mind, transforming waves of impact, some into sweet music, -others into colour and light and all the glory of the landscape; -changing sights and sounds into emotions of joy or dread; transmitting -them into passions or lusts; assorting the gathered stores of -comparison, and from them building ideas base or noble, and awakening -the Will to direct the use of all. - -_The Question of Soul._—But, it will be exclaimed, in this discussion of -Mind, is nothing to be said of a _Soul_? Has man not an immortal element -which removes him infinitely from the brute which perishes, and which -guarantees his personal existence after death? - -The answer of modern science is that between “mind” and “soul” no -distinction can be drawn; and that this very quality of “ideation” is -not a sudden acquisition, some free gift of the gods, bestowed -full-blown and perfected, but the development of a very slow process, -traceable in its beginnings in some beasts, faint in the lowest men, -strictly conditioned on the growth of articulate expression, far from -complete in the ripest intellects. It neither excludes nor assumes -persistence after corporeal death. We may use the word “soul,” -therefore, because it is rich in associations; but use it as a synonym -of “mind.” - -The soul is not some transcendental substance outside of the individual, -but exists by virtue of the connection of his psychic processes with -each other. This does not lessen the reality of his personal existence, -but explains it. - -As for the relation which mind or soul in general bears to the material -external world, most thinkers are of opinion now that the contrast -formerly supposed to exist is one merely of view-point; that natural -science considers all our experiences as external, while mental science -studies them as wholly internal. - -_Are the Mental Faculties the Same in Man Everywhere?_—The lines thus -clearly drawn between the human and the brute mind, we ask, do they hold -good for the whole human species, of all races and degrees of culture? -And has man in the past always possessed these faculties which have been -thus attributed to him alone of all organised beings? - -To these inquiries I shall address myself. - -It is true, as I shall have many occasions to show hereafter, that in -mental endowment tribes and races widely differ; but so do individuals -of the same race, even of the same family; and in regard to many of -these differences we can so accurately put our finger on what brings it -about that we have but to alter conditions in order to alter endowments. - -The Fuegian savage is one of the worst specimens of the genus; but put -him when young in an English school, and he will grow up an intelligent -member of civilised society. However low man is, he can be instructed, -improved, redeemed; and it is this most cheering fact which should -encourage us in incessant labour for the degraded and the despised of -humanity. - -There is another proof, strong, convincing, of the substantial sameness -of the human mind throughout the species. This is Language, articulate -speech. No tribe has ever been known in history or ethnography but had a -language ample for its needs. The speechless man, _Homo alalus_, is a -fiction of a philosopher. He never lived. - -Language, however, is the guarantor of thought in general terms. The -words are the “associative symbols” of abstract ideas. Wherever men -talk, they think in a solely human fashion. - -Philologists talk of “higher” or “lower” languages. The assertion has -been made that some more than others favor abstract expressions. Such -statements may be granted; but the fact remains that every word itself -is the symbol of an abstraction, and only as such can it be rationally -uttered. - -We can trace language back to its pristine rudiments, to the form that -it must have had among the hordes of the “old stone age,” cave-dwellers, -naked savages. I have made such an attempt. But the essentials of speech -as a vehicle of thought still remain; and though doubtless there was a -period when articulate separated from inarticulate speech, that was -during the morning twilight of man’s day on earth, when he as yet -scarcely merited the name of man. - -From all analogy we may be confident that the early palæolithic men who -shaped the symmetrical axes of Acheul, scrapers, punches, and hammers; -who carefully selected and tested the flint-flakes; who had enough of an -eye for beauty to preserve fine quartz pebbles; and who lived in social -groups, in stationary homes along watercourses,—these men unquestionably -had a spoken language, and minds competent to deal in simple -abstractions. Yet these are the most ancient men of whom we know -anything, dwellers in central Europe before the Great Ice Age. - -When we have such evidence as this for the psychical unity of the human -species, is it worth while going into that antiquated discussion of the -“monogenists” and “polygenists” as to whether man owns one or several -birthplaces? Surely not. We declare all nations of the earth to be of -one blood by the judgment of a higher court than anatomy can furnish; -though it also hands down no dissenting opinion. - -_The Elementary Ideas and their Development._—These two principles, or -rather demonstrated truths,—the unity of the mind of man, and the -substantial uniformity of its action under like conditions,—form the -broad and secure foundation for Ethnic Psychology. They confirm the -validity of its results and guarantee its methods. - -As there are conditions which are universal, such as the structure and -functions of the body, its general relations to its surroundings, its -needs and powers, these developed everywhere at first the like psychical -activities, or mental expressions. They constitute what Bastian has -happily called the “elementary ideas” of our species. In all races, over -all continents, they present themselves with a wonderful sameness, which -led the older students of man to the fallacious supposition that they -must have been borrowed from some common centre. - -Nor are they easily obliterated under the stress of new experiences and -changed conditions. With that tenacity of life which characterises -simple and primitive forms, they persist through periods of divergent -and higher culture, hiding under venerable beliefs, emerging with fresh -disguises, but easily detected as but repetitions of the dear primordial -faiths of the race. - -_The Ethnic Ideas and their Origin._—From the monotonous unity of the -elementary ideas, the common property of mankind in its earliest stages -of development, branched off the mental life of each group and tribe, -not discarding the old, but adding the new under the external compulsion -of environment and experience. - -Where such externals were alike or nearly so, the progress was parallel; -where unlike, it was divergent; analogous in this to well-known -doctrines of the biologist. - -Such branches were constantly blending in peace or colliding in war, -leading to a perpetual interaction of the one growth with the other, -engendering a complexity of relation to each other and to the primitive -substratum. But the ethnic character, once crystallised, remained as -ingrained as the national life or the bodily stigmata. It compelled the -members as a mass to look at life and its aims through certain lights, -to comprehend the world under certain forms, to move to a measure, and -dance to a tune. - -Such is the power of the Ethnic Mind, fraught with weal or woe for the -nation over whom it rules, tyrannical, portentous, a blind natural -force, which may lift its helpless followers to skyey heights or drag -them into the abyss. - -How it is formed and what decides its fateful beneficent or maleficent -decrees, I shall consider in detail in the next chapters. - - - - - CHAPTER II - _THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP. THE ETHNIC MIND_ - - -The ethnic character becomes more fixed with advancing culture, and its -component parts—that is, the individuals who compose it—more uniform. -This has not been understood by one of the latest writers on the -subject, Professor Vierkandt, who maintains that in savage groups there -is a much greater sameness between the individuals who compose them. -Superficially, this is true on account of the limited range of their -activity; but in proportion to that range the individuals differ more -widely, because they are so much more subjected to external influences -and emotional attacks. Dr. Krejči is more correct in his opinion that -the sum of the differences between cultured individuals and peoples is -less than that between the uncultured. This obviously flows from the -fact that cultivated minds are governed by reason and knowledge, whose -prescriptions are everywhere the same; while illiterate minds are -victims of ignorance and passion. All who learn that twice two are four -act on the knowledge of it; but the Brazilian Indian, who has no word in -his language for numerals above two, may disregard it. - -Some have maintained that the promptings of the group-mind as felt by -the individual belong in the unconscious or involuntary part of his -nature, and partake of the character of mechanical necessity. - -There is indeed this tendency, but it is not by any means a necessary -character of the collective mind, as an example easily shows. I may -adopt a prevailing custom or belief merely through imitation, which is a -mechanical procedure; or I may adopt it, being led to examine it from -its prevalence and to approve it from my examination,—and this is a -voluntary action. - -In this we see the contrast of cultured and uncultured group-minds. The -latter demand assent merely from their unanimity, the former wish it -only from enlightenment; the latter ask faith, the former knowledge; the -latter command obedience, the former urge investigation. - -Plato has a dialogue on the problem of “The One and the Many”; and the -abstract subtleties he brings forward are almost paralleled by the -concrete facts which we encounter in an endeavour to state the mutual -relations of the Individual and the Group. - -This science of ours, ethnic psychology, has, in one sense, nothing to -do with the individual. It does not start from his mind or thoughts but -from the mind of the group; its laws are those of the group only, and in -nowise true of the individual; it omits wide tracts of activities which -belong to the individual and embraces others in which he has no share; -to the extent that it does study him, it is solely in his relation to -others, and not in the least for himself. - -On the other hand, as the group is a generic concept only, it has no -objective existence. It lives only in the individuals which compose it; -and only by studying them singly can we reach any fact or principle -which is true of them in the aggregate. - -Yet it is almost as correct to maintain that the group is that which -alone of the two is real. The closer we study the individual, the more -do his alleged individualities cease, as such, and disappear in the -general laws by virtue of which society exists; the less baggage does he -prove to have which is really his own; the more do all his thoughts, -traits, and features turn out to be those of others; so that, at last, -he melts into the mass, and there is nothing left which he has a right -to claim as his personal property. His pretended personal mind is the -reflex of the group-minds around him, as his body is in every fibre and -cell the repetition of his species and race. As an American writer -strongly puts it: “Morally I am as much a part of society as physically -I am a part of the world’s fauna.” - -But let no one deduce from this that the group is merely the sum total -of the individuals which compose it, the net balance of their thoughts -and lives. Nothing would be more erroneous. I have already said that -laws and processes belong to the group which are foreign to the -individual. We may go further, and prove that these processes, the -spirit of the group, are quite different from those of any single member -of it. To use the expression of Wundt: “The resultant arising from -united psychological processes includes contents which are not present -in the components.” - -In numerous respects, indeed, the individual and the group stand in -opposition to each other. The qualities of the former are incoherent, -disorderly, irregular; while those of the latter are fixed, stable, -computable. - -Let us contemplate further this relation of the individual to the group, -for upon its correct apprehension must the whole fabric of ethnic -psychology, as a science, rest. - -In every healthy individual there is a feeling that his thoughts and -actions are vain unless they are somehow directed towards his fellow -human beings; yet there is a further feeling that these fellow creatures -are but a means for the developing and perfecting of himself. He desires -to be intimately associated with the group, but not to be absorbed and -lost in it. His unconscious goal is individuality, but not isolation; -and he feels that the most complete and sane individuality can be -obtained only by association with others of his kind. For that reason, -he submits his will to the collective will, his consciousness to the -collective consciousness. He accepts from the group the ideas, -conclusions, and opinions common to it, and the motives of volition, -such as customs and rules of conduct, which it collectively sanctions. - -These ideas and motives are strictly the property of the group, not of -its separate members. Such a prevailing unity of thought and sentiment -does not rest on unanimity of opinion; it does not necessarily exclude -any amount of individuality, and is consistent with the utmost freedom -of the personal mind. Its basis is a similarity of form and direction of -the psychical activities, guiding and modifying them in such a way that -a general colour and tendency can be recognised. - -If it is asked, on what ultimate psychical concept the differences of -collective or group-minds are based in a last analysis, I am inclined to -answer with Wilhelm von Humboldt, that it is on the currently accepted -relation of the material to the immaterial world. The solution adopted -for this insoluble problem is the hidden spring of motive in the minds -of all. - -The actual existence of the group-mind can no more be denied than the -constant inter-relation between it and the individual mind. It takes -nothing from its reality that it exists only in individual wills. To -deny it on that account, as Wundt admirably says, is as illogical as to -deny the existence of a building because the single stones of which it -is composed may be removed. Indeed, it might claim higher reality than -the individual mind in that its will is more potent and can attain -greater results by collective action. - -Of course, there is no metaphysical “substance” or mythological “being” -behind the collective mind. That were a nonsensical notion. Nor is it in -any sense a voluntary invention, created by contract for utilitarian -ends. That were a gross misconception. It is the actual agreement and -interaction of individuals resulting in mental modes, tendencies, and -powers not belonging to any one member, and moving under laws developed -by the requirements of this independent existence. It is like an -orchestra which can produce harmonies by the blending of the strains of -numerous instruments impossible to any one of them. - -The sense or self-recognition of individual life as apart from group -life varies widely. In the totemic bonds of savage life, in the guilds -of higher grades, in the “society centres” of modern life, the -individual consciously and willingly renounces nearly the whole of -himself in favour of the circle which he enters. - -When he attempts the opposite extreme, and prides himself on his -insulation, his egotism, and antagonism to others, he usually deceives -himself. No matter how selfishly he pursues his aims, it is ever in -obedience to the influence of the group. From it he takes his thoughts -and the language in which to express them, his economic values are those -recognised by it, its ideals are his, he will strive in vain to escape -the iron bands of the social order about him. Unknown to himself, he -abides the slave of others. - -The group has another advantage over him which he can in no wise -diminish or avoid. He will die, but it will live. He, with his petty -strivings and personal ambitions, will soon sink into the dateless -night, but the social order of which he was a part will survive in other -and younger generations, moving forward to its destiny under compulsive -forces of which he has not even an inkling, crushing his blind -opposition under resistless wheels. - -Not by antagonism to the group does the individual gain his highest -personal aims, his fullest reality as an individual, but by devoting -himself to the best interests of the group, learning what they really -are, and furthering them by a study of the means adapted to their growth -and fruition. This is “altruism,” the living for others, in its highest -sense, the aim not primarily the individual, but the group and its -welfare. - -This is the more needful because the group, as a psychical unit, is -_never creative_. It is receptive, active, executive, but for its -creative inspirations it depends upon the individual. What is called -“originality,” the stimuli and momenta of development, arise primarily -from the single mind. - -But it is equally true that the work of the group must precede the work -of the individual, and prepare for it, if it is to be successful. -Otherwise, the seed will be sown on barren ground. - -In every historic event the group is the only active agent; through it -the individual can bring to bear his limited powers over an indefinitely -vast area, and with indefinitely multiplied force. History is a record -of the sentiments and actions of groups; yet so little has this been -understood, so obscured has this been by the potency of personality, -that until recently it has been little more than an account of -individuals. Without the aid of the group, what would have become of the -most famous heroes of the past? - -I would sum up these reflections on the relations of the individual and -the group by the practical deduction that to understand the individual -we must study him in relation to the group, and to understand the group -we must study it, primarily in the individuals of which it is composed, -in both their physical and mental life; and secondly, in those -principles and processes which it, as an entirely psychical product, -presents peculiar to itself. - -The group is _not_ a “natural” product in the objective sense in which -that word is employed in the term “natural sciences.” It is a purely -mental creation, though none the less real. It must be examined and -investigated by other methods, therefore, than those customary in the -biologic sciences. - -Instead of studying external phenomena for their own sake, we must -regard all such as valuable only as they indicate psychic changes, and -as they can be translated into mental correlates. The study is, -therefore, from within, and qualitative rather than quantitative, in -this respect contrasting with experimental psychology and also with -history. - -When we examine in detail the interaction of the individual and the -group we may classify the processes which take place somewhat as -follows: - -The individual receives from the group the symbols for complex and -general ideas—that is, the words of language; he is also taught many -complex purposeful motions, such as are needed in social and cultured -life; he is supplied with artificial objects for his use, as tools, -clothing, shelter, etc.; and he is constantly subjected to a certain -amount of physical force from those around him—in other words, is “made -to do” a variety of acts. The group may consciously strive to modify -him, as in public education, religious instruction, and the like; or it -may act merely negatively in opposing any developments antagonistic to -its own character. The individual may work for or against the group, or -for himself only; but in either case has to reckon with the group for -what he obtains from it. - -While the _unity_ of the ethnic mind is fostered by a conscious effort -to promote common interests, modes of expression, ambitions, and aims, -its energy is in direct proportion to the cultivation of the sense of -individuality among its members, for from the latter alone are born the -impulses to progress. The fatal error of many communities has been to -bend every effort to secure the former, while they neglected or actually -endeavoured to suppress the latter. - -I have been using the word “group” in a loose way. The time has now come -to distinguish it from various other terms familiar to ethnology, such -as tribe, folk, nation, people, stock, and race. - -“Group” is the best English equivalent for the Greek _ethnos_, which -word, by its derivation, means a number of people united together by -habits and usages in common. - -This at once places the group above the mere temporary aggregations, -such as the crowd or the mob. The ethnic group is formed by the thoughts -and aims of the lives of its members, not by their ephemeral emotions -and actions. - -Compared with nation, stock, or race, it is a generic term; for by -“nation” we understand all united in the acceptance of one form of -government; by “stock,” those speaking dialects or tongues derived from -one primitive language (linguistic stocks); and by “race,” those -connected by identity of physical traits. The “tribe” is merely the -primitive form of the nation, while in English “folk” has a current -application to certain classes in society and not to the whole of it. - -The correlative of the ethnic group, or, in these pages, “the group,” in -German is _Volk_ and in French, _le peuple_. - -How these ethnic groups are formed, under what complex conditions their -differences arise, what influences are the most potent in their creation -and preservation, will be considered in detail hereafter. At present it -is sufficient to mention certain general principles, applicable to the -formation of all ethnic groups. - -First, it must be borne in mind that mere similarity and geographical -contiguity are not enough to constitute an _ethnos_. The Fuegian hordes -live under the same sky, speak closely related dialects and are -physically alike; but no one would pretend that there is any unity among -them. Their roving bands never meet but to fight and their only social -occupation is mutual destruction. Nor would there be any true unity in a -society however peaceful where each family isolates itself to the utmost -from its neighbours and seeks to limit all its efforts and sympathies to -its own members. Such a society might become high in numbers and -extended in area; but it would have no true unity. It might even develop -considerable results in thoughts, study, and invention; but they would -remain sterile to the general weal, and contribute little or nothing to -the progress of the race. Such was the condition of parts of Europe in -the feudal ages. - -The ethnic life is a mental life, and this consists not in the sameness -brought about by the environment, nor even in ideas and acquirements, -but in movement, comparison, and association of ideas. - -The unity not merely of present traits but of future aims, not merely of -ideas but of ideals, is the true unity which constitutes the ethnic -mind. This is the foundation fact which must be constantly present to -the student, if his researches in ethnic psychology are to be -profitable. - -In this it differs from racial psychology, for while doubtless each race -has mental advantages and deficiencies which are its own and which -largely decide the destiny of its members, these are not united in -pursuit of one end. There is no unity of will and purpose. - -Each individual partakes of this racial psychology as he does of many -other mental unions, such as his church and his political party; but -that which has pre-eminence in history and psychology is not these, but -that closer and paramount union to which he is bound by a common speech, -ideas, motives, and hopes. - -We must not forget, however, that under whatever connotation we -understand the group, it is still composed of individuals; and the -relations which these bear to it require careful consideration. - -The unity of a group can never be complete. The infinite variations of -its individual members prevent this. And here comes in an interesting -law which has lately been defined by an American scientist. He has shown -that precisely that trait or those traits which are the most -distinguishing characteristics of a group vary the widest in the -individuals of that group. - -Let us take, for instance, a given community remarkable for the average -height of its members. We shall find wider variations in this dimension -among them than among a community less conspicuous in this measurement. - -This appears to hold equally good for the statistics of longevity, of -health and disease, and other physical traits. There is little doubt it -is also of general application to mental qualities. The contradictory -estimates of national character largely depend upon it. Not the bias of -the observers but their ignorance of the operation of this law will -often explain such discrepancies. - -What method should we follow to avoid such an error? In other words, -what formula can we devise to correct individual variation and arrive at -a true average for the group? - -This work has already been done for us. Diligent students of vital -statistics have as good as demonstrated that when a given characteristic -of a group can be expressed in numbers and these projected by the -graphic method, the resultant curve obtained will be one of those called -by mathematicians binomial. Subtracting from the whole number one-tenth -for aberrant forms or abnormal cases (the distribution of error), of the -remainder, one-half will represent the mean, and one-fourth each will -represent the plus and minus extremes. For example, suppose in a given -community numbering one thousand adults the average height is 5 feet 6 -inches; in it, one hundred persons (one-tenth) will be either abnormally -tall or short; of the remainder, 450 will attain just about the total -average height; while 225 will be above and 225 below it. - -We can fearlessly adopt this method of reasoning in ethnic psychology. -When we speak of mental traits or ideas common to the group, we mean -that they may be held as expressed by scarcely half of that group; that -in the remainder of the group they may be much more positively adopted -or more or less rejected; but inasmuch as such numerous exceptions -largely annul each other’s force, the general tendency and action of the -group will be guided by the average rather than by either extreme. - -The justice of this method is further supported by another general -psychical law of groups. This is, that they attract in the direct ratio -of their mass; the more numerous a party is, the more adherents will it -obtain. Hence, although in the above example the mean, 450, is less than -half of the whole number, yet it is much greater than either of the -other three sub-groups, 100, 225, 225, and exerts therefore double the -attractive power of the latter. That is, in a question of opinion, it -will receive twice as many adherents as either of the latter. Hence the -value of majorities as expressing the will of a community. - -The principle of psychical action on which the above is based is one -very familiar to students of psychology. It is that termed “collective -suggestion.” This is the overmastering tendency to imitate the examples -of others, to act in accordance with the ideas and feelings which we -witness in those around us. When such ideas and sentiments are constant, -and conspicuously displayed, they overcome resistance and the individual -mind is attracted to that of the group with like irresistible magnetism -as in fairy lore drew the ship of the mariners to the loadstone rocks of -Avalon. - -From these considerations it will be understood that the group may be -regarded mathematically as a “constant,” the resultant of a number of -“variables,” the individuals of whom it is constituted. - -Many writers of late years have spoken of the social unit, the group or -the nation, as an “organism.” Some have further defined it as a -“super-organism” or a “physio-psychic organism.” - -Such expressions are well enough as figures of speech. They serve to -accentuate the interdependence of parts and the potentiality of change -and development in the ethnic mind. But the simile becomes illusory and -deceptive when it is set up as a principle from which to deduce -conclusions. The group is no more an organism than is any other -psychical concept, that of the “genus Homo” for example. - -A vital characteristic of the ethnic group is the degree of its -_centralisation_. This is, in truth, a coefficient of its powers. -Numbers may be said to increase thus by addition, but centralisation by -multiplication. The centralisation, however, must be real; not simply a -single point of action, but also a convergence of forces to that point. -The French nation is popularly supposed to be centralised in Paris; but -in fact the provinces are usually ignorant of national action there -until after it has occurred. It is through modern methods of rapid -transmission of intelligence that national groups can act with so much -greater force than in earlier days. - -The _permanence_ of the ethnic group has been a matter much discussed by -philosophers. Led on by a supposed analogy to the individual, governed -by the notion that the social unit is an “organism” and subject to the -same laws as physical organisms, supported, as they imagined, by the -teachings of history, writers of merit have claimed that the _ethnos_ -has a birth, an adolescence, a period of maturity, and old age and -death, as has the individual. - -Even such an acute thinker as Quetelet was so enamoured of this theory -that he worked out the “natural longevity” of a nation, discovering it -to be about ten times the greatest longevity of its individual members! - -The doctrines of ethnic psychology, as I understand them, do not -sanction such an opinion. The analogy of the group to an organism is -purely fictitious; the historic causes of the decay of nations are not -the same and are not allied to those which bring about mortality in the -individual. - -There is no such thing as a natural death of a Society. It may be -crushed by external force, but if it perishes from within, it has -deliberately poisoned itself, has fallen a victim to preventable -disease. - -There is one catholicon, one elixir of life, which will preserve any -society from decay, and confer upon it the blessing of eternal youth, if -it is constantly remembered and administered. - -That catholicon is to cherish and cultivate assiduously the one -distinction which, I have pointed out, lifts the human group above the -communities of the ants, the bees, and the beavers; that is, that the -chief aim of the community shall ever be to give each individual in it -the best opportunity for the full development of his faculties. - -If the history of the gradual decline and fall of any nation be -investigated, it will be seen that the end has come through the -violation of this, the one peculiar principle of _human_ association. -Hemmed in by castes, classes, or institutions, the human souls have -atrophied, degenerated, grown decrepit and impotent, incapable of -resisting the natural forces around them. - -Though the ethnic mind does not run the same life-course as the -individual body, yet it resembles this in its ceaseless change. It is -forever altering both its contents, its purposes, and the intensity with -which it pursues them. - -Psychologists have classified these activities under three general -expressions which we may call laws. They are, first, the law of -Continuity; second, the law of Diversity of Purpose; and third, the law -of Contrast. - -The law of Continuity means that in the ethnic mental life there is a -regulated course of growth or development; that each phase or condition -is the logical result of previous phases or conditions. - -The second law emphasises that the rate of growth depends chiefly on the -diversity of aims which exists in the community. As they are multiplied, -growth is the more rapid. This is analogous to that law of organic forms -by which evolution is in proportion to variation. - -The third law, that of Contrast, applies to the ethnic mind the curious -fact in mental life that a prolonged devotion to one idea leads to a -reaction in which the opposite of that idea becomes dominant. This is -even more conspicuous in the history of progressive nations than in that -of individuals. Upon this depends that periodicity in the lives of -peoples which has so often been remarked by historians. - -The above mentioned facts and laws demonstrate that there is a true -unity of existence in the ethnic mind; that it has its own traits, -forms, and processes of growth and decay, quite apart from those of the -individual mind; that it is not to be studied by the methods of -experimental psychology, but by methods drawn from the observation of -its own modes of being; and that it is this abstraction, if you please, -which is the prime factor in the fate of the group over which it rules. - -But I must return again to the definition of the Group. It must not be -said that I leave any obscurity in the connotation of that prominent -word. - -There may be—there always are—many forms of groups in the same -community, and these by no means cover each other coterminously. Take -many an American village, for example. There are the religious groups, -Protestant and Catholic; the political parties, Republicans and -Democrats, not at all of the same individuals as the former; and there -may be the linguistic groups, German and American, different again from -both the former; and the racial groups, whites and negroes. - -Something similar to this is found on a large scale in every people, -every nation; and the serious problem presents itself,—how are we, from -these heterogeneous elements, to reach anything which we can properly -call the common sentiment, the general mind of the mass? - -The example I have chosen of the American village is an extreme one. In -a primitive, isolated tribe of Indians, in a remote mountain village, or -a rarely visited island, the task would be vastly easier. But the -principle in all cases is the same. - -By eliminating particular after particular, as the logicians say, we -finally reach a general, a consensus of opinion and aspiration on a -variety of topics, with which the full number required by the -mathematical method already stated will agree. These common sentiments -will represent the active influence of that community, and very -accurately measure its value in development. - -Being an American village, we can without doubt predict that it will be -of one mind that making money should be the chief aim of active -exertion; that respect for the law of the land should be cultivated; and -that performing recognised duties to one’s family should be taught as -indispensable. - -One must not take it for granted, however, that such like salient -features are necessarily the ones which govern and measure the powers -and actions of the group. Such an error is very common. The chief trait -of the Scot is popularly supposed to be his stinginess; but the solid -and lasting character of that people prove that they have souls above -lucre. The English are pre-eminently mercantile, and Napoleon called -them a nation of shopkeepers, but he discovered his mistake at Waterloo; -the apostle called the Cretans “liars and slow bellies,” but Crete was -the source of Greek law, and when the apostle elsewhere quoted a Gentile -poet’s concept of God as his own, that poet was a Cretan. - -How, then, it will be asked, are we to distinguish the most vital from -the most prominent traits of the ethnic mind, since they are not always, -even not often, the same? - -The answer to that question is the main object of the second part of the -present volume. Suffice it, therefore, here to say that all ethnic -traits must be weighed and measured by the contributions they make to -the cultural history of mankind, to the realisation in daily life of -those ideas which are the formative elements in civilisation. - -Reverting once more to the definition of the group as portrayed in the -ethnic mind, its traits are further brought into relief by the -comparison of group with group. - -The individuals are here dropped from sight, and the elements and -processes of two or more ethnic minds are placed in contrast. They are -compared in the manner in which they have conceived and carried out -notions common to the species—let us say religion, or law, or social -relations, or practical inventions. When the comparison is extended to -all the cultural elements and the results tabulated, we reach fixed and -accurate data for appraising ethnic mental ability, whether racial, -tribal, or national. - -There is nothing delusive or fanciful in such comparisons. The results -are obtained by recognised scientific methods, and are controlled by -well-known mathematical laws. They establish the claims of ethnic -psychology to a place among the exact sciences, and show that it has a -field of its own not yet included in the domain of any of its -neighbours. - - - - - CHAPTER III - _PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE ETHNIC MIND_ - - -Thus furnished, as we have seen in the last chapter, with a common stock -of faculties and desires, the primitive men set out from their unknown -birthplace, to conquer the world. They journeyed east, north, south, and -west, into foreign fields and under alien skies. Seized in the iron -grasp of novel environment, each band must adapt itself to the new -conditions or perish; for in their ignorance they knew not to wrest the -power from Nature and make her their slave. They must bow and yield to -her commands under penalty of death. - -Compelled by external forces, they changed the hue of their skin and the -shade of their hair; they grew tall of stature or sunk to pygmies; their -skulls altered in shape, and their long bones rounded, or else flattened -like those of apes. - -Not less surprising were the alterations in their minds. Some felt no -desire for fixed abodes, and ever wandered, while others sowed fields -and built cities; some remained in small, ungoverned bands, while others -founded great empires and enacted iron codes; some were satisfied to -compel the Unknown by magical rites, while others sought the wisdom of -God and the secrets of Nature. - -These variations, however, meant Progress; for repetition is not -progress, and it is only by ceaseless change and endless experiment that -one can find out the best. The separation of man into families and -tribes and peoples was, in fact, a necessary condition to his -improvement as a species. From the seeming chaos of changing forms the -highest type emerged, as, in Greek myth, from the surging seas rose the -perfect form of Aphrodite Anadyomene. - -The chaos is indeed but seeming. The differences among men are the -results of physiological processes, proceeding in definite directions -under fixed laws, and adjusted so that they bring about calculable -results. Let us turn to the examination of these processes, in their -universal expressions operative everywhere, as well in the psychical as -the physical world. - -Psychical as well as physical; for the new conditions which transformed -the bodies of the primitive horde left their impress also on the minds -of its members, not erasing any trait which made them Man, but bringing -them into closer likeness between themselves, and by that act into -sharper contrast to their neighbours. The varied practical needs of life -fostered their peculiarities, and created a similarity of feelings and -purposes, and a community of knowledge in each band. This acted as a -sort of intellectual mother-water in which each individual mind of the -band crystallised into the same shape, readily accepted the beliefs, -imbibed the same prejudices, looked at the world through the same -spectacles. - -We may well believe that it was not long before contests arose between -the primitive hordes. We are told, indeed, by a venerable authority that -they began between the first two brothers. Then these diversities of -body and mind decided the conflict. The stronger slew the weaker or -drove them from the field; unless, indeed, by craft or superior skill -the weaker foiled the stronger, as, so endowed, in the long run they -surely would. Thus the great law of Natural Selection, of the -destruction of the less fit, exercised its sway to preserve that horde -which, on the whole, was better adapted for preservation and gave it -power over the land. - -In the species Man the exemplification of this great law is, as I have -intimated, essentially psychical, and its application is upon masses, -upon ethnic groups. History, the story of man’s progress, deals only -with these, not with individuals. - -Progressive ethnic mental variation is therefore the theme for our -immediate consideration, and especially as it is displayed in the -processes of natural selection and adaptation. This is the physiology of -ethnic psychology, the history of its normal progress to more -specialised powers and higher types. - -I cannot go amiss if I present it with a rather close adherence to the -recognised method of natural science; for the impression is constantly -gaining ground that the psychical life of Man follows the same laws as -does his physical; or, to express the thought more accurately, that the -one is the reflex of the other, for we can read both with equal -correctness in terms of thought or terms of extension. - -Such changes may take place in several directions: as in abolishing -organs no longer useful; in reducing others which are diminishing in -value; in strengthening those which are of immediate utility; and, by -correlation, maintaining those relations of parts on which the “type” -depends. - -These changes are not “purposive”; they do not aim toward a future type, -though they may result in one. Such a type may be more decadent than its -antecedent, and be the prelude to extinction, under this adamantine law -of destruction; but if its variations have been physiological and -adaptive, they will confer upon it the blessing of life, the gift of -length of days. - -Those changes which strengthen an organ or structure, or tend to develop -and preserve new and useful variations are called “progressive”; those -which tend to draw individual variation back to the current type or to -reduce certain structures or functions are called “regressive” -variations. - -It would seem at first sight that such processes must tend in opposite -directions—the one beneficial, the other injurious. In fact, both are -preservative; but by contrasted physiological processes. - -Progressive changes begin in the individual and pass by inheritance into -the stock, when they have proved beneficial to it. They continue in -action so long as they are useful. When their utility ceases, the energy -of the economy is expended elsewhere, on other structures or faculties. -The degeneration thus produced is “compensatory.” It does not detract -from but adds to the general viability of the organism. - -What is most marvellous in this process is that the part or power rarely -wholly disappears, no matter how long it has been useless. The pineal -gland in the human brain is the remains of a third eye with which our -ancestors looked out from the top of their heads when they were Silurian -fishes; and the appendix vermiformis was an annex to their stomachs when -they were herbaceous ruminants! - -So it is in psychical anthropology. A department of it, Folklore, is -taken up with such survivals, and strange are its revelations! Our -Christmas dinner is a reminiscence of a cannibal feast at the winter -solstice. The dyed Easter egg is a relic of a myth of the dawn older -than the Pyramids. - -In strictly scientific language evolution is not always synonymous with -progress. It means simply change or transformation within the limits of -physiological laws—that is, that such changes tend, on the whole, to the -preservation of the individual or do not conflict with it. - -Life is the criterion of evolution. But the application of this standard -is not always easy. The most salient variation is not necessarily the -most important. Again, a variation admirably suited to a given mode of -existence may be unfriendly to development by unfitting the stock for -later and inevitable changes of environment. - -In the psychical ethnic life there are, however, a limited number of -characteristics, the symmetrical development of which cannot fail to -bring out all the latent powers of the group in the struggle for its -independent existence; and, conversely, their neglect or faulty -cultivation will surely pave the way to debility and disappearance. They -are the primary factors of progressive variation in ethnic psychology. - -The list of them is as follows: - - 1—Remembrance. - 2—Industry. - 3—Inventiveness. - 4—Adaptability. - 5—Receptiveness. - 6—Forethought. - -They are all essential to ethnic progress; though the special -cultivation of one or the other must be dictated by the circumstances. -The development must be in relation to the inner (mental) and outer -(physical) demands upon the group, if it is to make the best of its -life. They are the physiological elements of collective mental growth, -standing in relation to it as do proper food, exercise, cleanliness, and -the other hygienic methods to bodily health and strength. - -1. _Remembrance._—Knowledge is of no avail unless it is remembered. -Experience may become prophetic, but if its words are forgotten, of what -use is its wisdom? Hence the rudest savages seek means to strengthen -their recollection of events and ideas. The Australian has his message -stick, the Peruvian his knotted string (_quipu_), the Chippeway his -_meday_ club,—all to help preserve tradition, ritual, knowledge, in some -form. - -Whatever technical process was devised to shape a war club, or to -minister to the sense of beauty by adornment, whatever laws were framed -to regulate the clan, whatever secrets were learned from nature, became -of value to the group only in so far as the faculty of memory and the -means of remembrance were cultivated. - -I need not refer to the supreme treasure of written records, the -national literatures of the world; but it is worth noting that just to -the extent that a nation cherishes its own history, lives in its past -deeds, drinks from its own fonts of thought, does it develop its -vitality and independence. - -Tradition and instruction in what the group has already gained is the -first condition of further advance. If the future is to rest on a secure -foundation, it must be built on the experience of the past. Plato -estimated the alphabet none too highly when he called it a gift of the -gods. The dream of immortality in name is a mighty stimulus to effort. -What were that fame worth that perished with our flesh? - -Under this head also comes what we broadly call Education, that which -distributes to the new generation the garnered grain and treasured -pearls of hundreds of older generations; which places in the hands of -the young the tools of thought, the training in vocations, the pride in -the noble achievements of the past, the acquaintance with their own -powers and the means of increasing them, the precepts of justice, of -love, and of truth, and the inspiration of grand ideals of life and -work. - -No past is too remote to be destitute of practical value to the present. -No truth is too trivial to be regarded. Knowledge has long and wisely -been esteemed the synonym of power. Art, science, the whole fabric of -culture, are accumulations, memories, of millenniums of labour, of whose -results all has been lost except that which has been recollected. - -2. _Industry._—The secret of all improvement in human life is the -conscious effort to improve. Idleness is the chief obstacle to -advancement. Disuse of brain-function degenerates the tissues faster -than misuse. Labour, work, activity, exercise,—these are the only means -to strengthen the powers we have and insure their survival. - -Not all effort is equally beneficial. It may be honestly intended, but -misdirected, and lead to perdition; it may be the tread-mill labour -which reduces the man to a machine, and blunts and dulls his soul; it -may be, as with those who “work hard at play,” consumed in frivolous -pastimes and trivial objects. - -The true aim of all effort, that aim which most contributes to progress, -is the conquest of the environment, the subjection of it to the -enlightened reason and the individual will. “The one process of human -evolution,” says a thoughtful writer, “is the passage from a merely -mechanical to a rational life.” - -“Adaptation to environment” belongs to plant life and brute life. Man at -his best aims at the nobler task of moulding the environment to his own -will and wishes. He is not its slave, but its master. Does arctic cold -threaten to freeze the blood in his veins? He builds a hut and lights a -lamp; and the summer zephyr is not milder than the air he breathes. Does -the equatorial sun dart its fatal rays from the zenith? He spreads an -umbrella and dons a helmet, and is as cool as if under orchard shades of -temperate zones. - -Reason-directed, unflagging activity,—this is the one indispensable and -all-sufficient security for the indefinite progress of individual or -group. The definition of “genius,” said Goethe, “is the willingness to -labour unremittingly.” The willingness presupposes the will, and he of -the indomitable will soon becomes master of his purpose. - -This trait has long been familiar as a criterion in ethnic psychology. -Professor Klemm in his history of human culture, written half a century -ago, divided the tribes and nations of humanity into those who have been -“passive” and those who have been “active.” He maintained that the love -of labour is the simple and sufficient measure for the capacities of any -race. - -Many later writers have followed him in this discrimination, although -they phrase it in various forms. The latest, Professor Vierkandt, -repeats it in a more psychological guise when he states that the real -source and centre of all differences between the cultures of human -groups is the one difference between their voluntary and involuntary -activities. The latter are instinctive, the former reflective; the -latter are mechanical, the former are rational; the latter are of -bondage, the former of freedom. - -The sum of average brain-industry in an ethnic mind is the measure of -its comparative value. Not single brilliant examples of genius, cases -here and there of exceptional ability, but a prevailing love of labour -is what guarantees success. A true genius, a Camoens or a Cervantes, -belongs more to the world than to the nation. Both these illustrious -names have stimulated thought more in foreign lands than in their own -homes. - -3. _Inventiveness._—When the neolithic man invented a sword of bronze to -replace his dagger of stone, he invested his tribe with the kingship of -the known world. The less-inventive hordes became their slaves. - -The victory of man over nature has been won by his inventions; and the -tribe, group, or nation which leads in the control of natural forces -will also lead in the struggle for existence, and supremacy. Others may -sing sweeter songs or dream diviner visions, but the potency of life -will not be won thereby. - -Inventiveness is another word for that knowledge which is really power, -force, strength—brutal, if you will, but present, actual. - -Man is distinctively a tool-using animal, and those with the most -efficient tools will bring the others to terms; for when it is a tool of -war, a weapon, victory is to him who has the best. - -Inventiveness is the foe of habit, and habit is the foe to advancement. -As the sickle gave way to the scythe, and the scythe to the -mowing-machine, the food-supply was insured against failure, famines -disappeared, and aggregations of millions in cities became possible. - -An invention is something concrete, objective. It substitutes reality -for a dream, and in the end surpasses, in the elements of the -marvellous, all dreams. The Arabian Nights tell of no magic spell so -potent as to enable persons to speak to each other a thousand miles -apart. But invention has made that the most commonplace of incidents. - -As there is no calculable limit to the natural forces, so there is none -to our possible control of them. Reason has this in itself, that -qualitatively it is of higher order than force and can control it to any -extent. The nation which constantly encourages this application of -reason must be the most forcible, the most powerful. Would you forecast -the fate of the present “great powers” in the twentieth century? The -books of prophecy are open. They are the records of the patent offices. - -4. _Adaptability._—The fundamental law of life in organic forms is their -relative ability to adapt themselves to environments. - -This is just as true of ethnic units, physically and mentally. When I -come to speak of acclimatisation, I shall dwell on the former phase; -now, I emphasise the necessity of mental adaptation, as shown in laws, -religions, customs, and thoughts. - -There must be nothing “hide-bound” in the tribe or nation which migrates -or which expands into new conditions of life. Home-sickness must be -unknown to it. It must cherish no ancient local prejudices, carry with -it no baggage which it is not ready to exchange for something more -suitable. More than that, it must be on the alert to discover what -alterations in home habits should be made, and hasten to make them. - -Adaptability is not the loss of national character. We may change our -sky with profit, but keep our minds. To lose ourselves in travelling -would be a loss irreparable. The human group which succumbs to new -environment does not adapt itself to it, but is drowned in it. The -changes required by adaptability are chiefly external and of will. They -are such as the recognition of new experiences suggests as advisable for -survival. - -Adaptability is an active trait. To be most effective it must be -conscious and purposive. The knowledge gained from others must be -utilised intentionally to the special advantage of the group. In this -form it is a product of the higher culture. Primitive peoples, when they -migrated, submitted themselves without reflection to the new influences -around them; enlightened groups are on their guard and sedulously retain -what they bring with them if they see it is better than what they find, -or accept the latter if it is superior. True adaptability, therefore, is -the result of conscious reasoning. - -5. _Receptiveness._—Not only should the ethnic mind be ready to adapt -itself to changed conditions, but it should be ever ready to give -admittance to new knowledge; not only passively, but should actively -seek it from others. Only thus can it progress surely and rapidly. -Anything in the nature of “Chauvinism” is destructive to breadth of -conception. The national egotism which scorns to learn of neighbours -prepares the pathway to national ruin. - -Primitive tribes borrowed extensively one from the other. The -traditions, games, arts, and inventions were appropriated by the most -mentally energetic, and by them such secured dominion and prosperity. - -Civilisation alters not this process. That nation to-day which is most -eager to learn from others, which is furthest from the fatal delusion -that all wisdom flows from its own springs, will surely be in the van of -progress. - -Receptiveness in national life is gauged by the knowledge the nation has -of others. This can be gained by intelligent travel or by study. Where -the citizens of a country travel little or for amusement only, and are -but slightly conversant with other languages than their own, we may be -sure that the national mind is lacking in this quality. The number of -foreign students in a great university is a test of this element of -progress in the character of their respective nationalities. - -Hence the practical deduction of the importance of a knowledge of modern -languages. Without them, the minds of other nations are closed books to -us. They may be surpassing us in wisdom and we be ignorant of it. In -that case, some day we or our children will weep for our negligence. - -6. _Forethought._—In one of his works Professor Letourneau remarks that -forethought is _par excellence_ the ripe fruit of intellectual -development. The ancient Greeks embodied this truth in the pregnant myth -of Prometheus (Forethought), who stole fire from the gods and gave it -unto men and his brother Epimetheus (Afterthought). - -He who is willing to sacrifice the present for the future must possess -self-control, fixity of purpose, faith in what governs the future, -decision of character. His actions must be conscious, purposive, -directed by intelligence. His will must be trained in the choice of -motive, and his passions curbed into obedience to his reason. -Self-restraint, self-sacrifice, even self-immolation, are the virtues he -must be ready to practise. - -The distant aim for which he is thus denying himself may be within the -confines of his own expectation of life, and thus be after all centred -in personal ambitions; or it may be directed toward some hoped-for life -hereafter, in the next world, the spirit-land; or, noblest of all, it -may be in the interest of unborn generations and humanity at large. -Perhaps in his zeal he misses present joys for the illusions of a -fancied future; but better this than to sacrifice the future to the -present. - -In such deliberate and conscious planning for remote aims he is not like -the squirrel who lays up a store of nuts for the winter; for the man -exercises his will and decides between motives, and his actions are not -controlled by external events but by inner, psychical reflections. There -is even something not despicable in that avarice which heaps up riches -and knows not who shall enjoy them. In it is revealed that anxiety to -labour for a remote future, at present sacrifice, which, in nobler -expressions, is a fine, essentially human, trait. - -This characteristic differs widely in mankind, and in individuals. -So significant is it of the progress of the group that in various -forms it has been chosen by several writers as the main distinction -between savagery and civilisation. The efforts of the barbarian aim -at the satisfaction of his immediate wants only. His means of -livelihood—hunting, fishing, and the collection of natural -products—do not admit of saving for a far-off future. As the soul -rises in culture, its horizon expands. Not merely against winter’s -want, but against the inevitable periods of sickness and decrepitude -which lie in wait for all, must we be prepared. Then there are the -feeble and the helpless, and farther still the unborn, our -descendants, for whom we feel responsible. Finally, the horizon -falls co-equal with the limits of the world, and the future of all -humanity appeals to the loftiest souls as demanding their strenuous -labours. - -The best-directed efforts of humanitarians to-day are aimed at the -cultivation of forethought in the minds and habits of the lower, so -called, improvident classes of society. Wise governments are engaged in -providing secure depositories for small savings, in devising methods of -insurance against want in old age and poverty, and in urging upon all -the wisdom of guarding property against attacks, thus aiding in the -survival of the nations. - - -These are the primary factors of progress in the ethnic mind. Everywhere -and at all times their assiduous cultivation makes for national strength -and life. Where they are all active, success is assured. Where even one -is neglected danger is incurred. - -But, it will be objected, are there not other mental traits just as -necessary,—for instance, courage, enthusiasm, loyalty, patriotism? Yes, -they are sometimes advantageous, sometimes necessary; but these and -similar emotions are secondary; in themselves, they do not insure -progress; in frequent instances, they oppose it, and lead their -possessors to ruin. Blind courage, for example, like misdirected energy, -is mischievous and destructive. - -Emotions and sentiments are necessary stimulants to action. They are -indefinitely valuable in national character, but only to the extent that -they are governed and directed by intelligence. In themselves they are -blind and unreasoning impulses, and dangerous guides. In culture -history, they belong to primitive or half-civilised people, incapable of -holding rational conduct. By means of them, astute and unscrupulous -rulers sway the masses, exciting them to actions detrimental to -themselves. - -The real factors in ethnic evolution must ever be those which are -rational, conscious, voluntary. As voluntary, they require freedom, -liberty of choice and of action. Freedom is an external condition, and -unless it is enjoyed without other restraint than the limitation of the -same privilege in others, the group can never reach its complete -development. In the theory of progress, therefore, it should be always -given as the primary condition of growth. - -The physiological processes by which regressive variation affects the -ethnic mind are chiefly three: - -1. Absorption through concentration elsewhere. - -2. Disuse or neglect of faculties. - -3. Reaction from natural limitations. - -Such changes as these are not merely consistent with ethnic advancement -but essential to it. They indicate simply a re-distribution of the vital -forces in accordance with the demands of new conditions. This is a -phenomenon constantly seen in the individual life of organic beings of -every grade, and that it extends to the species and to the mental powers -proves that it is an universal law. - -Many have maintained that regressive variation proceeds in an inverse -direction from progressive evolution, eliminating the most recently -acquired characteristics first. Not a few have sought to apply this -supposed law to ethnic conditions and sociological factors. But recent -authorities of weight, who have examined this question with care, regard -the instances supposed to confirm such a theory as coincidences only, or -explicable on other grounds. - -The term “regressive,” therefore, is to be understood as applying to a -physiological and healthy process, by which the sum of nutrition in an -organism is expended more upon one or several elements of that organism -at the expense of other elements. The latter, therefore, reduced in -sustenance, undergo “regressive” changes, atrophy, or diminish. - -In mental life this is paralleled by the cultivation of some faculties -to the neglect of others. Those to which we “pay attention,” as the -phrase is, improve, while those which we neglect are weakened. - -What is here noted of the individual is true of the group. Indeed, it is -a leading fact in the psychical history of the species. Man has paid -heavily for all his winnings in the intellectual field by losses of many -a power which would serve him well had he retained it. He has forfeited -the instincts which once were his guides, the acuteness of his senses -has gone, the happy carelessness of his youth has deserted him. We may -all join in the lament of Mrs. Browning: - - “I have lost, ah, many a pleasure, - Many a hope and many a power.” - -In applying these general facts to the variations of the ethnic mind, -the principal distinction to observe is between _relative_ regressive -and _actual_ regressive changes. - -The former are not only consistent with general progress, but in some -sense a condition of it. In following the steep ascent of advancement, -we must cast aside some of our baggage. We must husband our resources -and spend them where the return will be most bountiful. Where we strike -the balance of our mental losses and gains and find it in favour of -general improvement, we may rest content. - -_1. Absorption through Concentration Elsewhere._—The concentration of -the ethnic mind on the cultivation of one group-trait infallibly leads -to a diminution of other faculties. The group has a fixed amount of -time, activity, and mental force, and if this is concentrated chiefly on -one purpose, others must suffer. - -History offers numberless examples of this. A few will suffice. The -Vikings of Norseland had but one vocation—war; and though they -repeatedly founded kingdoms in the south, not one survived. The -capacities for peaceful life were lost in them, but for generations they -were the terror of the more numerous and highly cultured nations of the -south. - -Exclusive devotion to the religious sentiment has reduced many peoples -to practical imbecility, especially where the State has used its powers -to force a particular church upon the community. Nothing, indeed, has -brought about more complete intellectual atrophy. - -These are examples where the process under consideration has been -misdirected or carried too far. When it is properly guided, the -compensation for the loss or diminution of one faculty is vastly greater -than the value of that faculty. Thus, it was through the cultivation of -his intelligence that early man lost his instincts. Through an earnest -desire for peace which sprang up in the cities of the Middle Ages, the -constant strife between the feudal nobles was measurably checked, to the -signal advantage of the nation. - -Where the stress of mental attention is directed to the cultivation of -secondary traits or of those which make against the general welfare, the -process is still physiological; it may, indeed, for the time be -advantageous, concentrating the group-feeling and fitting the nation for -its immediate conditions. Thus, in the present age, industrialism -attracts to its sphere most of the ability of several leading nations. -It offers not in itself a high ideal of life, but appears to be one -peculiarly suited to the prevailing conditions of humanity. It stores -reserve national force which will, doubtless, in time be expended on -nobler aims. - -2. _Disuse or Neglect of Faculties._—The impairment of mental powers -through disuse is one of the most common phenomena of psychology. Men -are much more colour-blind than women, because they exert less the -faculty of distinguishing hues. Persons who do not practise memorising -soon lose the power. - -In the history of nations this has been most conspicuous in the neglect -of the military spirit; Carthage yielded to Rome, and Rome to the -barbarian, chiefly because a distaste for personal exposure in combat -led each nation in time to depend on mercenaries for defence. For -centuries in China the vocation of the soldier has been looked upon as -inferior to that of the scholar or the statesman; and, however just this -might be in the abstract, it so weakened the national integrity that the -vast Sinitic empire is now tottering to ruin. - -Disuse may arise from two conditions: the one, from neglect and -overattention to other faculties; the other, from absence of -opportunity. - -Both are abundantly represented in ethnic psychology. Of the former, I -have just given instances; while of the latter the deliberate avoidance -by large groups of certain areas of mental life are examples in point. -Thus, the Society of Friends (Quakers) have for two hundred and fifty -years expelled the cultivation of the fine arts from their education. -The result is a loss of the æsthetic faculties, but a remarkable gain in -other directions—such as sobriety, longevity, business success. Whether -the compensation is sufficient seems, however, to be decided in the -negative by the Friends themselves. - -Other examples present themselves. The aristocracy of Siam regard all -forms of work as so degrading that they allow their finger-nails to grow -five or six inches in length to prove that their hands have never been -soiled with labour. Needless to say that this disuse of their muscles is -followed by atrophy of their brain-cells, so that they are an emasculate -and enfeebled group. The theory of concentration and disuse of faculties -in the group led to the system of castes, the most striking example of -which is in India, where they are divided upon race lines. The white -Brahmans are the priests, legislators, scholars, and diplomats; the red -Rajpoots are the warriors and chieftains; the yellow Mongols are the -commercial and agricultural class; while the black Dravidians are the -mechanics and herdsmen. Each caste adopts its special branch of activity -and avoids that traditionally belonging to another caste. - -Although a similar theory has been widely popular in many states, such a -division of labour and responsibility has in it elements of debility -which in the long run must bring about social disintegration. It -conflicts with the unity of the ethnic mind. - -3. _Reaction from Natural Limitations._—As there is a difference in the -mental aptitudes of individuals which no training can equalise, so there -is in those of human groups. Its causes do not concern us here. The fact -remains and must be faced. - -There are natural limitations to each mind and to each group of minds. -Compared with the most highly gifted, the less so stand in the -physiological relation of “rudimentary organs.” When brought into -contact, the latter will either succumb or accept a subordinate -position. - -The American Indians, as a race, were comparatively highly gifted. They -created an order of architecture and even devised a system of phonetic -writing; but none of their states was of long duration, and none of -their so-called “empires” rose above the level of a temporary -confederacy. - -The limitations of the racial mind were such that a complex social -organisation was impossible for them. In the forms of their highest -governments, those of the Aztecs, Mayas, and Peruvians, we see repeated -on a large scale the simple and insufficient models of the rude hunting -tribes of the plains. - -This is also true of the black race of Africa. The powerful monarchies -which at times have been erected in that continent over the dead bodies -of myriads of victims have lasted but a generation or two. The natural -limitations of the racial mind prevented it. - -Many other examples could be cited. Indeed, the law of “thus far shalt -thou go and no farther” tells the story of most of the failures of races -and peoples. They fell through mental inability to succeed. They had -reached the natural limit of their activities. - -But there is in this no occasion to deduce a conclusion of fatalism. -These limitations have been operative in great measure because they have -been unrecognised, and no effort has been made to escape them. Though -they may not be remedied, their evil effects may be avoided by -enlightened prevision. They act like other natural laws, and all such -laws can be turned to man’s advantage, if he sets about it wisely. - -MODES AND RATES OF ETHNIC VARIATION.—Both progressive and regressive -mental variations are formed of constructive, synthetic evolution; both -are necessary to general advancement; both have their place in the -scheme of national health and growth. They belong among what the -physiologist calls “anabolic” processes—those whose tendency is to -preserve and develop the species. - -There has, however, been frequent misunderstanding of the modes of -action of these processes and the rate of their movement. This -misconception exists widely to-day. Many writers have mistaken actual -advance for degeneration, or claimed that some nation or stage of -culture was superior to another from some single real or imagined -feature. Thus Rousseau and his school, enamoured of the supposed -personal freedom of the savage, lauded the existence of man “in a state -of nature”; and their followers still assail modern civilisation as a -failure. - -It becomes important, therefore, to examine the modes of healthy -progress so that we may understand its sometimes strange aspects. - -These modes are three in number: - -1. In lines, either parallel (homoplastic) or divergent (heteroplastic). - -2. In circles, or curved forms (spirals). - -3. In waves, rhythmic undulatory forms. - - -1. _Parallel and Divergent Variation._—Evolutionists are familiar with -these two forms of progressive variation in the organic world. They are -equally evident in human progress. - -No fact in ethnology is more striking than the parallelisms of primitive -culture. Go where we will among the savage tribes of the globe, we find -them developing the same arts along the same lines, framing their tribal -organisations on the same models, calling in similar words on the same -gods. Not only in this but in what seem matters of caprice, fancy, and -local colour, the same similarity, almost identity, prevails. They tell -stories of like plots, decorate their weapons in like patterns, dance -and sing in like forms. - -Yet, though so much alike, so “tarred with the same stick,” each tribe -and group is different. Each has its own imprint and character. Each has -its points of individuality. - -This is “divergent” variation, just as universal, just as inevitable as -the parallelism we have been considering. This extends into minute and -seemingly unimportant details. We may, for example, compare the stone -axes of neighbouring American tribes. In a casual survey, they look -alike; a close inspection reveals slight but constant differences. The -trained eye can distinguish their place of origin without difficulty. - -This inherent divergence is so profound that two well-marked groups -become incapable of mental unity. They may be separated by an imaginary -line, and have been for generations under like climatic and cultural -conditions, but the imprint of the divergence is ineradicable. If they -have the same religion, they will understand it differently; the same -events will impress them differently; their feeling and their hopes will -be asunder. - -While this is true, it is also true that a new stimulus to progress is -created by the union of divergent lines of thought. The resultant is a -fresh element in mental life, a new birth independent of either parent. - -Such unions are brought about either by similarity or contrast. There is -a species of elective affinity between certain lines of psychical -development which at once unites them as they approach each other. - -There is also a similar union induced by contrasted psychical states. We -say familiarly that “opposites attract each other,” and it is a maxim -drawn from frequent experience. The rapid changes from social freedom to -military tyranny in the mercurial population of some states seem more -gratifying to the ethnic spirit than a continued stable government. - -Parallel variations lead to similarity in products. They are -“homoplastic,” to use the term of the evolutionist. Primitive tribes, -developing under the same general conditions of environment, are -strikingly alike in culture. - -Divergent variations are “heteroplastic,” that is, they lead to new -products, and hence are the higher activities in all that makes for -advancement. Whatever multiplies them stimulates the growth of culture. - -2. _Variation in Circles or Curves._—Both parallel and divergent -evolution are expressions of continuity of progress in lines, extending -from point to point, intersecting to produce other lines of new -directions. - -Such a rectilinear scheme is the simplest that we can sketch of human -advancement; and for many purposes it is sufficiently correct. It does -not, however, fully express the geometrical representation of such -agencies as we are considering. Professor Baldwin has justly remarked -that there is a “circular activity” in all progress. Its influence is -not aimed solely at a point ahead, but extends itself in all directions. -The reception of a new and true idea in the human mind may be likened to -the introduction of a ray of sunlight into a darkened room. Its chief -force is seen in the linear shaft of light, but the illumination extends -in some degree to the whole space. - -Johannes Schmidt has shown that the distribution of the early Aryan -dialects and religions was not from the point of common origin by right -lines of migration in different directions, but should be represented -diagrammatically by a series of irregular circles and ellipses, -overlapping each other. The tendency to variation arises in some centre -and spreads from it in a series of curves. These meeting others lead to -an “interlinking” of cultural areas. - -This is true of the other elements of ethnic culture. The localities -where many such overlappings occurred became secondary centres from -which in turn the circular activity of culture was propagated. - -A mart where many visitors from different nations congregated would -receive some new learning from all and through its concentration would -impart this higher potency in some measure to all. For example, the city -of Nippur, on the Babylonian plain, attracted twenty-five hundred years -ago to its markets not only Assyrians and Edomites, but Medes and -Persians from the East, Syrians and Hittites from the West, and probably -Greeks and Egyptians and Arabians from remoter lands. - -Human progress has been likened by some to a spiral figure where each -advance is a repetition of a former stage but with improvements to it. -This is a combination of the right line and the curve; but the notion -that repetition or recapitulation exists in evolution in any other form -than that of renewed effort finds little support in natural science. - -3. _Variation in Waves, or Rhythmic Undulations._—Some of the most -recent speculations on the ultimate forces of the universe lead to the -belief that they are maintained in activity by an eternal rhythmic -pulsation or undulation, generating its energy from its periods of -repose. - -This doctrine has been applied by Professor Gerland to the progress of -the human race. His teaching is that after a period of rapid advance -there follows one of depression, which in turn is succeeded by another -of advance, reaching a higher development than any which preceded it. - -Other writers have expressed this notion in the form that after a period -of activity and invention follows one of repose and reflection, giving -way in turn to another of activity. - -THE RATE OF PROGRESS.—Professor de Mortillet calculates from a wide -range of data, geologic and archæologic, that man has lived on the earth -about 240,000 years. The most conservative student of prehistoric -records would not estimate the life of our species at less than fifty -thousand years, and it is much more likely to be double that duration. - -The date of anything like civilisation is much more recent. Even in its -oldest centres, as Egypt or Babylonia, to place its beginning ten -thousand years ago is to exceed the demands of the boldest antiquary; -while over most of the now civilised areas of the globe a condition of -barbarism prevailed until less than two thousand years ago. - -These facts prove wide variations in the rate of progress, very slow -movements in earlier times and lower conditions, singularly rapid -advances in later high conditions. - -We are led to the conclusion, therefore, that the rate is not by one -mode of progression but by several. - -1. By arithmetical progression (addition). - -2. By geometrical progression (multiplication). - -3. By saltatory progression (permutation). - -These are not to be applied too strictly, but it is safe to make the -general statement about them that they correspond to the three stages of -culture,—savagery, half-culture, and full-culture. - -The simplest rate is by adding one invention or art to another, as does -the savage in his lowest stage to-day and as did primitive man for -myriads of years. Each such addition is so much gained, but reflects -little improvement on the general life. Thus the Australian began with a -stone fastened to a wooden handle, and with which he could strike a -blow, scratch the earth, or tear flesh. To this he added in time a spear -or javelin, a club, and finally that curious weapon, the boomerang. Each -of these inventions helped him just to the extent he used it and not -more. His general condition was not bettered beyond that amount. It was -as if he had added a hundred dollars to his capital and enjoyed the -interest of the investment. His was arithmetical progression. - -This merely arithmetical progression by simple addition, 2 + 2 + 2 + -2=8, explains why the introduction or invention of very important -technical procedures have frequently been of no influence on the general -culture of a people. Thus, the smelting and forging of iron has been -known from time immemorial among the African blacks, and many of them -are skilful blacksmiths; but beyond its immediate convenience for -weapons, the art did them no benefit. The Chinese knew the compass and -gunpowder many centuries before the Europeans, but their methods of war -and navigation received no impulse from these potent allies. - -French physiologists have defined the human brain as “an organ of -repetition and multiplication.” So long as its activities are confined -to mere imitation, following a set example, it employs the former -function only, and the progress of the group must be very slow. - -This was not Mr. Lewis H. Morgan’s opinion. That thoughtful ethnologist -maintained that “from first to last human progress has been in a ratio -not rigorously but essentially geometrical.” But the arguments on which -he chiefly based this maxim, so far as it applies to primitive -conditions were the development of articulate speech and the social, -“gentile” organisation; and neither of these resulted from a conscious -effort of mind. - -Progress does proceed in a geometrical ratio—that is, by multiplication, -when an invention reacts on the sum of the ethnic possessions to -increase their general value—when, as we say, it has an indefinite -number of “applications.” This is seen in the recognition of the -mechanical powers,—the lever, the pulley, the screw, the weighing-beam, -and so on. In ship-building, the oar, the rudder, and the sail improved -the whole system of water transportation. - -Geometrical ratio increases rapidly. It is represented by a series 2 × 2 -× 2 × 2=16. But the augment by permutation is still greater. This is -shown in the series 2 × 3 × 4 × 5=120. Mr. George Iles claims that this -is the true rate of modern progress as represented by the effect on the -world of printing, steam, electricity, and photography. This is progress -“saltatory,” or by leaps. It explains, he believes, the sudden and rapid -advance of some periods, and also the losses of continuity sometimes -observed. His maxim is: “The newest of the factors of culture multiplies -all the factors which went before it.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV - _PATHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE ETHNIC MIND_ - - -We have seen in the preceding chapter that atrophy and regression are an -essential process of progressive evolution, necessary in order that the -preponderance of nutrition may be cast in favour of the most useful -organs and structures. - -This is “physiological” degeneration, “degeneration with compensation,” -the result of which is finally favourable to the general economy. - -But there is another form of degeneration, the tendency of which is -distinctly injurious to the organism as a whole, and which, if -unchecked, would compass its destruction. This is “pathological -degeneration,” “degeneration without compensation.” - -Although such processes are also biologic,—that is, carried on by life -products (cellular neoplasms),—they are incapable of independent -existence and are always warring against that of the organism in which -they are engendered. It is an axiom that the laws of progressive -evolution do not apply to pathological processes (Virchow). - -In the history of the mental life of individuals and nations we find a -striking parallelism to these physical processes, certain degenerations -bringing with them compensations in the growth of higher faculties, -others tending inevitably to the destruction of the individual or the -group. The latter belongs to the domain of “ethnic psycho-pathology.” - -Psychologists have shunned this field. “Psychology,” says a recent -American writer, “must concern itself with the _normal_ mind”; and a -German author of merit has insisted that mental pathology has no place -in ethnology, because this science occupies itself only with the -progress of mankind. - -Much more correct is the opinion of Dr. Ireland that “it is quite -erroneous to treat the history of the human race as that of the sane -alone”; and, indeed, we may almost go so far as Professor Capitan, of -the School of Anthropology of Paris, and say: “Everybody is diseased. -Nobody is healthy. We are obliged to study mankind in a constantly -morbid condition of body and mind.” Or we may go as far as Pascal, when -he says, “Men are naturally so insane that he is deemed insane who is -not insane with the rest.” - -Ethnic psychology is obliged to take into account the constant presence -and powerful action of pathological mental elements. Tribes and nations -have been destroyed by war or by catastrophes; but much more frequently -some disease of the ethnic mind itself has prepared its own extinction. - -Here an important distinction is necessary. Ethnic mental disease has no -relation to the frequency of individual cases of insanity. These do not -affect the ethnic mind because that is the outcome of the intelligence -of the community, not of its irresponsible members. - -For this reason ethnic psycho-pathology cannot be discussed wholly from -the standpoint of insanity, although the analogies are such that we can -profitably compare them in outline, and this I shall attempt. - -A definition is sometimes useful, so I present the following: - -A pathological condition of the ethnic mind is present when it is -chronically incapable of directing the activities of the group correctly -toward self-preservation and development. - -Like all definitions in natural science, this one is not to be applied -literally in all cases. The incapacity may be present and yet not to -such a degree as to be positively destructive. All nations have some -insane tendencies, as have all individuals; and it is true, as a -specialist has said: “The more one knows of insanity, the less does it -seem to differ from the normal condition.” - -These pathological traits of the ethnic mind can be analysed and -classified. They will be found to arise - -1. From some intellectual deficiency or perversion; or - -2. From some persistent disturbance of the emotional life. - -No one will demand that every member of a group should suffer from such -conditions in order that its collective mind should betray morbid -consequences. It is enough if a majority, or even a decided minority, -providing it exerts the requisite influence on the mass, is in such a -pathological state. A degenerate nobility or a dissolute priesthood has -often worked the ruin of a state through the contagion of example and -its control of lower classes. - -Before considering in detail the varied forms under which these diseased -mental traits present themselves, it will be well to examine the general -causes to which they are due. - -ETIOLOGY.—Each of such pathological conditions of the ethnic mind has a -basis in some prevailing physical neurosis, the origin of which can be -traced in the ethnic history, and which becomes hereditary in the stock. -For of these two principles no student of the subject can doubt, (1) -that every pathological mental manifestation corresponds to a -neuropathic change, and (2) that whatever may be said about the -transmission of acquired characters in physiology, no physician can for -a moment doubt that morbid infection may be passed down from generation -to generation. - -For these reasons the study of causes in ethnic pathology becomes of -enormous practical moment. Only by an acquaintance with them can -preventive and curative remedies be applied. - -These causes are, at first, always _external_ and _individual_. They -proceed from some form of “environment,” mental or physical. But the -morbid impression, once fully received, is often indelible, becomes -fixed in the type, and is but little influenced by external agencies. - -These primary causes of true ethnic degeneration I shall consider under -four headings. - -1. Imperfect Nutrition. - -2. Sexual Subversions. - -3. Toxic Agents. - -4. Mental Shocks. - -No one of these can act in the long run in other than a deleterious -manner on the ethnic mind. There is nothing “compensatory” in any one of -them or so little that it need not be reckoned. - -1. _Imperfect Nutrition._—It has been said broadly that all psychopathic -and regressive conditions arise from malnutrition (Féré). This is true, -in a sense, but does not carry us far in the direction of treatment. We -ask a closer definition of origins. - -There is no doubt of the intimate relationship of ample nutrition and -intellectual progress; but while it is well to avoid the ancient notion -of the independence of soul and body and that the former is superior to -the latter, we must guard against the modern extreme of Buckle and his -followers, that the history of nations can be traced to the food they -eat. Man is omnivorous, and his well-being is nourished by food of any -kind, providing it is nutritious and easily assimilable. The effort -which has often been made to trace the character of tribes and nations -to some prevalent diet—be it of fish or flesh, or vegetable products—is -fanciful, and yields no positive facts. What does harm is not some -particular kind but a general insufficiency of aliment. - -Imperfect nutrition may be traced to three principal sources. 1. -Insufficient or unsuitable food. 2. Lack of variety. 3. Improper -preparation of food. - -The careful researches of Collignon, Ranke, Ammon, and others have -traced the stunted forms, defective bodies, and low intellectual -development of the Lapps, the mountaineers of central Europe and the -Bushmen of the Kalihari desert to one cause, _la misére_, lack of -sufficient and appropriate food. This is certain to bring about -degeneration of organs, incomplete development, and loss of brain power. -Continued through generations, a hereditary taint is engendered which -saps the vigour of the stock, and cannot be eradicated by improved -conditions. - -Unsuitable food is usually consumed on account of the scarcity of better -material, but at times from a morbid craving. Examples are the unctuous -clay which was swallowed by various tribes in America and Australia, and -also by some of the “poor white trash” of Georgia. The ergoted rye and -maize to which some of the peasantry of France and Italy are forced to -have recourse exerts a disastrous influence on both body and mind. - -But food may be ever so excellent in itself, yet unsuitable to the -geographic and other conditions. The Eskimo thrives on blubber and raw -fish; but such a diet in Ceylon would be as inappropriate as the -Hindoo’s boiled rice for an exclusive diet in Greenland. - -Lack of variety interferes with nutrition even when the food material -itself is ample. By structure and habit man is omnivorous, and suffers -when confined to a single article of diet. The blood becomes depraved -and scorbutic symptoms often appear. Nations who mainly live on some one -substance—rice, cassava, potatoes, etc.—suffer, lose their power of -adaptation to their surroundings, as was remarked by Alexander von -Humboldt, and are more liable to disease. Owing also to the partial -sustenance thus furnished, the brain-cells are less progressive and -energetic. There are nearly a score of chemical elements in the body, -all of which must be supplied by the aliment if maximum physical health -is to be attained and the highest energy and moral vigour are desired; -for, although it is not correct to assert, as some have claimed, that -the physical insures psychical perfection, it is undoubtedly true that -the mind is never at its best in a feeble and sickly body. Dr. Johnson -was more than half right when he argued that a sick man is a scoundrel! - -A volume might be written on the influence of the preparation of food on -national character. Cookery is one of the fine arts, and its development -has been parallel with general culture. No tribe takes its food -habitually raw. The Eskimo will freeze it first, the Tartar readies his -steak by placing it beneath his saddle, and the African cannibal will -soak his human morsel in water. Before pots or kettles were invented, -the flesh was roasted over the fire or in trenches covered with hot -coals. - -Cookery renders food more assimilable, more digestible, and thus allows -the brain a better chance to do its work. Frying hardens and soddens -food, and the frying-pan is, therefore, an enemy to civilisation. -Chewing coarse, hard, and uncooked food develops the muscles of the jaws -and makes the face “prognathic,” an almost sure sign of intellectual -inferiority, and directly connected with an unfavourable shape of the -skull. The man who invented the mill was one of the greatest benefactors -to his race. Condiments add to the digestibility of food and hold an -important place in its preparation. Salt and pepper thus sharpen the -intellect. - -2. _Subversion of Sex-relations._—There is nothing more vital to the -growth, even to the very existence, of a nation than the sex-relations -which it favours by its laws, customs, and preferences. Upon these -depend the processes of natural selection by which the number and the -power of future generations are decided through inflexible rules. If -these relations, as established by the fixed natural laws of -species-perpetuation, are traversed by ignorance or wilful disobedience, -nothing can prevent the injury to the physical strength and mental -ability of the offspring. - -Such subversions of the sex-relations may be presented under five -headings: - - (_a_) Premature and delayed marriage. - - (_b_) Abnormal forms of marriage. - - (_c_) Abstention from marriage through various causes. - - (_d_) Licentiousness. Divorce. - - (_e_) Diminution of natality. Infertility. - -_(a) Premature and Delayed Marriage._—Mr. Galton, in one of his -thoughtful works, remarks: “An enormous effect upon the average natural -ability of a race may be produced by influences which retard the average -age of marriage or hasten it.” He has illustrated this by abundant -examples now through his many writings familiar to the public, his -general thesis being that the wisest policy for a nation is to retard -the age of marriage among the weak and to hasten it among the vigorous -classes. - -This is, of course, to be construed within physiological lines; -premature relations of the sexes, too early marriages, are disastrous in -every respect. Statistics of European armies show that there is a far -higher mortality and much more sickness among the soldiers who have -married young than among single men of the same age. Certain Australian -and South American tribes force their female children of immature age -into marital relations, and to this is due the rapid decrease of their -numbers. - -_(b) Abnormal Forms of Marriage._—Among early Semitic tribes, and to-day -in parts of Tibet and India, the custom prevails of “polyandry,” in -which one woman is the wife of several husbands. This sometimes arose -from female infanticide, sometimes, as in Tibet, where all the brothers -of a family have one wife in common, in order to preserve undivided the -family property.[2] - -Footnote 2: - - [An obvious gap in the manuscript occurs at this point, but one which - in no way affects the general argument of the author.—EDITOR.] - -_(c) Abstention from Marriage._—Mr. Galton has pointed out with great -force the injury worked by sacerdotal celibacy in the history of -European civilisation. The commendation of the single life in man or -woman as “the better part” has been by no means confined to certain -sects of Christianity. Long before that religion started, this sacrifice -was enjoined on the priests of Cybele, the virgins of Vesta, the -Egyptian ministrants, and many other officials in Old World rites; while -in the New World not only were there houses of “nuns” among the Quechuas -of Peru and the Mayas of Yucatan, but the priests in those cults and -even the “medicine men” of rude Northern tribes were frequently vowed to -perpetual and absolute chastity. - -In the struggle of modern life, and also in the greater facility for the -pursuit of pleasure, of self-culture or devotion to some cherished -pursuit, the unmarried person has an advantage, and hence it is noted -that marriage is either long delayed or wholly avoided. The division of -a community along narrow social, financial, or religious lines greatly -aids this isolation by narrowing the selection of partners for life. -War, emigration, and the love of adventure prompt the males to desert -remote and quiet localities, leaving the females in the majority and -imbuing the males with a distaste for domestic pursuits. During the -Crusades there were considerable areas in Europe where there was only -one man left to seven women. - -Students of psychopathic conditions have pointed out another and -apparently growing cause of indifference to marriage,—that sentiment -called “homosexuality,” an inversion of the sexual instinct toward one’s -own sex. This may be innocent in action and emotion, when it means -merely the preference for friendship in the same gender and a congenital -indifference to sexual feelings; or it may progress to any degree of -monosexual devotion, such as classic tradition attributed to the -characters of Sappho and Heliogabalus. - -Whatever the cause which leads to the presence of many old bachelors and -spinsters in a community, it must be condemned by the anthropologist, -because it is certain to bring about mental deterioration of the stock; -and the higher the motive, the more exalted the reason offered for such -abstention, the surer is the deterioration, because it means that the -class capable of such superior motives will be extinguished in the -community. - -_(d) Licentiousness; Divorce._—No one will need to be persuaded that -open licentiousness, the disregard of those sentiments and principles -which attach in lasting unions persons of opposite sex, can have other -than a detrimental effect on individual and national character. Wherever -this has prevailed, the community has been weakened and its powers -misdirected. Any stimulus to the sex feeling beyond that for its -physiological purpose detracts from the general energy, physical and -mental; and any indulgence of it in other than physiological methods -develops degenerative tendencies. - -Sexual psychopathy has been abundantly investigated of late years by -Krafft-Ebing, Ellis, and other students, and its prevalence is too -extended for it not to have profound effect on the ethnic mind. What is -one of the worst features is the attraction that such psychopathic -subjects have for each other, whether of the same or opposite sexes. It -thus becomes an inherited trait, and in a majority of the cases this is -easily recognised. - -The question here arises, to what extent in a community the marriage tie -may be relaxed without injury to or to the advantage of the general -psychical welfare. This practical inquiry should be decided not by -religious or social prejudice, but by a study of the peculiar conditions -of the community and of the application of general principles to them. - -It is impossible for me here to enter into this vast and vital question; -but some of these general principles may be briefly stated. - -Students of primitive conditions have reached the conclusion that -neither sex in the human species is inclined to permanent sexual unions. -They point out that among savage tribes, and indeed in various advanced -religions, ceremonies and customs are in vogue to expiate such -attachments as contrary to the divine ordinances. They further show that -the forms of marriage were instituted either for selfish sensual -purposes on the part of the male or for property reasons; and that in a -condition of freedom and advanced culture neither sex is inclined to -regard them as durably binding. - -With progressive enlightenment, bringing with it, as it must, the -freedom of woman from civil disabilities, divorces increase, and only -those marriages are stable in which both parties are satisfied. The -result of this is constantly beneficial. Facility of separation is a -potent stimulus to connubial harmony; for the one most satisfied with -the relation will always strive to render it agreeable to the other, in -order to avoid a dissolution of the tie. - -Licentiousness, therefore, is not synonymous with loose marriage -relations, but the reverse. - -_(e) Diminution of Natality._—There is no more certain sign of the -degeneration of a race, nation, or class than a decreasing birth-rate. -When it reaches the point that the deaths in its ranks exceed the -births, extinction has already begun. Providing that fecundity continues -normal, the onslaughts of war, famine, and pestilence may be remedied; -but when, through agencies of any description, the birth-rate sensibly -falls off, there is no escape from destruction. This disaster may arise -from physical, but is generally due to psychical causes, and therefore -points distinctly to mental pathology in the group where it occurs. - -Striking examples of this have been presented by studies of the noble -families of Europe. Placed in positions where their chief aims were -amusement, self-indulgence, and ostentation, their best faculties were -allowed to rust and finally to decay, bringing with this the extinction -of their lines. - -Researches in European history show that the ennobled families of -France, Germany, and England have rarely survived the fifth generation, -and not more than six per cent. are in existence after three hundred -years. Of 427 English noble families, but 41 were represented at the -beginning of the 17th century. The patrician families who controlled the -free cities of the Middle Ages are now known in history only. Scarcely a -score have outlived the degenerative agencies of wealth, idleness, and -indulgence. - -The other extreme of the social scale is equally unfriendly to -productiveness. It is popularly thought that the poor man has children -if he has nothing else. But he must not be too poor. Surgeons of the -Indian civil service have proved by ample statistics that the famines -which periodically ravage the East bring in their train widespread and -lasting infertility. Arrest of puberty and organic deterioration of the -reproductive system are common results of the prolonged starvation, and -prevent child-bearing. - -The psychic contrast between this result and that of malignant epidemics -is marked and singular. During and after famines the feelings dependent -on sex are almost extinguished; while in epidemics of acute diseases, -such as plague, cholera, and yellow fever, they are notably exalted, as -they are also in leprosy. - -There is also a class of maladies known in medicine as “dystrophic” on -account of their tendency to diminish virility, and thus both lessen the -birth rate and lead to morbid psychic states. Prominent among these are -malarial fevers, tuberculosis, and the later stages of alcoholism and -the opium habit. By many writers the inordinate use of tobacco is -believed to exert a similar effect. - -In modern life, notably in France and the eastern United States, there -is a very observable infecundity in certain classes, and they the -wealthiest and best educated, due unquestionably to intention on the -part of the married—to purely psychic causes, therefore. In the “best -society” of those localities two or three children to a marriage are as -many as are wanted and as many as arrive. - -That this limitation is deliberate, and not the result of reproductive -debility, has been shown by an application of the law of sex at birth as -formulated by Dumont. This is, that when the proportion of the sexes at -birth are as 105 males to 100 females, the diminished natality is -voluntary; and when it is involuntary, due to disease or malformations, -this ratio is always disturbed. - -As statistics prove that in modern life two-thirds of the children born -alive never perpetuate their kind, through death, the single life, -sterility, or other reason, it is plain that intentional limitation of -offspring to a number less than four means certain extinction of the -family. - -3. _Toxic Agents._—The toxic agents of ethnic degeneration belong to two -classes, stimulant-narcotics and disease-germs. The former are -voluntarily consumed by the individual, the latter he absorbs through -exposure to insalubrious conditions. Both belong to preventable causes -of deterioration. - -Of the stimulant-narcotics, alcohol, opium, and tobacco are the most -familiar. But they by no means exhaust the list. Everywhere and at all -times man has had an intense craving for these nervines. Where the Koran -forbids alcoholic drinks, the Arabs take refuge in kief and other -species of hemp. The native Mexicans cull the _peyotl_, the Siberians a -toadstool, the Peruvians coca. - -The precise degree to which these agents have altered the intellectual -and moral powers of communities has long been the theme of -controversies. - -This is especially true of alcohol. Professor Lapouge, certainly an -unbiassed observer, citizen of a land where temperance societies are -unknown, does not hesitate to call it “the most formidable agent of -degeneration in modern society.” Its worst effects are not the violence -to which it occasionally leads or the frightful nervous diseases which -its excessive use entails, but the slow hardening of the “axis -cylinders” in the nerve sheaths, the immediate consequence of which is -permanent deterioration of mental activity. Extended throughout a -community, this means a lessening of its energy and of its finest mental -qualities. Chronic alcoholism of this kind does not materially shorten -life, but it is eminently transmissible, and this soddens the stock. The -white race is most exposed to these mental and nervous effects of -alcohol, while the red and black races escape them in large measure. - -The second class of toxic agents affecting the community at large -includes the various forms of disease-germs. No one can doubt the -debilitating influence of malaria on the mental faculties of the -population exposed to its poisonous action. Vast tracts of the earth’s -surface are by it rendered incapable of sustaining the highest types of -humanity. Their energy is sapped, their vitality lowered, by the -insidious miasm. No race or nationality is immune. Though the white race -is most liable to its attacks, the African blacks are so far from being -exempt that in the more intense malarial districts of their continent -nearly one-third of the natives suffer from the disease. - -Marsh poison is usually confined to the lowlands. But the mountain -valleys also generate a noxious agent, most unfriendly to mental growth. -It displays itself in a threefold form, embracing goitre, cretinism, and -deaf-mutism, the three closely related and bringing with them a positive -debility of psychical powers. The mountains have not only been the -refuge of the feeble, escaping from the plains, but they have worked to -render these outcasts feebler still by reducing them in stature and -viability. Goitre is not confined to Alpine regions, though more -prevalent there. It is distinctly hereditary, and the offspring of -goitrous parents are predisposed to cretinism and allied forms of -imbecility. The southern and western slopes of the Alps, the Pyrenees, -the Himalayas, and the Cordilleras are especially the homes of this -class of diseases. - -Another series of toxic agents which calls for consideration in this -connection are the so-called “constitutional diseases.” These are -contagious and transmissible, the poison of the blood being handed down -from generation to generation. - -The most noteworthy of these is syphilis. Its extreme prevalence among -lower classes of the community and in some of the darker races is a -present and potent cause of their mental inferiority. It is well known -to specialists that children born of syphilitic parents are deficient in -mental energy and physical stamina. They are liable to scrofulous -symptoms and tubercular degenerations, and are deficient in ambition and -love of labour. - -Less widely distributed, but yet affecting whole communities, are -ergotism and pellagra, due to the consumption of diseased grain, and -leprosy which is undoubtedly hereditary and vitiates the blood of whole -families. Certain stocks are especially liable to it, notably the -African blacks and next to them the Semites, both Jews and Arabs. - -4. _Mental Shock._—History presents many instructive examples of the -destructive power of mental shock on the ethnic mind. It is brought -about by some great, sudden, unexpected catastrophe, which breaks -asunder the associations or institutions in which the community has -lived its mental life. - -Such a disruption may arise from an intensely malignant epidemic, from -war, or from a natural catastrophe. - -An example of the first was the frightful “black death” which swept over -Europe in 1348–50, destroying nearly a fourth of the whole population. -All accounts agree that the despair and desperation which accompanied -such an unexampled affliction showed themselves in an abandonment of all -restraint, a reckless indulgence in the wildest debaucheries, an entire -disregard of social restrictions. The same is true of the “plague and -famine” years, 1491–95, when, in the words of a medical historian, “the -corruption of morals reached a height without parallel in ancient -times.” - -The depressing power of sudden defeat and subjugation has been -repeatedly exemplified. The “spirit is broken” of the conquered people. -Only by such a profound mental depravation can we explain why such a -warlike and numerous nation as the Aztecs sank instantly to be the serfs -of a handful of white conquerors. - -A writer on the history of the Christian church has remarked that “every -nation has its peculiar heresy.” A student of mental pathology might -justly add that every nation has its peculiar form of insanity. An -irrational tendency is present and active in every community, ever -striving to gain the ascendancy, and when it succeeds, as has often been -the case in history, it makes steadily for the destruction and -extinction of the national existence. - -The forms of mental alienation are as various in the collective as in -the individual mind, and as they are extensions of the symptoms seen in -the latter, they may be classified on similar lines. I shall examine -them, therefore, first as they are connected with intellectual and next -with emotional disturbances, in accordance with the following scheme: - - ETHNIC PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS. - - I.—_In the Intellectual Life._ - - 1. Conditions of Deficiency │(_a_) Imbecility. - │(_b_) Criminality. - - 2. Conditions of Perversion │(_a_) Delusions. - │(_b_) Dominant Ideas. - - II.—_In the Emotional Life._ - - 1. Conditions of Hypersthenia (active motor │(_a_) Hysteria. - states) │ - │(_b_) Exaltation. - │(_c_) Destructive - │ Impulses. - - 2. Conditions of Asthenia (passive sensory │(_a_) Melancholia - states) │ (Depression). - │(_b_) Neurasthenia - │ (Exhaustion). - -I. PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE—1. CONDITIONS OF -DEFICIENCY.—The intellect of a group, like that of the individual, has -its limits, beyond which it is not possible to educate it. This is -conspicuously seen in intellects below the normal, such as in -feeble-minded persons. No amount of training can cure their radical -defects and make them the equals of their average associates. These are -instances of intellectual deficiency. It may express itself either in -some degree of imbecility or in the active form of criminal habits. - -Another class do not seem below the average in general powers, may, -perhaps, appear in various directions above it; but they have some twist -or obliquity in their mental make-up which separates them from their -fellows, usually to their detriment. In common life such persons are -known as “cranks” or “eccentrics,” men of one idea and paranoiacs. They -are examples of intellectual perversion. Ethnic psychology can also -supply abundant instances of this character. - -_(a) Imbecility._—To say that there are tribes or whole peoples actually -imbecile would perhaps be going too far. Yet this has been asserted of -some by competent observers. Mr. Horatio Hale, who was among the native -blacks of Australia, related that the impression they produced on his -mind was one of “great natural obtuseness, downright childishness, and -imbecility.” The only arguments which availed with them were “such as we -should use towards a child or a partial idiot.” Mr. Hale attributed this -to generations of semi-starvation and malnutrition, and was so convinced -of this that he believed the most favoured race would, by similar -conditions, be reduced to the same low intellectual stage. - -A prevailing inability to judge of evidence is common among many peoples -and classes, and this is a marked sign of mental deficiency. They -mistake associations of time and place for relations of cause and -effect, and their reasoning is vitiated in consequence. Superstition is -fostered by this mental obliquity. The casual objective relation is -mistakenly assumed as the subjective necessity. This is especially -common among savages, and the illiterate classes of higher culture. It -is a mark of mental inferiority tending to irrational action and -confusion of thought. - -In civilised communities those of the population who are thus -constituted form the “dependent” class, incapable of making their own -living, and supported either by their families or the state. They may -thus survive and reproduce their kind, but ethnic groups afflicted with -such intellectual retardation either perish or become subject to those -with higher gifts. - -_(b) Criminality._—Criminality in its common forms must be classed as a -condition of intellectual deficiency brought about by one or several of -the causes I have already rehearsed. It is not necessary, here, to enter -into the discussion as to whether a criminal is born or made, nor do I -speak now of those violators of the law in favour of a higher law, the -reformers, apostles, martyrs to a faith and a truth in advance of their -time and place, nor of those who have yielded for a moment to some -mastering temptation. I speak of the ordinary criminal who for selfish -ends habitually violates the usages of the group in which he lives, and -to this extent aims at its destruction. - -This class cannot be disciplined into the rules necessary to the peace -and welfare of the society in which they live. Researches on their -psychology show them, as a rule, defective in physical sensibility, more -frequently colour-blind, mental instability is always present, vanity is -exaggerated, the emotions are violent, and the general intelligence is -below the average. We must regard them as pathological, rapidly -approaching a self-destructive degree of degeneration. When they are -numerous in a group it is a sure sign of its general inferiority. - -The most advanced criminologists of to-day have returned to the opinion -advocated a generation ago by Quetelet in these words: “Society creates -the germs of all crimes which are committed. She instigates them, and -the criminal is merely the instrument of their execution.” - -Translated into other words, this means that the psychic traits of any -group are the direct parent of its anti-social, self-destructive, -criminal instincts. To the extent that such traits are remediable the -body politic is directly responsible for the violations of its own laws. -If left unremedied, the ruin of the group must follow. - -2. CONDITIONS OF PERVERSION.—Alienists have frequent occasion to observe -cases of mental disease where all the faculties of the mind seem intact -and equal to the average, except that there is a persistent irrational -delusion on some single point or a few points; or else the mind is -controlled by the insistent recurrence of a single idea, which -obstinately aims to govern the whole man. The latter is known as an -_idée fixe_, a fixed or dominant idea. - -In ethnic psycho-pathology the same conditions may be constantly -observed, and they react on the character and fate of peoples with -visible power. That which passes under the name of “popular prejudice” -is an example. A community will adopt an opinion, without reason, and -will not permit a discussion of its merits. Any one not accepting it -will be regarded as a public enemy. - -_(a) Delusions._—In primitive conditions the most common delusion is -that of the identity of waking and dream-life. There is no distinction -allowed in the equal reality of both, or, if any, it is in favour of the -superiority of the dream-life, for in dreams the person seems possessed -of powers which he loses on awakening. So highly are dreams esteemed, -that many savage tribes and many nations of respectable culture have -risked their gravest undertakings on the interpretation of these visions -of the night. - -Such a delusion is, of course, most contrary to reason and good order. -On account of an inauspicious dream a Brazilian tribe will desert its -village and its plantations; while if a Kamchatkan dreams that he has -been given another man’s wife, it is held necessary for public welfare -that his dream be realised. - -Another delusion, deeply rooted in the philosophy of India and which has -worked untold misfortunes on its peoples, is that of the unreality of -the distinction between subject and object—that is, between thought and -the external world. Hence arose the doctrine that real life is _mâyâ_, -an illusion or deception of the senses, and its aims and duties unworthy -the contemplation of the true philosopher. The consequent neglect of the -practical duties of life could not fail to weaken the peoples who -juggled with sound reason in this manner. - -A wonderful example of long-persistent delusion was the Crusades. For -nearly two centuries (1095–1289) the Christian nations of Europe -neglected state and domestic affairs in order to rescue the Holy -Sepulchre from the hands of the infidels. All classes, from kings to -peasants, fell a prey to the same obsession. It was accompanied by -repeated and unmistakable signs of epidemic manias and neuropathias -unequalled in history. Lykanthropy, in which the possessed howled and -destroyed like wolves, was extremely common; the dancing mania spread -through wide areas, forcing old and young into wild gestures and crazy -motions; and, stranger than all, young children were attacked with a mad -desire to leave their homes and to wander forth they knew not whither. -Were they prevented, they pined and died. These “children’s crusades” -began in Germany in 1212, extended through France, Switzerland, and -Italy, and continued as late as 1418. - -_(b) Dominant Ideas._—The weightiest topic in universal history may -possibly be the study of dominant or fixed ideas in ethnic psychology. A -philosophic observer may regard each nation as the destined -representative of some one idea, which, when its usefulness has ended, -yields to others more germane to existing conditions; and by the -successive action of all, the progress of the species is secured through -the gradual elimination of those which are regressive. - -Certain it is that in any group the constituent minds are controlled at -a given time by some one idea common to all. This is, in one sense, a -perversion of the intellect. The dominant idea assumes a magnitude out -of proportion to its actual value; and by this disproportion—that is, by -the undue attention it receives, others, often of equal or greater value -to the group, are neglected. - -These dominant ideas form the national ideals, after which the -individual lines are consciously patterned, and by the practical -application thus given, add to the cohesion of the group through the -unification of its members. Acting under natural laws, common to organic -forms as well as to societies, these ideas are the chief agents in -social selection, and thus control almost absolutely the traits and -destinies of nations, as has been traced in a masterly manner by Vacher -de Lapouge. - -Such ideas are easily recognised in a community. A slight acquaintance -with history and literature teaches us that the early Romans were -exclusively possessed by the military ideal, the lust of conquest; that -the ideal of the Israelites has always been the thirst for commercial -gain; and that art was the ruling aim in the palmy days of Greece. - -But the finest example that occurs to me of many different peoples being -dominated by a fixed idea is seen in the votaries of the Mohammedan -religion. They are bound together by one sacred language, in which one -book, the Koran, lays down all law, civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical, -and the expressed dicta of which set them in sharpest opposition to all -who do not accept it. The religious idea, thus stimulated out of all -proportion to others, has developed in them a fanatical force which at -one time almost enabled them to conquer the known world, and which has -since resulted in the inevitable decay of their greatest states, their -literature and arts. - -II. PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN THE EMOTIONAL LIFE.—Apart from the -perversions of intelligence which cloud the reasoning faculties of -nations, they are subject to widespread and persistent disturbances of -their emotional lives, which frequently react disastrously on the common -weal. - -Following the division adopted by some competent alienists in individual -cases, I may with propriety classify these into two divisions, as they -represent, on the one hand, excessive, misdirected, and morbid activity, -or, on the other, unhealthy depression and apathy. - -1. CONDITIONS OF HYPERSTHENIA.—It is a popular error in scientific -circles that diseases of the nervous system increase with civilisation. -The opposite is true. The lowest stages of culture are far more -pathological than the higher, in this, as well as in most respects. True -that certain neuroses belong to cultured peoples; but morbid emotional -states are especially prevalent in lower conditions. - -_(a) Hysteria._—This is well illustrated in the history of epidemic -hysteria. It may occasionally be seen among ourselves in a hospital ward -or at a camp-meeting; but such outbreaks are sporadic. They belong in -the ethnic temperament of many tribes of the Malayan and native American -races. - -The Jesuit fathers described in vivid colours such outbreaks among the -Hurons of Canada, attacking whole villages and frequently leading to -their destruction. Father de Quen was quite right when he wrote: “The -old saying alleges that every man has a grain of madness in his -composition; but this is a tribe where each has half an ounce.” He -correctly regarded them as in a permanently pathological state. - -Quite similar recitals are preserved of such outbreaks among the -Guaranis of Paraguay, and other primitive stocks, notably the Malay -peoples. - -From the accounts of travellers it would seem, contrary to what we might -suppose, that such excessive nervous sensibility is peculiarly present -in extreme northern latitudes, while tropical tribes are much more -liable to conditions of depression. Castren, who lived long among the -northern Sibiric tribes, dwells with astonishment on their nervous -sensitiveness. A sudden blow on the outside of the skin yurt will throw -its occupants into spasms. - -Among these “neuroses of excitement” which at times seize upon the souls -of communities, none is more inexplicable, and none more fraught with -consequences to world-history than the goading restlessness which has -driven single tribes or groups of tribes into aimless roving. This -_Wanderlust_ arises as an emotional epidemic, not by a process of -reasoning. It drives communities from fixed seats and comfortable homes, -transforming them into migratory and warring hordes. - -_(b) Exaltation._—Under the heading of exaltation of nervous impulse the -alienist includes a morbid devotion to sexual thoughts and acts -(erotomania); to vanity, ambition, and self-magnification; and those -states of megalomania where the patient is subject to delusions of -greatness, _idées de grandeur_. - -To all of these we may easily find parallels in ethnic life. They have -all their analogies in tribal or national history, with consequences as -disastrous as they disclose in the individual. - -No more positive examples of erotic mania could be found in an asylum -than those presented by the whole of some Polynesian tribes. The life of -both sexes was devoted chiefly to the pleasures of the genital nerves. -Societies were formed where such practices were developed into arts; -children before maturity were initiated into them; and no mode of -excitement, unnatural though it might be, was omitted or shunned. - -The destructive results of such licentiousness in the history of these -tribes, already extinct or nearly so, need not be insisted upon. But why -seek to demonstrate it from remote times or savage lands? Within a year -a philosophic student, from a wide range of investigation, has -attributed chiefly to the same pathological cause the deterioration of -the leading so-called Latin nations of Europe in the last two centuries. -In them, says Signor G. Ferrero, the sex impulse develops earlier, and -absorbs and wastes the life energies more than in the Teutonic nations, -yielding to the latter the superior place in the struggle for existence. - -Another and familiar exemplification of this neuropathic frame of the -ethnic mind is that exaggerated national boastfulness known (from a -soldier under Bonaparte) as _Chauvinism_. It is patriotism passed into -mild dementia; so well known that it has a special name in English also, -_Jingoism_. The profound conviction that our own country—whichever that -may be—is the greatest in the world, leader of all in intelligence, -power, culture, and vigour, is invariably and everywhere a mental -delusion, a type of megalomania. Such a notion prepares the way for -increase of ignorance and self-esteem so blind that it is sure ere long -to fall in the pit ever open for fools. - -_(c) Destructive Impulse._ The passion for wanton destruction may seize -equally upon a person or group. It may be directed toward inanimate -objects or against human life. John Addington Symonds gives a thrilling -sketch of the monster, Ezzelino da Romano, Vicar of the Emperor -Frederick II., in northern Italy (about 1250). His own passion was the -mutilation, torture, and murder of men, women, and children. His -inordinate cruelty and repeated massacres led to his becoming the hero -of a fiendish cycle in Italian literature. - -We may call him, if we wish to palliate his monstrous deeds, a -monomaniac; but, as Symonds says, if we thus excuse him “we shall have -to place how many Visconti, Sforzeschi, Malatesti, Borgias, Farnesi, -etc., in the list of maniacs?” No, it was an ethnic tendency of Italy at -that period, and for long afterwards, and could be illustrated by scores -of traits from popular as well as princely life. - -The mania for murder which seized the Parisian populace in 1793 was a -true pathological outburst. No sense of patriotism thrilled the crowds -who ran by the tumbrils and surrounded the guillotines. It was -hæmatomania, the blood-madness, that was upon them. - -The suicidal impulse occasionally assumes an epidemic form which arises -from conditions of the ethnic life. The aborigines of Cuba when enslaved -by the Spanish conquerors practised self-destruction on a scale which -contributed much to their prompt extinction. In the city of -Frankfort-on-the-Main in the last century suicide became so frequent -among women that the dead bodies were suspended by the feet in order to -check the impulse in the survivors. - -In a less degree the destructive passion directed against objects, or -figuratively against institutions, known as _iconoclasm_, is often a -mere outburst of unreasoning emotion. Its energy is misdirected and -fruitless. What was the result of that which during the eighth and ninth -centuries raged in Constantinople and Asia Minor? It altered -image-worship into picture-worship, nothing more. - -2. CONDITIONS OF ASTHENIA.—In contrast to the repeated explosions of -nerve force which give rise to the active motor states of ethnic -dementia I have been considering, are those characterised by a loss of -reaction to stimuli, by passive, merely sensory, conditions. - -These are of two varieties, well marked in their differences, each -highly significant in its ethnological and historic relations. The one -is allied to melancholia, being marked by depression or inaction of the -psychic forces, the other by their exhaustion, by incapacity for -reaction to ordinary stimuli. - -_(a) Melancholia._—The consequence of mental shock, I have already -pointed out, is to bring about a sort of mental paralysis, a listless, -apathetic state; and this I have illustrated by some examples. - -A touching one is recorded of the Greek colony which erected the city of -Pæstum on the Tyrrhenian Sea, whose stately ruins still attract -thousands of visitors annually. - -A clearly ethnic type of melancholia is _nostalgia_ or homesickness. Of -course it is found in some degree in all lands, but with some peoples, -notably dwellers in high northern latitudes, the Lapps and Eskimo, it is -severe and general. If removed from their surroundings they mope and -die. - -_(b) Neurasthenia._—Diseases of nervous and mental exhaustion belong -exclusively among nations of advanced culture. There are those which -have not merely increased, most of them have originated in stages of -high civilisation; not, as some have falsely argued, from conditions -essential to culture, but to errors and misdirections in that culture. -As, in all rapid motions, slight deviations entail more serious -consequences than when motion is slow, so, in the rapid progress of -modern times, slight neglects of hygiene bring about more serious -results than in ruder countries. - -This explains the relative increase of some forms of insanity, of -suicide and criminality, and the appearance of new maladies, such as -progressive paralysis, in civilised centres. They are due to exhaustion -of the nerve centres in those who are not adapted to bear the strain of -contemporary competitive life, or who, if able, fail to direct their -activities in successful channels. - -Another evidence of exhaustion, one which properly exercises the -attention of the student of modern life, is the progressive distaste for -the sex relation, especially among women. The consequences of this -mental attitude are the prevalence of spinsterhood and the limitation of -families in marriage, to which I have already referred. The attraction -of the “higher culture” and of their new facilities for seeing and -enjoying liberty have led to atrophy of the maternal instinct and of the -desire of marriage. This can have but one result,—the diminution and -final extinction of the group in which it prevails. - -There is also such an ethnic malady as moral exhaustion. After a period -of intense but ill-regulated ethical enthusiasm there often follows a -reaction, when all ethical principles are thrown to the winds. This has -been plausibly explained by Dr. Laycock as an overstimulation of the -brain-cells most closely connected with this class of sentiments, with -consequent exhaustion in transmission to the next generation. “The -fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on -edge.” - -The bigotry of Puritan England in the 17th century was followed by the -laxity of the Restoration. - - - - - PART II - THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND - - - - - _INTRODUCTION_ - - -Although, as we have seen, there is no common measure of Mind and -Matter, the connections between the two are so intimate that, in -organised beings, any change in the one entails a corresponding change -in the other. - -This is a principle which has long been accepted in the Science of Man. -A quarter of a century ago Professor Schaffhausen expressed it in these -words: “One of the weightiest doctrines in Anthropology is the constant -correlation between intellectual capacity and physical organisation.” -That branch of Anthropology called Somatology is devoted to the -investigation of the human body, its measurements, structure, and -functions, as they differ in individuals, groups, and races, for the -purpose of defining and explaining this correlation. - -The expressions of the individual mind are largely the reflex of its -environment, of the external impulses, stimuli, and conditions which -surround it. These are physical, measurable, quantitative, and therefore -within the province of the “natural” sciences. - -In their relation to the individual, they mostly belong to the domain of -“experimental” psychology; but as they influence the group and decide -its constitution they form an important branch of ethnic psychology -also. - -The natural history of the Mind is chiefly the study of its -environments, its _milieu_. But that term is to be taken in its widest -sense. - -The nearest environment of my mind is my body. Indeed, it is the only -environment of which I have positive knowledge. As John Stuart Mill well -said, “I know my own feelings with a higher certainty than I know aught -else.” - -Hence the physical constitution of the individual is that which has -primary importance. - -That may be considered first as an individual question, without going -beyond the circumstances of the personal life and health, a purely -_somatic_ investigation. We may next inquire how many of his -peculiarities the individual owes to his ancestors, which will bring up -the questions of heredity, hybridity, and others, including mental as -well as physical traits. His debt is large to these, but still larger, -say some writers, to his contemporaries, the associates with whom he has -been thrown from birth. These are his “people,” the “group” of which he -is a member. He is modified in a thousand ways by this “demographic” -environment. - -All these—his ancestors, fellows, and his own body—are “human” -influences. Beyond them lies the great world of other beings and of -unconscious forces, the animals and plants, the land and water, the -clime and spot, which make up his “geographic” environment. How -dependent is he upon these! How utterly they often control his thoughts -and actions! - -Each of these I shall endeavour to estimate in their influence on the -individual, not as an individual, but as a member of a group; and on the -group itself, as an independent, psychic entity, nowise identical in -character with any individual. - - - - - CHAPTER I - _THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOMATIC ENVIRONMENT_ - - -The human body is an “organism” each part of which is in vital relation -to the whole, and is influenced by the condition of every other part. -This is true of function as well as structure, for function, after all, -is merely the term we give to structure in action. Mentality, psychical -activity, is a function, and, like all others, is organically -conditioned by the whole organism and its several parts. To understand -the influence of the body on the mind, therefore, we should consider in -such relation each of the physiological “systems” which make up the -organic life. For my present purpose, however, it will be sufficient to -select those most closely related to mental activity. - -_The Brain._—The learned of all times have sought to find “the seat of -the soul.” Primitive men generally placed it in the liver or in the -heart; but anatomists have been long agreed that it must be somewhere in -the head. The latest word from them is that it resides in the nerve -cells of the grey matter of the brain, in the number and activity of the -“pyramid-neurons” there situate, and probably in their capacity to send -out shoots or branches. - -This intimate, ultimate, structure and potency establishes the -difference between the intellectual faculties of species and -individuals. In the lower animals these cells are few and scattered, and -their proliferations short and simple. In man the cells increase in -number and their extensions become long and complex. They are more -abundant when the grey matter is ample, as is the case where the -convolutions are intricate. - -Up to a recent period it was supposed that the weight or size of the -brain was the chief physical element in mental superiority. It is now -known, that has little to do with it. Not a few men of distinguished -parts, such as Liebig, Gambetta, Tiedemann, etc., have had brains -decidedly below the average in weight, while, on the other hand, many -with large brains have led unimportant lives. This is also the case with -races, for although the African negro is below the European in his -cranial capacity, the Fuegian, decidedly below the African in mental -development, has a brain larger than either of the other races. -Obviously, both the cubical content and weight of the brain depend much -on the general size, stature, and weight of the body; and no one has -been found who pretends that the biggest man is also the ablest. - -We are almost compelled, therefore, to accept as correct the conclusion -reached by Lapouge and others, that not the size but the molecular -constitution of the brain is finally decisive of intellectual power; and -this is a trait which up to the present time has eluded analysis. - -This is not inconsistent with holding that where other proportions are -the same, a larger, more complex brain is generally significant of -higher mental powers; and that a well-balanced skull, with orthognathic -features and moderate facial development, are indications favourable for -the psychical possessions of the individual or the group. - -The _shape_ would seem to be more significant than the weight of the -brain. Of all the elements of gross cerebral anatomy it appears to be -that most indicative of mental power. - -This is a recent discovery of craniologists, the entire meaning of which -has not yet been worked out. It is due to the researches of Ammon and -Lapouge within the last decade, and to the anthropologist promises -solutions of various obscure problems in the cultural growth of the -species. - -These observers have ascertained, by many thousand measurements on the -living and the dead, that those persons who, as a class, are best -adapted to the high and continued strain of modern city and competitive -life, have skulls in that shape termed “subdolichocephalic,” which means -that their brains have a prevailing and fixed spatial relation of their -parts, a relation, no doubt, which is the most favourable to the general -and prolonged activity of those nerve cells which we know are the seat -of psychical function. - -Such persons in youth stand at the head in the school, they take the -prizes in examinations, they carry off the honours in intellectual -contests, they are leaders in the learned professions, they are the -self-created “upper class,” and, what is equally noteworthy, in the -unhealthy atmosphere of great cities they outlive their associates with -other shapes of brain. - -But these observers also note that while these somewhat long-skulled -persons have such intellectual and even physical advantages in the -struggle for existence, they are deficient in others, which, under some -circumstances, are even more necessary to success. - -The same extended series of measurements and comparisons show that those -whose brains are rounder in form—more brachycephalic—prove generally -superior in technical skill, in industry, and in perseverance. They are -less adventurous, they lack imagination and the stimulus of the ideal, -they are narrow and formalists; but they shine in the bourgeois virtues -of capacity for steady work, of devotion to hearth and home, in respect -for settled government, stable laws, and ancestral institutions. - -This favourable brain shape is, in Europe, often correlated with the -blonde type, light hair, and grey or blue eyes; but whether this is -anything more than a local peculiarity remains in doubt. - -Ammon has pointed out, however, that these traits, where they have been -united in history, have marked a daring, energetic, progressive stock, -one fertile in bold explorers, conquerors, and thinkers. Such was the -type of the ancient Aryans, who became the ruling race wherever they -carried their victorious standard, “not through numbers, longevity, or -fertility, but through the consequences of ‘natural selection.’” -Professor Lapouge has further shown that in southern France, where the -local aristocracy rose from the same stock as the peasantry by superior -personal ability, a notable difference is observable between the -skull-shapes of the two classes, the crania of the “gentlemen” being -considerably longer in proportion to width than those of the peasantry. - -They are well suited for village life and agricultural occupations; but, -subjected to the stress and strain of great cities, they die out in the -third generation.[3] - -Footnote 3: - - These deductions were based on many thousand observations in France, - Switzerland, and Germany, and are undoubtedly true for the places and - periods in which they were conducted; but it has not been shown that - they are generally applicable in other areas. Some observers (Livi, - Lombroso) have not accepted them for Italy. The opposition they have - met in France from Fouillée and others is merely sentimental. - -When it is remembered that whole nations, stocks, races, are -characterised by the prevalence of one or other of these skull-forms, it -is at once seen that a physical basis is here presented for ethnic -psychology worthy of attentive study. These authors have, in fact, -applied their conclusions in this direction; but, concerning themselves -chiefly with the mixed populations of European states, have been -principally occupied with the “social selections” which may be attained -in such communities from this cause. - -While the skull-form thus becomes distinctive of brains possessing or -lacking certain faculties, it must not be supposed that this relation is -an essential one. The brain will perform its work without reference to -the shape of the skull. This is proved by the many tribes who have -artificially deformed the head in obedience to fashion or superstition. -In America it is noteworthy that the crania thus malformed to the utmost -degree are precisely those of the nations of the highest -civilisation—the Mayas of Central America and the Quechuas of Peru. - -_The Nervous System._—Professor Haeckel, in his lectures on -“anthropogeny,” lays down the maxim, “All soul-functions or psychical -activities depend directly on the structure and composition of the -nervous system.” This is illustrated by the biological development of -the nerves of special sense,—of sight, hearing, taste, and smell. -Originally they were all indifferent touch-nerves, and by slow degrees -in indefinite time developed their specific reactions. - -They are yet by no means the same in all persons, as everyone knows. -They also differ widely in groups, nations, and races. The study of the -“reaction-times” of the principal races has occupied Cattell, Bache, and -other psychologists. The sense of taste is notably different. An Eskimo -finds pleasure in castor oil and a Kamchatkan in eating rotten fish. The -Annamite is almost insensible to pain from wounds, but suffers intensely -from moderate cold and is acutely affected by odours. The Fuegian can -sleep naked on the snow with comfort, but is easily disturbed by noises. - -The intellectual differences between both individuals and races arise -not so much from relative mental capacity as from varying reaction to -mental stimuli. They all have pretty much the same power to pursue -knowledge, if they choose to exert it. The difference is one involving -the general nerve-tracts. Perception and attention were the forces which -in the history of organisms developed all the special senses from nerves -of touch; and the growth of the intellect is consequently closely -conditioned by the qualities of nerve-sensations. - -_The Osseous System._—To be asked to define the ethnic life of a group -from the bones exhumed in its cemeteries would seem a hopeless task. Yet -it is possible, for on the osseous system the whole bodily structure is -built up, and the activity of the brain is conditioned. - -Races differ in their skeletons. That of the African black is heavy, the -flat bones thick, the pelvis narrow, and presents many peculiarities -which are termed “pithecoid” or ape-like. Contrasting with these are -small-boned, delicately formed skeletons of the Indonesians and -Japanese, resembling those of the female in other stocks. It would not -be difficult to bring the ethnic into relation to these skeletal traits. - -Professor Hervé, of the School of Anthropology of Paris, has argued that -the presence of the “Wormian bones” and the complexity of the cranial -sutures are a measure of the rapidity of brain-development, and -consequently a criterion of mental activity in a stock. This can -scarcely be accepted, for we are not sure that the rapidity of -bone-formation bears any ratio to the growth of the brain-cells; but it -is not rash to argue that a people whose bones are largely diseased must -have lived in unhygienic conditions, and had become degenerate in mind -as well as body. - -Such is the case with the skeletons of that wholly unknown tribe who -once densely peopled the Salt River valley in Arizona, and of those who -dwelt near the great cemetery of Ancon in Peru. About one-third of the -skeletons present pathological features indicating long-continued -defective nutrition or widespread disease. No wonder that both stocks -perished off the earth. Though at one time singularly advanced, they had -sunk into complete degeneracy. - -_Muscular System; Height and Weight._—There is a relation between -height, weight, and mental power, true for the individual and the group. -This is not mysterious, as all three depend upon nutrition. -Physiologists lay down ratios of height, weight, and age which are -requisite to the highest health, mental and physical. - -We may go further, and say that any marked aberration from the average -of the species in these respects is accompanied by some equally -noticeable psychical peculiarity. Dwarfs have often acute minds, but -rarely deep affections. - -Inferior stature is often an ethnic trait. The central African pygmies, -the Lapps, and the Bushmen are familiar examples. Mr. Haliburton has -recorded others in the Atlas and Pyrenean mountains; and Dr. Collignon -reports the diminution in height in some districts of central France. - -The explanation of all is the same—lack of proper, regular, and -sufficient alimentation. They are, as the Germans say, _Kümmerformen_, -products of wretchedness. The shortest of the Bushmen are also the most -miserable—those living amid the barren sands of the Kalihari desert. - -The reaction of such prolonged semi-starvation on the functions of the -brain-cells leads to psychical dwarfishness. None of these undersized -stocks have gained a position in history or contributed to the culture -of humanity. They have been unequal in physical strife, and have been -forced to the wall. - -_Reproduction._—The reproductive function in its various manifestations -exerts an enormous influence on the individual mind, and exhibits broad -racial and ethnic distinctions. Its power is scarcely less operative in -the fate of nations than of persons, and its reflection in the mind of -groups deserves closest attention. - -The period of puberty changes widely the direction of the thoughts, and -the character frequently undergoes a complete transformation. Children -previously studious lose interest in their lessons, while others pursue -them with greatly increased devotion. The sexual emotions, which mark -the epoch, may absorb the whole being or merely stimulate it to higher -efforts. - -The age at which puberty begins varies, following the general law that -the higher the annual temperature the earlier in life does the change -set in. This becomes of psychical interest when it is added that the -earlier the change the more intense and permeating are the erotic -passions; the more do they compel to their sway the other emotions and -the intellect. - -Only two motives, observes Professor Friedrich Müller, can induce the -Australian or the typical African to prolonged labour,—hunger and the -sex passion. Civilised communities are measurably lifted above the -immediate struggle for food, but not in the least above the other -impulse. If you could learn the prime motive, says Dr. Van Buren, of the -presence of the crowds of men on Broadway, you would find ninety per -cent. of them are there through sex feeling. - -The sentiments of love, of marital and parental affection, of family -life, control mankind more completely than any other motives. These are -physical, personal feelings, and to that extent narrow and in conflict -with many which are broader and more altruistic. Few persons can advance -beyond them, and the collective mind is obliged by the laws of its own -existence to register them as of the very first importance. - -The power of a group is, other things being equal, in proportion to the -size of the group, and its increase in numbers is in geometrical -proportion to its fecundity, provided the food-supply remains -sufficient. - -These are two closely related and essential factors to advance, and have -been so felt from man’s earliest infancy. The complicated systems of -marriage and relationship in vogue among the Australian and other rude -tribes arose from the effort to adjust the birth-rate to the available -amount of food. Many of the forms of marriage arose from the same -consideration. In polygamous countries most men are monogamous because -they cannot keep large families. Legal infanticide, exposure of the -new-born, as in China, is another effort in the same direction. Where -such measures are not legalised they reappear in other guises. -Artificial abortion and intentional limitation of families are frequent -in France and the United States. They are outcrops of a sentiment of -self-protection which has been familiar to the species from its -beginning. - -Sex feeling belongs distinctly to the animal and emotional side of human -nature. Where it is the dominating motive, neither individual nor group -can attain the highest development. This is noticeably the case in the -African. Coloured children in our public schools are equal to their -white associates up to the age of puberty. But that change is more -profound in the African than in the European constitution. After it has -occurred, the difference in favour of the white children becomes very -apparent. Their mental world is not so invaded by thoughts of sex, and -they are more inclined to study. - -In a less degree, as I have before remarked, the same contrast exists -between the Teutonic and Latin peoples of Europe, and has been -acknowledged to have resulted in decided advantages for the former. - -Virility—that is, the reproductive potency in the male—bears no relation -to the strength of the erotic passion. - -In some the passion of sexual love is little more than an appetite. -Satisfied, it is indefinitely quiescent, not entering into the general -life; or, if it at times fires the emotions, they are easily restrained -or banished by the exercise of other mental powers. This has been the -case with many eminent men of notoriously ardent temperaments but never -subdued by them (Byron, Goethe). - -It is also an ethnic trait, a characteristic of the Teutonic blood, in -sharp contrast to the so-called Latin peoples. With the latter, as is -obvious from the literature, the erotic feeling is an enduring and -overmastering passion, colouring the intelligence and often absorbing -into itself the activities of the life. - -As virility in man, so fecundity in woman has no relation to sex -feeling; or, if any, in a reverse degree. - -The famous calculations of Malthus, which cannot be disproved, and which -have been confirmed by the latest statistics, show that this fear of -population transcending the food-supply is real and ever present. Where -it is not immediate, as in modern life, it is nevertheless near and -visible in the division of the parental property among a large family of -children; in the increased difficulties of properly educating such a -family and giving each a proper position and start in life; and in -providing for such as are feeble or incompetent. This effort, extended -throughout a community, means more intense competition, a more bitter -struggle for property, a more constant occupation with sordid details, -to the neglect of reflection, study, and abstract thought. - -Reproduction, therefore, to its utmost limits, would be of no advantage -to a community, but decidedly deleterious. Its effect on the collective -mind would be lowering, as it would centre the general attention on -material aims and personal interests. - -Nor is the individual who would direct his activities by the highest -motives at all compelled to increase his kind. The accessory demands -upon his time and powers which such an action usually entails, would -probably hinder him in his efforts. Darwin forcibly stated this in his -_Descent of Man_. He imagines a man who, not compelled by any deep -feeling, yet sacrifices his life for the good of others through the love -of glory. “His example would excite the same wish for glory in other men -and would strengthen by exercise the noble feeling of admiration. He -might thus do far more good to his tribe than by begetting offspring -with a tendency to inherit his own high character.” - -If this is true of one governed by a motive confessedly not the highest, -how much more true of him or her whose soul is fired with a devotion to -the truth of science or to the welfare of the race! - -_Feminism._—The physical contrast of the sexes belongs to all mammals, -to birds, and to most of the animal kingdom. The female is generally -smaller, lighter, with lines more graceful and delicate. This is true, -as a rule, in all races of men and held good for the earliest tribes -whose skeletons have been preserved. Yet the contrast in man is so far -from positive that the anatomist knows no criteria to establish the sex -from the bones except the more obtuse angle of the rami of the pubes in -the female; and even this is obliterated in some branches of the human -race, the Indo-Chinese, for example, where the rami meet in both sexes -at about the same angle (Hervé). - -The tendency to “feminism” is not unusual in the white race as an -individual peculiarity; and is especially prominent as a racial trait in -the Asiatic or Mongolian branch of our species. They have sparse beards, -little hair on the body but much and strong on the head, and the -features of the sexes are similar. In many respects they display -feminine traits of character, being industrious, sedentary, and -peace-loving, receptive but not originative, ruled by emotion, and -easily brought under the influence of nervous impressions. - -Women have much less variability than men; they are precocious, and -their growth more rapid, but the arrest of development arrives with them -sooner. They remain near the child type throughout their lives. - -Mr. Havelock Ellis has argued that for this reason they are nearer the -future type of the species, and that the results of modern civilisation -are to render men more feminine in occupations, character, appearance, -and anatomy. - -It would be more correct to say that as civilisation advances the -distinctions between the sexes erected by conditions of lower culture -tend to disappear, each sex gaining much from the other without -forfeiting that which is peculiarly its own. - -The masculine woman and the feminine man are erratic, often degenerate -types. The tendency to “homosexuality” (or to “non-sexuality”) has -appeared from time to time as an ethnic trait. It was notorious in -ancient Greece and mediæval Italy, and in both cases presaged -deterioration. - -_The Vital Powers._—Health is one trait; tenacity of life another. -Feeble and sickly people sometimes reveal a surprising vitality; others, -who are hale and athletic, succumb to slight attacks. The American -Indian, when he falls ill, gives up and dies; while Europeans, though -increasingly requiring medical attention, are growing in longevity. - -This physical fact has a noticeable bearing on ethnic psychology. Where -the old survive, the property and the management of society usually rest -in their hands. The traits of age are reflected on the collective mind. -It is cautious, perhaps to timidity, slow in action, avoiding strife. -These are the traits of Chinese diplomacy, in which country not only is -longevity considerable, but the respect for the old passes into -veneration. - -As a rule, the lower forms of culture are associated with the shortest -lives. The Australian is a Nestor who reaches fifty years. Early -maturity and early decay mark inferior and degenerate stages of society. -Hence they are guided by inexperienced minds and by the emotional -characters of youth. - -_Temperament._—The ancient physicians had much to say about -“temperaments,” classifying them usually as four, the sanguine, bilious, -nervous, and phlegmatic. Both modern medicine and psychology have -rejected these as a basis of classification, but acknowledge that there -lies an important truth in the ancient doctrine. - -Professor Wundt, for example, defines temperament from the psychological -standpoint as “an individual tendency to the rise of a certain mental -state,” and Manouvrier, recognising the intimate relationship of mind -and body, explains it as “an ensemble of physical and mental traits -arising from fundamental constitutional differences” in individuals. - -Confining myself to the psychological aspect of temperament, I should -call it the personal mode of reaction to different classes of stimuli. -It is the general disposition of the mind, the individual way of looking -at things, _l’humeur habituelle_, and is independent of sentiments, -ideas, or knowledge. It is the psychic resultant of the whole organic -life of the individuals. In this sense, the distinctions of temperaments -are justified, as they depend on the dominance of one or the other of -the physiological systems—circulatory, alimentary, nervous, genital, -etc.—in the economy. - -Various writers (Manouvrier, Ribot, Kant) have adopted as the measure of -temperaments and the principle of their classification, the one standard -of _energy_; in other words, molecular change. They speak of sthenic and -hypersthenic temperaments, active and passive, etc. - -I doubt if this is correct in physiology, and it is certainly not so in -psychology. Men of all temperaments may be equally energetic, equally -active in life-work. That is an old observation. The measure or standard -should be, not energy, but that general mental condition called -_happiness_. That is the popular distinction, and it is the true one. -When we speak of a sanguine, bilious, cheerful, gloomy, temperament, we -refer to a general and characteristic mental attitude, with reference to -individual happiness. - -Rabelais could joke on his death-bed, but Byron, young, rich, and -courted, could find no theme for song but sorrow. - -The phlegmatic temperament is supposed not to enjoy keenly, but also not -to suffer keenly. The sanguine temperament is not easily cast down by -adversity, while the bilious or melancholic person is little capable of -appreciating the joyous side of life. - -These ancient terms may not be acceptable to modern science; but the -truths on which they are based are acknowledged by all authorities. - -They interest us here, because a group has its temperament as much as an -individual, drawn, no doubt, from that prevailing among its members, but -noticeably strengthened by the inherent forces of ethnic psychics. - -The recognition of this is seen in common parlance when we speak of the -phlegmatic Dutchman, the gay Frenchman, etc. - -Such popular characterisations may not be accurate, but they serve to -show that the fact of a national temperament has unconsciously made -itself felt. - -It does not seem dependent either on nutrition, geographic position, or -history; and it is hereditary and constant. Thus the Eskimos, living -amid eternal snows, with a limited diet and a desperately hard struggle -for existence, have a singularly cheerful disposition, loving to talk, -laugh, and indulge in pleasant social intercourse. On the other hand, -the Cakchiquels of Guatemala, living amid the most beautiful and fertile -tracts in the world, are chronically morose and gloomy. Their -temperament is reflected in their language, which, as the late Dr. -Berendt remarked, is as singularly rich in terms for sad emotions as it -is poor for those of a joyous character. - -There is no doubt that a cheerful mental disposition is in itself a -defence against the attacks of disease. Seeland, in his anthropologic -studies of the question, found that persons of a cheerful temperament -are, in an extended series, physically stronger than those who are -melancholic, in the proportion of 148:135; though whether this should be -regarded as cause or consequence is open to construction; and, while -fully recognising the actuality of national temperaments, he adds that -an analysis of them, with a view to defining their causes, is still far -from practicable. The important conclusion which he reaches, however, is -that the happier temperament corresponds to the higher degree of health, -and that, in comparison, that which tends to the melancholic is morbid, -a pathologic product, an indication of degeneration. - -Regarded as a national question, we derive from this that the calm and -the cheerful temperaments are those which promise most success and -permanence. - - - - - CHAPTER II - _ETHNIC MENTAL DIVERSITY FROM COGNATIC CAUSES_ - - -In the last chapter I have considered the individual in his relation to -the group simply as an isolated unit, with his own powers and -weaknesses. - -Both of these, however, he derives largely from his ancestors, through -the fact that he is born a member of a particular species, race, and -family. Such traits react powerfully on his mental life, and, indeed, in -themselves force him into relation with a human group, his cognatic or -kindred associates. - -The ethnic psychologist must therefore devote to them insistent -attention. For convenience of study the facts may be grouped under three -headings, Heredity, Hybridity, and Racial Pathology. - -_Heredity._—In body and mind, the child resembles his parents, the -individual his ancestors. This is the principle of fixity of type, the -permanence of species. - -Neither in body or mind is the child ever exactly like his parents or -either one of them. Differences are always visible. This is the -principle of constant variation, at the basis of the unending -transformations of organic forms. - -On these two principles rests the law of Evolution, which may be -progressive or regressive, that is, toward greater complexity and -specialisation or toward simplicity and homogeneity. Of these two -principles, one is real, the other merely apparent,—the negative or -minus quantity of the other, as cold is to heat or darkness to light. -Which is the real? - -The question is not idle, for upon its correct decision depends the -accuracy of our views of organic life. - -So long as the doctrine of the immutability of species was accepted, -everyone believed in the fixity of type as the prime law. When Lamarck -and Darwin had undermined that position, and up to a very recent date, -the two principles were considered somehow equal, dual conflicting -forces, the fixity of type being a passive result of the action of the -“environment.” - -The unphilosophical character of such a conception of facts has now -become apparent, at least to a few. The true positive of the two forces -is change, variation. This is the one, fundamental, essential -characteristic of living matter. Every element of an organism that is -not ceaselessly changing ceases to be living, vital. - -“Hereditary,” therefore, is a merely negative expression. It means a -diminution, not a cessation of change. Inherited traits are those in -which the rate of variability has been so reduced that they reappear by -repetition in several or many generations. Every one of them began in -some single individual, was due to a definite exciting cause, and was -transmitted by the route of reproduction. Hence inherited traits have -been properly termed “secondary variations.” - -The long discussion whether acquired characters can be inherited has -virtually been decided in favour of the opinion that every character, -whether racial or specific, was originally acquired by a single person -or persons and transmitted by them. The data of pathology admit of no -doubt on this point, and pathology is but one of the aspects of general -organic development. - -That not every acquired character can be transmitted goes without -saying; and it is equally true that hereditary traits vary widely in -their capacity for survival. So evident is this that they have been -classified by observers into “strong” and “weak” traits, the latter -betraying a feebleness of self-perpetuation compared to the former. - -I have been discoursing of physical heredity and some of its observed -laws. This has not been beside the mark; for I repeat that the -correlation between body and mind is absolute. Psychical traits are -passed down from generation to generation hand in hand with physical -peculiarities. Men are what they are in good measure because they are -born so. About this the students of heredity are unanimous and positive. -Hence the necessity in ethnic psychology of learning the laws of -physical heredity and applying them to the history of the mind. - -An example will illustrate this. - -There is a curious manifestation of transmission called “homochronous” -heredity. The adjective signifies that a trait which appears first at a -certain age in the parent will also appear first at about the same age -in the offspring. A familiar physiological example is the date of the -beginning and the end of the reproductive period in women. Inherited -tendencies to disease will recur in the offspring at the age they -revealed themselves in the parent. This is strikingly true of mental -traits, especially those which are degenerative. - -Even in the mixed populations of modern states, the connection of mental -with physical heredity is manifest. Commenting on the population of -France, Dr. Collignon observes: “To the difference of races, a purely -anatomical fact attested by the form of the skull, the colour of the -eyes and hair, and similar bodily traits, there corresponds a cerebral -difference, which shows itself in the prevailing direction of the -thoughts, and in special aptitudes.” These contrasts are shown by the -statistics of Jacoby, who examined the birth and lineage of the most -eminent men of France in all departments of activity. He found that the -Normans were decidedly ahead in the exact sciences and practical -affairs, while in poetry, romance, and works of imagination in general -the people of the Midi were far superior to them. - -Heredity is believed to present itself in another aspect, which has -excited much attention. I refer to that form of it called “atavism” or -“ancestral reversion,” or “retrogression,” in which a child “takes -after,” not his immediate parents, but some remote ancestor; even, as -has been often claimed, so remote as beyond the limits of our own -species. Such traits have been called “pithecoid” (ape-like) reversions, -as they are alleged to be derived from some four-footed precursor of -man, an ape, or even a lemur. - -Evolutionists whose enthusiasm transcended their discretion have pointed -out many such features in the human skeleton. A few years ago (1894) I -gathered these together, and in a paper read before the American -Association for the Advancement of Science, I undertook to prove that -these features can be satisfactorily explained by mechanical and -functional processes acting in the individual life or in that of his -immediate ancestors, and that we have no occasion to appeal to -hypotheses of descent, which have, at least, never been proved. Other -American anatomists (Bowditch, Baker) endorsed and supported by further -evidence this position, so that physical anthropologists, in our country -at least, have said less about atavism than formerly; and the final blow -to it has been dealt quite lately by a Dutch writer, Dr. Kohlbrügge. He -has established the thesis that “all so-called atavistic anomalies are -meaningless for the race-type. They are brought about by arrests of -development or general variability. They depend on disturbances of -nutrition, leading to excess or deficiency of productive energy, -presenting a deceptive appearance of progressive or retrogressive -evolution.” - -The consideration of these questions in physical heredity is necessary -in psychology, whether individual or ethnic, not merely because the laws -of physical run parallel to those of psychical life, but as well for the -valuation of those expressions about “men recurring to their brute -ancestors” in habits or feelings, so frequent in popular literature. - -_Hybridity._—The intermixture of human races or stocks, human hybridity -as it is sometimes called, has been recognised by all anthropologists to -be a prime factor in ethnic psychology, in the psychical history of Man. - -But, strange to say, the opinions about its results could not have been -more divergent. On the one hand we have a corps of authors, Gobineau, -Nott, Broca, Hovelacque, Hervé, etc., who condemn the admixture of human -races as leading inevitably to mental and physical degeneration, -infertility, and extinction. - -In direct contradiction to them we find the not less distinguished names -of Quatrefages and Bastian, who maintain not only that such -“miscegenation” is harmless, but that it has been the main factor of -human intellectual progress! That owing chiefly to it certain tribes and -nations have by unconscious selection drawn to themselves the strong -qualities of many lines of blood, and thus won the foremost place in the -struggle for existence. This was notably the opinion of Quatrefages, who -defended the thesis, “In race-mingling the crossing is unilateral and is -directed under unconscious selection toward the superior race.” - -This is supported by many well-known examples. In our own country, the -superiority of the mulatto to the full-blood negro is proved by history -and is familiar to all observers; and Dr. Boas has shown by statistical -researches that the half-blood Indian is mentally superior to his -companion of pure lineage, while the half-blood Indian women, instead of -revealing diminished fertility, average two more children to a marriage -than their red sisters of unmixed lineage. - -But it will not do to ignore the array of facts of contrary tenor which -has been marshalled to show that in divers instances the result of -race-mixture has been disastrous. - -Many of these may easily be explained by the unfortunate social -condition of children in such unions, mostly illegitimate, or at odds -with extreme poverty and its ill surroundings. If they do inherit an -increased ability, it is, under modern conditions, more apt to be -directed against than in favour of the social order. - -After all such allowances, there remains a residue unexplained by them, -and inconsistent with the general theory of advantage in -race-intermixture. - -The solution of this problem is to be found in the operation of an -obscure but certain law of heredity which has been demonstrated by the -best modern observers. - -This reads that in the struggle for transmission between contrary -characteristics in the parents, any trait, mental or physical, may be -passed down separately, _independently of others_. - -Thus, on the physical side, the father may have red, the mother black, -hair. The children will inherit, not a blended colour, but some the red, -some the black hair. Or, let us say, one parent has marked musical -ability, the other none. Some of the children will have as much as the -gifted parent, the others be devoid of the faculty. - -It is essential, also, to remember that it is the inferior race only -which reaps the psychical advantage. Compared to the parent of the -higher race, the children are a deteriorated product. Only when -contrasted with the average of the lower race can they be expected to -take some precedence. The mixture, if general and continued through -generations, will infallibly entail a lower grade of power in the -descendant. The net balance of the two accounts will show a loss when -compared with the result of unions among the higher race alone. - -This consideration has led a recent writer, Dr. Reibmayr, to a theory of -ethnic mental development which merits close attention. - -A family, tribe, caste, or race, to preserve and increase its faculties -must sedulously avoid intermarriage with one of inferior gifts. The -value of “breeding in-and-in” is familiar to all interested in the -improvement of the lower animals. This was attained in primitive life by -the tribal law of endogamous marriages, by which a man must take his -wife within the tribe, but not of his immediate blood. - -The superiority which this developed led to the subjection of other -tribes, and this, through capture and enslavement of the women, to -intermixture of blood, with its above mentioned first consequences: -deterioration of power in the captors, and, next, elevation of the -lower, conquered tribe. - -The former was sometimes counteracted by the maintenance of purity of -blood in a portion of the community, which thus became the ruling class; -and if this did not take place, the tribe itself soon fell beneath the -sway of some neighbour which had maintained its lineage more purely. - -Thus, says Dr. Reibmayr, the history of human mental development is, in -fact, the history of human hybridity and its necessary consequences. - -Thus it appears that the reciprocal action of these two genetic -processes, the one of close and closer interbreeding, the other of wide -and wider intermixture of blood, is the prime element in modifying the -psychical faculties,—in other words, in creating and moulding the ethnic -mind. - -How weighty this consideration becomes when we reflect that throughout -historic times, that is, from the earliest dawn of civilisation, the -subspecies of man have ever been as clearly contrasted in every feature -as they are to-day! The oldest monuments of Egypt and Assyria show their -portraits as typical as if carved or painted yesterday. No boreal -fountain can wash the Ethiopian white; no kisses of tropical Phœbus -could turn Cleopatra black. - -We are constrained to adopt, therefore, the principle formulated by -Orgeas, that, so far as history knows, “the races of men have never -altered their traits except through intermarriage.” - -The physical criteria of race, such as the colour of the skin, the hair, -the shape of the skull, the odour of the glands, are well marked in the -gross. I have examined their relative values for purposes of -classification in another work, and need not repeat the details here. -But the question is pertinent: Are there psychological distinctions -separating the subspecies of man as clearly as those of his physical -economy? - -Conflicting answers have been and still are offered to this inquiry. By -some the mental powers of the races are asserted to be as sharply -contrasted as their personal appearance, and the gulf between them to be -practically impassable. - -I have already said that nothing in the minute or gross anatomy of the -brain can be offered to support this view. The contributions to the -general culture of the species have been markedly unequal; but may not -this be explained by other reasons than inherent physical inequalities? - -I have already expressed the opinion that human groups have differed -less in inherent psychical capacity than in stimuli and opportunities. -Such, also, is the belief of that profound student of human development, -Professor Bastian. He claims that convincing evidence in favour of such -a view can be drawn from the uniformity in the development of thoughts, -inventions, customs, religions, and the other elements of culture the -world over, up to a certain point at which other intercurrent influences -entered, not dependent on race distinctions. - -After a prolonged study of primitive peoples the anthropologist Waitz -reached the conclusion that there is not and never was any positive -difference in the intellectual power of races; and the historian Buckle, -reviewing the record of the species in time, announced his conviction -that “the natural faculties of man have made no progress.” - -In abundant instances the children of savage parents have been brought -up in civilised surroundings and have shown themselves equal and -occasionally superior to their comrades of the so-called higher race in -all the tastes of cultured society. It were useless, therefore, to talk -of an average natural inferiority. - -The attainment of a possible average, therefore, must be conceded. But -this must not be construed as closing the question historically or -psychically. - -It is constantly observed in education that children of equal ability -are by no means equally good scholars. They respond differently to the -stimulus of the desire of knowledge. - -Such contrasts are witnessed in races also, and, apart from whatever -other influences we may name, are hereditary characteristics, recurring -indefinitely and controlling the racial mind, its activities and its -ambitions. - -So visible are the mental differences of races that some writers have -advocated a psychological classification in anthropology. Professor -Letourneau has attempted it in one of his many treatises. - -_Pathology._—But it is not sufficient in this study of racial psychology -to recount what a race has done and left undone in the work of the -world. We must also turn a gloomier page and take into account the -pathological mental symptoms it betrays; for these may be indicative of -a disease so deep seated and so fatal that the doom of the race is -inevitable. When we see whole peoples dying out, not through external -violence, but through some internal lack of vital force or adaptability, -as in the instances of the Tasmanians, Australians, Polynesians, and -American Indians, we may be sure that either in mind or body they are -the victims of some deep-seated, fatal disease. - -Most writers, treating the subject superficially, have sought for the -cause of the decline and destruction of peoples in the decay of their -institutions, in the immorality of their lives, in their apathy to -danger, or in the loss of their ambitions. These are but symptoms of the -mental or physical malady which, “mining all within, infects unseen.” -They are the results of the incurable ailment which is hurrying them to -destruction. Dr. Orgeas is right in his contention that “the -pathological characteristics of peoples have played leading parts in the -grand dramas of history, though they have too often escaped the -observation of historians.” - -It finds its expressions in such phenomena as Ratzel enumerates as the -cause of the deaths of peoples—restlessness, indifference to life, -debauchery, infanticide, murder, cannibalism, constant war, slavery, -laziness. When these are carried to the extent of reducing the personal -and numerical vigour of a tribe or race, it indicates that its intellect -is awry, its mind is diseased. - -Thus the ineradicable restlessness of the red race, which more than any -other one trait has stood in the way of their self-culture, belongs in -the pathology of their nervous system. As Dr. Buschan points out, and as -I have elsewhere emphasised, they are especially subject to “diseases of -excitement,” contagious nervous disorders, leading to scenes of the -wildest riot and tribal loss. - -They share this pathological condition with the Malayo-Polynesian -peoples of the Pacific island-world. Among them both we find numerous -examples of that outbreak of homicidal mania called “running amuck” -(properly _amok_), where the maniac rushes into a crowd, killing whom he -can; a crowd, not of enemies, as in the “Berserkerwuth” of the Northmen, -but of friends and relatives. The abandonment of both races to -alcoholism and narcotics is an evidence of the same morbid nervous -excitability. This is an inherited racial pathological tendency and is -not to be measured by the mere prevalence of nervous diseases. These may -arise from the increased strain on the neurons when the struggle for -existence is intensified. The enfranchised blacks since they have been -obliged to support themselves present a much larger percentage of brain -and nerve disease; such maladies among the Jews of Europe are six times -more frequent than among the Aryans; and certain forms, such as -progressive paralysis, are unknown in any but the most civilised -communities. - -The immunity of races to disease, or its reverse, reacts powerfully on -their mental life, leading in the latter case to discouragement and -apathy, in the former to confidence and conquest. - -Two of the most striking examples are measles and smallpox. In the white -race, the former has become merely one of the “diseases of children,” -exciting little alarm, and, against the latter, vaccination provides an -efficient protection. Among native Polynesians and Americans the ravages -of both have been so dreadful as not merely to decimate a population but -to leave the survivors mentally prostrate and indifferent to life. To -such an extent has this mental depression sometimes progressed that some -tribes, as the Lenguas of La Plata, have decided on the self-destruction -of their race, and destroyed all their children at birth. - -The immunity of the white race to malignant measles is not due to any -special power of resistance, but to well-known laws of natural selection -in disease, and does not extend to many diseases. The Japanese are -practically immune to scarlet fever, the black race to yellow fever, -etc., and that all such exemptions react favourably on the ethnic mind -cannot be doubted. Such immunity is strictly _cognatic_, a legacy of -blood in the true physiological sense, the human cells having undergone -changes by the repeated attacks of the disease-germs resulting in -practical indifference to their assaults. - -Indirectly, the march of epidemics has often not only decided the fate -of nations but worked remarkable changes in national character. A -familiar and striking example is the result of the Black Death (bubonic -typhus) in England in the reign of Edward III. - - - - - CHAPTER III - _THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT_ - - -At the risk of needless repetition I again emphasise the fact that -Ethnic Psychology, the group-mind, is a product of social relations, a -result of aggregation, and cannot be fully explained by the processes of -the individual mind. The resemblances between them are analogies, not -homologies. They act and react, one on the other, with the force of -independent psychic entities. - -The general proposition to this effect I have laid down in the second -chapter of Part I. Now I shall go more into detail and examine just what -influences the ethnic mind brings to bear upon that of the individual to -bring it into _rapport_ with itself, to make it conform to the mass, to -expunge, in fact, all that is individual within it. - -I have also briefly but sufficiently referred to the psychologic -measures by which this is accomplished, such as imitation, opposition, -and continuity, by which the anti-social instincts are curbed, but at -the same time originality and independence are also often crushed. - -It remains to point out the exact instruments which the group-mind -employs in this process and to estimate their relative force. - -These may be classified under five headings: Language, Law, Religion, -Occupation, and Social Relations. This is in the order of the influence -which they generally exert on the individual mind, which influence is to -be understood as reciprocal, the individual working most potently on the -ethnic mind in the same order of instruments. It is true, however, that -the relative potency of each of them varies considerably with the -condition of culture. Let us briefly examine their several -characteristics. - -_Language._—Of all bonds which unite men, none other is so strong as -language. This, indeed, it is which first developed the human in man. I -have shown that the one distinguishing trait which divides man from -brute is his power of general conceptions under symbols. The word -“language” provides the symbol. To form words is the necessary first -step in reasoning; to attach to words precise meanings, perfect -connotations, is the main effort of all subsequent reasonings. Words are -the storehouse of all knowledge; they are the tools of the mind, by -which all its constructions are framed. - -Language is the involuntary product of the human intellect. The man -speaks with like spontaneity as the dog barks or the bird sings; but the -brute’s inarticulate cry expresses mere emotion, while the man’s -articulate sounds convey thought. - -Language is a proof of man’s original social nature. It is impossible to -explain it as other than the action of a group. It is due directly to -the need of others felt by each. The individual alone could never form a -speech, and hence he could never clearly think; for thought, for -clearness, needs not only creation but expression. We never fully -understand or fully believe, until another understands us and believes -with us. - -Hence, language is the most perfect example of ethnic psychical action. -It is the product of the group, to which each individual of the group -contributes his share, and which is the common property of all, -reflecting at once the traits of the group and the relations of the -individual to it. - -Nor is language a merely temporary criterion of group-character. -Conspicuously not. Nothing clings so tenaciously to us as our mother -tongue. Religions may fade and institutions decay, we may change our -clime and culture, but the tongue persists. It is passed from generation -to generation, exceeding count. No heirloom is so cherished, no -tradition so hoary. - -By the Aryan tongues of modern Europe antiquaries have restored the mode -of life of that primitive horde who spoke the ancestral speech of all -the Indo-European peoples, now stretching in an unbroken line from -Farther India to San Francisco. Unnoticed but indelible, the ethnic life -of that horde left its impressions on its speech like the footsteps on -geologic strata from which the palæontologists reconstruct the strange -forms of extinct species. - -As the individual can convey his thoughts, his personality to the group, -in the language of the group, he is confined and limited by that -language. Hence the sovereign necessity in this investigation to study -not merely the contents of a tongue, its verbal richness and resources, -but that subtler side of it, its form or morphology. Indeed, the highest -aim of linguistic science, of the _philosophy_ of language, is to -estimate the influences of the various forms of speech not merely on the -expression, but on the formation of ideas. We think in words and in -grammatical relations, and both should be logical and accurate if our -expressed results shall be so also. - -Few but specialists are aware how widely the varieties of human speech -differ in the power they exert of this formative character. Suppose that -in English we could not speak of that “divine tool,” the hand, except as -a bodily member belonging to some particular person, “my hand” or -“John’s hand”; how it would crush all means of generalisation, shut in -our minds to present and local cases! Yet this is the case in hundreds -of American and some Asiatic dialects, not only with this but many -classes of concepts. How are we to convey the simplest arithmetical -relations to tribes who have no words for integers beyond 5? What is -more hopeless, how can a member of such a tribe ever become an -arithmetician of his own effort? - -Thus an individual is a mental slave to the tongue he speaks. Virtually, -it fixes the limits of his intellectual life. His most violent efforts -cannot transcend them. Here the group, the ethnic mind exercises -tyrannical sway over him. - -So also do the contents of his tongue. I mean by this that incalculable -potency broadly called literature, spoken or written,—the oratory, -romance, poetry, philosophy, history, and science,—which is his daily -mental food all the years of his conscious life. In this maelstrom of -the opinions of others, his own individuality is generally submerged; he -loses it in the struggle, and his own talk becomes but the echo of that -of others of the group. - -_Law._—Writers who imagine that Law is a product of Culture are -singularly off the track. Nowhere are its prescriptions more definite, -its violation more abhorred, or its penalties more inflexibly enforced -than in the lowest depths of savagery. There the punishment is known and -leniency unknown. When the Australian black has broken the unwritten law -of his tribe, he has but two alternatives,—disappearance forever or -death. After accepting the latter, or when seized in his flight, he -quietly digs his own grave and, sitting in it, awaits the spears of his -tribesmen. - -So the “totemic” bond, the earliest form of permanent grouping in many -families of mankind, whether based on religious or consanguine ties, -invariably presents a compact and minute system of restrictions on -individual liberty. They are, indeed, often carried to such an extent as -to destroy all sense of personal responsibility or conscience, and to -limit independence of action to the most trivial details of life. In -them, through the recognised power of law, the group is everything, the -individual nothing. Hence, they preserve but do not progress; for I -cannot too often repeat the fundamental distinction between the -group-mind and the individual mind: that the former is active and -preservative, while the latter alone is creative and progressive. - -By the general term “Law” I mean that restraint exercised by the group -on the individual which in its last recourse is backed by physical -force. It makes no difference whether the sentiment of the group is laid -down by the High Chancellor in his ermine or by “Judge Lynch” in his -shirt-sleeves; nor whether the group is the House of Lords or a gang of -thieves, the underlying principle—that of the forcible constraint of the -individual by the community—remains the same. To borrow Blackstone’s -definition, it is the “rule of conduct” which the group chooses to -establish for its own ends. Law, therefore, is essentially a part of the -ethnic mind, not conceivable except as a group-product, and if at times, -apparently, the expression of one mouth (autocracy), yet voluntarily -accepted by the group. - -The body of concrete laws developed in a community, whether under -conditions of freedom or restraint, constitute its government. Under -either condition, the government is rightly regarded as the most -significant product of the ethnic mind as revealing, educating, and -moulding ethnic or national character. For any permanently accepted -government, though it may have been instituted by force, must be mainly -in unison with the ethnic traits. - -The law stretches its hand over all the activities of the individual, -mental or physical, fostering some and repressing others, marking the -limit to all. Personal actions, the acquisition of property, the -expression of opinions, all are by common consent of every community -absolutely subjected to the ethnic mind, the will of the group, and the -physical power of the group stands ready to compel obedience to this -will. - -Distinctly the ethnic and not the individual will; for in laws we have -frequent examples of the contrast between the two, when no individual -approves a law which all approve. There is not an American writer who -would be willing to have the expression of his thoughts gagged by -government; and not one but approves of the law of libel. - -In no relation of human life has the influence of law as a moulder of -ethnic mental unity been more observable from earliest times than in -that of Marriage. - -It is my own opinion, based on a long study of the subject, that -physical fidelity, _la fidélité du corps_, as Manon Lescaut expressed -it, of either sex to the other never was, and is not now, what is termed -a “natural” trait of human character. The native desire for sexual -variety is equally strong in both sexes and has been so from the -beginning. - -Marriage laws, it should be borne in mind, have been everywhere and in -all time framed by the males alone, and they all reveal the intention of -the framers to preserve a right of property in the female, to limit her -sexual freedom, while their own remains unrestricted. - -Collateral interests, such as the extent of the food-supply, the rules -of transmission of property, the purity of castes or classes, and the -like, have frequently entered into the bearing of marriage laws; but the -first and continued aim remains the prevention of feminine infidelity -and the retention of masculine independence. - -For this reason, the woman, even in the most advanced states to-day, is -deprived of civic rights and kept in economic dependence; she is allowed -no part in either the making or the execution of the laws, and her -position is ranked with that of minors or adults of undeveloped minds. - -Government, therefore, with few exceptions, differs from language in -this, that it is the exclusive production of the male ethnic mind, and -must be considered to express the masculine traits only. - -The form of marriage intimately affects two questions of prime -importance in ethnic psychology: that of purity or intermixture of -blood, and that of the permanence of the group. - -In an earlier chapter I have emphasised the results of close and of -mixed breeding in man as one of the controlling factors of his -advancement. It is obvious that the forms of marriage called endogamous, -where the only recognised marriages are within the clan; monogamous, -where there is but one wife; and “preferential” polygamous, where there -are several wives, but the children of one only are recognised as -legitimate, greatly favour close breeding. - -General polygamous marriages, on the other hand, lead infallibly to -intermixture of stocks and the enfeeblement of the higher in its mental -capacity. - -Not less do these laws affect the permanence of the group. This depends -directly on the amount of property it has, and its ability to keep it. - -In any form of communal marriage the property descends in common and -belongs to the clan or consanguine group. There is no stimulus to the -individual to augment it, as he gains nothing for himself. Hence, such -marriages early fell into disuse. - -General polygamous marriages are scarcely less fatal. Equal rights of -inheritance between the offspring of several mothers lead to dissipation -of the inheritance and to family feuds in the division. This is -conspicuously true of inherited dignities and power. In history no -polygamous nation has long survived the internecine feuds between the -many heirs to the throne. The Sultan is safe only when all his brothers -are murdered. - -The marriage laws powerfully influence the ethnic mind in another -direction, heavily fraught with weal or woe for its destiny; that is, in -the respect for woman as a sex, in the honour shown her, in the -sentiment of chivalry. - -This is a true ethnic sentiment, quite apart from personal affection or -romantic love. It reflects the position of woman in the group, not in -the family, and reflects the feelings of the individual mind toward -woman as a sex, as a part of the general group. - -If we regard culture as the full development of the sentiment and -emotions, as well as the intellectual faculties of a community, then I -know no one criterion which will measure its degrees more accurately -than the prevailing opinion about woman, her place and her dues. - -Where the laws make her distinctly dependent and inferior, where, in -marriage, she becomes more or less the property of her husband or the -mere instrument of his passion, it is impossible that the general sense -of the community can regard her with high esteem. This is the case in -all polygamous nations. - -The chivalry of the Middle Ages was the direct consequence of the -inflexible monogamy commanded by the Church. - -Closely related to these influences are those of celibacy and divorce as -sanctioned by law. - -By “Occupation” in ethnology is meant that aim to which the individual -devotes most of his time, thoughts, and energies. - -It does not necessarily mean to “work” or to gain a livelihood. In many -cases it is mere amusement or a routine of social customs, or, like the -beggar, sitting still and asking alms. - -Whatever aim it acknowledges, the occupation is one of the most direct -and potent agencies in the formation of character, individual and -national; in Shakespeare’s phrase, “almost the nature is subdued to what -it works in, like the dyer’s hand.” - -Some ethnographers have selected the prevailing occupations as the best -of all tests to distinguish the grades of man’s cultural advance. They -have divided his progress into a hunting, a pastoral, an agricultural, -and a commercial stage. Much may be said in favour of such a division. -At any rate, it indicates the close connection between human life in the -aggregate and individual avocation. - -It is certain that the man or the group who have to devote their whole -energies to obtain the necessities of existence must advance very slowly -or not at all in the intellectual life. This partly explains the -stationary culture of the Australian black and the native of our arid -western plains. - -But it does not follow, as some theorists would have us believe, that -leisure, the non-necessity of work, in itself favours progress. The -reverse is the case. The Polynesians, for whom nature’s harvests were -ample, were as low as, often lower than, the Australian. Nothing favours -progress but ordered industry directed toward a distant purpose. - -The manner in which occupations, therefore, modify the ethnic mind -varies with the character and aims of the occupations. The first -distinction may be drawn in the degree in which they favour social -intercourse, and thus promote the unity of the group. In this respect -agriculture holds a low place. The unprogressive character of farming -communities is notorious. The contrast of the adjectives rustic and -urbane shows it to be an observation of ancient date. The cause lies -chiefly in the isolation of the farmer, and the suspicion and jealousy -with which he usually regards his nearest neighbours. - -Another cause lies deeper and is of general value. Where there is but -one prevailing occupation, where all men’s thoughts and energies are -directed along the same lines to the same ends, there can be little -social advance. For the best results to the group the movements of -individual activities should be in intersecting, not in parallel lines. -This is the main secret of the superiority of city life, in spite of its -many drawbacks. - -The respect, or lack of it, with which a community regards occupations -is a marked trait of ethnic psychology, and reacts powerfully on the -position and destiny of the nation. - -In England, commerce, “trade,” is widely regarded as somewhat degrading. -Yet were she to lose her trade she would promptly sink to a fourth-class -power—an illustration of what I have before remarked, that a sentiment -of the group-mind may not be that of the individuals of the group. - -The vocation of arms is regarded in modern Europe with admiration, but -in China with disrespect; the results of which have proved that the -Chinese, if correct, are far ahead of their time. - -The veneration of the priestly office has coloured the thoughts and -written the fate of many a nation; and there is no lack of examples -to-day where their oracles close the ethnic mind to the admission of -verifiable knowledge and the results of science. - -The disrespect for occupations beneficial to the group is an invariable -proof of low intelligence in the ethnic mind. The result of such a -sentiment is anti-social and weakens the power of the group as a unit, -by promoting divisions and opposition among its members. - -The extreme of this is seen in the system of castes, rigidly carried -out, as in India, and resulting everywhere in national impotence and -ethnic dissociation. The former system of feudal aristocracy in Europe -was little better, and led to civil wars, the fruits of national -disunity. - -National unity, to be of the highest type, must be based on equal -respect for every man’s employment, if that employment is of advantage -to the community. - -By confining the exercise of certain highly honoured occupations to -so-called “privileged” classes, a heavy blow is dealt at the unity of -the ethnic mind. Class jealousy and party antagonism are developed, -followed by a corresponding weakening of the national force. Modern -democracy fully recognises this danger, but has been unable to remove it -under the guise of nepotism and succession in office. - -It need hardly be added that where there exists a recognised distinction -between owners and slaves, or between a “ruling” and a “subject” class, -unity of group sentiment or thought is out of the question. - -Yet, in modern life strenuous exertions are frequent to insist on a -distinction of the occupations of men and women, based, not on capacity -or opportunity, but on the fact of sex alone, the general effort being -to confine women to “menial” or mechanical occupations only. - -The philosophical ethnologist can see in this nothing but the -near-sighted effort of the strong to oppress the weak, unaware of its -sure recoil on themselves. In reducing the influence of woman, exerted -through beneficial activities, the _ethnos_ directly diminishes the -elements of its own advancement. Goethe never wrote a deeper truth than -in his famous lines: - - Das ewig weibliche, - Zieht uns hinan. - -And the ethnic psychologist has no sounder maxim than that uttered by -Steinthal: “The position of woman is the cardinal point of all social -relations.” - -The ethnic psychologist has a wide field in the study of the influence -of particular occupations on the minds of those engaged in them, and -thereafter on the mind of the group. He will have to examine the -assertion that some, though necessary, are in themselves deteriorating -to the better elements of humanity. Can the slaughter of men in war be -carried on without brutalising the sentiments? Can commerce be -successfully conducted without deception? Can the advocate do his best -for the guilty client without impairing his sentiment of truthfulness? - -Further subjects of study must be the influence of occupations on home -and family life. Many involve travel, enforced absences, or a migratory -career, weakening such ties. - -A marked tendency of modern occupations is toward increased -specialisation. A man will spend his life, it has been said, in making -the ninth part of a pin; and it has been asked, with accents of despair, -what hope for the mental growth of such a case? Yet, in fact, the lawyer -confined to his local code, or the medical specialist to the diseases of -one organ, has the horizon of his daily labour as narrowly -circumscribed. - -The truth is that the individual is in the position of the primitive -tribe. If he is forced to give all his waking hours to “getting a -living,” it matters little what his employment is. One is as bad as -another. And if by his work he wins leisure, all depends on the use of -that leisure. Spinoza gained his bread by grinding optical -glasses,—surely an uninspiring mechanical drudgery! But in odd times he -wrote his _Ethics_, than which no nobler contribution to the highest -realms of thought has ever been composed. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - _THE INFLUENCE OF THE GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT_ - - -The extent to which the geographic environment decides the character and -history of a people has been and still is a question on which competent -writers differ widely. - -On the one side we have such writers as Draper, Menschikoff, von -Ihering, Ratzel, and generally the Russian and English schools, who seek -in climate, soil, and waterways the explanation of the whole of history. -Their views may be summed up in the maxim of von Ihering, “The soil is -the Nation.” - -In contrast to them stand the pure psychologists, notably the French -school, who refuse to admit any great or lasting power of the material -surroundings on the psychical traits. These, they claim, are to be -looked for in race and in permanent anatomical differences, persisting -in all climes and spots. They would say with the philosopher Hegel: -“Tell me not of the inspiration of Ionian skies! Have they not for a -thousand years spread their beauties in vain before degenerate eyes?” - -The latter party, however, by no means insist that the environment is -indifferent. They would entirely agree with Professor Wundt, that purely -psychological laws are inadequate to explain the events of history, and -that we must constantly take into account the associated physical -conditions in order correctly to tell the story of human development. -They would not deny that in some remote and invisible past the racial -mind, like the racial anatomy, must have absorbed its permanent -characteristics from local impressions; but this once accomplished, they -would argue, both orders of characteristics became ineffaceable. - -Even the most determined of the “anthropo-geographers” will not deny -that the power over the mind which they attribute to geographical -features diminishes in proportion as culture increases, to the extent -that it is no longer coercive in civilised life. Nor can anyone who -reflects be blind to the fact that the sameness brought about by -subjection to given geographical conditions is something very different -from the unity produced by mental association. - -The decision of this debated question presents itself to me in a light -which I have not seen stated by previous writers. - -Both parties are right. We must agree with Hegel that the most lovely -and advantageous spots on earth fail to develop their inhabitants; and -yet, where such development takes place, we can always point to the -geographic conditions which have alone rendered it possible. - -In reality, the question is one only indirectly of geography. It -belongs, directly, in quite another department of research, that of -Economics, the science of the production and distribution of material -wealth. - -No matter how fertile the soil, how inviting the waterways, how smiling -the skies, man will remain amid it all the savage of the prime unless he -have within him the psychical stimulus to make use of these for the -increase of his wealth; and that stimulus comes not from without. - -Material wealth is as much a condition of mental growth as is bodily -nutrition, but is just as far as is the latter from being either a -synonym or a measure of such growth. It is a prerequisite, not a -correlate. - -The application of this principle explains the discrepant facts which -have led to the conflict of opinions in anthropo-geography. Without -geographic facilities, a nation cannot become wealthy; and without -wealth it is even more at a disadvantage than the individual. - -Poverty and riches are what most influence the fate of men and nations. - - Armuth ist die grösste Plage, - Reichthum ist das höchste Gut. - - GOETHE. - -Life itself is a question not merely of means, but of ample means. In -central England the rich have an average longevity of forty-nine years, -the poor but twenty-five years; in Berlin the rich live fifty years, and -the poor thirty-two years (Farr, Kolb). - -The higher culture, anything above the mere fight for life, can find a -place only when it is possible, through accumulated wealth, to call a -truce in that fight. The leisure so obtained may not be, generally is -not, employed to that higher end; but without it the effort remains -impossible. - -Anthropo-geography, therefore, is primarily a branch of economics, not -of ethnology. It affects the ethnic mind only indirectly, and not at all -through the action of any laws of its own. It is a vital factor in the -production of tribal or national wealth, but in no way influences the -use which the tribe or nation may make of that wealth; while this is the -only question with which the ethnologist or the historian of human -culture is primarily concerned. - -With this perfectly clear understanding on the real bearings of the -much-talked-of “geographic environment,” I shall proceed to review its -leading divisions. - -Such a conclusion will not be favoured by those writers who teach that -the surroundings exert in some manner an inspiring or a depressing -effect on the mind, and that this reflects itself in the ethnic -character. What! they will exclaim; are we to count for nothing the -sweet meads, the sparkling waters, the glory of the landscape, and the -hues of the flowers? The grandeur of the forest, the sublimity of -beetling crags, the solemn expanse of the ocean,—are these of no avail -in impressing the souls that see them with exalted aspirations and -fervently stimulating the imagination?— - -Alas! “The hand of little use has the daintier touch,” and lifelong -familiarity with the most beautiful scenes of nature reduces to zero the -stimulus which they are capable of yielding to others. - -Wordsworth held the other view and could sing: - - The thought of death sits easy on the man - Who has been born and dies among the mountains. - -But it is obvious, on reading the note in which he explains the source -of his observation, that it was their social culture, not their local -habitation, which imparted this seeming indifference to the peasantry. -Precisely the same indifference to death among their congeners in France -was noted long before by Montaigne. - -There are three chief economic factors, derived from geographic -surroundings, which decide the material welfare of a human group on any -part of the earth’s surface. They are: - -1.—The distribution of the surface land and water. - -2.—The character of the soil with reference to productiveness, in the -mineral, floral, and faunal realms. - -3.—Its salubrity for man. - -These favour or oppose the three essential desiderata for human -progress, to wit: - -1.—Intercommunication. - -2.—Abundant nutrition and materials for the arts. - -3.—Bodily health. - -_The Distribution of Land and Water._—The Iroquois Indians call the -peace-belt of wampum which is exchanged between friendly tribes a -“river,” because it unites, as does some smooth watercourse, those -living apart. This is a sweet native tribute to the influence of -navigable streams in bringing man into relation to man. Bays, fiords, -and harbours permitted man with frail early craft to keep along the -seashore for thousands of miles. Thus the Tupis migrated from the river -La Plata to beyond the mouth of the Amazon and far up that stream; -while, antedating history, the Mediterranean peoples dared the stormy -Iberian coast to visit the remote Cassiterides and the boreal isles of -Thule. - -The Delaware Indians expressed their relationship among themselves by -saying, “We drink the same water,” meaning that they all dwelt on the -Delaware River and its tributaries. Thus watersheds, through the -facility of intercourse they offered, became natural national areas, and -developed unity of thought and feeling. - -Lake-districts exerted a like influence and became not only strongholds -by their pile dwellings, but centres of tribal unity. When Cortes -reached the valley of Mexico he found the shores of the lake occupied by -three nations, independent but closely federated for offence and -defence. - -These are examples of the unifying powers of the watery elements; but in -its might as a torrential stream or as “the unplumbed, salt, estranging -sea,” it severs the families of men with a no less stringent potency. No -more striking example can be offered than that of the American race, the -so-called “Indians” of our continent. They extended over the whole area -from the austral to the boreal oceans, a race-unit, identical in -anatomical traits, but absolutely isolated from the rest of mankind, not -a trace of European, Asiatic, or Polynesian influence in their languages -or cultures. - -The land areas offer obstacles more frequently than facilities to tribal -intercommunication. Mountain chains, deserts, steppes, vast swamps, -dense forests, and tangled jungles isolated by formidable barriers the -early hordes, leaving them to battle singly with the difficulties of -existence. The Roman writers say that interpreters for seventy different -languages were needed in the Caucasus, and de Leon pretends that in the -mountains of Ecuador there were as many tongues as there were villages. -That Egyptian and Babylonian civilisation flourished contemporaneously -for five thousand years without either colouring the other is explained -by the trackless and arid desert which lay between them. - -Differences in mere _area_, a matter of square miles, materially modify -the ethnic mind. Great men are not born in small islands. The less the -area of a state, the less the variety of its life, the fewer the stimuli -to thought and emotion, the narrower the range of observation. The -ethnographer Gerland attributes the mental degeneracy of the -Polynesians, compared to their cognates, the Malays, directly to the -much smaller islands which they were obliged to inhabit. - -Mere _number_ acts in a similar manner on the _psyche_. A nation of many -millions has greater self-confidence; each citizen feels its power -strengthening his own courage, his faith is firmer in what so many -believe, and he is the readier to labour for aims which so many admire. - -The relation of the area to the number yields the _density_ of the -population, which, with its collateral condition of _distribution_, is a -ruling factor in ethnic life. - -I have placed the geographic features which favour or impede -intercommunication first on the list of those which modify the ethnic -mind; and designedly so. - -In the philosophic study of human development the social and anti-social -factors demand our first attention. A man becomes man only as one of -many. Nothing so lames progress as isolation; nothing so hastens it as -good company; and I am fain to endorse the proverb that bad company is -better than none. Rapid transportation is the key to the phenomenal -growth of the nineteenth century: transportation of weight by steam, of -thought by electricity. The Romans knew the value of good roads and made -the best which have ever been constructed; the Phœnicians and Greeks won -their pre-eminence, not by the resources of their home provinces, but by -their skill as sailors. - -_The Soil._—Next and second in deciding the history and character of a -people comes the nature of the soil, the earth, on which they live. - -Its value is to them in what it yields, either spontaneously or by -labour. The primitive man contented himself with the former; but culture -came along when toil entered. For culture ever demands an effort greater -than that immediately necessary for existence, because its aim, from -first to last, is directed to the future; and the higher the culture, -the more distant is that future. - -Even the earliest men levied tribute on all the realms of nature. The -cave-dwellers of the Gironde caught fishes and trapped beasts; they -gathered nuts and edible roots; and they sought diligently for the -stones best adapted to lance-points and scrapers. All this we know from -the remains left in their rock-shelters. They utilised the soil to the -full extent of their knowledge and wants. - -The wealth they thus amassed was scanty and transitory; but when their -successors, the neolithic peoples, appeared with domesticated animals, -an agriculture, a beginning of sedentary life and city building, and, -ere long, devised the excavation of ores wherewith to fashion weapons of -bronze, the land areas suitable for these occupations soon became the -centres of ethnic life and property. - -I need not pursue the story of the growth of these prime industries: the -cultivation of the soil, the domestication of animals, the exploitation -of mines, the transformation from a wandering to a sedentary life, from -vagabondage to the hallowed associations of a home, and the effects -which these changes wrought on the sentiments and intellects of tribes. - -What I wish particularly to point out is that what man asks from the -soil is primarily nutrition,—only nutrition, a living. It is the -“food-quest” which has been so vividly portrayed in American primitive -life by Mindeleff and so fully set forth by Mason: the tribe enslaved by -the soil; its laws, religion, customs, hopes, and fears wrapped up and -submerged in the desperate strife for food. Only where there is a -surplus, where wealth rises above want, is it possible for the group to -free itself from this bondage to the clod,—to become more than an -“adscript of the glebe.” - -The relations between man and the fauna and flora of the region he -inhabits are constant and intimate. The progress of civilisation has -been traced by Pickering and others in the distribution of plants -cultivated by man for his food, use, or pleasure. They have been rightly -named by Gerland “the levers of his elevation.” Especially the cereals -supplied him a regular, appropriate, and sufficient nutrition. Their -product was not perishable, like fruit, but could be stored against the -season of cold and want. Their cultivation led to a sedentary life, to -the clearing and tillage of the soil, to its irrigation, and to the -study of the seasons and their changes. - -The grain, once harvested, still required preparation to become an -acceptable article of food. It must be soaked or crushed and in some way -cooked. These processes stimulated inventive ingenuity, encouraged -regular labour, and required specialisation of employment. - -In the hunting and fishing stage of culture the fauna supplies the chief -articles of food. To obtain it was man’s earliest school of thought. He -had to surpass the deer in swiftness and the lion in strength, or devise -means to circumvent them. We find the early cave-men had accomplished as -much. They prepared pitfalls for the mammoth, traps for the -sabre-toothed tiger, foils for the fleet reindeer, and did not hesitate -to encounter even the formidable rhinoceros. Nets, hooks, and -fishing-gear were thought out with which to lure and ensnare the -denizens of the streams. - -But a far more rapid advance in his culture condition came about when -man bent his energies to the preservation, not to the destruction, of -the lower animals. By the process of domestication he secured not only -an abundant supply of food in their milk and flesh, but beasts of burden -and draught, facilitating rapid intercourse and enabling him to conquer -more rapidly the nature around him. - -The mental growth of many peoples has been inseparably linked to a -single animal. Thus the Tartars of the steppes have their horses, the -Todas their cows, the Tuaregs their camels, without which their social -organisations would be wholly lost. - -The absence in America of any indigenous animal suited for burden or -draught which could be domesticated was one of the fatal flaws in the -ancient culture of the continent, drawing a line beyond which progress -in many directions became impossible. - -_Salubrity._—By salubrity I mean the general tendency of a locality to -maintain the normal functions of the body. - -This depends chiefly on what is included in the term “climate,” for -soils become unhealthy only through the action of climatic conditions. -These may be classed under three headings: - -1. Temperature, which considers both the actual amount of heat and also -the rapidity or extent of its variations (the “range”). - -2. Moisture, including rain- and snow-fall and the average humidity. - -3. Variety, not merely in the two conditions above mentioned, but of -seasons, winds, clouds, electricity, etc. - -The last-mentioned has been too frequently overlooked or underrated by -medical and ethnographic geographers. In reality, it is the most potent -of the three in its results on the human body and mind. It is easy to -show that it is not the extreme of heat or cold which acts injuriously -on the system, but the continuance of the temperature. A climate with a -marked seasonal contrast between summer and winter is confessedly more -invigorating than one, no matter how delightful, which is practically -the same from year-end to year-end. - -To keep in health, to maintain the functions in their highest relative -activity, is the condition of the most effective work. Neither the -individual nor the ethnic mind can reach its best results unless the -body is in a healthful condition. Hence, those localities which are -prone to endemic diseases or to frequent epidemics can never maintain a -population intellectually equal to spots more favoured in this respect. - -The most marked and widespread of the endemic poisons is _malaria_, the -result of a paludal germ which has not yet been isolated. Heat and -moisture are requisite to its development, and immunity from it is -unknown in any race. - -Malaria is the curse of plains and lowlands, while mountainous regions -have almost the monopoly of goitre and cretinism. These endemic maladies -directly diminish the mental powers through disturbing the circulation -of the brain. They contribute largely to the inferior intellectual -status of mountaineers, already prepared by the isolation of their -lives. - -The most important ethnic question in connection with climate is that of -the possibility of a race adapting itself to climatic conditions widely -different from those to which it has been accustomed. This is the -question of Acclimatisation. - -Its bearings on ethnic psychology can be made at once evident by posing -a few practical inquiries: Can the English people flourish in India? -Will the French colonise successfully the Sudan? Have the Europeans lost -or gained in power by their migration to the United States? Can the -white or any other race ultimately become the sole residents of the -globe? - -It will be seen that on the answers to such questions depends the -destiny of races and the consequences to the species of the facilities -of transportation offered by modern inventions. The subject has -therefore received the careful study of medical geographers and -statisticians. - -I can give but a brief statement of their conclusions. They are to the -effect, first, that when the migration takes place along approximately -the same isothermal lines, the changes in the system are slight; but as -the mean annual temperature rises, the body becomes increasingly unable -to resist its deleterious action until a difference of 18° F. is -reached, at which continued existence of the more northern race becomes -impossible. - -They suffer from a chemical change in the condition of the blood-cells, -leading to anæmia in the individual and to extinction of the lineage in -the third generation. - -This is the general law of the relation to race and climate. Like most -laws, it has its exceptions, depending on special conditions. A stock -which has long been accustomed to change of climate adapts itself to any -with greater facility. This explains the singular readiness of the Jews -to settle and flourish in all zones. For a similar reason a people who -at home are accustomed to a climate of wide and sudden changes, like -that of the eastern United States, supports others with less loss of -power than the average. - -A locality may be extremely hot, but unusually free from other malefic -influences, being dry, with regular and moderate winds, and well -drained, such as certain areas between the Red Sea and the Nile, which -are also quite salubrious. - -Finally, certain individuals and certain families, owing to some -fortunate power of resistance which we cannot explain, acclimate -successfully where their companions perish. Most of the instances of -alleged successful acclimatisation of Europeans in the tropics are due -to such exceptions, the far greater number of the victims being left out -of the count. - -If these alleged successful cases, or that of the Jews or Arabs, be -closely examined, it will almost surely be discovered that another -physiological element has been active in bringing about acclimatisation, -and that is the mingling of blood with the native race. In the American -tropics the Spaniards have survived for four centuries; but how many of -the _Ladinos_ can truthfully claim an unmixed descent? In Guatemala, for -example, says a close observer, _not any_. The Jews of the Malabar coast -have actually become black, and so has also in Africa many an Arab -claiming direct descent from the Prophet himself. - -But along with this process of adaptation by amalgamation comes -unquestionably a lowering of the mental vitality of the higher race. -That is the price it has to pay for the privilege of survival under the -new conditions. But, in conformity to the principles already laid down -as accepted by all anthropologists, such a lowering must correspond to a -degeneration in the highest grades of structure, the brain-cells. - -We are forced, therefore, to reach the decision that the human species -attains its highest development only under moderate conditions of heat, -such as prevail in the temperate zones (an annual mean of 8°–12° C.); -and the more startling conclusion that the races now native to the polar -and tropical areas are distinctly _pathological_, are types of -degeneracy, having forfeited their highest physiological elements in -order to purchase immunity from the unfavourable climatic conditions to -which they are subject. We must agree with a French writer, that “man is -not cosmopolitan,” and if he insists on becoming a “citizen of the -world” he is taxed heavily in his best estate for his presumption. - -The inferences in racial psychology which follow this opinion are too -evident to require detailed mention. Natural selection has fitted the -Eskimo and the Sudanese for their respective abodes, but it has been by -the process of regressive evolution; progressive evolution in man has -confined itself to less extreme climatic areas. - -The facts of acclimatisation stand in close connection with another -doctrine in anthropology which is interesting for my theme, that of -“ethno-geographic provinces.” Alexander von Humboldt seems to have been -the first to give expression to this system of human grouping, and it -has been diligently cultivated by his disciple, Professor Bastian. - -It rests upon the application to the human species of two general -principles recognised as true in zoölogy and botany. The one is, that -every organism is directly dependent on its environment (the _milieu_), -action and reaction going on constantly between them; the other is, that -no two faunal or floral regions are of equal rank in their capacity for -the development of a given type of organism. - -The features which distinguish one ethno-geographic province from -another are chiefly, according to Bastian, meteorological, and they -permit, he claims, a much closer division of human groups than the -general continental areas which give us an African, a European, and an -American subspecies. - -It is possible that more extended researches may enable ethnographers to -map out, in this sense, the distribution of our species; but the secular -alterations in meteorologic conditions, combined with the migratory -habits of most early communities, must greatly interfere with a rigid -application of these principles in ethnography. - -The historic theory of “centres of civilisation” is allied to that of -ethno-geographic provinces. The stock examples of such are familiar. The -Babylonian plain, the valley of the Nile, in America the plateaux of -Mexico and of Tiahuanuco are constantly quoted as such. The geographic -advantages these situations offered,—a fertile soil, protection from -enemies, domesticable plants, and a moderate climate,—are offered as -reasons why an advanced culture rapidly developed in them, and from them -extended over adjacent regions. - -Without denying the advantages of such surroundings, the most recent -researches in both hemispheres tend to reduce materially their -influence. The cultures in question did not begin at one point and -radiate from it, but arose simultaneously over wide areas, in different -linguistic stocks, with slight connections; and only later, and -secondarily, was it successfully concentrated by some one tribe,—by the -agency, it is now believed, of cognatic rather than geographic aids. - -Assyriologists no longer believe that Sumerian culture originated in the -delta of the Euphrates, and Egyptologists look for the sources of the -civilisation of the Nile valley among the Libyans; while in the New -World not one, but seven stocks partook of the Aztec learning, and half -a dozen contributed to that of the Incas. The prehistoric culture of -Europe was not one of Carthaginians or Phœnicians, but was -self-developed. - - - - - INDEX - - - Acclimatisation, 194 - - Adaptability, 58 - - African, 27, 79, 89, 133, 134, 136, 138 - - Alcoholism, 99 - - American Indian, 70, 142, 153, 159, 162 - - Ammon, 87, 128 - - Annamite, 132 - - Arab, 99, 102, 196 - - Aristotle, 15 - - Arizona, 134 - - Aryan, 130, 161, 166 - - Asia Minor, 117 - - Assyria, 156 - - Asthenia, 117 - - Atavism, 151 - - Australian, 52, 105, 136, 137, 142, 159, 168, 174 - - Aztec, 71, 199 - - - Bache, 132 - - Baker, 152 - - Baldwin, 75 - - Bastian, 15, 153, 158, 197, 198 - - Berendt, 145 - - Black Death, 102, 162 - - Blackstone, 169 - - Boas, 153 - - Boole, 14 - - Bowditch, 152 - - Brachycephaly, 129 - - Brain, 126 - - Brazilian, 24, 108 - - Broca, 153 - - Browning, Mrs., 66 - - Buckle, 87, 158 - - Buschan, 160 - - Bushmen, 88, 134, 135 - - Byron, 138, 144 - - - Cakchiquel, 145 - - Capitan, 83 - - Castren, 113 - - Cattell, 132 - - Caucasus, 187 - - Centralisation, 39 - - Chauvinism, 115 - - China, 68, 79, 137, 176 - - Chippeway, 52 - - Climate, 192 - - Collignon, 87, 135, 150 - - Comparative psychology, 3 _ff._ - - Cope, 10 - - Cortes, 186 - - Cousin, xvi - - Criminality, 106 - - Crusades, 93, 109 - - Cuba, 116 - - - Darwin, 140, 148 - - Delusions, 108 - - Destructive impulse, 115 - - Divorce, 94 - - Dolichocephaly, 129 - - Dominant ideas, 110 - - Draper, 180 - - Dreams, 108 - - Dumont, 98 - - - Economics, 182 - - Education, 53 - - Ellis, 94, 141 - - Emerson, ix - - Erotomania, 114 - - Eskimo, 89, 118, 132, 145 - - Ethnic ideas, 21 - —psychology, defined, vii _ff._ - - —— a natural science, xii - - Exaltation, 113 - - Ezzelino da Romano, 115 - - - Faculties, disuse of, 68 - - Farr, 183 - - Feminism, 140 - - Féré, 87 - - Ferrero, 114 - - Folk, 33 - - Folklore, 51 - - Forethought, 61 - - Fouillée, 131 - - Fuegian, 18, 34, 127, 132 - - - Galton, 91, 92 - - Gambetta, 127 - - Gerland, 77, 187, 190 - - Gobineau, 153 - - Goethe, 55, 138, 178 - - Goitre, 101 - - Group, defined, 33, 42 - - Guaranis, 113 - - - Haeckel, 132 - - Hale, 105 - - Haliburton, 134 - - Hegel, 180, 182 - - Height, 134 - - Heredity, 147 - - Hervé, 133, 140, 153 - - Home-sickness, 117 - - Hovelacque, 153 - - Humboldt, von, A., 89, 197 - - —— W., 28 - - Hurons, 112 - - Hybridity, 152 - - Hypersthenia, 112 - - Hysteria, 112 - - - Iconoclasm, 116 - - Ideal, The, 9 - - Ideas, elementary, 20 - —ethnic, 21 - - Ideation, 4 - - Ihering, von, 180 - - Iles, 80 - - Imagination, 8 - - Imbecility, 105 - - Incas, 199 - - India, 70, 109, 176 - - Individual and Group, contrasted, 23 _ff._ - - Indo-Chinese, 140 - - Indo-European, 166 - - Indonesian, 133 - - Industry, 54 - - Infanticide, 137 - - Instinct, 6 _ff._ - - Intellectual Deficiency, 104 - —Process, 13 - - Intelligence 6 - - Inventiveness, 56 - - Ireland, 83 - - Iroquois, 185 - - - Jacoby, 151 - - Japanese, 133 - - Jesuits, 112 - - Jevons, 13 - - Jews, 102, 161, 195, 196 - - Jingoism, 115 - - Johnson, 89 - - - Kamchatkan, 108, 132 - - Kant, 143 - - Klemm, 55 - - Kohlbrügge, 152 - - Kolb, 183 - - Krafft-Ebing, 94 - - Krejči, 23 - - - Lamarck, 148 - - Land and Water, distribution of, 185 - - Language, 18, 164 - - Lapouge, 99, 111, 128, 130 - - Lapps, 118, 134 - - Law, 167 - - Laycock, 119 - - Lazarus, vii - - Lenguas, 162 - - Leon, de, 187 - - Letourneau, ix, 61, 159 - - Libyans, 199 - - Licentiousness, 94 - - Lichtenstein, 14 - - Liebig, 127 - - Livi, 131 - - Locke, 4 - - Lombroso, 131 - - Lykanthropy, 109 - - - Malaria, 100, 193 - - Malay, 12, 112, 113, 187 - - Malthus, 139 - - Mania, epidemic, 109 - - Manouvrier, 143 - - Marriage, 170 _ff._ - — abstention from, 92 - — premature and delayed, 91 - - Mason, 190 - - Mayas, 71, 92, 131 - - Melancholia, 117 - - Menschikoff, 180 - - Mental Shock, 102 - - Mexicans, 99, 186 - - Mill, 124 - - Mind, human and brute, compared, 3 _ff._ - —mechanical action of, 14 - —unity of, 3 _ff._ - —of the Group, 23 _ff._ - - —— not creative, 30 - - Mindeleff, 190 - - Modes of Progress, 72 - - Mohammedan, 111 - - Moisture, 192 - - Montaigne, 184 - - Morgan, 80 - - Mortillet, de, 77 - - Müller, 136 - - Muscular System, 134 - - - Napoleon, 44 - - Natality, diminution of, 96 - - Nation, 33 - - Nervous System, 132 - - Neurasthenia, 118 - - Nippur, 76 - - Normans, 151 - - Northmen, 161 - - Nostalgia, 117 - - Nott, 153 - - Nutrition, 190 - —imperfect, 87 - - - Occupation, 173 - - Orgeas, 157, 160 - - Osseous System, 133 - - - Pascal, 5, 83 - - Pathology, 159 - - Permanence, 39 - - Personality, 11 - - Peruvian, 52, 71, 99, 134 - - Perversion, conditions of, 107 - - Pickering, 190 - - Plato, 24, 53 - - Polynesian, 114, 159, 162, 174, 187 - - Post, 11 - - Progression, arithmetical, 78 - —geometrical, 80 - —saltatory, 80 - - Progress, rate of, 77 - - Psychic Cells, 16 - - - Quakers, 69 - - Quatrefages, de, 153 - - Quechuas, 92, 131 - - Quen, de, 112 - - Quetelet, 14, 40, 107 - - - Rabelais, 144 - - Race, 33 - - Ranke, 87 - - Ratzel, 160, 180 - - Receptiveness, 59 - - Reibmayr, 155, 156 - - Remembrance, 52 - - Reproduction, 135 - - Ribot, 143 - - Romanes, 5 - - Rousseau, 72 - - - Salubrity, 192 - - Schaffhausen, 123 - - Schmidt, 76 - - Seeland, 145 - - Self-consciousness, 10 - - Semites, 102 - - Sexual subversions, 90 - - Siam, 69 - - Siberians, 99, 113 - - Skull measurements, 128 _ff._ - - Soil, 188 - - Soul, 16 _ff._ - - Spinoza, 179 - - Steinthal, vii, 178 - - Stock, 33 - - Symonds, 115 - - Syphilis, 101 - - - Tartar, 89, 191 - - Tasmanian, 159 - - Temperament, 143 - - Temperature, 192 - - Tibet, 92 - - Tiedemann, 127 - - Todas, 192 - - Toxic agents, 98 - - Tribe, 33 - - Tuaregs, 192 - - Tupis, 185 - - - Van Brero, 12 - - Van Buren, 136 - - Variation, physiological, 46 - —progressive, 49 - —regressive, 64 - —modes and rates of, 72 - —parallel and divergent, 73 - —in circles and curves, 75 - —in waves, 77 - —pathological, 82 - - —— etiology of, 85 - - Vierkandt, 23, 56 - - Vikings, 67 - - Virchow, 83 - - Vital Powers, 142 - - - Waitz, 158 - - Weight, 134 - - Wordsworth, 184 - 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margin-bottom: .5em; } - div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; } - div.titlepage p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } - .figcenter {font-size: .9em; page-break-inside: avoid; max-height: 100%; - max-width: 100%; } - .ph1 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; - margin: .67em auto; page-break-before: always; } - .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; - page-break-before: always; } - .box {border-style: solid; border-width: medium; padding: 1em; margin: 0em auto; - max-width: 50%; } - .fixed {font-family: 'Old English Text MT', serif; font-weight:bold; } - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's The Basis of Social Relations, by Daniel G. Brinton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: The Basis of Social Relations - A Study in Ethnic Psychology - -Author: Daniel G. Brinton - -Editor: Livingston Farrand - -Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62259] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BASIS OF SOCIAL RELATIONS *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Julia Miller, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><cite class="bold">Transcriber’s Note:</cite></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='box'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>THE SCIENCE SERIES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt>1.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">The Study of Man.</cite> By <span class='sc'>A. C. Haddon</span>. Illustrated. 8º - </dd> - <dt>2.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">The Groundwork of Science.</cite> By <span class='sc'>St. George Mivart</span>. - </dd> - <dt>3.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">Rivers of North America.</cite> By <span class='sc'>Israel C. Russell</span>. - Illustrated. - </dd> - <dt>4.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">Earth Sculpture; or, The Origin of Land Forms.</cite> By <span class='sc'>James - Geikie</span>. Illustrated. - </dd> - <dt>5.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">Volcanoes; Their Structure and Significance.</cite> By <span class='sc'>T. G. - Bonney</span>. Illustrated. - </dd> - <dt>6.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">Bacteria.</cite> By <span class='sc'>George Newman</span>. Illustrated. - </dd> - <dt>7.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">A Book of Whales.</cite> By <span class='sc'>F. E. Beddard</span>. Illustrated. - </dd> - <dt>8.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">Comparative Physiology of the Brain</cite>, etc. By <span class='sc'>Jacques - Loeb</span>. Illustrated. - </dd> - <dt>9.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">The Stars.</cite> By <span class='sc'>Simon Newcomb</span>. Illustrated. - </dd> - <dt>10.</dt> - <dd><cite class="bold">The Basis of Social Relations.</cite> By <span class='sc'>Daniel G. Brinton</span>. - </dd> - </dl> - -<hr class='c003' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><em>For list of works in preparation see end of this volume.</em></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='large'><span class='fixed'><span class='under'>The Science Series</span></span></span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='small'>EDITED BY</span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='fixed'>Professor J. McKeen Cattell, M.A., Ph.D.</span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='small'>AND</span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='fixed'>F. E. Beddard, M.A., F.R.S.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='section ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c006'> - <div>THE BASIS OF SOCIAL RELATIONS</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/illus-003.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c007'>The Basis of Social Relations<br /> <span class='large'>A Study in Ethnic Psychology</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='small'>By</span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='xlarge'>Daniel G. Brinton, A.M., M.D., LL.D., Sc.D.</span></div> - <div class='c005'><span class='small'>Late Professor of American Archæology and Linguistics in the University of Pennsylvania; author of “History of Primitive Religions,” “Races and Peoples,” “The American Race,” etc.</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>Edited by</span></div> - <div>Livingston Farrand</div> - <div><span class='small'>Columbia University</span></div> - <div class='c002'>G. P. Putnam’s Sons</div> - <div>New York and London</div> - <div><span class='fixed'>The Knickerbocker Press</span></div> - <div>1902</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='sc'>Copyright, 1902</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>by</span></div> - <div>G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS</div> - <div class='c002'><span class='fixed'>The Knickerbocker Press, New York</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_iii'>iii</span> - <h2 class='c008'>EDITOR’S PREFACE</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>The manuscript of the following work was left by -Dr. Brinton at his death in 1899 in a state of -approximate completion, lacking only final revision at -his hands. The editor has contented himself, therefore, -with making such verbal corrections as were -necessary and, by slight rearrangement of certain sections -to conform to the obvious scheme of the work, -bringing the text into readiness for publication. The -verification and noting of references have not been -attempted. The author’s encyclopedic acquaintance -with the literature of his subject as well as his general -method of quotation has made this impracticable.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Dr. Brinton’s contributions to anthropology are too -well known to call for especial comment, his writings, -particularly in the fields of American archæology and -linguistics, being so numerous and valuable as to give -him a world-wide reputation. His interest, however, -was general as well as special, and the development -of anthropology owes much to his insight and ready -pen. Among the doctrines for which he stood at all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_iv'>iv</span>times an active champion was the psychological unity -of man, a principle which is now widely accepted and -forms the working basis for most of our modern -ethnology. Tacitly assumed, as it is and has been, -for the most part since the writings of Waitz, the -need of a succinct statement of the doctrine has long -been felt, and this is now given, possibly in somewhat -extreme form, in the present work.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Apart from its intrinsic interest the book will be -welcomed as the last word of the distinguished author -whose lamented death has deprived the science of -anthropology of one of its ablest representatives.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>L. F.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_v'>v</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> - <tr> - <th class='c011'></th> - <th class='c012'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Introduction</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_vii'>vii</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>PART I</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>CHAPTER I</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Unity of the Human Mind</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_3'>3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>CHAPTER II</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Individual and the Group. The Ethnic Mind</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_23'>23</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>CHAPTER III</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Physiological Variation in the Ethnic Mind. Progressive and Regressive Variation. Modes and Rates of Ethnic Variation</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_46'>46</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>CHAPTER IV</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Pathological Variation in the Ethnic Mind</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_82'>82</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>PART II</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Introduction</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_123'>123</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>CHAPTER I</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Influence of the Somatic Environment</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_126'>126</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_vi'>vi</span>CHAPTER II</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Ethnic Mental Diversity from Cognatic Causes. Heredity; Hybridity; Racial Pathology</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_147'>147</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>CHAPTER III</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Influence of the Social Environment</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_163'>163</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>CHAPTER IV</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>The Influence of the Geographic Environment</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_180'>180</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='sc'>Index</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_201'>201</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span> - <h2 class='c008'>INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>It is strange that not in any language has there been -published a systematic treatise on Ethnic Psychology; -strange, because the theme is in nowise a new -one but has been the subject of many papers and discussions -for a generation; indeed, had a journal dedicated -to its service for a score of years; strange, also, -because its students claim that it is the key to ethnology, -the sure interpreter of history, and the only -solid basis for constructive sociology.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Why this apparent failure to establish for itself a -position in the temple of the Science of Man? This -inquiry must be answered on the threshold of a treatise -which undertakes to vindicate for this study an -independent position and a permanent value.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It has been cultivated chiefly by German writers. -The periodical to which I have referred was begun in -1860, under the editorship of Dr. M. Lazarus and -Dr. H. Steinthal, the former a psychologist, the latter -a logician and linguist. The contributors to it often -occupied high places in the learned world. Their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>articles, usually on special points in ethnography or -linguistics, were replete with thought and facts. But -they failed to convince their contemporaries that -there was any room in the hierarchy of the sciences -for this newcomer. The failure was so palpable that -after twenty years’ struggle the editors abandoned -their task. But the seed they sowed had not perished -in the soil. Under other names it struck root -and flourished, and is now asserting for itself a right -to live by virtue of its real worth to the right understanding -of human progress.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Why, then, this failure of its earlier cultivation?</p> - -<p class='c010'>To some extent, but not in full, the answer to this -may be found in a critique of the spirit and method -of the writers mentioned, offered by one of the most -eminent psychologists of our generation, Professor -W. Wundt.</p> - -<p class='c010'>With partial justice, he pointed out that these -teachers proceeded on a false route in their effort -to establish the principles of an ethnic psychology. -They approached it imbued with metaphysical ingenuities, -they indulged too much in talk of “soul,” -and they searched for “laws”; whereas, modern -psychology recognises only “psychic processes,” and -is not willing to consider that any “soul-constitution” -enters to modify of its own force the progress of the -race. Wundt also asserted that the field of ethnic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span>psychology is already mainly occupied by general -ethnology, or else by the philosophy of history. Yet -he did not deny that in a sphere strictly limited to -the subjects of language, custom, and myth such a -“discipline” might do useful work.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In his later writings, however, Wundt seems to have -modified these strictures, and in the last edition of -his excellent text-book acknowledges that there is no -antagonism between experimental and ethnic psychology, -as has been sometimes supposed; that they do -not occupy different, but parts of the same fields, -and are distinguished mainly by difference of method, -the one resting on experiment, the other on observation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The recognition of ethnic psychology by professed -psychologists is, therefore, an accomplished -fact; and this was long since anticipated by the general -literature of history and ethnography.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Who, for instance, has denied that there is such a -thing as “racial” or “national” character? Did anyone -take it into his head to denounce as meaningless -Emerson’s title, <cite>English Traits</cite>? Does not every -treatise on ethnography assume that there are certain -psychical characteristics of races, tribes, and peoples, -quite sharply dividing them from their neighbours?</p> - -<p class='c010'>Take, for instance, Letourneau’s popular work, and -we find him expressly claiming that the races and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span>subraces of mankind can be classified by the relative -development of their psychical powers; and such -a “psychological” classification is not a novelty in -anthropology.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These mental traits, characteristics, differences, between -human groups are precisely the material which -ethnic psychology takes as its material for investigations. -Its aim is to define them clearly, to explain -their origin and growth, and to set forth what influence -they assert on a people and on its neighbours.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Ethnic psychology does not hesitate to claim that -the separation of mankind into groups by psychical -differences was and is the one necessary condition of -human progress everywhere and at all times; and, -therefore, that the study of the causes of these differences, -and the influence they exerted in the direction -of evolution or regression, is the most essential of all -studies to the present and future welfare of humanity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In this sense, it is not only the guiding thread in -historical research, but it is immediately and intensely -practical, full of application to the social life and -political measures of the day.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Some have jealously feared that it offers itself as a -substitute for the philosophy of history. True that -it draws some of its material from history; but as -much from ethnography and geography. Moreover, -it is not, as history, a chronologic, but essentially a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span>natural science, depending for its results on objective, -verifiable facts, not on records and documents.</p> - -<p class='c010'>To allege that this field is already occupied is wide -of the mark. It is no more embraced in general ethnology -or in history than experimental psychology is -included in general physiology. The advancement -of science depends on the specialisation of its fields -of research, and it is high time that ethnic psychology -should take an independent position of its own.</p> - -<p class='c010'>To assist towards this I shall aim in the present -work to set forth its method and its aims as I understand -them. In both these directions I offer schemes -notably different from those of the authors I have -mentioned, believing that this science requires for -its independent development much more comprehensive -outlines than will be found in their writings.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The method, it need hardly be said, must be that -of the so-called “natural sciences”; but it must be -based, as Wundt remarks, not on experiment—that -were impossible—but on observation. This is to extend, -not, as he argued, to a few products of culture, -but to everything which makes up national or ethnic -life, be it an historic event, an object of art, a law, -custom, rite, myth, or mode of expression. The -origins of these, in the sense of their proximate or exciting -causes, are to be sought, and the conditions of -their growth and decay deduced from their histories.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span>We are dealing with facts of Life, with collective -mental function in action, and we can appeal, therefore, -to the principles of general biology to guide us. -We can, for example, since every organism bears in -its structure not only the record of its own life-history -but the vestiges of its ancestry, confidently -expect to find in the traits of nations the survivals of -their earlier and unrecorded conditions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Understood in this sense, ethnic psychology does -not deal with mathematics and physics, but with collections -of facts, feelings, thoughts, and historic -events, and seeks by comparison and analysis to discover -their causal relations. It is wholly objective, -and for that reason eminently a “natural” science. -The objective truths with which it deals are not primary -but secondary mental products, as they are not -attached to the individual but to the group. For -this reason it has an advantage over other natural -sciences in that it can with propriety search not only -into growth but into origins, for, in its purview, these -fall within the domain of known facts.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We must recognise that the psychical expressions -of life are absolutely and always correlated to the -physical functions and structure; and that, therefore, -no purely psychical causes can explain ethnic development -or degeneration. As the past of an organism -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xiii'>xiii</span>decides its future, so the future of a people is already -written in its past history.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As in ethnic psychology the material is different -from that in experimental psychology, so in the -former we must abandon the methods suitable in the -latter. The ethnic <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">psyche</span></i> is made up of a number -of experiences common to the mass, but not occurring -in any one of its individual members. These -experiences of the aggregate develop their own variations -and modes of progress, and must be studied for -themselves, without reference to the individual, holding -the processes of the single mind as analogies -only.</p> - -<p class='c010'>While fully acknowledging the inseparable correlation -between all psychical activities and the physical -structures which condition them, let us not fall -into the common and gross error of supposing that -physical is in any way a measure of psychical function. -All measurements in experimental psychology, be -they by chemistry or physics, are quantitative only, -and can be nothing else (Wundt); whereas psychical -comparisons are purely qualitative.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A single example will illustrate this infinitely important -fact:—precisely the same quantity of physico-chemical -change may be needed for the evolution -into consciousness of two ideas; but if the one is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xiv'>xiv</span>false and the other true, their psychic values are -indefinitely apart.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We perceive, therefore, that in psychology generally, -and especially in ethnic psychology, where we -deal with aggregates, we must draw a fundamental -distinction between those agents which act quantitatively -on the psychical life, that is, modify it by -measurable forces, and those which act qualitatively, -that is, by altering the contents and direction of the -<em>psyche</em> itself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The former belong properly to “natural history,” -and can be measured and estimated just to the extent -that we have instruments of precision for the -purpose; the latter wholly elude any such attempts, -and must be appraised by the results they have -historically achieved, that is, by arts, events, or -institutions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The recognition of these two factors of human -development, radically distinct yet inseparably associated, -has led me to adopt the division into two -parts of the present work. The first is the “natural,” -the second, the “cultural,” history of the -ethnic mind.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c014'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c010'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. The author had apparently decided to reverse this order of treatment -after writing the above. The “natural history of the ethnic mind” forms the -second part of the work.—<span class='sc'>Editor.</span></p> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>Note that I say <em>ethnic</em> mind. For let it be said -here, as well as repeated later, that there is no such -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xv'>xv</span>thing as progress or culture in the isolated individual, -but only in the group, in society, in the <em>ethnos</em>. -Only by taking and giving, borrowing and lending, -can life either improve or continue.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The “natural” history will embrace the consideration -of those general doctrines of continuity and -variation which hold true alike in matter and in -mind, in the soul as in the body, and a review of the -known forces which, acting through the physical -structure and function upon the organs which are the -vehicles of mental phenomena, weaken or strengthen -the psychical activities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The “cultural” history will present something of -a new departure in anthropology—a classification of -all ethnologic data as the products of a few general -concepts, universal to the human mind, but conditioned -in their expressions by the natural history -of each group. The justification of this procedure, -which is <em>not</em> a return to the ideology of an older -generation, will be presented in the introduction to -the second part.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The illustrative examples I shall frequently draw -from savage conditions of life. This is in accordance -with the custom of ethnologists, and is based on -the fact that in such conditions the motives of action -are simpler and less concealed, and we are nearer the -origins of arts and institutions.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xvi'>xvi</span>Only by such direct examples can a true psychology -be established. The time has passed when -one can seek the laws of mental development from -the “inner consciousness”; and we smile at even so -recent a philosopher as Cousin, when he tells us that, -to discover such laws, “<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">il nous suffit de rentrer dans -nous-mêmes</span></i>.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c008'>PART I<br /> <span class='large'>THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND</span></h2> -</div> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER I<br /> <span class='large'><em>THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN MIND</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>In a treatise on psychology we have to do with -the Mind; and what is Mind? So far as we -can define it, it is the sum of those activities which -distinguish living from dead matter, the organism -from the inorganic mass.</p> - -<p class='c010'>So broad a definition would include both the -vegetable and the animal worlds; and this is not an -error; but for the present purpose, which is the consideration -of the mind of man, it is enough if we -recognise that this mind of his is a development of -that of the brute; the same in most of its traits, contrasted -to it in a few. It is profitable, in truth indispensable, -to scrutinise both closely.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Identities and Differences of the Human and the -Brute Mind.</em>—There is a branch of science called -“comparative psychology.” Its province is to trace -the evolution of human mental powers to their earlier -phases in the inferior animals. So successfully has it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>been pursued that not a few of its teachers claim that -there is nothing left as the private property of man -in this connection; that he has no powers or faculties -which are peculiarly his own; that all his endowments -differ in degree only from those evinced by -some one or other of the lower species.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The brute has his fine senses, as acute as, often -acuter than, ours; no one can deny him emotions of -love and fear, hate and affection, sorrow and joy, as -poignant as ours, and often expressed in strangely -similar modes; his memory is retentive, his will -strong, his self-control remarkable; he has a lively -curiosity, a love of imitation, a sense of the beautiful, -and it is acknowledged that we cannot deny him -either imagination or reason. Mental progress is not -unknown in the brute, and it is well to remember -that it is not universal among men.</p> - -<p class='c010'>What, then, is man’s proud prerogative? What the -gift which has given him the world and all that -therein is? The answer is in one word,—<em>ideation</em>. -The last efforts of modern science can but paraphrase -the words which the philosopher Locke -penned nigh two centuries ago: “The having of general -ideas is that which puts a perfect distinction -between man and brute.” The latest American -writer on the subject merely repeats this when he -phrases it “the ability to think in general terms by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>using symbols (words) which summarise systems of -association.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Let us avoid the metaphysical snares which have -been spread around this simple statement. No matter -about such words as “concepts,” “notions,” “apperceptions,” -“abstractions,” and the like. Let us -fix in mind the formula of Romanes: “Distinctively -human faculty belongs with distinctively human ideation.” -This, the power to form general ideas,—which -are necessarily abstract,—is the one prerogative which -lifts man above brute. By it he can compare what -he learns and thus develop an intellectual life for -comparison; to borrow the metaphor of a famous student -of his kind, it is the magic wand, the diamond-hilted -sword, by which man will conquer his salvation -through learning the truth. We exclaim, with Pascal, -“It is Thought which makes Man.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Outside of this and its developments, all that man -has of soul-life is in common with the brute. Why -should he be ashamed of it? What folly to pretend, -as the common phrase goes, to “get rid of the brute -in man”! Parental love, social instincts, fidelity, -friendship, courage,—these are parts of his heritage -from his four-footed ancestor. What would he become, -dispossessed of them?</p> - -<p class='c010'>Already, in that long alienation from his brethren -which made man the one species of his genus and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>one genus of his class, has he lost certain strange -powers of mind which excite our special wonder when -we see their manifestations in his remote relations. -The chief of these is Instinct. We are all familiar -with its extraordinary exhibitions in bees, ants, and -higher animals, and its seeming total absence in ourselves. -What can we make of it?</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Instinct and Intelligence.</em>—Throughout all nature -there is an unceasing eternal conflict between the old -and the new, between motion and rest, between the -fixed and the variable, between the individual and -the universe. This cosmic contest is reflected within -the realm of animal life in the contrast between Instinct -and Intelligence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Instinct is hereditary; it belongs to the species; its -performance is unconscious, resulting from internal -impulse; its tendency is endless repetition, not improvement; -it is petrified, inherited habit. Intelligence -belongs to the individual; it is neither -inherited nor transmissible by blood; its tendency is -toward advancement, progress. It is the source of -all knowledge not purely empirical, and of all development -not of chance.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Habits which are forced upon organisms by the -environment under penalty of extinction become -hereditary modes of procedure. They are persisted -in because vitally beneficial. Comparative anatomy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>shows us that those organs and structures which are -most persistent have their functions most instinctive; -and conversely, as individual freedom of action increases, -instinct retires and intelligence takes its -place, accompanied by higher plasticity in the structures -involved in the action.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Intelligent action is personal initiative from compared -experiences. It is not merely repetition, as in -the tricks of animals, but deduction; therefore it introduces -new tendencies into life, which instinct never -does; and these tendencies are not the direct sequences -of external stimuli, as are instincts, but are psychic in -origin, proceeding from the mental conclusion reached.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No more interesting comparison between instinct -and intelligence can be found than that offered by the -social communities of the lower animals,—the bees, -ants, beavers, and the like. Their well-regulated activities -excite our surprise and admiration. Each -member of the little state has his duty and performs -it, with the result that all are thereby benefited and -the species successfully perpetuated.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But much of the admiration expended on these -societies in the lower life has been misplaced. Their -perfect organisation is due to narrower development -of mental powers. The one object at which they -aim is species-continuation, and to this all else is subordinated. -They are in no sense comparable to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>reflective purpose which is at the base of human -society, whose real, though oft unacknowledged, and -ever unsuccessful, aim is to insure to each individual -the full development of his various powers. Hence -it is that human society is and must be ever changing -with individual aspirations, and can never be -iron-bound in one form.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Imagination.</em>—There is another faculty of mind, -which, if not exclusively human, is so in all its -higher manifestations, and indeed is, in its development, -perhaps the best mental criterion we could -select to measure the evolution of races, nations, and -individuals. I refer to Imagination, Fancy, the source -of our noblest enthusiasms, of our loftiest sentiments, -of poetic rapture, and artistic inspiration. These -spiritual sentiments are wholly absent in the brute, -and are rare in inferior personalities. They arise -from the vivid presentation to the mind of real or -fancied experiences directed to some end in view. -But this is just the definition of active imagination. -It is a rehearsal of our perceptions, real, or -those analogous to reality. Though not a collation -of ideas, its processes are closely akin to those of -logical thought; and, as an eminent analyst says, -“The principle of an organic division according to -an end in view governs all processes of active -imagination.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>In this phrase we see why imagination ranks as a -criterion of mental development. Ruled chiefly by -unconscious instinct the brute has no other aims than -to feed and sleep and reproduce his kind; men of -low degree add to these, perhaps, the lust of power or -of gold or of amusement, or other such vain and -paltry ambitions; but the soul that seeks the highest -has aims beyond all fulfilment, but which by their -glory stimulate its activities to the utmost and lift it -into a life above all mundane satisfactions.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Ideal.</em>—By the plastic power of the active imagination -is formed the Ideal, the most potent of all -the stimulants of the higher culture. Based on reality -and experience, it transcends the possibilities of -both, and lifts the soul into realms whose light is not -on sea or land, and whose activities aim at results beyond -any present power of human nature to achieve. -But it is only by striving for that which is beyond reach -that the utmost effort possible can be called forth.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The ideal, some ideal, is present in every human -heart. It is the goal toward which each strives in -seeking pleasure and in avoiding pain. Through the -unity of the human mind, the same ideals, few in -number, have directed the energies of men in all -times and climes. Around them have concentrated -the labours of nations, and as one or the other became -more prominent, national character partook of its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>inspiration, and national history fell under its sway. -Constantly in the history of culture do we see such -general devotion to an ideal lead groups toward or -away from the avenue to progress and vitality.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Consciousness and Self-Consciousness.</em>—Through -ideation arises man’s consciousness of himself as an -independent personality. In its broadest sense, that -of reaction to an external stimulus, consciousness is -a property of all animals, perhaps of all organic -tissues. Contractility and motility depend upon it. -What it is, “in itself,” we have no means of knowing; -therefore it is safe to agree with Professor Cope in -his negative opinion that it “is qualitatively comparable -to nothing else.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>In simpler forms of organic life it must be merely -rudimentary; but in most animals it reaches what -has been called the “projective” stage; that is, the -animal is conscious of the existence of others, like or -unlike himself, though he is not yet conscious of himself -as a separate entity. This has been held to -explain, psychologically, the “gregarious instincts” -of many lower species.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As a result of the absence of general concepts, the -brute does not contemplate himself as a single individual -in contrast to the others of his species. He is -unable to class these under a general term or thought. -Hence <em>self</em>-consciousness belongs to man alone.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>Attempting to define this trait, we may say that it -is the perception of the unity and continuity of the -individual’s psychological activities. Just in proportion -as this perception becomes clear, positive, sharply -defined, does the individual become aware of his own -life, his real existence, its laws, and its purposes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Hence the study of this mental characteristic becomes -of the highest importance in ethnology; for it -has been well said (Post) that the growth or decay -of individual self-consciousness is an unfailing measure -of the growth or decay of States.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Physiologically, the sense of self, the Ego, is produced -by outgoing discharges from the central nervous -system which are felt. They may arise from -external forces or from the internal source which we -call Volition, or Will. In both cases the repetition of -<em>feeling</em> them yields the notion of Personality.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is instructive to note how differently races and -nations have understood and still do understand this -notion; instructive, because it has much to do with -their characters and actions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Naturally enough many have identified the <em>I</em> with -the body, or with that portion of the body least destructible, -the bones. For this reason, in Egypt, -Peru, Teneriffe, and many other localities there was -the practice of preserving the entire body by exsiccation -or mummification, the belief being that, were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>it destroyed, the personal existence of the decedent -would also perish. In other lands the bones were -carefully guarded in ossuaries or shrines, for in them -the soul was held to abide.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Not less widely received was another opinion, that -the self dwells in the name. The personal name was -therefore conferred with ceremony, and frequently -was not disclosed beyond the family. The individual -could be injured through his name, his personality -impaired by its misuse.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In higher conditions the Person is usually defined -by attributes and environment, as sex, age, calling, -property, and the like. Ask a man who he is, he -will define himself “by name and standing.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Few reach the conception of abstract Individuality, -apart from the above incidents of time and place; -so that it is easy to see that self-consciousness is still -in little more than an embryonic stage of development -in humanity. It differs notably in races and -stages of culture. Dr. Van Brero comments on the -slight sense of personality among the Malayan -islanders, and attributes to that their exemption from -certain nervous diseases. Its morbid development in -self-attention and Ego-mania is frequently noticed in -the asylums of highly civilised centres.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I shall have frequent occasion to insist that the -utmost healthful, that is, symmetrical, development -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>of the individuality is the true aim of human society. -This is directly due to the fact that self-consciousness, -the “I” in its final analysis, depends on the -unity and independence of the individual Will, which -in a given moment of action can be One only. The -cultivation of individuality is therefore the cultivation -of the will, to direct and strengthen which must be -the purpose of all education.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Intellectual Process.</em>—The chasm between the -human and the brute mind widens when we come to -look more closely at the various steps of the intellectual -process, that is, at the method of reasoning. -To be either clear or conscious, this must be carried -on by general ideas, in themselves abstractions. For -example, the so-called “syllogisms” of logic depend -upon the relation of a general to a particular idea; and -thinking can no more be conducted without this relation -than talking without grammatical rules; though -neither the formula of the syllogism nor the rules of -grammar are consciously present to the mind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The logical process is everywhere and at all times -the same, in the sage or the savage, the sane or the -insane. To reach any conclusion, the mind must -work in accordance with its method. This is purely -mechanical. An English philosopher (Jevons) invented -a “logical machine,” which worked as well as -the human brain. The logical process has been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>formulated by a mathematician (Boole) in a simple -equation of the second degree. It must consist of -subject and predicate, of general and particular. But -the process has nothing to do with the proceeds. A -mill grinds equally well wheat, tares, and poisonberries. -Not upon the fact that the pepsin digests, -but that it digests proper aliments, depends the -health of the body. So the content of the intellectual -operation, not its form, is of good or harm, and -merits the attention of ethnographer or historian.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Mechanical Action of Mind.</em>—The Germans -have a saying, framed first by their writer, Lichtenstein, -known as “the Magician of the North,” that -“<em>we</em> do not think. Thinking merely goes on within -us”; just as our stomachs digest and our glands excrete. -Another one of their authors originated the -once-celebrated apothegm, “Without phosphorus -there is no thought.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The aim of both expressions is to put pointedly the -principle that the intellectual process is of a mechanico-chemical -character, a mere bodily function, to be -classed with digestion or circulation. This opinion -has of late years been warmly espoused in the United -States.</p> - -<p class='c010'>That intellectual actions are governed by fixed laws -was long ago said and demonstrated by Quetelet in -his remarkable studies of vital statistics. That the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>development of thought proceeds “under the rule of -an iron necessity” is the ripened conviction of that -profound student of man, Bastian. We must accept -it as the verdict of science.</p> - -<p class='c010'>What, then, becomes of individuality, personality, -free-will? Must we, as the great dramatist said, “confess -ourselves the slaves of chance, the flies of every -wind that blows?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Not yet. That we are subject to our surroundings -and our history; that our forefathers, though dead, -have not relaxed their parental grasp; that time, clime, -and spot master thought and deed, is all true. But -above all is Volition, Will, a final, insoluble, personal -power, the one irrefragable proof of separate existence, -not itself translatable into Force, but the -director, initiator, of all vital forces.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The “Psychic Cells.”</em>—Mind brings man into kinship -with all organic life. Long ago Aristotle said -if one would explain the human soul, he must accomplish -it through learning the souls of all other -beings.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The physiologist explains mental phenomena as -the function of specialised cell-life. He points out -the cells, strange triangular masses in the cortex -of the brain, with long processes and spiny branches, -touching but never uniting. In the lower animals -the network is simple, the branches short; as mental -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>capacity advances, they become more complex and -longer.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These are the “psychic cells” in whose microscopic -laboratory is worked the magic of mind, transforming -waves of impact, some into sweet music, others into -colour and light and all the glory of the landscape; -changing sights and sounds into emotions of joy or -dread; transmitting them into passions or lusts; -assorting the gathered stores of comparison, and -from them building ideas base or noble, and awakening -the Will to direct the use of all.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Question of Soul.</em>—But, it will be exclaimed, -in this discussion of Mind, is nothing to be said of -a <em>Soul</em>? Has man not an immortal element which -removes him infinitely from the brute which perishes, -and which guarantees his personal existence after -death?</p> - -<p class='c010'>The answer of modern science is that between -“mind” and “soul” no distinction can be drawn; -and that this very quality of “ideation” is not a -sudden acquisition, some free gift of the gods, bestowed -full-blown and perfected, but the development -of a very slow process, traceable in its beginnings in -some beasts, faint in the lowest men, strictly conditioned -on the growth of articulate expression, far -from complete in the ripest intellects. It neither -excludes nor assumes persistence after corporeal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>death. We may use the word “soul,” therefore, -because it is rich in associations; but use it as a -synonym of “mind.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The soul is not some transcendental substance -outside of the individual, but exists by virtue of the -connection of his psychic processes with each other. -This does not lessen the reality of his personal existence, -but explains it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As for the relation which mind or soul in general -bears to the material external world, most thinkers -are of opinion now that the contrast formerly -supposed to exist is one merely of view-point; that -natural science considers all our experiences as external, -while mental science studies them as wholly -internal.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Are the Mental Faculties the Same in Man Everywhere?</em>—The -lines thus clearly drawn between the -human and the brute mind, we ask, do they hold -good for the whole human species, of all races and -degrees of culture? And has man in the past always -possessed these faculties which have been thus attributed -to him alone of all organised beings?</p> - -<p class='c010'>To these inquiries I shall address myself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is true, as I shall have many occasions to -show hereafter, that in mental endowment tribes -and races widely differ; but so do individuals of the -same race, even of the same family; and in regard -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>to many of these differences we can so accurately -put our finger on what brings it about that we have -but to alter conditions in order to alter endowments.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The Fuegian savage is one of the worst specimens -of the genus; but put him when young in an English -school, and he will grow up an intelligent member -of civilised society. However low man is, he -can be instructed, improved, redeemed; and it is -this most cheering fact which should encourage us in -incessant labour for the degraded and the despised -of humanity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is another proof, strong, convincing, of the -substantial sameness of the human mind throughout -the species. This is Language, articulate speech. -No tribe has ever been known in history or ethnography -but had a language ample for its needs. The -speechless man, <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Homo alalus</span></i>, is a fiction of a philosopher. -He never lived.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Language, however, is the guarantor of thought in -general terms. The words are the “associative symbols” -of abstract ideas. Wherever men talk, they -think in a solely human fashion.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Philologists talk of “higher” or “lower” languages. -The assertion has been made that some more than -others favor abstract expressions. Such statements -may be granted; but the fact remains that every word -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>itself is the symbol of an abstraction, and only as such -can it be rationally uttered.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We can trace language back to its pristine rudiments, -to the form that it must have had among the -hordes of the “old stone age,” cave-dwellers, naked -savages. I have made such an attempt. But the -essentials of speech as a vehicle of thought still remain; -and though doubtless there was a period when -articulate separated from inarticulate speech, that was -during the morning twilight of man’s day on earth, -when he as yet scarcely merited the name of man.</p> - -<p class='c010'>From all analogy we may be confident that the -early palæolithic men who shaped the symmetrical -axes of Acheul, scrapers, punches, and hammers; -who carefully selected and tested the flint-flakes; who -had enough of an eye for beauty to preserve fine -quartz pebbles; and who lived in social groups, in -stationary homes along watercourses,—these men unquestionably -had a spoken language, and minds competent -to deal in simple abstractions. Yet these are -the most ancient men of whom we know anything, -dwellers in central Europe before the Great Ice Age.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When we have such evidence as this for the psychical -unity of the human species, is it worth while going -into that antiquated discussion of the “monogenists” -and “polygenists” as to whether man owns one or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>several birthplaces? Surely not. We declare all nations -of the earth to be of one blood by the judgment -of a higher court than anatomy can furnish; -though it also hands down no dissenting opinion.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Elementary Ideas and their Development.</em>—These -two principles, or rather demonstrated truths,—the -unity of the mind of man, and the substantial -uniformity of its action under like conditions,—form -the broad and secure foundation for Ethnic Psychology. -They confirm the validity of its results and -guarantee its methods.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As there are conditions which are universal, such -as the structure and functions of the body, its general -relations to its surroundings, its needs and powers, -these developed everywhere at first the like psychical -activities, or mental expressions. They constitute -what Bastian has happily called the “elementary -ideas” of our species. In all races, over all continents, -they present themselves with a wonderful -sameness, which led the older students of man to the -fallacious supposition that they must have been borrowed -from some common centre.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Nor are they easily obliterated under the stress of -new experiences and changed conditions. With that -tenacity of life which characterises simple and primitive -forms, they persist through periods of divergent -and higher culture, hiding under venerable beliefs, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>emerging with fresh disguises, but easily detected as -but repetitions of the dear primordial faiths of the -race.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Ethnic Ideas and their Origin.</em>—From the -monotonous unity of the elementary ideas, the common -property of mankind in its earliest stages of -development, branched off the mental life of each -group and tribe, not discarding the old, but adding -the new under the external compulsion of environment -and experience.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Where such externals were alike or nearly so, the -progress was parallel; where unlike, it was divergent; -analogous in this to well-known doctrines of the -biologist.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such branches were constantly blending in peace -or colliding in war, leading to a perpetual interaction -of the one growth with the other, engendering a complexity -of relation to each other and to the primitive -substratum. But the ethnic character, once crystallised, -remained as ingrained as the national life or the -bodily stigmata. It compelled the members as a mass -to look at life and its aims through certain lights, to -comprehend the world under certain forms, to move -to a measure, and dance to a tune.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such is the power of the Ethnic Mind, fraught -with weal or woe for the nation over whom it rules, -tyrannical, portentous, a blind natural force, which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>may lift its helpless followers to skyey heights or -drag them into the abyss.</p> - -<p class='c010'>How it is formed and what decides its fateful -beneficent or maleficent decrees, I shall consider in -detail in the next chapters.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER II<br /> <span class='large'><em>THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP. THE ETHNIC MIND</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>The ethnic character becomes more fixed with -advancing culture, and its component parts—that -is, the individuals who compose it—more uniform. -This has not been understood by one of the latest -writers on the subject, Professor Vierkandt, who -maintains that in savage groups there is a much greater -sameness between the individuals who compose them. -Superficially, this is true on account of the limited -range of their activity; but in proportion to that -range the individuals differ more widely, because they -are so much more subjected to external influences -and emotional attacks. Dr. Krejči is more correct in -his opinion that the sum of the differences between -cultured individuals and peoples is less than that between -the uncultured. This obviously flows from -the fact that cultivated minds are governed by reason -and knowledge, whose prescriptions are everywhere -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>the same; while illiterate minds are victims of ignorance -and passion. All who learn that twice two are -four act on the knowledge of it; but the Brazilian Indian, -who has no word in his language for numerals -above two, may disregard it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Some have maintained that the promptings of the -group-mind as felt by the individual belong in the -unconscious or involuntary part of his nature, and -partake of the character of mechanical necessity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is indeed this tendency, but it is not by any -means a necessary character of the collective mind, as -an example easily shows. I may adopt a prevailing -custom or belief merely through imitation, which is a -mechanical procedure; or I may adopt it, being led -to examine it from its prevalence and to approve it -from my examination,—and this is a voluntary action.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In this we see the contrast of cultured and uncultured -group-minds. The latter demand assent merely -from their unanimity, the former wish it only from -enlightenment; the latter ask faith, the former knowledge; -the latter command obedience, the former -urge investigation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Plato has a dialogue on the problem of “The One -and the Many”; and the abstract subtleties he brings -forward are almost paralleled by the concrete facts -which we encounter in an endeavour to state the -mutual relations of the Individual and the Group.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>This science of ours, ethnic psychology, has, in -one sense, nothing to do with the individual. It -does not start from his mind or thoughts but from -the mind of the group; its laws are those of the -group only, and in nowise true of the individual; it -omits wide tracts of activities which belong to the individual -and embraces others in which he has no -share; to the extent that it does study him, it is solely -in his relation to others, and not in the least for -himself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>On the other hand, as the group is a generic concept -only, it has no objective existence. It lives only -in the individuals which compose it; and only by -studying them singly can we reach any fact or principle -which is true of them in the aggregate.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Yet it is almost as correct to maintain that the -group is that which alone of the two is real. The -closer we study the individual, the more do his alleged -individualities cease, as such, and disappear in the -general laws by virtue of which society exists; the -less baggage does he prove to have which is really -his own; the more do all his thoughts, traits, and features -turn out to be those of others; so that, at last, -he melts into the mass, and there is nothing left which -he has a right to claim as his personal property. His -pretended personal mind is the reflex of the group-minds -around him, as his body is in every fibre and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>cell the repetition of his species and race. As an -American writer strongly puts it: “Morally I am as -much a part of society as physically I am a part of -the world’s fauna.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>But let no one deduce from this that the group -is merely the sum total of the individuals which compose -it, the net balance of their thoughts and lives. -Nothing would be more erroneous. I have already -said that laws and processes belong to the group -which are foreign to the individual. We may go further, -and prove that these processes, the spirit of the -group, are quite different from those of any single -member of it. To use the expression of Wundt: -“The resultant arising from united psychological -processes includes contents which are not present in -the components.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>In numerous respects, indeed, the individual and -the group stand in opposition to each other. The -qualities of the former are incoherent, disorderly, -irregular; while those of the latter are fixed, stable, -computable.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Let us contemplate further this relation of the -individual to the group, for upon its correct apprehension -must the whole fabric of ethnic psychology, -as a science, rest.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In every healthy individual there is a feeling -that his thoughts and actions are vain unless they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>are somehow directed towards his fellow human -beings; yet there is a further feeling that these -fellow creatures are but a means for the developing -and perfecting of himself. He desires to be intimately -associated with the group, but not to be -absorbed and lost in it. His unconscious goal is -individuality, but not isolation; and he feels that the -most complete and sane individuality can be obtained -only by association with others of his kind. -For that reason, he submits his will to the collective -will, his consciousness to the collective consciousness. -He accepts from the group the ideas, conclusions, -and opinions common to it, and the motives -of volition, such as customs and rules of conduct, -which it collectively sanctions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These ideas and motives are strictly the property -of the group, not of its separate members. Such a -prevailing unity of thought and sentiment does not -rest on unanimity of opinion; it does not necessarily -exclude any amount of individuality, and is consistent -with the utmost freedom of the personal mind. -Its basis is a similarity of form and direction of the -psychical activities, guiding and modifying them in -such a way that a general colour and tendency can -be recognised.</p> - -<p class='c010'>If it is asked, on what ultimate psychical concept -the differences of collective or group-minds are based -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>in a last analysis, I am inclined to answer with -Wilhelm von Humboldt, that it is on the currently -accepted relation of the material to the immaterial -world. The solution adopted for this insoluble problem -is the hidden spring of motive in the minds -of all.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The actual existence of the group-mind can no -more be denied than the constant inter-relation between -it and the individual mind. It takes nothing -from its reality that it exists only in individual wills. -To deny it on that account, as Wundt admirably -says, is as illogical as to deny the existence of a -building because the single stones of which it is -composed may be removed. Indeed, it might claim -higher reality than the individual mind in that its -will is more potent and can attain greater results by -collective action.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Of course, there is no metaphysical “substance” -or mythological “being” behind the collective mind. -That were a nonsensical notion. Nor is it in any -sense a voluntary invention, created by contract for -utilitarian ends. That were a gross misconception. -It is the actual agreement and interaction of individuals -resulting in mental modes, tendencies, and -powers not belonging to any one member, and moving -under laws developed by the requirements of this -independent existence. It is like an orchestra which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>can produce harmonies by the blending of the -strains of numerous instruments impossible to any -one of them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The sense or self-recognition of individual life as -apart from group life varies widely. In the totemic -bonds of savage life, in the guilds of higher grades, -in the “society centres” of modern life, the individual -consciously and willingly renounces nearly the -whole of himself in favour of the circle which he -enters.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When he attempts the opposite extreme, and -prides himself on his insulation, his egotism, and -antagonism to others, he usually deceives himself. -No matter how selfishly he pursues his aims, it is -ever in obedience to the influence of the group. -From it he takes his thoughts and the language in -which to express them, his economic values are those -recognised by it, its ideals are his, he will strive in -vain to escape the iron bands of the social order -about him. Unknown to himself, he abides the -slave of others.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The group has another advantage over him which -he can in no wise diminish or avoid. He will die, -but it will live. He, with his petty strivings and -personal ambitions, will soon sink into the dateless -night, but the social order of which he was a part -will survive in other and younger generations, moving -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>forward to its destiny under compulsive forces of -which he has not even an inkling, crushing his blind -opposition under resistless wheels.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Not by antagonism to the group does the individual -gain his highest personal aims, his fullest reality -as an individual, but by devoting himself to the best -interests of the group, learning what they really are, -and furthering them by a study of the means adapted -to their growth and fruition. This is “altruism,” -the living for others, in its highest sense, the aim not -primarily the individual, but the group and its welfare.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is the more needful because the group, as a -psychical unit, is <em>never creative</em>. It is receptive, active, -executive, but for its creative inspirations it -depends upon the individual. What is called “originality,” -the stimuli and momenta of development, arise -primarily from the single mind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But it is equally true that the work of the group -must precede the work of the individual, and prepare -for it, if it is to be successful. Otherwise, the seed -will be sown on barren ground.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In every historic event the group is the only active -agent; through it the individual can bring to bear -his limited powers over an indefinitely vast area, and -with indefinitely multiplied force. History is a record -of the sentiments and actions of groups; yet so -little has this been understood, so obscured has this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>been by the potency of personality, that until recently -it has been little more than an account of individuals. -Without the aid of the group, what would have -become of the most famous heroes of the past?</p> - -<p class='c010'>I would sum up these reflections on the relations -of the individual and the group by the practical -deduction that to understand the individual we must -study him in relation to the group, and to understand -the group we must study it, primarily in the -individuals of which it is composed, in both their -physical and mental life; and secondly, in those -principles and processes which it, as an entirely -psychical product, presents peculiar to itself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The group is <em>not</em> a “natural” product in the -objective sense in which that word is employed in -the term “natural sciences.” It is a purely mental -creation, though none the less real. It must be examined -and investigated by other methods, therefore, -than those customary in the biologic sciences.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Instead of studying external phenomena for their -own sake, we must regard all such as valuable -only as they indicate psychic changes, and as they -can be translated into mental correlates. The study -is, therefore, from within, and qualitative rather -than quantitative, in this respect contrasting with -experimental psychology and also with history.</p> - -<p class='c010'>When we examine in detail the interaction of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>individual and the group we may classify the processes -which take place somewhat as follows:</p> - -<p class='c010'>The individual receives from the group the symbols -for complex and general ideas—that is, the words -of language; he is also taught many complex purposeful -motions, such as are needed in social and -cultured life; he is supplied with artificial objects -for his use, as tools, clothing, shelter, etc.; and he is -constantly subjected to a certain amount of physical -force from those around him—in other words, is -“made to do” a variety of acts. The group may -consciously strive to modify him, as in public education, -religious instruction, and the like; or it may -act merely negatively in opposing any developments -antagonistic to its own character. The individual -may work for or against the group, or for himself -only; but in either case has to reckon with the -group for what he obtains from it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>While the <em>unity</em> of the ethnic mind is fostered by -a conscious effort to promote common interests, -modes of expression, ambitions, and aims, its energy -is in direct proportion to the cultivation of the sense -of individuality among its members, for from the -latter alone are born the impulses to progress. The -fatal error of many communities has been to bend -every effort to secure the former, while they neglected -or actually endeavoured to suppress the latter.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>I have been using the word “group” in a loose -way. The time has now come to distinguish it from -various other terms familiar to ethnology, such as -tribe, folk, nation, people, stock, and race.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Group” is the best English equivalent for the -Greek <em>ethnos</em>, which word, by its derivation, means a -number of people united together by habits and -usages in common.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This at once places the group above the mere -temporary aggregations, such as the crowd or the -mob. The ethnic group is formed by the thoughts -and aims of the lives of its members, not by their -ephemeral emotions and actions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Compared with nation, stock, or race, it is a generic -term; for by “nation” we understand all united in -the acceptance of one form of government; by -“stock,” those speaking dialects or tongues derived -from one primitive language (linguistic stocks); and -by “race,” those connected by identity of physical -traits. The “tribe” is merely the primitive form of -the nation, while in English “folk” has a current -application to certain classes in society and not to -the whole of it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The correlative of the ethnic group, or, in these -pages, “the group,” in German is <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Volk</span></i> and in French, -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">le peuple</span></i>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>How these ethnic groups are formed, under what -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>complex conditions their differences arise, what influences -are the most potent in their creation and -preservation, will be considered in detail hereafter. -At present it is sufficient to mention certain general -principles, applicable to the formation of all ethnic -groups.</p> - -<p class='c010'>First, it must be borne in mind that mere similarity -and geographical contiguity are not enough to constitute -an <em>ethnos</em>. The Fuegian hordes live under -the same sky, speak closely related dialects and are -physically alike; but no one would pretend that -there is any unity among them. Their roving bands -never meet but to fight and their only social occupation -is mutual destruction. Nor would there be -any true unity in a society however peaceful where -each family isolates itself to the utmost from its -neighbours and seeks to limit all its efforts and sympathies -to its own members. Such a society might -become high in numbers and extended in area; but -it would have no true unity. It might even develop -considerable results in thoughts, study, and invention; -but they would remain sterile to the general weal, -and contribute little or nothing to the progress of -the race. Such was the condition of parts of Europe -in the feudal ages.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The ethnic life is a mental life, and this consists -not in the sameness brought about by the environment, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>nor even in ideas and acquirements, but in -movement, comparison, and association of ideas.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The unity not merely of present traits but of -future aims, not merely of ideas but of ideals, is the -true unity which constitutes the ethnic mind. This -is the foundation fact which must be constantly -present to the student, if his researches in ethnic -psychology are to be profitable.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In this it differs from racial psychology, for while -doubtless each race has mental advantages and deficiencies -which are its own and which largely decide -the destiny of its members, these are not united in -pursuit of one end. There is no unity of will and -purpose.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Each individual partakes of this racial psychology -as he does of many other mental unions, such as his -church and his political party; but that which has -pre-eminence in history and psychology is not these, -but that closer and paramount union to which he -is bound by a common speech, ideas, motives, and -hopes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We must not forget, however, that under whatever -connotation we understand the group, it is still -composed of individuals; and the relations which -these bear to it require careful consideration.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The unity of a group can never be complete. The -infinite variations of its individual members prevent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>this. And here comes in an interesting law which -has lately been defined by an American scientist. -He has shown that precisely that trait or those traits -which are the most distinguishing characteristics of -a group vary the widest in the individuals of that -group.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Let us take, for instance, a given community -remarkable for the average height of its members. -We shall find wider variations in this dimension -among them than among a community less conspicuous -in this measurement.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This appears to hold equally good for the statistics -of longevity, of health and disease, and other -physical traits. There is little doubt it is also of -general application to mental qualities. The contradictory -estimates of national character largely depend -upon it. Not the bias of the observers but -their ignorance of the operation of this law will often -explain such discrepancies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>What method should we follow to avoid such an -error? In other words, what formula can we devise -to correct individual variation and arrive at a true -average for the group?</p> - -<p class='c010'>This work has already been done for us. Diligent -students of vital statistics have as good as -demonstrated that when a given characteristic of -a group can be expressed in numbers and these -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>projected by the graphic method, the resultant curve -obtained will be one of those called by mathematicians -binomial. Subtracting from the whole number -one-tenth for aberrant forms or abnormal cases -(the distribution of error), of the remainder, one-half -will represent the mean, and one-fourth each -will represent the plus and minus extremes. For -example, suppose in a given community numbering -one thousand adults the average height is 5 feet -6 inches; in it, one hundred persons (one-tenth) will -be either abnormally tall or short; of the remainder, -450 will attain just about the total average height; -while 225 will be above and 225 below it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We can fearlessly adopt this method of reasoning -in ethnic psychology. When we speak of mental -traits or ideas common to the group, we mean that -they may be held as expressed by scarcely half of -that group; that in the remainder of the group they -may be much more positively adopted or more or -less rejected; but inasmuch as such numerous exceptions -largely annul each other’s force, the general -tendency and action of the group will be guided by -the average rather than by either extreme.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The justice of this method is further supported by -another general psychical law of groups. This is, -that they attract in the direct ratio of their mass; -the more numerous a party is, the more adherents -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>will it obtain. Hence, although in the above example -the mean, 450, is less than half of the whole -number, yet it is much greater than either of the -other three sub-groups, 100, 225, 225, and exerts therefore -double the attractive power of the latter. That -is, in a question of opinion, it will receive twice as -many adherents as either of the latter. Hence the -value of majorities as expressing the will of a -community.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The principle of psychical action on which the -above is based is one very familiar to students of -psychology. It is that termed “collective suggestion.” -This is the overmastering tendency to imitate -the examples of others, to act in accordance with the -ideas and feelings which we witness in those around -us. When such ideas and sentiments are constant, -and conspicuously displayed, they overcome resistance -and the individual mind is attracted to that -of the group with like irresistible magnetism as in -fairy lore drew the ship of the mariners to the loadstone -rocks of Avalon.</p> - -<p class='c010'>From these considerations it will be understood -that the group may be regarded mathematically as a -“constant,” the resultant of a number of “variables,” -the individuals of whom it is constituted.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Many writers of late years have spoken of the -social unit, the group or the nation, as an “organism.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>Some have further defined it as a “super-organism” -or a “physio-psychic organism.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such expressions are well enough as figures of -speech. They serve to accentuate the interdependence -of parts and the potentiality of change and -development in the ethnic mind. But the simile -becomes illusory and deceptive when it is set up as -a principle from which to deduce conclusions. The -group is no more an organism than is any other -psychical concept, that of the “genus Homo” for -example.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A vital characteristic of the ethnic group is the -degree of its <em>centralisation</em>. This is, in truth, a coefficient -of its powers. Numbers may be said to -increase thus by addition, but centralisation by multiplication. -The centralisation, however, must be -real; not simply a single point of action, but also a -convergence of forces to that point. The French -nation is popularly supposed to be centralised in -Paris; but in fact the provinces are usually ignorant -of national action there until after it has occurred. -It is through modern methods of rapid transmission -of intelligence that national groups can act with so -much greater force than in earlier days.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The <em>permanence</em> of the ethnic group has been a -matter much discussed by philosophers. Led on by -a supposed analogy to the individual, governed by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>the notion that the social unit is an “organism” and -subject to the same laws as physical organisms, supported, -as they imagined, by the teachings of history, -writers of merit have claimed that the <em>ethnos</em> has a -birth, an adolescence, a period of maturity, and old -age and death, as has the individual.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Even such an acute thinker as Quetelet was so -enamoured of this theory that he worked out the -“natural longevity” of a nation, discovering it to be -about ten times the greatest longevity of its individual -members!</p> - -<p class='c010'>The doctrines of ethnic psychology, as I understand -them, do not sanction such an opinion. The -analogy of the group to an organism is purely fictitious; -the historic causes of the decay of nations are -not the same and are not allied to those which bring -about mortality in the individual.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is no such thing as a natural death of a -Society. It may be crushed by external force, but if -it perishes from within, it has deliberately poisoned -itself, has fallen a victim to preventable disease.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is one catholicon, one elixir of life, which -will preserve any society from decay, and confer upon -it the blessing of eternal youth, if it is constantly -remembered and administered.</p> - -<p class='c010'>That catholicon is to cherish and cultivate assiduously -the one distinction which, I have pointed out, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>lifts the human group above the communities of the -ants, the bees, and the beavers; that is, that the chief -aim of the community shall ever be to give each individual -in it the best opportunity for the full development -of his faculties.</p> - -<p class='c010'>If the history of the gradual decline and fall of any -nation be investigated, it will be seen that the end -has come through the violation of this, the one peculiar -principle of <em>human</em> association. Hemmed in by -castes, classes, or institutions, the human souls have -atrophied, degenerated, grown decrepit and impotent, -incapable of resisting the natural forces around them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Though the ethnic mind does not run the same -life-course as the individual body, yet it resembles -this in its ceaseless change. It is forever altering -both its contents, its purposes, and the intensity with -which it pursues them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Psychologists have classified these activities under -three general expressions which we may call laws. -They are, first, the law of Continuity; second, the law -of Diversity of Purpose; and third, the law of Contrast.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The law of Continuity means that in the ethnic mental -life there is a regulated course of growth or development; -that each phase or condition is the logical -result of previous phases or conditions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The second law emphasises that the rate of growth -depends chiefly on the diversity of aims which exists -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>in the community. As they are multiplied, growth is -the more rapid. This is analogous to that law of -organic forms by which evolution is in proportion to -variation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The third law, that of Contrast, applies to the -ethnic mind the curious fact in mental life that a prolonged -devotion to one idea leads to a reaction in -which the opposite of that idea becomes dominant. -This is even more conspicuous in the history of progressive -nations than in that of individuals. Upon -this depends that periodicity in the lives of peoples -which has so often been remarked by historians.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The above mentioned facts and laws demonstrate -that there is a true unity of existence in the ethnic -mind; that it has its own traits, forms, and processes -of growth and decay, quite apart from those of the -individual mind; that it is not to be studied by the -methods of experimental psychology, but by methods -drawn from the observation of its own modes of -being; and that it is this abstraction, if you please, -which is the prime factor in the fate of the group -over which it rules.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But I must return again to the definition of the -Group. It must not be said that I leave any obscurity -in the connotation of that prominent word.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There may be—there always are—many forms of -groups in the same community, and these by no -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>means cover each other coterminously. Take many -an American village, for example. There are the -religious groups, Protestant and Catholic; the political -parties, Republicans and Democrats, not at all of -the same individuals as the former; and there may -be the linguistic groups, German and American, -different again from both the former; and the racial -groups, whites and negroes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Something similar to this is found on a large -scale in every people, every nation; and the serious -problem presents itself,—how are we, from these -heterogeneous elements, to reach anything which we -can properly call the common sentiment, the general -mind of the mass?</p> - -<p class='c010'>The example I have chosen of the American village -is an extreme one. In a primitive, isolated -tribe of Indians, in a remote mountain village, or a -rarely visited island, the task would be vastly easier. -But the principle in all cases is the same.</p> - -<p class='c010'>By eliminating particular after particular, as the -logicians say, we finally reach a general, a consensus -of opinion and aspiration on a variety of topics, with -which the full number required by the mathematical -method already stated will agree. These common -sentiments will represent the active influence of that -community, and very accurately measure its value in -development.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>Being an American village, we can without doubt -predict that it will be of one mind that making money -should be the chief aim of active exertion; that respect -for the law of the land should be cultivated; and that -performing recognised duties to one’s family should -be taught as indispensable.</p> - -<p class='c010'>One must not take it for granted, however, that -such like salient features are necessarily the ones -which govern and measure the powers and actions of -the group. Such an error is very common. The -chief trait of the Scot is popularly supposed to be -his stinginess; but the solid and lasting character -of that people prove that they have souls above -lucre. The English are pre-eminently mercantile, -and Napoleon called them a nation of shopkeepers, -but he discovered his mistake at Waterloo; the -apostle called the Cretans “liars and slow bellies,” -but Crete was the source of Greek law, and when -the apostle elsewhere quoted a Gentile poet’s concept -of God as his own, that poet was a Cretan.</p> - -<p class='c010'>How, then, it will be asked, are we to distinguish -the most vital from the most prominent traits of the -ethnic mind, since they are not always, even not -often, the same?</p> - -<p class='c010'>The answer to that question is the main object -of the second part of the present volume. Suffice it, -therefore, here to say that all ethnic traits must be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>weighed and measured by the contributions they -make to the cultural history of mankind, to the realisation -in daily life of those ideas which are the formative -elements in civilisation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Reverting once more to the definition of the group -as portrayed in the ethnic mind, its traits are further -brought into relief by the comparison of group with -group.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The individuals are here dropped from sight, and -the elements and processes of two or more ethnic -minds are placed in contrast. They are compared -in the manner in which they have conceived and carried -out notions common to the species—let us say -religion, or law, or social relations, or practical inventions. -When the comparison is extended to all -the cultural elements and the results tabulated, we -reach fixed and accurate data for appraising ethnic -mental ability, whether racial, tribal, or national.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is nothing delusive or fanciful in such comparisons. -The results are obtained by recognised -scientific methods, and are controlled by well-known -mathematical laws. They establish the claims of -ethnic psychology to a place among the exact sciences, -and show that it has a field of its own not yet included -in the domain of any of its neighbours.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER III<br /> <span class='large'><em>PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE ETHNIC MIND</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>Thus furnished, as we have seen in the last chapter, -with a common stock of faculties and desires, -the primitive men set out from their unknown -birthplace, to conquer the world. They journeyed -east, north, south, and west, into foreign fields and -under alien skies. Seized in the iron grasp of novel -environment, each band must adapt itself to the new -conditions or perish; for in their ignorance they -knew not to wrest the power from Nature and make -her their slave. They must bow and yield to her -commands under penalty of death.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Compelled by external forces, they changed the -hue of their skin and the shade of their hair; they -grew tall of stature or sunk to pygmies; their skulls -altered in shape, and their long bones rounded, or -else flattened like those of apes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Not less surprising were the alterations in their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>minds. Some felt no desire for fixed abodes, and -ever wandered, while others sowed fields and built -cities; some remained in small, ungoverned bands, -while others founded great empires and enacted -iron codes; some were satisfied to compel the Unknown -by magical rites, while others sought the -wisdom of God and the secrets of Nature.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These variations, however, meant Progress; for -repetition is not progress, and it is only by ceaseless -change and endless experiment that one can find -out the best. The separation of man into families -and tribes and peoples was, in fact, a necessary condition -to his improvement as a species. From the -seeming chaos of changing forms the highest type -emerged, as, in Greek myth, from the surging seas -rose the perfect form of Aphrodite Anadyomene.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The chaos is indeed but seeming. The differences -among men are the results of physiological -processes, proceeding in definite directions under -fixed laws, and adjusted so that they bring about -calculable results. Let us turn to the examination -of these processes, in their universal expressions -operative everywhere, as well in the psychical as the -physical world.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Psychical as well as physical; for the new conditions -which transformed the bodies of the primitive -horde left their impress also on the minds of its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>members, not erasing any trait which made them -Man, but bringing them into closer likeness between -themselves, and by that act into sharper contrast to -their neighbours. The varied practical needs of life -fostered their peculiarities, and created a similarity -of feelings and purposes, and a community of knowledge -in each band. This acted as a sort of intellectual -mother-water in which each individual mind -of the band crystallised into the same shape, readily -accepted the beliefs, imbibed the same prejudices, -looked at the world through the same spectacles.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We may well believe that it was not long before -contests arose between the primitive hordes. We -are told, indeed, by a venerable authority that they -began between the first two brothers. Then these -diversities of body and mind decided the conflict. -The stronger slew the weaker or drove them from -the field; unless, indeed, by craft or superior skill -the weaker foiled the stronger, as, so endowed, in the -long run they surely would. Thus the great law of -Natural Selection, of the destruction of the less fit, -exercised its sway to preserve that horde which, on -the whole, was better adapted for preservation and -gave it power over the land.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the species Man the exemplification of this -great law is, as I have intimated, essentially psychical, -and its application is upon masses, upon ethnic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>groups. History, the story of man’s progress, deals -only with these, not with individuals.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Progressive ethnic mental variation is therefore -the theme for our immediate consideration, and -especially as it is displayed in the processes of natural -selection and adaptation. This is the physiology -of ethnic psychology, the history of its normal -progress to more specialised powers and higher -types.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I cannot go amiss if I present it with a rather -close adherence to the recognised method of natural -science; for the impression is constantly gaining -ground that the psychical life of Man follows the -same laws as does his physical; or, to express the -thought more accurately, that the one is the reflex -of the other, for we can read both with equal correctness -in terms of thought or terms of extension.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such changes may take place in several directions: -as in abolishing organs no longer useful; in reducing -others which are diminishing in value; in strengthening -those which are of immediate utility; and, by -correlation, maintaining those relations of parts on -which the “type” depends.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These changes are not “purposive”; they do not -aim toward a future type, though they may result in -one. Such a type may be more decadent than its -antecedent, and be the prelude to extinction, under -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>this adamantine law of destruction; but if its variations -have been physiological and adaptive, they will -confer upon it the blessing of life, the gift of length -of days.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Those changes which strengthen an organ or -structure, or tend to develop and preserve new and -useful variations are called “progressive”; those -which tend to draw individual variation back to the -current type or to reduce certain structures or functions -are called “regressive” variations.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It would seem at first sight that such processes -must tend in opposite directions—the one beneficial, -the other injurious. In fact, both are preservative; -but by contrasted physiological processes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Progressive changes begin in the individual and -pass by inheritance into the stock, when they have -proved beneficial to it. They continue in action so -long as they are useful. When their utility ceases, -the energy of the economy is expended elsewhere, on -other structures or faculties. The degeneration thus -produced is “compensatory.” It does not detract -from but adds to the general viability of the -organism.</p> - -<p class='c010'>What is most marvellous in this process is that the -part or power rarely wholly disappears, no matter -how long it has been useless. The pineal gland in -the human brain is the remains of a third eye with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>which our ancestors looked out from the top of their -heads when they were Silurian fishes; and the appendix -vermiformis was an annex to their stomachs -when they were herbaceous ruminants!</p> - -<p class='c010'>So it is in psychical anthropology. A department -of it, Folklore, is taken up with such survivals, and -strange are its revelations! Our Christmas dinner is -a reminiscence of a cannibal feast at the winter -solstice. The dyed Easter egg is a relic of a myth -of the dawn older than the Pyramids.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In strictly scientific language evolution is not -always synonymous with progress. It means simply -change or transformation within the limits of physiological -laws—that is, that such changes tend, on the -whole, to the preservation of the individual or do -not conflict with it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Life is the criterion of evolution. But the application -of this standard is not always easy. The most -salient variation is not necessarily the most important. -Again, a variation admirably suited to a -given mode of existence may be unfriendly to development -by unfitting the stock for later and inevitable -changes of environment.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the psychical ethnic life there are, however, a -limited number of characteristics, the symmetrical development -of which cannot fail to bring out all the -latent powers of the group in the struggle for its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>independent existence; and, conversely, their neglect -or faulty cultivation will surely pave the way to -debility and disappearance. They are the primary -factors of progressive variation in ethnic psychology.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The list of them is as follows:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1—Remembrance.</div> - <div class='line'>2—Industry.</div> - <div class='line'>3—Inventiveness.</div> - <div class='line'>4—Adaptability.</div> - <div class='line'>5—Receptiveness.</div> - <div class='line'>6—Forethought.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>They are all essential to ethnic progress; though -the special cultivation of one or the other must be -dictated by the circumstances. The development -must be in relation to the inner (mental) and outer -(physical) demands upon the group, if it is to make the -best of its life. They are the physiological elements -of collective mental growth, standing in relation to it -as do proper food, exercise, cleanliness, and the other -hygienic methods to bodily health and strength.</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. <em>Remembrance.</em>—Knowledge is of no avail unless -it is remembered. Experience may become prophetic, -but if its words are forgotten, of what use is its -wisdom? Hence the rudest savages seek means to -strengthen their recollection of events and ideas. -The Australian has his message stick, the Peruvian -his knotted string (<em>quipu</em>), the Chippeway his <em>meday</em> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>club,—all to help preserve tradition, ritual, knowledge, -in some form.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Whatever technical process was devised to shape -a war club, or to minister to the sense of beauty by -adornment, whatever laws were framed to regulate -the clan, whatever secrets were learned from nature, -became of value to the group only in so far as the -faculty of memory and the means of remembrance -were cultivated.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I need not refer to the supreme treasure of written -records, the national literatures of the world; but it -is worth noting that just to the extent that a nation -cherishes its own history, lives in its past deeds, -drinks from its own fonts of thought, does it develop -its vitality and independence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Tradition and instruction in what the group has -already gained is the first condition of further advance. -If the future is to rest on a secure foundation, -it must be built on the experience of the past. -Plato estimated the alphabet none too highly when -he called it a gift of the gods. The dream of immortality -in name is a mighty stimulus to effort. -What were that fame worth that perished with our -flesh?</p> - -<p class='c010'>Under this head also comes what we broadly call -Education, that which distributes to the new generation -the garnered grain and treasured pearls of hundreds -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>of older generations; which places in the hands of -the young the tools of thought, the training in vocations, -the pride in the noble achievements of the -past, the acquaintance with their own powers and -the means of increasing them, the precepts of justice, -of love, and of truth, and the inspiration of grand -ideals of life and work.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No past is too remote to be destitute of practical -value to the present. No truth is too trivial to be -regarded. Knowledge has long and wisely been -esteemed the synonym of power. Art, science, the -whole fabric of culture, are accumulations, memories, -of millenniums of labour, of whose results all has been -lost except that which has been recollected.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. <em>Industry.</em>—The secret of all improvement in -human life is the conscious effort to improve. Idleness -is the chief obstacle to advancement. Disuse -of brain-function degenerates the tissues faster than -misuse. Labour, work, activity, exercise,—these are -the only means to strengthen the powers we have and -insure their survival.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Not all effort is equally beneficial. It may be -honestly intended, but misdirected, and lead to perdition; -it may be the tread-mill labour which reduces -the man to a machine, and blunts and dulls his soul; -it may be, as with those who “work hard at play,” -consumed in frivolous pastimes and trivial objects.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>The true aim of all effort, that aim which most -contributes to progress, is the conquest of the -environment, the subjection of it to the enlightened -reason and the individual will. “The one process -of human evolution,” says a thoughtful writer, “is -the passage from a merely mechanical to a rational -life.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Adaptation to environment” belongs to plant life -and brute life. Man at his best aims at the nobler -task of moulding the environment to his own will -and wishes. He is not its slave, but its master. -Does arctic cold threaten to freeze the blood in his -veins? He builds a hut and lights a lamp; and the -summer zephyr is not milder than the air he breathes. -Does the equatorial sun dart its fatal rays from the -zenith? He spreads an umbrella and dons a helmet, -and is as cool as if under orchard shades of temperate -zones.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Reason-directed, unflagging activity,—this is the -one indispensable and all-sufficient security for the indefinite -progress of individual or group. The -definition of “genius,” said Goethe, “is the willingness -to labour unremittingly.” The willingness presupposes -the will, and he of the indomitable will -soon becomes master of his purpose.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This trait has long been familiar as a criterion in -ethnic psychology. Professor Klemm in his history -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>of human culture, written half a century ago, divided -the tribes and nations of humanity into those -who have been “passive” and those who have been -“active.” He maintained that the love of labour is -the simple and sufficient measure for the capacities of -any race.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Many later writers have followed him in this discrimination, -although they phrase it in various forms. -The latest, Professor Vierkandt, repeats it in a more -psychological guise when he states that the real -source and centre of all differences between the cultures -of human groups is the one difference between -their voluntary and involuntary activities. The latter -are instinctive, the former reflective; the latter -are mechanical, the former are rational; the latter are -of bondage, the former of freedom.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The sum of average brain-industry in an ethnic -mind is the measure of its comparative value. Not -single brilliant examples of genius, cases here and -there of exceptional ability, but a prevailing love -of labour is what guarantees success. A true genius, -a Camoens or a Cervantes, belongs more to the world -than to the nation. Both these illustrious names -have stimulated thought more in foreign lands than -in their own homes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. <em>Inventiveness.</em>—When the neolithic man invented -a sword of bronze to replace his dagger of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>stone, he invested his tribe with the kingship of the -known world. The less-inventive hordes became -their slaves.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The victory of man over nature has been won by -his inventions; and the tribe, group, or nation which -leads in the control of natural forces will also lead in -the struggle for existence, and supremacy. Others -may sing sweeter songs or dream diviner visions, but -the potency of life will not be won thereby.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Inventiveness is another word for that knowledge -which is really power, force, strength—brutal, if you -will, but present, actual.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Man is distinctively a tool-using animal, and those -with the most efficient tools will bring the others to -terms; for when it is a tool of war, a weapon, victory -is to him who has the best.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Inventiveness is the foe of habit, and habit is the -foe to advancement. As the sickle gave way to the -scythe, and the scythe to the mowing-machine, -the food-supply was insured against failure, famines -disappeared, and aggregations of millions in cities -became possible.</p> - -<p class='c010'>An invention is something concrete, objective. It -substitutes reality for a dream, and in the end surpasses, -in the elements of the marvellous, all dreams. -The Arabian Nights tell of no magic spell so potent -as to enable persons to speak to each other a thousand -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>miles apart. But invention has made that the most -commonplace of incidents.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As there is no calculable limit to the natural forces, -so there is none to our possible control of them. -Reason has this in itself, that qualitatively it is of -higher order than force and can control it to any -extent. The nation which constantly encourages this -application of reason must be the most forcible, -the most powerful. Would you forecast the fate of -the present “great powers” in the twentieth century? -The books of prophecy are open. They are the -records of the patent offices.</p> - -<p class='c010'>4. <em>Adaptability.</em>—The fundamental law of life in -organic forms is their relative ability to adapt themselves -to environments.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is just as true of ethnic units, physically and -mentally. When I come to speak of acclimatisation, -I shall dwell on the former phase; now, I emphasise -the necessity of mental adaptation, as shown in laws, -religions, customs, and thoughts.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There must be nothing “hide-bound” in the tribe -or nation which migrates or which expands into new -conditions of life. Home-sickness must be unknown -to it. It must cherish no ancient local prejudices, -carry with it no baggage which it is not ready to exchange -for something more suitable. More than that, -it must be on the alert to discover what alterations in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>home habits should be made, and hasten to make -them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Adaptability is not the loss of national character. -We may change our sky with profit, but keep our -minds. To lose ourselves in travelling would be a -loss irreparable. The human group which succumbs -to new environment does not adapt itself to it, but is -drowned in it. The changes required by adaptability -are chiefly external and of will. They are such as the -recognition of new experiences suggests as advisable -for survival.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Adaptability is an active trait. To be most effective -it must be conscious and purposive. The knowledge -gained from others must be utilised intentionally -to the special advantage of the group. In this -form it is a product of the higher culture. Primitive -peoples, when they migrated, submitted themselves -without reflection to the new influences around them; -enlightened groups are on their guard and sedulously -retain what they bring with them if they see it is better -than what they find, or accept the latter if it is -superior. True adaptability, therefore, is the result -of conscious reasoning.</p> - -<p class='c010'>5. <em>Receptiveness.</em>—Not only should the ethnic mind -be ready to adapt itself to changed conditions, but -it should be ever ready to give admittance to new -knowledge; not only passively, but should actively -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>seek it from others. Only thus can it progress surely -and rapidly. Anything in the nature of “Chauvinism” -is destructive to breadth of conception. The -national egotism which scorns to learn of neighbours -prepares the pathway to national ruin.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Primitive tribes borrowed extensively one from the -other. The traditions, games, arts, and inventions -were appropriated by the most mentally energetic, -and by them such secured dominion and prosperity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Civilisation alters not this process. That nation -to-day which is most eager to learn from others, -which is furthest from the fatal delusion that all wisdom -flows from its own springs, will surely be in the -van of progress.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Receptiveness in national life is gauged by the -knowledge the nation has of others. This can be -gained by intelligent travel or by study. Where the -citizens of a country travel little or for amusement -only, and are but slightly conversant with other -languages than their own, we may be sure that the -national mind is lacking in this quality. The number -of foreign students in a great university is a test -of this element of progress in the character of their -respective nationalities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Hence the practical deduction of the importance of -a knowledge of modern languages. Without them, -the minds of other nations are closed books to us. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>They may be surpassing us in wisdom and we be -ignorant of it. In that case, some day we or our -children will weep for our negligence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>6. <em>Forethought.</em>—In one of his works Professor -Letourneau remarks that forethought is <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">par excellence</span></i> -the ripe fruit of intellectual development. The ancient -Greeks embodied this truth in the pregnant myth of -Prometheus (Forethought), who stole fire from the -gods and gave it unto men and his brother Epimetheus -(Afterthought).</p> - -<p class='c010'>He who is willing to sacrifice the present for the -future must possess self-control, fixity of purpose, -faith in what governs the future, decision of character. -His actions must be conscious, purposive, directed by -intelligence. His will must be trained in the choice -of motive, and his passions curbed into obedience to -his reason. Self-restraint, self-sacrifice, even self-immolation, -are the virtues he must be ready to -practise.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The distant aim for which he is thus denying himself -may be within the confines of his own expectation -of life, and thus be after all centred in personal -ambitions; or it may be directed toward some hoped-for -life hereafter, in the next world, the spirit-land; -or, noblest of all, it may be in the interest of unborn -generations and humanity at large. Perhaps in his -zeal he misses present joys for the illusions of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>fancied future; but better this than to sacrifice the -future to the present.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In such deliberate and conscious planning for remote -aims he is not like the squirrel who lays up a -store of nuts for the winter; for the man exercises -his will and decides between motives, and his actions -are not controlled by external events but by inner, -psychical reflections. There is even something not -despicable in that avarice which heaps up riches and -knows not who shall enjoy them. In it is revealed -that anxiety to labour for a remote future, at present -sacrifice, which, in nobler expressions, is a fine, -essentially human, trait.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This characteristic differs widely in mankind, and -in individuals. So significant is it of the progress of -the group that in various forms it has been chosen -by several writers as the main distinction between -savagery and civilisation. The efforts of the barbarian -aim at the satisfaction of his immediate wants -only. His means of livelihood—hunting, fishing, and -the collection of natural products—do not admit of -saving for a far-off future. As the soul rises in -culture, its horizon expands. Not merely against -winter’s want, but against the inevitable periods of -sickness and decrepitude which lie in wait for all, -must we be prepared. Then there are the feeble -and the helpless, and farther still the unborn, our -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>descendants, for whom we feel responsible. Finally, -the horizon falls co-equal with the limits of the -world, and the future of all humanity appeals -to the loftiest souls as demanding their strenuous -labours.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The best-directed efforts of humanitarians to-day -are aimed at the cultivation of forethought in the -minds and habits of the lower, so called, improvident -classes of society. Wise governments are engaged -in providing secure depositories for small savings, in -devising methods of insurance against want in old -age and poverty, and in urging upon all the wisdom -of guarding property against attacks, thus aiding in -the survival of the nations.</p> - -<p class='c015'>These are the primary factors of progress in the -ethnic mind. Everywhere and at all times their -assiduous cultivation makes for national strength and -life. Where they are all active, success is assured. -Where even one is neglected danger is incurred.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But, it will be objected, are there not other mental -traits just as necessary,—for instance, courage, enthusiasm, -loyalty, patriotism? Yes, they are sometimes -advantageous, sometimes necessary; but these -and similar emotions are secondary; in themselves, -they do not insure progress; in frequent instances, -they oppose it, and lead their possessors to ruin. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>Blind courage, for example, like misdirected energy, -is mischievous and destructive.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Emotions and sentiments are necessary stimulants -to action. They are indefinitely valuable in national -character, but only to the extent that they are -governed and directed by intelligence. In themselves -they are blind and unreasoning impulses, and -dangerous guides. In culture history, they belong -to primitive or half-civilised people, incapable of -holding rational conduct. By means of them, astute -and unscrupulous rulers sway the masses, exciting -them to actions detrimental to themselves.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The real factors in ethnic evolution must ever be -those which are rational, conscious, voluntary. As -voluntary, they require freedom, liberty of choice -and of action. Freedom is an external condition, and -unless it is enjoyed without other restraint than the -limitation of the same privilege in others, the group -can never reach its complete development. In the -theory of progress, therefore, it should be always -given as the primary condition of growth.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The physiological processes by which regressive -variation affects the ethnic mind are chiefly three:</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. Absorption through concentration elsewhere.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. Disuse or neglect of faculties.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. Reaction from natural limitations.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such changes as these are not merely consistent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>with ethnic advancement but essential to it. They -indicate simply a re-distribution of the vital forces in -accordance with the demands of new conditions. -This is a phenomenon constantly seen in the individual -life of organic beings of every grade, and that it -extends to the species and to the mental powers -proves that it is an universal law.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Many have maintained that regressive variation -proceeds in an inverse direction from progressive evolution, -eliminating the most recently acquired characteristics -first. Not a few have sought to apply this -supposed law to ethnic conditions and sociological -factors. But recent authorities of weight, who have -examined this question with care, regard the instances -supposed to confirm such a theory as coincidences -only, or explicable on other grounds.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The term “regressive,” therefore, is to be understood -as applying to a physiological and healthy -process, by which the sum of nutrition in an organism -is expended more upon one or several elements of -that organism at the expense of other elements. The -latter, therefore, reduced in sustenance, undergo -“regressive” changes, atrophy, or diminish.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In mental life this is paralleled by the cultivation of -some faculties to the neglect of others. Those to -which we “pay attention,” as the phrase is, improve, -while those which we neglect are weakened.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>What is here noted of the individual is true of the -group. Indeed, it is a leading fact in the psychical -history of the species. Man has paid heavily for all -his winnings in the intellectual field by losses of many -a power which would serve him well had he retained -it. He has forfeited the instincts which once were -his guides, the acuteness of his senses has gone, the -happy carelessness of his youth has deserted him. -We may all join in the lament of Mrs. Browning:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I have lost, ah, many a pleasure,</div> - <div class='line'>Many a hope and many a power.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>In applying these general facts to the variations of -the ethnic mind, the principal distinction to observe -is between <em>relative</em> regressive and <em>actual</em> regressive -changes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The former are not only consistent with general -progress, but in some sense a condition of it. In following -the steep ascent of advancement, we must cast -aside some of our baggage. We must husband our -resources and spend them where the return will be -most bountiful. Where we strike the balance of our -mental losses and gains and find it in favour of general -improvement, we may rest content.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>1. Absorption through Concentration Elsewhere.</em>—The -concentration of the ethnic mind on the cultivation -of one group-trait infallibly leads to a diminution -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>of other faculties. The group has a fixed -amount of time, activity, and mental force, and if this -is concentrated chiefly on one purpose, others must -suffer.</p> - -<p class='c010'>History offers numberless examples of this. A few -will suffice. The Vikings of Norseland had but one -vocation—war; and though they repeatedly founded -kingdoms in the south, not one survived. The capacities -for peaceful life were lost in them, but for generations -they were the terror of the more numerous -and highly cultured nations of the south.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Exclusive devotion to the religious sentiment has -reduced many peoples to practical imbecility, especially -where the State has used its powers to force -a particular church upon the community. Nothing, -indeed, has brought about more complete intellectual -atrophy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These are examples where the process under consideration -has been misdirected or carried too far. -When it is properly guided, the compensation for the -loss or diminution of one faculty is vastly greater -than the value of that faculty. Thus, it was through -the cultivation of his intelligence that early man lost -his instincts. Through an earnest desire for peace -which sprang up in the cities of the Middle Ages, the -constant strife between the feudal nobles was measurably -checked, to the signal advantage of the nation.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>Where the stress of mental attention is directed -to the cultivation of secondary traits or of those -which make against the general welfare, the process -is still physiological; it may, indeed, for the time -be advantageous, concentrating the group-feeling -and fitting the nation for its immediate conditions. -Thus, in the present age, industrialism attracts to its -sphere most of the ability of several leading nations. -It offers not in itself a high ideal of life, but appears -to be one peculiarly suited to the prevailing conditions -of humanity. It stores reserve national force -which will, doubtless, in time be expended on nobler -aims.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. <em>Disuse or Neglect of Faculties.</em>—The impairment -of mental powers through disuse is one of the -most common phenomena of psychology. Men are -much more colour-blind than women, because they -exert less the faculty of distinguishing hues. Persons -who do not practise memorising soon lose the -power.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the history of nations this has been most conspicuous -in the neglect of the military spirit; Carthage -yielded to Rome, and Rome to the barbarian, -chiefly because a distaste for personal exposure in -combat led each nation in time to depend on mercenaries -for defence. For centuries in China the vocation -of the soldier has been looked upon as inferior -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>to that of the scholar or the statesman; and, however -just this might be in the abstract, it so weakened the -national integrity that the vast Sinitic empire is now -tottering to ruin.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Disuse may arise from two conditions: the one, -from neglect and overattention to other faculties; -the other, from absence of opportunity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Both are abundantly represented in ethnic psychology. -Of the former, I have just given instances; -while of the latter the deliberate avoidance by large -groups of certain areas of mental life are examples -in point. Thus, the Society of Friends (Quakers) -have for two hundred and fifty years expelled the -cultivation of the fine arts from their education. -The result is a loss of the æsthetic faculties, but a -remarkable gain in other directions—such as sobriety, -longevity, business success. Whether the compensation -is sufficient seems, however, to be decided -in the negative by the Friends themselves.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Other examples present themselves. The aristocracy -of Siam regard all forms of work as so -degrading that they allow their finger-nails to grow -five or six inches in length to prove that their hands -have never been soiled with labour. Needless to -say that this disuse of their muscles is followed by -atrophy of their brain-cells, so that they are an -emasculate and enfeebled group. The theory of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>concentration and disuse of faculties in the group led -to the system of castes, the most striking example of -which is in India, where they are divided upon race -lines. The white Brahmans are the priests, legislators, -scholars, and diplomats; the red Rajpoots are -the warriors and chieftains; the yellow Mongols are -the commercial and agricultural class; while the -black Dravidians are the mechanics and herdsmen. -Each caste adopts its special branch of activity and -avoids that traditionally belonging to another caste.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Although a similar theory has been widely popular -in many states, such a division of labour and responsibility -has in it elements of debility which in the long -run must bring about social disintegration. It conflicts -with the unity of the ethnic mind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. <em>Reaction from Natural Limitations.</em>—As there -is a difference in the mental aptitudes of individuals -which no training can equalise, so there is in those -of human groups. Its causes do not concern us -here. The fact remains and must be faced.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There are natural limitations to each mind and -to each group of minds. Compared with the most -highly gifted, the less so stand in the physiological -relation of “rudimentary organs.” When brought -into contact, the latter will either succumb or accept -a subordinate position.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The American Indians, as a race, were comparatively -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>highly gifted. They created an order of architecture -and even devised a system of phonetic writing; -but none of their states was of long duration, and none -of their so-called “empires” rose above the level of a -temporary confederacy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The limitations of the racial mind were such that a -complex social organisation was impossible for them. -In the forms of their highest governments, those of -the Aztecs, Mayas, and Peruvians, we see repeated on -a large scale the simple and insufficient models of the -rude hunting tribes of the plains.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is also true of the black race of Africa. The -powerful monarchies which at times have been erected -in that continent over the dead bodies of myriads of -victims have lasted but a generation or two. The -natural limitations of the racial mind prevented it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Many other examples could be cited. Indeed, the -law of “thus far shalt thou go and no farther” tells -the story of most of the failures of races and peoples. -They fell through mental inability to succeed. They -had reached the natural limit of their activities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But there is in this no occasion to deduce a conclusion -of fatalism. These limitations have been -operative in great measure because they have been -unrecognised, and no effort has been made to escape -them. Though they may not be remedied, their evil -effects may be avoided by enlightened prevision. They -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>act like other natural laws, and all such laws can be -turned to man’s advantage, if he sets about it wisely.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='sc'>Modes and Rates of Ethnic Variation.</span>—Both -progressive and regressive mental variations are -formed of constructive, synthetic evolution; both are -necessary to general advancement; both have their -place in the scheme of national health and growth. -They belong among what the physiologist calls -“anabolic” processes—those whose tendency is to preserve -and develop the species.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There has, however, been frequent misunderstanding -of the modes of action of these processes and the -rate of their movement. This misconception exists -widely to-day. Many writers have mistaken actual -advance for degeneration, or claimed that some nation -or stage of culture was superior to another from some -single real or imagined feature. Thus Rousseau and -his school, enamoured of the supposed personal freedom -of the savage, lauded the existence of man “in a -state of nature”; and their followers still assail modern -civilisation as a failure.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It becomes important, therefore, to examine the -modes of healthy progress so that we may understand -its sometimes strange aspects.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These modes are three in number:</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. In lines, either parallel (homoplastic) or divergent -(heteroplastic).</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>2. In circles, or curved forms (spirals).</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. In waves, rhythmic undulatory forms.</p> - -<p class='c015'>1. <em>Parallel and Divergent Variation.</em>—Evolutionists -are familiar with these two forms of progressive variation -in the organic world. They are equally evident -in human progress.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No fact in ethnology is more striking than the -parallelisms of primitive culture. Go where we will -among the savage tribes of the globe, we find them -developing the same arts along the same lines, framing -their tribal organisations on the same models, -calling in similar words on the same gods. Not only -in this but in what seem matters of caprice, fancy, and -local colour, the same similarity, almost identity, prevails. -They tell stories of like plots, decorate their -weapons in like patterns, dance and sing in like forms.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Yet, though so much alike, so “tarred with the -same stick,” each tribe and group is different. Each -has its own imprint and character. Each has its -points of individuality.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is “divergent” variation, just as universal, -just as inevitable as the parallelism we have been -considering. This extends into minute and seemingly -unimportant details. We may, for example, -compare the stone axes of neighbouring American -tribes. In a casual survey, they look alike; a close -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>inspection reveals slight but constant differences. -The trained eye can distinguish their place of origin -without difficulty.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This inherent divergence is so profound that two -well-marked groups become incapable of mental -unity. They may be separated by an imaginary -line, and have been for generations under like climatic -and cultural conditions, but the imprint of the -divergence is ineradicable. If they have the same -religion, they will understand it differently; the -same events will impress them differently; their -feeling and their hopes will be asunder.</p> - -<p class='c010'>While this is true, it is also true that a new -stimulus to progress is created by the union of divergent -lines of thought. The resultant is a fresh -element in mental life, a new birth independent of -either parent.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such unions are brought about either by similarity -or contrast. There is a species of elective affinity -between certain lines of psychical development which -at once unites them as they approach each other.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is also a similar union induced by contrasted -psychical states. We say familiarly that -“opposites attract each other,” and it is a maxim drawn -from frequent experience. The rapid changes from -social freedom to military tyranny in the mercurial -population of some states seem more gratifying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>to the ethnic spirit than a continued stable government.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Parallel variations lead to similarity in products. -They are “homoplastic,” to use the term of the -evolutionist. Primitive tribes, developing under the -same general conditions of environment, are strikingly -alike in culture.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Divergent variations are “heteroplastic,” that is, -they lead to new products, and hence are the higher -activities in all that makes for advancement. Whatever -multiplies them stimulates the growth of -culture.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. <em>Variation in Circles or Curves.</em>—Both parallel -and divergent evolution are expressions of continuity -of progress in lines, extending from point to point, -intersecting to produce other lines of new directions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such a rectilinear scheme is the simplest that we -can sketch of human advancement; and for many -purposes it is sufficiently correct. It does not, however, -fully express the geometrical representation of -such agencies as we are considering. Professor -Baldwin has justly remarked that there is a “circular -activity” in all progress. Its influence is not aimed -solely at a point ahead, but extends itself in all -directions. The reception of a new and true idea -in the human mind may be likened to the introduction -of a ray of sunlight into a darkened room. Its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>chief force is seen in the linear shaft of light, but -the illumination extends in some degree to the whole -space.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Johannes Schmidt has shown that the distribution -of the early Aryan dialects and religions was not -from the point of common origin by right lines of -migration in different directions, but should be -represented diagrammatically by a series of irregular -circles and ellipses, overlapping each other. The -tendency to variation arises in some centre and -spreads from it in a series of curves. These meeting -others lead to an “interlinking” of cultural areas.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is true of the other elements of ethnic culture. -The localities where many such overlappings occurred -became secondary centres from which in turn the -circular activity of culture was propagated.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A mart where many visitors from different nations -congregated would receive some new learning from -all and through its concentration would impart this -higher potency in some measure to all. For example, -the city of Nippur, on the Babylonian plain, -attracted twenty-five hundred years ago to its markets -not only Assyrians and Edomites, but Medes and -Persians from the East, Syrians and Hittites from -the West, and probably Greeks and Egyptians and -Arabians from remoter lands.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Human progress has been likened by some to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>a spiral figure where each advance is a repetition of a -former stage but with improvements to it. This is -a combination of the right line and the curve; but -the notion that repetition or recapitulation exists in -evolution in any other form than that of renewed -effort finds little support in natural science.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. <em>Variation in Waves, or Rhythmic Undulations.</em>—Some -of the most recent speculations on the ultimate -forces of the universe lead to the belief that -they are maintained in activity by an eternal rhythmic -pulsation or undulation, generating its energy from its -periods of repose.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This doctrine has been applied by Professor Gerland -to the progress of the human race. His teaching -is that after a period of rapid advance there -follows one of depression, which in turn is succeeded -by another of advance, reaching a higher development -than any which preceded it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Other writers have expressed this notion in the -form that after a period of activity and invention follows -one of repose and reflection, giving way in turn -to another of activity.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Rate of Progress.</span>—Professor de Mortillet -calculates from a wide range of data, geologic and -archæologic, that man has lived on the earth about -240,000 years. The most conservative student of -prehistoric records would not estimate the life of our -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>species at less than fifty thousand years, and it is -much more likely to be double that duration.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The date of anything like civilisation is much more -recent. Even in its oldest centres, as Egypt or -Babylonia, to place its beginning ten thousand years -ago is to exceed the demands of the boldest antiquary; -while over most of the now civilised areas of -the globe a condition of barbarism prevailed until less -than two thousand years ago.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These facts prove wide variations in the rate of -progress, very slow movements in earlier times and -lower conditions, singularly rapid advances in later -high conditions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We are led to the conclusion, therefore, that the -rate is not by one mode of progression but by several.</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. By arithmetical progression (addition).</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. By geometrical progression (multiplication).</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. By saltatory progression (permutation).</p> - -<p class='c010'>These are not to be applied too strictly, but it -is safe to make the general statement about them -that they correspond to the three stages of culture,—savagery, -half-culture, and full-culture.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The simplest rate is by adding one invention or art -to another, as does the savage in his lowest stage to-day -and as did primitive man for myriads of years. -Each such addition is so much gained, but reflects little -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>improvement on the general life. Thus the Australian -began with a stone fastened to a wooden -handle, and with which he could strike a blow, scratch -the earth, or tear flesh. To this he added in time a -spear or javelin, a club, and finally that curious weapon, -the boomerang. Each of these inventions helped him -just to the extent he used it and not more. His general -condition was not bettered beyond that amount. -It was as if he had added a hundred dollars to his -capital and enjoyed the interest of the investment. -His was arithmetical progression.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This merely arithmetical progression by simple addition, -2 + 2 + 2 + 2=8, explains why the introduction -or invention of very important technical -procedures have frequently been of no influence on -the general culture of a people. Thus, the smelting -and forging of iron has been known from time immemorial -among the African blacks, and many of them -are skilful blacksmiths; but beyond its immediate -convenience for weapons, the art did them no benefit. -The Chinese knew the compass and gunpowder many -centuries before the Europeans, but their methods of -war and navigation received no impulse from these -potent allies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>French physiologists have defined the human brain -as “an organ of repetition and multiplication.” So -long as its activities are confined to mere imitation, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>following a set example, it employs the former function -only, and the progress of the group must be very -slow.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This was not Mr. Lewis H. Morgan’s opinion. -That thoughtful ethnologist maintained that “from -first to last human progress has been in a ratio not -rigorously but essentially geometrical.” But the -arguments on which he chiefly based this maxim, so -far as it applies to primitive conditions were the -development of articulate speech and the social, -“gentile” organisation; and neither of these resulted -from a conscious effort of mind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Progress does proceed in a geometrical ratio—that -is, by multiplication, when an invention reacts on the -sum of the ethnic possessions to increase their general -value—when, as we say, it has an indefinite -number of “applications.” This is seen in the recognition -of the mechanical powers,—the lever, the -pulley, the screw, the weighing-beam, and so on. In -ship-building, the oar, the rudder, and the sail improved -the whole system of water transportation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Geometrical ratio increases rapidly. It is represented -by a series 2 × 2 × 2 × 2=16. But the augment -by permutation is still greater. This is shown -in the series 2 × 3 × 4 × 5=120. Mr. George Iles -claims that this is the true rate of modern progress -as represented by the effect on the world of printing, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>steam, electricity, and photography. This is progress -“saltatory,” or by leaps. It explains, he believes, the -sudden and rapid advance of some periods, and also -the losses of continuity sometimes observed. His -maxim is: “The newest of the factors of culture -multiplies all the factors which went before it.”</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <span class='large'><em>PATHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE ETHNIC MIND</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>We have seen in the preceding chapter that -atrophy and regression are an essential process -of progressive evolution, necessary in order that -the preponderance of nutrition may be cast in favour -of the most useful organs and structures.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is “physiological” degeneration, “degeneration -with compensation,” the result of which is finally -favourable to the general economy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But there is another form of degeneration, the -tendency of which is distinctly injurious to the -organism as a whole, and which, if unchecked, would -compass its destruction. This is “pathological degeneration,” -“degeneration without compensation.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Although such processes are also biologic,—that -is, carried on by life products (cellular neoplasms),—they -are incapable of independent existence and are -always warring against that of the organism in which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>they are engendered. It is an axiom that the laws -of progressive evolution do not apply to pathological -processes (Virchow).</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the history of the mental life of individuals and -nations we find a striking parallelism to these physical -processes, certain degenerations bringing with them -compensations in the growth of higher faculties, -others tending inevitably to the destruction of the -individual or the group. The latter belongs to the -domain of “ethnic psycho-pathology.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Psychologists have shunned this field. “Psychology,” -says a recent American writer, “must concern -itself with the <em>normal</em> mind”; and a German author -of merit has insisted that mental pathology has no -place in ethnology, because this science occupies -itself only with the progress of mankind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Much more correct is the opinion of Dr. Ireland -that “it is quite erroneous to treat the history of -the human race as that of the sane alone”; and, indeed, -we may almost go so far as Professor Capitan, -of the School of Anthropology of Paris, and say: -“Everybody is diseased. Nobody is healthy. We -are obliged to study mankind in a constantly morbid -condition of body and mind.” Or we may go as far -as Pascal, when he says, “Men are naturally so insane -that he is deemed insane who is not insane with -the rest.”</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>Ethnic psychology is obliged to take into account -the constant presence and powerful action of pathological -mental elements. Tribes and nations have -been destroyed by war or by catastrophes; but much -more frequently some disease of the ethnic mind -itself has prepared its own extinction.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Here an important distinction is necessary. Ethnic -mental disease has no relation to the frequency of individual -cases of insanity. These do not affect the -ethnic mind because that is the outcome of the intelligence -of the community, not of its irresponsible -members.</p> - -<p class='c010'>For this reason ethnic psycho-pathology cannot be -discussed wholly from the standpoint of insanity, -although the analogies are such that we can profitably -compare them in outline, and this I shall attempt.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A definition is sometimes useful, so I present the -following:</p> - -<p class='c010'>A pathological condition of the ethnic mind is -present when it is chronically incapable of directing -the activities of the group correctly toward self-preservation -and development.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Like all definitions in natural science, this one is -not to be applied literally in all cases. The incapacity -may be present and yet not to such a degree -as to be positively destructive. All nations have some -insane tendencies, as have all individuals; and it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>true, as a specialist has said: “The more one knows -of insanity, the less does it seem to differ from the -normal condition.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>These pathological traits of the ethnic mind can be -analysed and classified. They will be found to arise</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. From some intellectual deficiency or perversion; -or</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. From some persistent disturbance of the emotional -life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No one will demand that every member of a group -should suffer from such conditions in order that its -collective mind should betray morbid consequences. -It is enough if a majority, or even a decided minority, -providing it exerts the requisite influence on -the mass, is in such a pathological state. A degenerate -nobility or a dissolute priesthood has often -worked the ruin of a state through the contagion of -example and its control of lower classes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Before considering in detail the varied forms under -which these diseased mental traits present themselves, -it will be well to examine the general causes -to which they are due.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='sc'>Etiology.</span>—Each of such pathological conditions -of the ethnic mind has a basis in some prevailing -physical neurosis, the origin of which can be traced in -the ethnic history, and which becomes hereditary in -the stock. For of these two principles no student -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>of the subject can doubt, (1) that every pathological -mental manifestation corresponds to a neuropathic -change, and (2) that whatever may be said -about the transmission of acquired characters in -physiology, no physician can for a moment doubt -that morbid infection may be passed down from -generation to generation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>For these reasons the study of causes in ethnic -pathology becomes of enormous practical moment. -Only by an acquaintance with them can preventive -and curative remedies be applied.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These causes are, at first, always <em>external</em> and -<em>individual</em>. They proceed from some form of “environment,” -mental or physical. But the morbid impression, -once fully received, is often indelible, -becomes fixed in the type, and is but little influenced -by external agencies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These primary causes of true ethnic degeneration -I shall consider under four headings.</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. Imperfect Nutrition.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. Sexual Subversions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. Toxic Agents.</p> - -<p class='c010'>4. Mental Shocks.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No one of these can act in the long run in other -than a deleterious manner on the ethnic mind. There -is nothing “compensatory” in any one of them or -so little that it need not be reckoned.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>1. <em>Imperfect Nutrition.</em>—It has been said broadly -that all psychopathic and regressive conditions arise -from malnutrition (Féré). This is true, in a sense, -but does not carry us far in the direction of treatment. -We ask a closer definition of origins.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is no doubt of the intimate relationship of -ample nutrition and intellectual progress; but while -it is well to avoid the ancient notion of the independence -of soul and body and that the former is -superior to the latter, we must guard against the -modern extreme of Buckle and his followers, that the -history of nations can be traced to the food they eat. -Man is omnivorous, and his well-being is nourished -by food of any kind, providing it is nutritious and -easily assimilable. The effort which has often been -made to trace the character of tribes and nations to -some prevalent diet—be it of fish or flesh, or vegetable -products—is fanciful, and yields no positive -facts. What does harm is not some particular kind -but a general insufficiency of aliment.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Imperfect nutrition may be traced to three principal -sources. 1. Insufficient or unsuitable food. 2. Lack -of variety. 3. Improper preparation of food.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The careful researches of Collignon, Ranke, Ammon, -and others have traced the stunted forms, -defective bodies, and low intellectual development -of the Lapps, the mountaineers of central Europe -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>and the Bushmen of the Kalihari desert to one cause, -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la misére</span></i>, lack of sufficient and appropriate food. -This is certain to bring about degeneration of organs, -incomplete development, and loss of brain power. -Continued through generations, a hereditary taint -is engendered which saps the vigour of the stock, -and cannot be eradicated by improved conditions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Unsuitable food is usually consumed on account -of the scarcity of better material, but at times -from a morbid craving. Examples are the unctuous -clay which was swallowed by various tribes in America -and Australia, and also by some of the “poor white -trash” of Georgia. The ergoted rye and maize to -which some of the peasantry of France and Italy are -forced to have recourse exerts a disastrous influence -on both body and mind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But food may be ever so excellent in itself, yet -unsuitable to the geographic and other conditions. -The Eskimo thrives on blubber and raw fish; but -such a diet in Ceylon would be as inappropriate -as the Hindoo’s boiled rice for an exclusive diet in -Greenland.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Lack of variety interferes with nutrition even when -the food material itself is ample. By structure and -habit man is omnivorous, and suffers when confined -to a single article of diet. The blood becomes depraved -and scorbutic symptoms often appear. Nations -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>who mainly live on some one substance—rice, -cassava, potatoes, etc.—suffer, lose their power of -adaptation to their surroundings, as was remarked -by Alexander von Humboldt, and are more liable to -disease. Owing also to the partial sustenance thus -furnished, the brain-cells are less progressive and -energetic. There are nearly a score of chemical -elements in the body, all of which must be supplied -by the aliment if maximum physical health -is to be attained and the highest energy and moral -vigour are desired; for, although it is not correct to -assert, as some have claimed, that the physical insures -psychical perfection, it is undoubtedly true that the -mind is never at its best in a feeble and sickly body. -Dr. Johnson was more than half right when he -argued that a sick man is a scoundrel!</p> - -<p class='c010'>A volume might be written on the influence of -the preparation of food on national character. Cookery -is one of the fine arts, and its development has -been parallel with general culture. No tribe takes -its food habitually raw. The Eskimo will freeze -it first, the Tartar readies his steak by placing it -beneath his saddle, and the African cannibal will -soak his human morsel in water. Before pots or -kettles were invented, the flesh was roasted over the -fire or in trenches covered with hot coals.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Cookery renders food more assimilable, more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>digestible, and thus allows the brain a better chance -to do its work. Frying hardens and soddens food, -and the frying-pan is, therefore, an enemy to civilisation. -Chewing coarse, hard, and uncooked food -develops the muscles of the jaws and makes the -face “prognathic,” an almost sure sign of intellectual -inferiority, and directly connected with an unfavourable -shape of the skull. The man who invented the -mill was one of the greatest benefactors to his race. -Condiments add to the digestibility of food and hold -an important place in its preparation. Salt and -pepper thus sharpen the intellect.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. <em>Subversion of Sex-relations.</em>—There is nothing -more vital to the growth, even to the very existence, -of a nation than the sex-relations which it favours by -its laws, customs, and preferences. Upon these -depend the processes of natural selection by which -the number and the power of future generations are -decided through inflexible rules. If these relations, -as established by the fixed natural laws of species-perpetuation, -are traversed by ignorance or wilful -disobedience, nothing can prevent the injury to -the physical strength and mental ability of the -offspring.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such subversions of the sex-relations may be presented -under five headings:</p> - - <dl class='dl_2'> - <dt>(<em>a</em>)<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span></dt> - <dd>Premature and delayed marriage. - </dd> - <dt>(<em>b</em>)</dt> - <dd>Abnormal forms of marriage. - </dd> - <dt>(<em>c</em>)</dt> - <dd>Abstention from marriage through various causes. - </dd> - <dt>(<em>d</em>)</dt> - <dd>Licentiousness. Divorce. - </dd> - <dt>(<em>e</em>)</dt> - <dd>Diminution of natality. Infertility. - </dd> - </dl> - -<p class='c010'><em>(a) Premature and Delayed Marriage.</em>—Mr. -Galton, in one of his thoughtful works, remarks: -“An enormous effect upon the average natural -ability of a race may be produced by influences -which retard the average age of marriage or hasten -it.” He has illustrated this by abundant examples -now through his many writings familiar to the public, -his general thesis being that the wisest policy -for a nation is to retard the age of marriage among -the weak and to hasten it among the vigorous classes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is, of course, to be construed within physiological -lines; premature relations of the sexes, too -early marriages, are disastrous in every respect. -Statistics of European armies show that there is a -far higher mortality and much more sickness among -the soldiers who have married young than among -single men of the same age. Certain Australian and -South American tribes force their female children -of immature age into marital relations, and to this -is due the rapid decrease of their numbers.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(b) Abnormal Forms of Marriage.</em>—Among early -Semitic tribes, and to-day in parts of Tibet and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>India, the custom prevails of “polyandry,” in which -one woman is the wife of several husbands. This -sometimes arose from female infanticide, sometimes, -as in Tibet, where all the brothers of a family have -one wife in common, in order to preserve undivided -the family property.<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c014'><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c010'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. [An obvious gap in the manuscript occurs at this point, but one which in -no way affects the general argument of the author.—<span class='sc'>Editor.</span>]</p> -</div> - -<p class='c010'><em>(c) Abstention from Marriage.</em>—Mr. Galton has -pointed out with great force the injury worked by -sacerdotal celibacy in the history of European civilisation. -The commendation of the single life in man -or woman as “the better part” has been by no -means confined to certain sects of Christianity. -Long before that religion started, this sacrifice was -enjoined on the priests of Cybele, the virgins of -Vesta, the Egyptian ministrants, and many other -officials in Old World rites; while in the New -World not only were there houses of “nuns” among -the Quechuas of Peru and the Mayas of Yucatan, -but the priests in those cults and even the “medicine -men” of rude Northern tribes were frequently -vowed to perpetual and absolute chastity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the struggle of modern life, and also in the -greater facility for the pursuit of pleasure, of self-culture -or devotion to some cherished pursuit, the -unmarried person has an advantage, and hence it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>is noted that marriage is either long delayed or -wholly avoided. The division of a community along -narrow social, financial, or religious lines greatly aids -this isolation by narrowing the selection of partners -for life. War, emigration, and the love of adventure -prompt the males to desert remote and quiet localities, -leaving the females in the majority and imbuing -the males with a distaste for domestic pursuits. -During the Crusades there were considerable areas -in Europe where there was only one man left to -seven women.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Students of psychopathic conditions have pointed -out another and apparently growing cause of indifference -to marriage,—that sentiment called “homosexuality,” -an inversion of the sexual instinct toward -one’s own sex. This may be innocent in action and -emotion, when it means merely the preference for -friendship in the same gender and a congenital indifference -to sexual feelings; or it may progress to -any degree of monosexual devotion, such as classic -tradition attributed to the characters of Sappho and -Heliogabalus.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Whatever the cause which leads to the presence -of many old bachelors and spinsters in a community, -it must be condemned by the anthropologist, because -it is certain to bring about mental deterioration of -the stock; and the higher the motive, the more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>exalted the reason offered for such abstention, the -surer is the deterioration, because it means that the -class capable of such superior motives will be extinguished -in the community.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(d) Licentiousness; Divorce.</em>—No one will need to be -persuaded that open licentiousness, the disregard of -those sentiments and principles which attach in lasting -unions persons of opposite sex, can have other -than a detrimental effect on individual and national -character. Wherever this has prevailed, the community -has been weakened and its powers misdirected. -Any stimulus to the sex feeling beyond that -for its physiological purpose detracts from the general -energy, physical and mental; and any indulgence of -it in other than physiological methods develops -degenerative tendencies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Sexual psychopathy has been abundantly investigated -of late years by Krafft-Ebing, Ellis, and other -students, and its prevalence is too extended for it not -to have profound effect on the ethnic mind. What -is one of the worst features is the attraction that such -psychopathic subjects have for each other, whether of -the same or opposite sexes. It thus becomes an inherited -trait, and in a majority of the cases this is -easily recognised.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The question here arises, to what extent in a community -the marriage tie may be relaxed without injury -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>to or to the advantage of the general psychical -welfare. This practical inquiry should be decided -not by religious or social prejudice, but by a study of -the peculiar conditions of the community and of the -application of general principles to them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is impossible for me here to enter into this vast -and vital question; but some of these general principles -may be briefly stated.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Students of primitive conditions have reached the -conclusion that neither sex in the human species is -inclined to permanent sexual unions. They point -out that among savage tribes, and indeed in various -advanced religions, ceremonies and customs are in -vogue to expiate such attachments as contrary to the -divine ordinances. They further show that the forms -of marriage were instituted either for selfish sensual -purposes on the part of the male or for property -reasons; and that in a condition of freedom and advanced -culture neither sex is inclined to regard them -as durably binding.</p> - -<p class='c010'>With progressive enlightenment, bringing with it, -as it must, the freedom of woman from civil disabilities, -divorces increase, and only those marriages are -stable in which both parties are satisfied. The result -of this is constantly beneficial. Facility of separation -is a potent stimulus to connubial harmony; for the -one most satisfied with the relation will always strive -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>to render it agreeable to the other, in order to avoid -a dissolution of the tie.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Licentiousness, therefore, is not synonymous with -loose marriage relations, but the reverse.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(e) Diminution of Natality.</em>—There is no more -certain sign of the degeneration of a race, nation, or -class than a decreasing birth-rate. When it reaches -the point that the deaths in its ranks exceed the -births, extinction has already begun. Providing that -fecundity continues normal, the onslaughts of war, -famine, and pestilence may be remedied; but when, -through agencies of any description, the birth-rate -sensibly falls off, there is no escape from destruction. -This disaster may arise from physical, but is generally -due to psychical causes, and therefore points distinctly -to mental pathology in the group where it occurs.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Striking examples of this have been presented by -studies of the noble families of Europe. Placed in -positions where their chief aims were amusement, -self-indulgence, and ostentation, their best faculties -were allowed to rust and finally to decay, bringing -with this the extinction of their lines.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Researches in European history show that the ennobled -families of France, Germany, and England -have rarely survived the fifth generation, and not -more than six per cent. are in existence after three -hundred years. Of 427 English noble families, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>41 were represented at the beginning of the 17th -century. The patrician families who controlled the -free cities of the Middle Ages are now known in -history only. Scarcely a score have outlived the -degenerative agencies of wealth, idleness, and indulgence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The other extreme of the social scale is equally -unfriendly to productiveness. It is popularly thought -that the poor man has children if he has nothing -else. But he must not be too poor. Surgeons of -the Indian civil service have proved by ample statistics -that the famines which periodically ravage the -East bring in their train widespread and lasting infertility. -Arrest of puberty and organic deterioration -of the reproductive system are common results of the -prolonged starvation, and prevent child-bearing.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The psychic contrast between this result and that -of malignant epidemics is marked and singular. -During and after famines the feelings dependent on -sex are almost extinguished; while in epidemics of -acute diseases, such as plague, cholera, and yellow -fever, they are notably exalted, as they are also in -leprosy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is also a class of maladies known in medicine -as “dystrophic” on account of their tendency to -diminish virility, and thus both lessen the birth rate -and lead to morbid psychic states. Prominent among -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>these are malarial fevers, tuberculosis, and the later -stages of alcoholism and the opium habit. By many -writers the inordinate use of tobacco is believed to -exert a similar effect.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In modern life, notably in France and the eastern -United States, there is a very observable infecundity -in certain classes, and they the wealthiest and best -educated, due unquestionably to intention on the part -of the married—to purely psychic causes, therefore. -In the “best society” of those localities two or three -children to a marriage are as many as are wanted and -as many as arrive.</p> - -<p class='c010'>That this limitation is deliberate, and not the result -of reproductive debility, has been shown by an application -of the law of sex at birth as formulated by -Dumont. This is, that when the proportion of the -sexes at birth are as 105 males to 100 females, the -diminished natality is voluntary; and when it is involuntary, -due to disease or malformations, this ratio -is always disturbed.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As statistics prove that in modern life two-thirds of -the children born alive never perpetuate their kind, -through death, the single life, sterility, or other -reason, it is plain that intentional limitation of offspring -to a number less than four means certain extinction -of the family.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. <em>Toxic Agents.</em>—The toxic agents of ethnic degeneration -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>belong to two classes, stimulant-narcotics -and disease-germs. The former are voluntarily consumed -by the individual, the latter he absorbs through -exposure to insalubrious conditions. Both belong to -preventable causes of deterioration.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Of the stimulant-narcotics, alcohol, opium, and tobacco -are the most familiar. But they by no means -exhaust the list. Everywhere and at all times man -has had an intense craving for these nervines. Where -the Koran forbids alcoholic drinks, the Arabs take -refuge in kief and other species of hemp. The native -Mexicans cull the <em>peyotl</em>, the Siberians a toadstool, -the Peruvians coca.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The precise degree to which these agents have -altered the intellectual and moral powers of communities -has long been the theme of controversies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is especially true of alcohol. Professor Lapouge, -certainly an unbiassed observer, citizen of a -land where temperance societies are unknown, does -not hesitate to call it “the most formidable agent of -degeneration in modern society.” Its worst effects -are not the violence to which it occasionally leads or -the frightful nervous diseases which its excessive use -entails, but the slow hardening of the “axis cylinders” -in the nerve sheaths, the immediate consequence -of which is permanent deterioration of mental -activity. Extended throughout a community, this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>means a lessening of its energy and of its finest -mental qualities. Chronic alcoholism of this kind -does not materially shorten life, but it is eminently -transmissible, and this soddens the stock. The white -race is most exposed to these mental and nervous -effects of alcohol, while the red and black races -escape them in large measure.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The second class of toxic agents affecting the -community at large includes the various forms of -disease-germs. No one can doubt the debilitating -influence of malaria on the mental faculties of the -population exposed to its poisonous action. Vast -tracts of the earth’s surface are by it rendered incapable -of sustaining the highest types of humanity. Their -energy is sapped, their vitality lowered, by the insidious -miasm. No race or nationality is immune. -Though the white race is most liable to its attacks, -the African blacks are so far from being exempt that -in the more intense malarial districts of their continent -nearly one-third of the natives suffer from the -disease.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Marsh poison is usually confined to the lowlands. -But the mountain valleys also generate a noxious -agent, most unfriendly to mental growth. It displays -itself in a threefold form, embracing goitre, cretinism, -and deaf-mutism, the three closely related and bringing -with them a positive debility of psychical powers. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>The mountains have not only been the refuge of the -feeble, escaping from the plains, but they have worked -to render these outcasts feebler still by reducing -them in stature and viability. Goitre is not confined -to Alpine regions, though more prevalent there. It -is distinctly hereditary, and the offspring of goitrous -parents are predisposed to cretinism and allied forms -of imbecility. The southern and western slopes of the -Alps, the Pyrenees, the Himalayas, and the Cordilleras -are especially the homes of this class of diseases.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Another series of toxic agents which calls for consideration -in this connection are the so-called “constitutional -diseases.” These are contagious and -transmissible, the poison of the blood being handed -down from generation to generation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The most noteworthy of these is syphilis. Its extreme -prevalence among lower classes of the community -and in some of the darker races is a present -and potent cause of their mental inferiority. It is -well known to specialists that children born of syphilitic -parents are deficient in mental energy and -physical stamina. They are liable to scrofulous -symptoms and tubercular degenerations, and are deficient -in ambition and love of labour.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Less widely distributed, but yet affecting whole -communities, are ergotism and pellagra, due to the -consumption of diseased grain, and leprosy which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>is undoubtedly hereditary and vitiates the blood of -whole families. Certain stocks are especially liable -to it, notably the African blacks and next to them -the Semites, both Jews and Arabs.</p> - -<p class='c010'>4. <em>Mental Shock.</em>—History presents many instructive -examples of the destructive power of mental -shock on the ethnic mind. It is brought about by -some great, sudden, unexpected catastrophe, which -breaks asunder the associations or institutions in -which the community has lived its mental life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such a disruption may arise from an intensely -malignant epidemic, from war, or from a natural -catastrophe.</p> - -<p class='c010'>An example of the first was the frightful “black -death” which swept over Europe in 1348–50, destroying -nearly a fourth of the whole population. All accounts -agree that the despair and desperation which -accompanied such an unexampled affliction showed -themselves in an abandonment of all restraint, a reckless -indulgence in the wildest debaucheries, an entire -disregard of social restrictions. The same is true of -the “plague and famine” years, 1491–95, when, in the -words of a medical historian, “the corruption of morals -reached a height without parallel in ancient times.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The depressing power of sudden defeat and subjugation -has been repeatedly exemplified. The “spirit -is broken” of the conquered people. Only by such a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>profound mental depravation can we explain why -such a warlike and numerous nation as the Aztecs -sank instantly to be the serfs of a handful of white -conquerors.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A writer on the history of the Christian church -has remarked that “every nation has its peculiar -heresy.” A student of mental pathology might justly -add that every nation has its peculiar form of insanity. -An irrational tendency is present and active -in every community, ever striving to gain the ascendancy, -and when it succeeds, as has often been the -case in history, it makes steadily for the destruction -and extinction of the national existence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The forms of mental alienation are as various in -the collective as in the individual mind, and as they -are extensions of the symptoms seen in the latter, they -may be classified on similar lines. I shall examine -them, therefore, first as they are connected with intellectual -and next with emotional disturbances, in -accordance with the following scheme:</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Ethnic Psychopathic Conditions.</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'>I.—<em>In the Intellectual Life.</em></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017' rowspan='2'>1. Conditions of Deficiency</td> - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>a</em>) Imbecility.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>b</em>) Criminality.</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017' rowspan='2'>2. Conditions of Perversion</td> - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>a</em>) Delusions.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>b</em>) Dominant Ideas.</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c013' colspan='2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>II.—<em>In the Emotional Life.</em></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017' rowspan='3'>1. Conditions of Hypersthenia (active motor states)</td> - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>a</em>) Hysteria.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>b</em>) Exaltation.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>c</em>) Destructive Impulses.</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017' rowspan='2'>2. Conditions of Asthenia (passive sensory states)</td> - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>a</em>) Melancholia (Depression).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - - <td class='blt c018'>(<em>b</em>) Neurasthenia (Exhaustion).</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c010'>I. <span class='sc'>Psychopathic Conditions in the Intellectual -Life</span>—1. <span class='sc'>Conditions of Deficiency.</span>—The intellect -of a group, like that of the individual, has its limits, -beyond which it is not possible to educate it. This -is conspicuously seen in intellects below the normal, -such as in feeble-minded persons. No amount of -training can cure their radical defects and make them -the equals of their average associates. These are instances -of intellectual deficiency. It may express itself -either in some degree of imbecility or in the -active form of criminal habits.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Another class do not seem below the average in -general powers, may, perhaps, appear in various directions -above it; but they have some twist or obliquity -in their mental make-up which separates them -from their fellows, usually to their detriment. In -common life such persons are known as “cranks” or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>“eccentrics,” men of one idea and paranoiacs. They -are examples of intellectual perversion. Ethnic -psychology can also supply abundant instances of -this character.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(a) Imbecility.</em>—To say that there are tribes or -whole peoples actually imbecile would perhaps be -going too far. Yet this has been asserted of some -by competent observers. Mr. Horatio Hale, who -was among the native blacks of Australia, related -that the impression they produced on his mind was -one of “great natural obtuseness, downright childishness, -and imbecility.” The only arguments which -availed with them were “such as we should use -towards a child or a partial idiot.” Mr. Hale attributed -this to generations of semi-starvation and malnutrition, -and was so convinced of this that he believed -the most favoured race would, by similar conditions, -be reduced to the same low intellectual stage.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A prevailing inability to judge of evidence is common -among many peoples and classes, and this is -a marked sign of mental deficiency. They mistake -associations of time and place for relations of cause -and effect, and their reasoning is vitiated in consequence. -Superstition is fostered by this mental -obliquity. The casual objective relation is mistakenly -assumed as the subjective necessity. This is -especially common among savages, and the illiterate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>classes of higher culture. It is a mark of mental inferiority -tending to irrational action and confusion of -thought.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In civilised communities those of the population -who are thus constituted form the “dependent” -class, incapable of making their own living, and supported -either by their families or the state. They -may thus survive and reproduce their kind, but ethnic -groups afflicted with such intellectual retardation -either perish or become subject to those with higher -gifts.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(b) Criminality.</em>—Criminality in its common forms -must be classed as a condition of intellectual deficiency -brought about by one or several of the causes -I have already rehearsed. It is not necessary, here, -to enter into the discussion as to whether a criminal -is born or made, nor do I speak now of those violators -of the law in favour of a higher law, the reformers, -apostles, martyrs to a faith and a truth in advance of -their time and place, nor of those who have yielded -for a moment to some mastering temptation. I speak -of the ordinary criminal who for selfish ends habitually -violates the usages of the group in which he -lives, and to this extent aims at its destruction.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This class cannot be disciplined into the rules -necessary to the peace and welfare of the society in -which they live. Researches on their psychology -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>show them, as a rule, defective in physical sensibility, -more frequently colour-blind, mental instability is always -present, vanity is exaggerated, the emotions -are violent, and the general intelligence is below the -average. We must regard them as pathological, -rapidly approaching a self-destructive degree of degeneration. -When they are numerous in a group it -is a sure sign of its general inferiority.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The most advanced criminologists of to-day have -returned to the opinion advocated a generation ago -by Quetelet in these words: “Society creates the -germs of all crimes which are committed. She instigates -them, and the criminal is merely the instrument -of their execution.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Translated into other words, this means that the -psychic traits of any group are the direct parent of its -anti-social, self-destructive, criminal instincts. To -the extent that such traits are remediable the body -politic is directly responsible for the violations of its -own laws. If left unremedied, the ruin of the group -must follow.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. <span class='sc'>Conditions of Perversion.</span>—Alienists have frequent -occasion to observe cases of mental disease -where all the faculties of the mind seem intact and -equal to the average, except that there is a persistent -irrational delusion on some single point or a few -points; or else the mind is controlled by the insistent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>recurrence of a single idea, which obstinately aims to -govern the whole man. The latter is known as an -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">idée fixe</span></i>, a fixed or dominant idea.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In ethnic psycho-pathology the same conditions -may be constantly observed, and they react on the -character and fate of peoples with visible power. -That which passes under the name of “popular prejudice” -is an example. A community will adopt an -opinion, without reason, and will not permit a discussion -of its merits. Any one not accepting it will be -regarded as a public enemy.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(a) Delusions.</em>—In primitive conditions the most -common delusion is that of the identity of waking -and dream-life. There is no distinction allowed in -the equal reality of both, or, if any, it is in favour -of the superiority of the dream-life, for in dreams the -person seems possessed of powers which he loses on -awakening. So highly are dreams esteemed, that -many savage tribes and many nations of respectable -culture have risked their gravest undertakings on the -interpretation of these visions of the night.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such a delusion is, of course, most contrary to -reason and good order. On account of an inauspicious -dream a Brazilian tribe will desert its village -and its plantations; while if a Kamchatkan dreams -that he has been given another man’s wife, it is held -necessary for public welfare that his dream be realised.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>Another delusion, deeply rooted in the philosophy -of India and which has worked untold misfortunes on -its peoples, is that of the unreality of the distinction -between subject and object—that is, between thought -and the external world. Hence arose the doctrine -that real life is <em>mâyâ</em>, an illusion or deception of the -senses, and its aims and duties unworthy the contemplation -of the true philosopher. The consequent -neglect of the practical duties of life could not fail to -weaken the peoples who juggled with sound reason -in this manner.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A wonderful example of long-persistent delusion -was the Crusades. For nearly two centuries (1095–1289) -the Christian nations of Europe neglected -state and domestic affairs in order to rescue the Holy -Sepulchre from the hands of the infidels. All classes, -from kings to peasants, fell a prey to the same -obsession. It was accompanied by repeated and -unmistakable signs of epidemic manias and neuropathias -unequalled in history. Lykanthropy, in which -the possessed howled and destroyed like wolves, was -extremely common; the dancing mania spread through -wide areas, forcing old and young into wild gestures -and crazy motions; and, stranger than all, young -children were attacked with a mad desire to leave -their homes and to wander forth they knew not -whither. Were they prevented, they pined and died. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>These “children’s crusades” began in Germany in -1212, extended through France, Switzerland, and -Italy, and continued as late as 1418.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(b) Dominant Ideas.</em>—The weightiest topic in universal -history may possibly be the study of dominant -or fixed ideas in ethnic psychology. A philosophic -observer may regard each nation as the destined -representative of some one idea, which, when its -usefulness has ended, yields to others more germane -to existing conditions; and by the successive action -of all, the progress of the species is secured through -the gradual elimination of those which are regressive.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Certain it is that in any group the constituent -minds are controlled at a given time by some one -idea common to all. This is, in one sense, a perversion -of the intellect. The dominant idea assumes -a magnitude out of proportion to its actual value; -and by this disproportion—that is, by the undue attention -it receives, others, often of equal or greater -value to the group, are neglected.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These dominant ideas form the national ideals, -after which the individual lines are consciously patterned, -and by the practical application thus given, -add to the cohesion of the group through the unification -of its members. Acting under natural laws, -common to organic forms as well as to societies, these -ideas are the chief agents in social selection, and thus -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>control almost absolutely the traits and destinies of -nations, as has been traced in a masterly manner by -Vacher de Lapouge.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such ideas are easily recognised in a community. -A slight acquaintance with history and literature -teaches us that the early Romans were exclusively -possessed by the military ideal, the lust of conquest; -that the ideal of the Israelites has always been the -thirst for commercial gain; and that art was the -ruling aim in the palmy days of Greece.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But the finest example that occurs to me of many -different peoples being dominated by a fixed idea is -seen in the votaries of the Mohammedan religion. -They are bound together by one sacred language, in -which one book, the Koran, lays down all law, civil, -criminal, and ecclesiastical, and the expressed dicta of -which set them in sharpest opposition to all who do -not accept it. The religious idea, thus stimulated -out of all proportion to others, has developed in them -a fanatical force which at one time almost enabled -them to conquer the known world, and which has -since resulted in the inevitable decay of their greatest -states, their literature and arts.</p> - -<p class='c010'>II. <span class='sc'>Psychopathic Conditions in the Emotional -Life.</span>—Apart from the perversions of intelligence -which cloud the reasoning faculties of nations, they -are subject to widespread and persistent disturbances -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>of their emotional lives, which frequently react disastrously -on the common weal.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Following the division adopted by some competent -alienists in individual cases, I may with propriety -classify these into two divisions, as they represent, on -the one hand, excessive, misdirected, and morbid -activity, or, on the other, unhealthy depression and -apathy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. <span class='sc'>Conditions of Hypersthenia.</span>—It is a popular -error in scientific circles that diseases of the nervous -system increase with civilisation. The opposite is -true. The lowest stages of culture are far more -pathological than the higher, in this, as well as in -most respects. True that certain neuroses belong to -cultured peoples; but morbid emotional states are -especially prevalent in lower conditions.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(a) Hysteria.</em>—This is well illustrated in the history -of epidemic hysteria. It may occasionally be -seen among ourselves in a hospital ward or at a -camp-meeting; but such outbreaks are sporadic. -They belong in the ethnic temperament of many -tribes of the Malayan and native American races.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The Jesuit fathers described in vivid colours such -outbreaks among the Hurons of Canada, attacking -whole villages and frequently leading to their destruction. -Father de Quen was quite right when -he wrote: “The old saying alleges that every man has -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>a grain of madness in his composition; but this is a -tribe where each has half an ounce.” He correctly -regarded them as in a permanently pathological state.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Quite similar recitals are preserved of such outbreaks -among the Guaranis of Paraguay, and other -primitive stocks, notably the Malay peoples.</p> - -<p class='c010'>From the accounts of travellers it would seem, -contrary to what we might suppose, that such excessive -nervous sensibility is peculiarly present in -extreme northern latitudes, while tropical tribes -are much more liable to conditions of depression. -Castren, who lived long among the northern Sibiric -tribes, dwells with astonishment on their nervous -sensitiveness. A sudden blow on the outside of the -skin yurt will throw its occupants into spasms.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Among these “neuroses of excitement” which -at times seize upon the souls of communities, -none is more inexplicable, and none more fraught -with consequences to world-history than the goading -restlessness which has driven single tribes or -groups of tribes into aimless roving. This <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Wanderlust</span></i> -arises as an emotional epidemic, not by -a process of reasoning. It drives communities from -fixed seats and comfortable homes, transforming -them into migratory and warring hordes.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(b) Exaltation.</em>—Under the heading of exaltation -of nervous impulse the alienist includes a morbid -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>devotion to sexual thoughts and acts (erotomania); -to vanity, ambition, and self-magnification; and those -states of megalomania where the patient is subject -to delusions of greatness, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">idées de grandeur</span></i>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>To all of these we may easily find parallels in -ethnic life. They have all their analogies in tribal -or national history, with consequences as disastrous -as they disclose in the individual.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No more positive examples of erotic mania could -be found in an asylum than those presented by the -whole of some Polynesian tribes. The life of both -sexes was devoted chiefly to the pleasures of the -genital nerves. Societies were formed where such -practices were developed into arts; children before -maturity were initiated into them; and no mode of -excitement, unnatural though it might be, was -omitted or shunned.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The destructive results of such licentiousness in -the history of these tribes, already extinct or nearly -so, need not be insisted upon. But why seek to -demonstrate it from remote times or savage lands? -Within a year a philosophic student, from a wide -range of investigation, has attributed chiefly to the -same pathological cause the deterioration of the leading -so-called Latin nations of Europe in the last two -centuries. In them, says Signor G. Ferrero, the sex -impulse develops earlier, and absorbs and wastes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>the life energies more than in the Teutonic nations, -yielding to the latter the superior place in the -struggle for existence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Another and familiar exemplification of this neuropathic -frame of the ethnic mind is that exaggerated -national boastfulness known (from a soldier under -Bonaparte) as <em>Chauvinism</em>. It is patriotism passed -into mild dementia; so well known that it has a -special name in English also, <em>Jingoism</em>. The profound -conviction that our own country—whichever -that may be—is the greatest in the world, leader of -all in intelligence, power, culture, and vigour, is invariably -and everywhere a mental delusion, a type of -megalomania. Such a notion prepares the way for -increase of ignorance and self-esteem so blind that it -is sure ere long to fall in the pit ever open for fools.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(c) Destructive Impulse.</em> The passion for wanton -destruction may seize equally upon a person or -group. It may be directed toward inanimate objects -or against human life. John Addington Symonds -gives a thrilling sketch of the monster, Ezzelino da -Romano, Vicar of the Emperor Frederick II., in -northern Italy (about 1250). His own passion was -the mutilation, torture, and murder of men, women, -and children. His inordinate cruelty and repeated -massacres led to his becoming the hero of a fiendish -cycle in Italian literature.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>We may call him, if we wish to palliate his monstrous -deeds, a monomaniac; but, as Symonds says, -if we thus excuse him “we shall have to place how -many Visconti, Sforzeschi, Malatesti, Borgias, Farnesi, -etc., in the list of maniacs?” No, it was an -ethnic tendency of Italy at that period, and for long -afterwards, and could be illustrated by scores of -traits from popular as well as princely life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The mania for murder which seized the Parisian -populace in 1793 was a true pathological outburst. -No sense of patriotism thrilled the crowds who ran -by the tumbrils and surrounded the guillotines. It -was hæmatomania, the blood-madness, that was upon -them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The suicidal impulse occasionally assumes an -epidemic form which arises from conditions of the -ethnic life. The aborigines of Cuba when enslaved -by the Spanish conquerors practised self-destruction -on a scale which contributed much to their prompt -extinction. In the city of Frankfort-on-the-Main in -the last century suicide became so frequent among -women that the dead bodies were suspended by the -feet in order to check the impulse in the survivors.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In a less degree the destructive passion directed -against objects, or figuratively against institutions, -known as <em>iconoclasm</em>, is often a mere outburst of unreasoning -emotion. Its energy is misdirected and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>fruitless. What was the result of that which during -the eighth and ninth centuries raged in Constantinople -and Asia Minor? It altered image-worship into -picture-worship, nothing more.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. <span class='sc'>Conditions of Asthenia.</span>—In contrast to the repeated -explosions of nerve force which give rise to -the active motor states of ethnic dementia I have -been considering, are those characterised by a loss of -reaction to stimuli, by passive, merely sensory, -conditions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These are of two varieties, well marked in their -differences, each highly significant in its ethnological -and historic relations. The one is allied to melancholia, -being marked by depression or inaction of the -psychic forces, the other by their exhaustion, by incapacity -for reaction to ordinary stimuli.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(a) Melancholia.</em>—The consequence of mental -shock, I have already pointed out, is to bring about -a sort of mental paralysis, a listless, apathetic state; -and this I have illustrated by some examples.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A touching one is recorded of the Greek colony -which erected the city of Pæstum on the Tyrrhenian -Sea, whose stately ruins still attract thousands of -visitors annually.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A clearly ethnic type of melancholia is <em>nostalgia</em> -or homesickness. Of course it is found in some -degree in all lands, but with some peoples, notably -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>dwellers in high northern latitudes, the Lapps and -Eskimo, it is severe and general. If removed from -their surroundings they mope and die.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>(b) Neurasthenia.</em>—Diseases of nervous and mental -exhaustion belong exclusively among nations of advanced -culture. There are those which have not -merely increased, most of them have originated in -stages of high civilisation; not, as some have falsely -argued, from conditions essential to culture, but to -errors and misdirections in that culture. As, in all -rapid motions, slight deviations entail more serious -consequences than when motion is slow, so, in the -rapid progress of modern times, slight neglects of -hygiene bring about more serious results than in -ruder countries.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This explains the relative increase of some forms -of insanity, of suicide and criminality, and the appearance -of new maladies, such as progressive paralysis, -in civilised centres. They are due to exhaustion of -the nerve centres in those who are not adapted to -bear the strain of contemporary competitive life, or -who, if able, fail to direct their activities in successful -channels.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Another evidence of exhaustion, one which properly -exercises the attention of the student of modern life, -is the progressive distaste for the sex relation, especially -among women. The consequences of this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>mental attitude are the prevalence of spinsterhood -and the limitation of families in marriage, to which I -have already referred. The attraction of the “higher -culture” and of their new facilities for seeing and -enjoying liberty have led to atrophy of the maternal -instinct and of the desire of marriage. This can have -but one result,—the diminution and final extinction -of the group in which it prevails.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is also such an ethnic malady as moral exhaustion. -After a period of intense but ill-regulated -ethical enthusiasm there often follows a reaction, when -all ethical principles are thrown to the winds. This -has been plausibly explained by Dr. Laycock as an -overstimulation of the brain-cells most closely connected -with this class of sentiments, with consequent -exhaustion in transmission to the next generation. -“The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s -teeth are set on edge.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The bigotry of Puritan England in the 17th century -was followed by the laxity of the Restoration.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span> - <h2 class='c008'>PART II<br /> <span class='large'>THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ETHNIC MIND</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span> - <h2 class='c008'><em>INTRODUCTION</em></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>Although, as we have seen, there is no common -measure of Mind and Matter, the connections -between the two are so intimate that, in -organised beings, any change in the one entails a -corresponding change in the other.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is a principle which has long been accepted -in the Science of Man. A quarter of a century ago -Professor Schaffhausen expressed it in these words: -“One of the weightiest doctrines in Anthropology -is the constant correlation between intellectual capacity -and physical organisation.” That branch of -Anthropology called Somatology is devoted to the -investigation of the human body, its measurements, -structure, and functions, as they differ in individuals, -groups, and races, for the purpose of defining and -explaining this correlation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The expressions of the individual mind are largely -the reflex of its environment, of the external impulses, -stimuli, and conditions which surround it. -These are physical, measurable, quantitative, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>therefore within the province of the “natural” -sciences.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In their relation to the individual, they mostly belong -to the domain of “experimental” psychology; -but as they influence the group and decide its constitution -they form an important branch of ethnic -psychology also.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The natural history of the Mind is chiefly the -study of its environments, its <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">milieu</span></i>. But that term -is to be taken in its widest sense.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The nearest environment of my mind is my body. -Indeed, it is the only environment of which I have -positive knowledge. As John Stuart Mill well said, -“I know my own feelings with a higher certainty than -I know aught else.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Hence the physical constitution of the individual -is that which has primary importance.</p> - -<p class='c010'>That may be considered first as an individual -question, without going beyond the circumstances of -the personal life and health, a purely <em>somatic</em> investigation. -We may next inquire how many of his -peculiarities the individual owes to his ancestors, -which will bring up the questions of heredity, hybridity, -and others, including mental as well as -physical traits. His debt is large to these, but still -larger, say some writers, to his contemporaries, the -associates with whom he has been thrown from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>birth. These are his “people,” the “group” of which -he is a member. He is modified in a thousand ways -by this “demographic” environment.</p> - -<p class='c010'>All these—his ancestors, fellows, and his own body—are -“human” influences. Beyond them lies the -great world of other beings and of unconscious forces, -the animals and plants, the land and water, the clime -and spot, which make up his “geographic” environment. -How dependent is he upon these! How -utterly they often control his thoughts and actions!</p> - -<p class='c010'>Each of these I shall endeavour to estimate in their -influence on the individual, not as an individual, but -as a member of a group; and on the group itself, as -an independent, psychic entity, nowise identical in -character with any individual.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER I<br /> <span class='large'><em>THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOMATIC ENVIRONMENT</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>The human body is an “organism” each part of -which is in vital relation to the whole, and is influenced -by the condition of every other part. This is -true of function as well as structure, for function, after -all, is merely the term we give to structure in action. -Mentality, psychical activity, is a function, and, like -all others, is organically conditioned by the whole -organism and its several parts. To understand the -influence of the body on the mind, therefore, we -should consider in such relation each of the physiological -“systems” which make up the organic life. -For my present purpose, however, it will be sufficient -to select those most closely related to mental activity.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Brain.</em>—The learned of all times have sought -to find “the seat of the soul.” Primitive men generally -placed it in the liver or in the heart; but anatomists -have been long agreed that it must be somewhere -in the head. The latest word from them is that it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>resides in the nerve cells of the grey matter of the -brain, in the number and activity of the “pyramid-neurons” -there situate, and probably in their capacity -to send out shoots or branches.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This intimate, ultimate, structure and potency establishes -the difference between the intellectual faculties -of species and individuals. In the lower animals -these cells are few and scattered, and their proliferations -short and simple. In man the cells increase in -number and their extensions become long and complex. -They are more abundant when the grey matter -is ample, as is the case where the convolutions are -intricate.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Up to a recent period it was supposed that the -weight or size of the brain was the chief physical element -in mental superiority. It is now known, that -has little to do with it. Not a few men of distinguished -parts, such as Liebig, Gambetta, Tiedemann, -etc., have had brains decidedly below the average in -weight, while, on the other hand, many with large -brains have led unimportant lives. This is also the -case with races, for although the African negro is -below the European in his cranial capacity, the Fuegian, -decidedly below the African in mental development, -has a brain larger than either of the other races. -Obviously, both the cubical content and weight of the -brain depend much on the general size, stature, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>weight of the body; and no one has been found who -pretends that the biggest man is also the ablest.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We are almost compelled, therefore, to accept as -correct the conclusion reached by Lapouge and others, -that not the size but the molecular constitution of the -brain is finally decisive of intellectual power; and this -is a trait which up to the present time has eluded -analysis.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is not inconsistent with holding that where -other proportions are the same, a larger, more complex -brain is generally significant of higher mental -powers; and that a well-balanced skull, with orthognathic -features and moderate facial development, -are indications favourable for the psychical possessions -of the individual or the group.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The <em>shape</em> would seem to be more significant than -the weight of the brain. Of all the elements of gross -cerebral anatomy it appears to be that most indicative -of mental power.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is a recent discovery of craniologists, the entire -meaning of which has not yet been worked out. -It is due to the researches of Ammon and Lapouge -within the last decade, and to the anthropologist -promises solutions of various obscure problems in the -cultural growth of the species.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These observers have ascertained, by many thousand -measurements on the living and the dead, that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>those persons who, as a class, are best adapted to the -high and continued strain of modern city and competitive -life, have skulls in that shape termed “subdolichocephalic,” -which means that their brains have -a prevailing and fixed spatial relation of their parts, -a relation, no doubt, which is the most favourable to -the general and prolonged activity of those nerve -cells which we know are the seat of psychical function.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such persons in youth stand at the head in the -school, they take the prizes in examinations, they -carry off the honours in intellectual contests, they are -leaders in the learned professions, they are the self-created -“upper class,” and, what is equally noteworthy, -in the unhealthy atmosphere of great cities -they outlive their associates with other shapes of -brain.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But these observers also note that while these -somewhat long-skulled persons have such intellectual -and even physical advantages in the struggle for -existence, they are deficient in others, which, under -some circumstances, are even more necessary to -success.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The same extended series of measurements and -comparisons show that those whose brains are -rounder in form—more brachycephalic—prove generally -superior in technical skill, in industry, and in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>perseverance. They are less adventurous, they lack -imagination and the stimulus of the ideal, they are -narrow and formalists; but they shine in the bourgeois -virtues of capacity for steady work, of devotion -to hearth and home, in respect for settled government, -stable laws, and ancestral institutions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This favourable brain shape is, in Europe, often correlated -with the blonde type, light hair, and grey or -blue eyes; but whether this is anything more than a -local peculiarity remains in doubt.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Ammon has pointed out, however, that these traits, -where they have been united in history, have marked -a daring, energetic, progressive stock, one fertile in -bold explorers, conquerors, and thinkers. Such was -the type of the ancient Aryans, who became the ruling -race wherever they carried their victorious standard, -“not through numbers, longevity, or fertility, but -through the consequences of ‘natural selection.’” -Professor Lapouge has further shown that in southern -France, where the local aristocracy rose from the -same stock as the peasantry by superior personal -ability, a notable difference is observable between the -skull-shapes of the two classes, the crania of the -“gentlemen” being considerably longer in proportion -to width than those of the peasantry.</p> - -<p class='c010'>They are well suited for village life and agricultural -occupations; but, subjected to the stress and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>strain of great cities, they die out in the third -generation.<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c014'><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c010'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. These deductions were based on many thousand observations in France, -Switzerland, and Germany, and are undoubtedly true for the places and periods -in which they were conducted; but it has not been shown that they are generally -applicable in other areas. Some observers (Livi, Lombroso) have not -accepted them for Italy. The opposition they have met in France from -Fouillée and others is merely sentimental.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>When it is remembered that whole nations, stocks, -races, are characterised by the prevalence of one or -other of these skull-forms, it is at once seen that a -physical basis is here presented for ethnic psychology -worthy of attentive study. These authors have, in -fact, applied their conclusions in this direction; but, -concerning themselves chiefly with the mixed populations -of European states, have been principally occupied -with the “social selections” which may be attained -in such communities from this cause.</p> - -<p class='c010'>While the skull-form thus becomes distinctive of -brains possessing or lacking certain faculties, it must -not be supposed that this relation is an essential one. -The brain will perform its work without reference to -the shape of the skull. This is proved by the many -tribes who have artificially deformed the head in obedience -to fashion or superstition. In America it is -noteworthy that the crania thus malformed to the utmost -degree are precisely those of the nations of the -highest civilisation—the Mayas of Central America -and the Quechuas of Peru.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span><em>The Nervous System.</em>—Professor Haeckel, in his -lectures on “anthropogeny,” lays down the maxim, -“All soul-functions or psychical activities depend -directly on the structure and composition of the nervous -system.” This is illustrated by the biological -development of the nerves of special sense,—of sight, -hearing, taste, and smell. Originally they were all -indifferent touch-nerves, and by slow degrees in indefinite -time developed their specific reactions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>They are yet by no means the same in all persons, -as everyone knows. They also differ widely in groups, -nations, and races. The study of the “reaction-times” -of the principal races has occupied Cattell, -Bache, and other psychologists. The sense of taste is -notably different. An Eskimo finds pleasure in castor -oil and a Kamchatkan in eating rotten fish. The -Annamite is almost insensible to pain from wounds, -but suffers intensely from moderate cold and is -acutely affected by odours. The Fuegian can sleep -naked on the snow with comfort, but is easily disturbed -by noises.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The intellectual differences between both individuals -and races arise not so much from relative mental -capacity as from varying reaction to mental stimuli. -They all have pretty much the same power to pursue -knowledge, if they choose to exert it. The difference -is one involving the general nerve-tracts. Perception -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>and attention were the forces which in the history of -organisms developed all the special senses from nerves -of touch; and the growth of the intellect is consequently -closely conditioned by the qualities of nerve-sensations.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Osseous System.</em>—To be asked to define the -ethnic life of a group from the bones exhumed in its -cemeteries would seem a hopeless task. Yet it is -possible, for on the osseous system the whole bodily -structure is built up, and the activity of the brain is -conditioned.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Races differ in their skeletons. That of the African -black is heavy, the flat bones thick, the pelvis narrow, -and presents many peculiarities which are termed -“pithecoid” or ape-like. Contrasting with these are -small-boned, delicately formed skeletons of the Indonesians -and Japanese, resembling those of the female -in other stocks. It would not be difficult to bring the -ethnic into relation to these skeletal traits.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Professor Hervé, of the School of Anthropology of -Paris, has argued that the presence of the “Wormian -bones” and the complexity of the cranial sutures are -a measure of the rapidity of brain-development, and -consequently a criterion of mental activity in a stock. -This can scarcely be accepted, for we are not sure -that the rapidity of bone-formation bears any ratio to -the growth of the brain-cells; but it is not rash to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>argue that a people whose bones are largely diseased -must have lived in unhygienic conditions, and had -become degenerate in mind as well as body.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such is the case with the skeletons of that wholly -unknown tribe who once densely peopled the Salt -River valley in Arizona, and of those who dwelt near -the great cemetery of Ancon in Peru. About one-third -of the skeletons present pathological features -indicating long-continued defective nutrition or widespread -disease. No wonder that both stocks perished -off the earth. Though at one time singularly advanced, -they had sunk into complete degeneracy.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Muscular System; Height and Weight.</em>—There is -a relation between height, weight, and mental power, -true for the individual and the group. This is not -mysterious, as all three depend upon nutrition. Physiologists -lay down ratios of height, weight, and age -which are requisite to the highest health, mental and -physical.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We may go further, and say that any marked aberration -from the average of the species in these respects -is accompanied by some equally noticeable psychical -peculiarity. Dwarfs have often acute minds, but -rarely deep affections.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Inferior stature is often an ethnic trait. The central -African pygmies, the Lapps, and the Bushmen -are familiar examples. Mr. Haliburton has recorded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>others in the Atlas and Pyrenean mountains; and -Dr. Collignon reports the diminution in height in -some districts of central France.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The explanation of all is the same—lack of proper, -regular, and sufficient alimentation. They are, as the -Germans say, <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Kümmerformen</span></i>, products of wretchedness. -The shortest of the Bushmen are also the -most miserable—those living amid the barren sands -of the Kalihari desert.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The reaction of such prolonged semi-starvation on -the functions of the brain-cells leads to psychical -dwarfishness. None of these undersized stocks have -gained a position in history or contributed to the -culture of humanity. They have been unequal in -physical strife, and have been forced to the wall.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Reproduction.</em>—The reproductive function in its -various manifestations exerts an enormous influence -on the individual mind, and exhibits broad racial and -ethnic distinctions. Its power is scarcely less operative -in the fate of nations than of persons, and its -reflection in the mind of groups deserves closest -attention.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The period of puberty changes widely the direction -of the thoughts, and the character frequently undergoes -a complete transformation. Children previously -studious lose interest in their lessons, while others -pursue them with greatly increased devotion. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>sexual emotions, which mark the epoch, may absorb -the whole being or merely stimulate it to higher -efforts.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The age at which puberty begins varies, following -the general law that the higher the annual temperature -the earlier in life does the change set in. This -becomes of psychical interest when it is added that -the earlier the change the more intense and permeating -are the erotic passions; the more do they compel -to their sway the other emotions and the intellect.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Only two motives, observes Professor Friedrich -Müller, can induce the Australian or the typical -African to prolonged labour,—hunger and the sex -passion. Civilised communities are measurably lifted -above the immediate struggle for food, but not in -the least above the other impulse. If you could -learn the prime motive, says Dr. Van Buren, of the -presence of the crowds of men on Broadway, you -would find ninety per cent. of them are there through -sex feeling.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The sentiments of love, of marital and parental affection, -of family life, control mankind more completely -than any other motives. These are physical, -personal feelings, and to that extent narrow and in -conflict with many which are broader and more -altruistic. Few persons can advance beyond them, -and the collective mind is obliged by the laws of its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>own existence to register them as of the very first -importance.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The power of a group is, other things being equal, -in proportion to the size of the group, and its increase -in numbers is in geometrical proportion to its -fecundity, provided the food-supply remains sufficient.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These are two closely related and essential factors -to advance, and have been so felt from man’s earliest -infancy. The complicated systems of marriage and -relationship in vogue among the Australian and -other rude tribes arose from the effort to adjust the -birth-rate to the available amount of food. Many -of the forms of marriage arose from the same consideration. -In polygamous countries most men are -monogamous because they cannot keep large families. -Legal infanticide, exposure of the new-born, -as in China, is another effort in the same direction. -Where such measures are not legalised they reappear -in other guises. Artificial abortion and intentional -limitation of families are frequent in France and the -United States. They are outcrops of a sentiment of -self-protection which has been familiar to the species -from its beginning.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Sex feeling belongs distinctly to the animal and -emotional side of human nature. Where it is the -dominating motive, neither individual nor group can -attain the highest development. This is noticeably -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>the case in the African. Coloured children in our -public schools are equal to their white associates up -to the age of puberty. But that change is more -profound in the African than in the European constitution. -After it has occurred, the difference in -favour of the white children becomes very apparent. -Their mental world is not so invaded by thoughts -of sex, and they are more inclined to study.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In a less degree, as I have before remarked, the -same contrast exists between the Teutonic and Latin -peoples of Europe, and has been acknowledged to -have resulted in decided advantages for the former.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Virility—that is, the reproductive potency in the -male—bears no relation to the strength of the erotic -passion.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In some the passion of sexual love is little more -than an appetite. Satisfied, it is indefinitely quiescent, -not entering into the general life; or, if it at -times fires the emotions, they are easily restrained or -banished by the exercise of other mental powers. -This has been the case with many eminent men of -notoriously ardent temperaments but never subdued -by them (Byron, Goethe).</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is also an ethnic trait, a characteristic of the -Teutonic blood, in sharp contrast to the so-called -Latin peoples. With the latter, as is obvious from -the literature, the erotic feeling is an enduring and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>overmastering passion, colouring the intelligence and -often absorbing into itself the activities of the life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As virility in man, so fecundity in woman has no -relation to sex feeling; or, if any, in a reverse degree.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The famous calculations of Malthus, which cannot -be disproved, and which have been confirmed by the -latest statistics, show that this fear of population -transcending the food-supply is real and ever present. -Where it is not immediate, as in modern life, it is -nevertheless near and visible in the division of the -parental property among a large family of children; -in the increased difficulties of properly educating such -a family and giving each a proper position and start -in life; and in providing for such as are feeble or incompetent. -This effort, extended throughout a community, -means more intense competition, a more bitter -struggle for property, a more constant occupation with -sordid details, to the neglect of reflection, study, and -abstract thought.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Reproduction, therefore, to its utmost limits, would -be of no advantage to a community, but decidedly -deleterious. Its effect on the collective mind would -be lowering, as it would centre the general attention -on material aims and personal interests.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Nor is the individual who would direct his activities -by the highest motives at all compelled to increase -his kind. The accessory demands upon his time and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>powers which such an action usually entails, would -probably hinder him in his efforts. Darwin forcibly -stated this in his <cite>Descent of Man</cite>. He imagines a man -who, not compelled by any deep feeling, yet sacrifices -his life for the good of others through the love of glory. -“His example would excite the same wish for glory -in other men and would strengthen by exercise the -noble feeling of admiration. He might thus do far -more good to his tribe than by begetting offspring -with a tendency to inherit his own high character.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>If this is true of one governed by a motive confessedly -not the highest, how much more true of him or -her whose soul is fired with a devotion to the truth of -science or to the welfare of the race!</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Feminism.</em>—The physical contrast of the sexes -belongs to all mammals, to birds, and to most of the -animal kingdom. The female is generally smaller, -lighter, with lines more graceful and delicate. This -is true, as a rule, in all races of men and held good for -the earliest tribes whose skeletons have been preserved. -Yet the contrast in man is so far from positive -that the anatomist knows no criteria to establish -the sex from the bones except the more obtuse angle -of the rami of the pubes in the female; and even this -is obliterated in some branches of the human race, -the Indo-Chinese, for example, where the rami meet -in both sexes at about the same angle (Hervé).</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>The tendency to “feminism” is not unusual in -the white race as an individual peculiarity; and is -especially prominent as a racial trait in the Asiatic or -Mongolian branch of our species. They have sparse -beards, little hair on the body but much and strong -on the head, and the features of the sexes are similar. -In many respects they display feminine traits of -character, being industrious, sedentary, and peace-loving, -receptive but not originative, ruled by -emotion, and easily brought under the influence of -nervous impressions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Women have much less variability than men; they -are precocious, and their growth more rapid, but the -arrest of development arrives with them sooner. -They remain near the child type throughout their -lives.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Mr. Havelock Ellis has argued that for this reason -they are nearer the future type of the species, and -that the results of modern civilisation are to render -men more feminine in occupations, character, appearance, -and anatomy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It would be more correct to say that as civilisation -advances the distinctions between the sexes erected -by conditions of lower culture tend to disappear, each -sex gaining much from the other without forfeiting -that which is peculiarly its own.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The masculine woman and the feminine man are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>erratic, often degenerate types. The tendency to -“homosexuality” (or to “non-sexuality”) has appeared -from time to time as an ethnic trait. It was -notorious in ancient Greece and mediæval Italy, and -in both cases presaged deterioration.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Vital Powers.</em>—Health is one trait; tenacity -of life another. Feeble and sickly people sometimes -reveal a surprising vitality; others, who are -hale and athletic, succumb to slight attacks. The -American Indian, when he falls ill, gives up and dies; -while Europeans, though increasingly requiring -medical attention, are growing in longevity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This physical fact has a noticeable bearing on -ethnic psychology. Where the old survive, the property -and the management of society usually rest -in their hands. The traits of age are reflected on -the collective mind. It is cautious, perhaps to -timidity, slow in action, avoiding strife. These are -the traits of Chinese diplomacy, in which country -not only is longevity considerable, but the respect -for the old passes into veneration.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As a rule, the lower forms of culture are associated -with the shortest lives. The Australian is a Nestor -who reaches fifty years. Early maturity and early -decay mark inferior and degenerate stages of society. -Hence they are guided by inexperienced minds and -by the emotional characters of youth.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span><em>Temperament.</em>—The ancient physicians had much -to say about “temperaments,” classifying them usually -as four, the sanguine, bilious, nervous, and phlegmatic. -Both modern medicine and psychology have -rejected these as a basis of classification, but acknowledge -that there lies an important truth in the ancient -doctrine.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Professor Wundt, for example, defines temperament -from the psychological standpoint as “an individual -tendency to the rise of a certain mental -state,” and Manouvrier, recognising the intimate -relationship of mind and body, explains it as “an ensemble -of physical and mental traits arising from -fundamental constitutional differences” in individuals.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Confining myself to the psychological aspect of -temperament, I should call it the personal mode of -reaction to different classes of stimuli. It is the general -disposition of the mind, the individual way of -looking at things, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">l’humeur habituelle</span></i>, and is independent -of sentiments, ideas, or knowledge. It is the -psychic resultant of the whole organic life of the individuals. -In this sense, the distinctions of temperaments -are justified, as they depend on the dominance -of one or the other of the physiological systems—circulatory, -alimentary, nervous, genital, etc.—in the -economy.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Various writers (Manouvrier, Ribot, Kant) have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>adopted as the measure of temperaments and the -principle of their classification, the one standard of -<em>energy</em>; in other words, molecular change. They -speak of sthenic and hypersthenic temperaments, active -and passive, etc.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I doubt if this is correct in physiology, and it is -certainly not so in psychology. Men of all temperaments -may be equally energetic, equally active in -life-work. That is an old observation. The measure -or standard should be, not energy, but that general -mental condition called <em>happiness</em>. That is the popular -distinction, and it is the true one. When we speak -of a sanguine, bilious, cheerful, gloomy, temperament, -we refer to a general and characteristic mental attitude, -with reference to individual happiness.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Rabelais could joke on his death-bed, but Byron, -young, rich, and courted, could find no theme for -song but sorrow.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The phlegmatic temperament is supposed not to -enjoy keenly, but also not to suffer keenly. The sanguine -temperament is not easily cast down by adversity, -while the bilious or melancholic person is little -capable of appreciating the joyous side of life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These ancient terms may not be acceptable to modern -science; but the truths on which they are based -are acknowledged by all authorities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>They interest us here, because a group has its temperament -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>as much as an individual, drawn, no doubt, -from that prevailing among its members, but noticeably -strengthened by the inherent forces of ethnic -psychics.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The recognition of this is seen in common parlance -when we speak of the phlegmatic Dutchman, the gay -Frenchman, etc.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such popular characterisations may not be accurate, -but they serve to show that the fact of a national -temperament has unconsciously made itself felt.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It does not seem dependent either on nutrition, -geographic position, or history; and it is hereditary -and constant. Thus the Eskimos, living amid eternal -snows, with a limited diet and a desperately hard -struggle for existence, have a singularly cheerful disposition, -loving to talk, laugh, and indulge in pleasant -social intercourse. On the other hand, the -Cakchiquels of Guatemala, living amid the most -beautiful and fertile tracts in the world, are chronically -morose and gloomy. Their temperament is reflected -in their language, which, as the late Dr. -Berendt remarked, is as singularly rich in terms for -sad emotions as it is poor for those of a joyous -character.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is no doubt that a cheerful mental disposition -is in itself a defence against the attacks of disease. -Seeland, in his anthropologic studies of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>question, found that persons of a cheerful temperament -are, in an extended series, physically stronger -than those who are melancholic, in the proportion of -148:135; though whether this should be regarded as -cause or consequence is open to construction; and, -while fully recognising the actuality of national temperaments, -he adds that an analysis of them, with a -view to defining their causes, is still far from practicable. -The important conclusion which he reaches, -however, is that the happier temperament corresponds -to the higher degree of health, and that, in comparison, -that which tends to the melancholic is morbid, a -pathologic product, an indication of degeneration.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Regarded as a national question, we derive from -this that the calm and the cheerful temperaments are -those which promise most success and permanence.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER II<br /> <span class='large'><em>ETHNIC MENTAL DIVERSITY FROM COGNATIC CAUSES</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>In the last chapter I have considered the individual -in his relation to the group simply as an isolated -unit, with his own powers and weaknesses.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Both of these, however, he derives largely from his -ancestors, through the fact that he is born a member -of a particular species, race, and family. Such traits -react powerfully on his mental life, and, indeed, in -themselves force him into relation with a human -group, his cognatic or kindred associates.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The ethnic psychologist must therefore devote to -them insistent attention. For convenience of study -the facts may be grouped under three headings, -Heredity, Hybridity, and Racial Pathology.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Heredity.</em>—In body and mind, the child resembles -his parents, the individual his ancestors. This is the -principle of fixity of type, the permanence of species.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Neither in body or mind is the child ever exactly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>like his parents or either one of them. Differences -are always visible. This is the principle of constant -variation, at the basis of the unending transformations -of organic forms.</p> - -<p class='c010'>On these two principles rests the law of Evolution, -which may be progressive or regressive, that is, -toward greater complexity and specialisation or toward -simplicity and homogeneity. Of these two -principles, one is real, the other merely apparent,—the -negative or minus quantity of the other, as cold is to -heat or darkness to light. Which is the real?</p> - -<p class='c010'>The question is not idle, for upon its correct decision -depends the accuracy of our views of organic -life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>So long as the doctrine of the immutability of -species was accepted, everyone believed in the fixity -of type as the prime law. When Lamarck and Darwin -had undermined that position, and up to a very -recent date, the two principles were considered somehow -equal, dual conflicting forces, the fixity of -type being a passive result of the action of the -“environment.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The unphilosophical character of such a conception -of facts has now become apparent, at least to a -few. The true positive of the two forces is change, -variation. This is the one, fundamental, essential -characteristic of living matter. Every element of an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>organism that is not ceaselessly changing ceases to -be living, vital.</p> - -<p class='c010'>“Hereditary,” therefore, is a merely negative expression. -It means a diminution, not a cessation of -change. Inherited traits are those in which the rate -of variability has been so reduced that they reappear -by repetition in several or many generations. Every -one of them began in some single individual, was due -to a definite exciting cause, and was transmitted by -the route of reproduction. Hence inherited traits -have been properly termed “secondary variations.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The long discussion whether acquired characters -can be inherited has virtually been decided in favour -of the opinion that every character, whether racial or -specific, was originally acquired by a single person -or persons and transmitted by them. The data of -pathology admit of no doubt on this point, and pathology -is but one of the aspects of general organic -development.</p> - -<p class='c010'>That not every acquired character can be transmitted -goes without saying; and it is equally true -that hereditary traits vary widely in their capacity for -survival. So evident is this that they have been -classified by observers into “strong” and “weak” -traits, the latter betraying a feebleness of self-perpetuation -compared to the former.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I have been discoursing of physical heredity and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>some of its observed laws. This has not been beside -the mark; for I repeat that the correlation between -body and mind is absolute. Psychical traits are -passed down from generation to generation hand in -hand with physical peculiarities. Men are what they -are in good measure because they are born so. About -this the students of heredity are unanimous and positive. -Hence the necessity in ethnic psychology of -learning the laws of physical heredity and applying -them to the history of the mind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>An example will illustrate this.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There is a curious manifestation of transmission -called “homochronous” heredity. The adjective -signifies that a trait which appears first at a certain -age in the parent will also appear first at about the -same age in the offspring. A familiar physiological -example is the date of the beginning and the end of -the reproductive period in women. Inherited tendencies -to disease will recur in the offspring at the -age they revealed themselves in the parent. This is -strikingly true of mental traits, especially those which -are degenerative.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Even in the mixed populations of modern states, the -connection of mental with physical heredity is manifest. -Commenting on the population of France, Dr. -Collignon observes: “To the difference of races, a -purely anatomical fact attested by the form of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>skull, the colour of the eyes and hair, and similar -bodily traits, there corresponds a cerebral difference, -which shows itself in the prevailing direction of the -thoughts, and in special aptitudes.” These contrasts -are shown by the statistics of Jacoby, who examined -the birth and lineage of the most eminent men of -France in all departments of activity. He found that -the Normans were decidedly ahead in the exact sciences -and practical affairs, while in poetry, romance, -and works of imagination in general the people of the -Midi were far superior to them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Heredity is believed to present itself in another -aspect, which has excited much attention. I refer to -that form of it called “atavism” or “ancestral reversion,” -or “retrogression,” in which a child “takes -after,” not his immediate parents, but some remote -ancestor; even, as has been often claimed, so remote -as beyond the limits of our own species. Such traits -have been called “pithecoid” (ape-like) reversions, -as they are alleged to be derived from some four-footed -precursor of man, an ape, or even a lemur.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Evolutionists whose enthusiasm transcended their -discretion have pointed out many such features in the -human skeleton. A few years ago (1894) I gathered -these together, and in a paper read before the American -Association for the Advancement of Science, I -undertook to prove that these features can be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>satisfactorily explained by mechanical and functional -processes acting in the individual life or in that of his -immediate ancestors, and that we have no occasion to -appeal to hypotheses of descent, which have, at least, -never been proved. Other American anatomists -(Bowditch, Baker) endorsed and supported by further -evidence this position, so that physical anthropologists, -in our country at least, have said less about atavism -than formerly; and the final blow to it has been dealt -quite lately by a Dutch writer, Dr. Kohlbrügge. -He has established the thesis that “all so-called atavistic -anomalies are meaningless for the race-type. -They are brought about by arrests of development or -general variability. They depend on disturbances of -nutrition, leading to excess or deficiency of productive -energy, presenting a deceptive appearance of progressive -or retrogressive evolution.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The consideration of these questions in physical -heredity is necessary in psychology, whether individual -or ethnic, not merely because the laws of -physical run parallel to those of psychical life, but as -well for the valuation of those expressions about -“men recurring to their brute ancestors” in habits or -feelings, so frequent in popular literature.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Hybridity.</em>—The intermixture of human races or -stocks, human hybridity as it is sometimes called, has -been recognised by all anthropologists to be a prime -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>factor in ethnic psychology, in the psychical history -of Man.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But, strange to say, the opinions about its results -could not have been more divergent. On the one -hand we have a corps of authors, Gobineau, Nott, -Broca, Hovelacque, Hervé, etc., who condemn the -admixture of human races as leading inevitably to -mental and physical degeneration, infertility, and -extinction.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In direct contradiction to them we find the not -less distinguished names of Quatrefages and Bastian, -who maintain not only that such “miscegenation” is -harmless, but that it has been the main factor of -human intellectual progress! That owing chiefly to -it certain tribes and nations have by unconscious -selection drawn to themselves the strong qualities of -many lines of blood, and thus won the foremost place -in the struggle for existence. This was notably the -opinion of Quatrefages, who defended the thesis, -“In race-mingling the crossing is unilateral and is -directed under unconscious selection toward the superior -race.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is supported by many well-known examples. -In our own country, the superiority of the mulatto to -the full-blood negro is proved by history and is familiar -to all observers; and Dr. Boas has shown by -statistical researches that the half-blood Indian is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>mentally superior to his companion of pure lineage, -while the half-blood Indian women, instead of revealing -diminished fertility, average two more children to a -marriage than their red sisters of unmixed lineage.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But it will not do to ignore the array of facts of -contrary tenor which has been marshalled to show -that in divers instances the result of race-mixture has -been disastrous.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Many of these may easily be explained by the unfortunate -social condition of children in such unions, -mostly illegitimate, or at odds with extreme poverty -and its ill surroundings. If they do inherit an increased -ability, it is, under modern conditions, more apt to be -directed against than in favour of the social order.</p> - -<p class='c010'>After all such allowances, there remains a residue -unexplained by them, and inconsistent with the general -theory of advantage in race-intermixture.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The solution of this problem is to be found in the -operation of an obscure but certain law of heredity -which has been demonstrated by the best modern -observers.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This reads that in the struggle for transmission -between contrary characteristics in the parents, any -trait, mental or physical, may be passed down separately, -<em>independently of others</em>.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Thus, on the physical side, the father may have -red, the mother black, hair. The children will inherit, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>not a blended colour, but some the red, some -the black hair. Or, let us say, one parent has marked -musical ability, the other none. Some of the children -will have as much as the gifted parent, the others be -devoid of the faculty.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is essential, also, to remember that it is the inferior -race only which reaps the psychical advantage. -Compared to the parent of the higher race, the children -are a deteriorated product. Only when contrasted -with the average of the lower race can they be -expected to take some precedence. The mixture, if -general and continued through generations, will infallibly -entail a lower grade of power in the descendant. -The net balance of the two accounts will show -a loss when compared with the result of unions among -the higher race alone.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This consideration has led a recent writer, Dr. -Reibmayr, to a theory of ethnic mental development -which merits close attention.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A family, tribe, caste, or race, to preserve and -increase its faculties must sedulously avoid intermarriage -with one of inferior gifts. The value of “breeding -in-and-in” is familiar to all interested in the -improvement of the lower animals. This was attained -in primitive life by the tribal law of endogamous -marriages, by which a man must take his wife -within the tribe, but not of his immediate blood.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>The superiority which this developed led to the -subjection of other tribes, and this, through capture -and enslavement of the women, to intermixture of -blood, with its above mentioned first consequences: -deterioration of power in the captors, and, next, elevation -of the lower, conquered tribe.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The former was sometimes counteracted by the -maintenance of purity of blood in a portion of the -community, which thus became the ruling class; and -if this did not take place, the tribe itself soon fell -beneath the sway of some neighbour which had maintained -its lineage more purely.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Thus, says Dr. Reibmayr, the history of human -mental development is, in fact, the history of human -hybridity and its necessary consequences.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Thus it appears that the reciprocal action of these -two genetic processes, the one of close and closer -interbreeding, the other of wide and wider intermixture -of blood, is the prime element in modifying the -psychical faculties,—in other words, in creating and -moulding the ethnic mind.</p> - -<p class='c010'>How weighty this consideration becomes when we -reflect that throughout historic times, that is, from -the earliest dawn of civilisation, the subspecies of -man have ever been as clearly contrasted in every -feature as they are to-day! The oldest monuments -of Egypt and Assyria show their portraits as typical -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>as if carved or painted yesterday. No boreal fountain -can wash the Ethiopian white; no kisses of -tropical Phœbus could turn Cleopatra black.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We are constrained to adopt, therefore, the principle -formulated by Orgeas, that, so far as history -knows, “the races of men have never altered their -traits except through intermarriage.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The physical criteria of race, such as the colour of -the skin, the hair, the shape of the skull, the odour of -the glands, are well marked in the gross. I have -examined their relative values for purposes of classification -in another work, and need not repeat the -details here. But the question is pertinent: Are -there psychological distinctions separating the subspecies -of man as clearly as those of his physical -economy?</p> - -<p class='c010'>Conflicting answers have been and still are offered -to this inquiry. By some the mental powers of the -races are asserted to be as sharply contrasted as their -personal appearance, and the gulf between them to -be practically impassable.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I have already said that nothing in the minute or -gross anatomy of the brain can be offered to support -this view. The contributions to the general culture -of the species have been markedly unequal; but may -not this be explained by other reasons than inherent -physical inequalities?</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>I have already expressed the opinion that human -groups have differed less in inherent psychical capacity -than in stimuli and opportunities. Such, also, is -the belief of that profound student of human development, -Professor Bastian. He claims that convincing -evidence in favour of such a view can be drawn from -the uniformity in the development of thoughts, inventions, -customs, religions, and the other elements of -culture the world over, up to a certain point at which -other intercurrent influences entered, not dependent -on race distinctions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>After a prolonged study of primitive peoples the -anthropologist Waitz reached the conclusion that -there is not and never was any positive difference in -the intellectual power of races; and the historian -Buckle, reviewing the record of the species in time, -announced his conviction that “the natural faculties -of man have made no progress.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>In abundant instances the children of savage parents -have been brought up in civilised surroundings and -have shown themselves equal and occasionally superior -to their comrades of the so-called higher race in all -the tastes of cultured society. It were useless, therefore, -to talk of an average natural inferiority.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The attainment of a possible average, therefore, -must be conceded. But this must not be construed -as closing the question historically or psychically.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>It is constantly observed in education that children -of equal ability are by no means equally good scholars. -They respond differently to the stimulus of the -desire of knowledge.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such contrasts are witnessed in races also, and, -apart from whatever other influences we may name, -are hereditary characteristics, recurring indefinitely -and controlling the racial mind, its activities and its -ambitions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>So visible are the mental differences of races that -some writers have advocated a psychological classification -in anthropology. Professor Letourneau has -attempted it in one of his many treatises.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Pathology.</em>—But it is not sufficient in this study of -racial psychology to recount what a race has done -and left undone in the work of the world. We must -also turn a gloomier page and take into account the -pathological mental symptoms it betrays; for these -may be indicative of a disease so deep seated and so -fatal that the doom of the race is inevitable. When -we see whole peoples dying out, not through external -violence, but through some internal lack of vital force -or adaptability, as in the instances of the Tasmanians, -Australians, Polynesians, and American Indians, we -may be sure that either in mind or body they are the -victims of some deep-seated, fatal disease.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Most writers, treating the subject superficially, have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>sought for the cause of the decline and destruction of -peoples in the decay of their institutions, in the immorality -of their lives, in their apathy to danger, or -in the loss of their ambitions. These are but symptoms -of the mental or physical malady which, “mining -all within, infects unseen.” They are the results -of the incurable ailment which is hurrying them to -destruction. Dr. Orgeas is right in his contention -that “the pathological characteristics of peoples have -played leading parts in the grand dramas of history, -though they have too often escaped the observation -of historians.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>It finds its expressions in such phenomena as -Ratzel enumerates as the cause of the deaths of -peoples—restlessness, indifference to life, debauchery, -infanticide, murder, cannibalism, constant war, slavery, -laziness. When these are carried to the extent of reducing -the personal and numerical vigour of a tribe or race, -it indicates that its intellect is awry, its mind is diseased.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Thus the ineradicable restlessness of the red race, -which more than any other one trait has stood in the -way of their self-culture, belongs in the pathology of -their nervous system. As Dr. Buschan points out, -and as I have elsewhere emphasised, they are especially -subject to “diseases of excitement,” contagious -nervous disorders, leading to scenes of the wildest -riot and tribal loss.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>They share this pathological condition with the -Malayo-Polynesian peoples of the Pacific island-world. -Among them both we find numerous examples of that -outbreak of homicidal mania called “running amuck” -(properly <em>amok</em>), where the maniac rushes into a -crowd, killing whom he can; a crowd, not of enemies, -as in the “Berserkerwuth” of the Northmen, but of -friends and relatives. The abandonment of both races -to alcoholism and narcotics is an evidence of the same -morbid nervous excitability. This is an inherited -racial pathological tendency and is not to be measured -by the mere prevalence of nervous diseases. These -may arise from the increased strain on the neurons -when the struggle for existence is intensified. The -enfranchised blacks since they have been obliged to -support themselves present a much larger percentage -of brain and nerve disease; such maladies among the -Jews of Europe are six times more frequent than -among the Aryans; and certain forms, such as progressive -paralysis, are unknown in any but the most -civilised communities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The immunity of races to disease, or its reverse, -reacts powerfully on their mental life, leading in the -latter case to discouragement and apathy, in the -former to confidence and conquest.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Two of the most striking examples are measles and -smallpox. In the white race, the former has become -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>merely one of the “diseases of children,” exciting little -alarm, and, against the latter, vaccination provides -an efficient protection. Among native Polynesians -and Americans the ravages of both have been so dreadful -as not merely to decimate a population but to leave -the survivors mentally prostrate and indifferent to -life. To such an extent has this mental depression -sometimes progressed that some tribes, as the Lenguas -of La Plata, have decided on the self-destruction of -their race, and destroyed all their children at birth.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The immunity of the white race to malignant -measles is not due to any special power of resistance, -but to well-known laws of natural selection in disease, -and does not extend to many diseases. The Japanese -are practically immune to scarlet fever, the -black race to yellow fever, etc., and that all such -exemptions react favourably on the ethnic mind -cannot be doubted. Such immunity is strictly <em>cognatic</em>, -a legacy of blood in the true physiological -sense, the human cells having undergone changes -by the repeated attacks of the disease-germs resulting -in practical indifference to their assaults.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Indirectly, the march of epidemics has often not -only decided the fate of nations but worked remarkable -changes in national character. A familiar and striking -example is the result of the Black Death (bubonic -typhus) in England in the reign of Edward III.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER III<br /> <span class='large'><em>THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>At the risk of needless repetition I again emphasise -the fact that Ethnic Psychology, the group-mind, -is a product of social relations, a result of -aggregation, and cannot be fully explained by the -processes of the individual mind. The resemblances -between them are analogies, not homologies. They -act and react, one on the other, with the force of -independent psychic entities.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The general proposition to this effect I have laid -down in the second chapter of Part I. Now I shall -go more into detail and examine just what influences -the ethnic mind brings to bear upon that of the individual -to bring it into <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rapport</span></i> with itself, to make it -conform to the mass, to expunge, in fact, all that is -individual within it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I have also briefly but sufficiently referred to the -psychologic measures by which this is accomplished, -such as imitation, opposition, and continuity, by -which the anti-social instincts are curbed, but at the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>same time originality and independence are also -often crushed.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It remains to point out the exact instruments -which the group-mind employs in this process and -to estimate their relative force.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These may be classified under five headings: Language, -Law, Religion, Occupation, and Social Relations. -This is in the order of the influence which -they generally exert on the individual mind, which -influence is to be understood as reciprocal, the individual -working most potently on the ethnic mind -in the same order of instruments. It is true, however, -that the relative potency of each of them varies -considerably with the condition of culture. Let us -briefly examine their several characteristics.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Language.</em>—Of all bonds which unite men, none -other is so strong as language. This, indeed, it is -which first developed the human in man. I have -shown that the one distinguishing trait which divides -man from brute is his power of general conceptions -under symbols. The word “language” provides the -symbol. To form words is the necessary first step -in reasoning; to attach to words precise meanings, -perfect connotations, is the main effort of all subsequent -reasonings. Words are the storehouse of -all knowledge; they are the tools of the mind, by -which all its constructions are framed.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>Language is the involuntary product of the human -intellect. The man speaks with like spontaneity as -the dog barks or the bird sings; but the brute’s inarticulate -cry expresses mere emotion, while the -man’s articulate sounds convey thought.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Language is a proof of man’s original social nature. -It is impossible to explain it as other than the action -of a group. It is due directly to the need of others -felt by each. The individual alone could never form -a speech, and hence he could never clearly think; for -thought, for clearness, needs not only creation but -expression. We never fully understand or fully believe, -until another understands us and believes with -us.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Hence, language is the most perfect example of -ethnic psychical action. It is the product of the -group, to which each individual of the group contributes -his share, and which is the common property -of all, reflecting at once the traits of the group and -the relations of the individual to it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Nor is language a merely temporary criterion of -group-character. Conspicuously not. Nothing clings -so tenaciously to us as our mother tongue. Religions -may fade and institutions decay, we may change our -clime and culture, but the tongue persists. It is passed -from generation to generation, exceeding count. No -heirloom is so cherished, no tradition so hoary.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>By the Aryan tongues of modern Europe antiquaries -have restored the mode of life of that -primitive horde who spoke the ancestral speech of all -the Indo-European peoples, now stretching in an -unbroken line from Farther India to San Francisco. -Unnoticed but indelible, the ethnic life of that horde -left its impressions on its speech like the footsteps on -geologic strata from which the palæontologists reconstruct -the strange forms of extinct species.</p> - -<p class='c010'>As the individual can convey his thoughts, his personality -to the group, in the language of the group, -he is confined and limited by that language. Hence -the sovereign necessity in this investigation to study -not merely the contents of a tongue, its verbal richness -and resources, but that subtler side of it, its -form or morphology. Indeed, the highest aim of -linguistic science, of the <em>philosophy</em> of language, is to -estimate the influences of the various forms of speech -not merely on the expression, but on the formation -of ideas. We think in words and in grammatical -relations, and both should be logical and accurate if -our expressed results shall be so also.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Few but specialists are aware how widely the -varieties of human speech differ in the power they -exert of this formative character. Suppose that in -English we could not speak of that “divine tool,” the -hand, except as a bodily member belonging to some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>particular person, “my hand” or “John’s hand”; how -it would crush all means of generalisation, shut in -our minds to present and local cases! Yet this is the -case in hundreds of American and some Asiatic -dialects, not only with this but many classes of concepts. -How are we to convey the simplest arithmetical -relations to tribes who have no words for integers -beyond 5? What is more hopeless, how can a member -of such a tribe ever become an arithmetician of his -own effort?</p> - -<p class='c010'>Thus an individual is a mental slave to the tongue -he speaks. Virtually, it fixes the limits of his intellectual -life. His most violent efforts cannot transcend -them. Here the group, the ethnic mind -exercises tyrannical sway over him.</p> - -<p class='c010'>So also do the contents of his tongue. I mean by -this that incalculable potency broadly called literature, -spoken or written,—the oratory, romance, poetry, -philosophy, history, and science,—which is his daily -mental food all the years of his conscious life. In -this maelstrom of the opinions of others, his own individuality -is generally submerged; he loses it in the -struggle, and his own talk becomes but the echo of -that of others of the group.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Law.</em>—Writers who imagine that Law is a product -of Culture are singularly off the track. Nowhere are -its prescriptions more definite, its violation more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>abhorred, or its penalties more inflexibly enforced -than in the lowest depths of savagery. There the punishment -is known and leniency unknown. When the -Australian black has broken the unwritten law of his -tribe, he has but two alternatives,—disappearance -forever or death. After accepting the latter, or when -seized in his flight, he quietly digs his own grave and, -sitting in it, awaits the spears of his tribesmen.</p> - -<p class='c010'>So the “totemic” bond, the earliest form of permanent -grouping in many families of mankind, -whether based on religious or consanguine ties, invariably -presents a compact and minute system of restrictions -on individual liberty. They are, indeed, -often carried to such an extent as to destroy all sense -of personal responsibility or conscience, and to limit -independence of action to the most trivial details of -life. In them, through the recognised power of law, -the group is everything, the individual nothing. -Hence, they preserve but do not progress; for I cannot -too often repeat the fundamental distinction between -the group-mind and the individual mind: that -the former is active and preservative, while the latter -alone is creative and progressive.</p> - -<p class='c010'>By the general term “Law” I mean that restraint -exercised by the group on the individual which in its -last recourse is backed by physical force. It makes -no difference whether the sentiment of the group is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>laid down by the High Chancellor in his ermine or by -“Judge Lynch” in his shirt-sleeves; nor whether the -group is the House of Lords or a gang of thieves, the -underlying principle—that of the forcible constraint -of the individual by the community—remains the -same. To borrow Blackstone’s definition, it is the -“rule of conduct” which the group chooses to establish -for its own ends. Law, therefore, is essentially a -part of the ethnic mind, not conceivable except as a -group-product, and if at times, apparently, the expression -of one mouth (autocracy), yet voluntarily accepted -by the group.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The body of concrete laws developed in a community, -whether under conditions of freedom or restraint, -constitute its government. Under either condition, -the government is rightly regarded as the most significant -product of the ethnic mind as revealing, educating, -and moulding ethnic or national character. -For any permanently accepted government, though it -may have been instituted by force, must be mainly in -unison with the ethnic traits.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The law stretches its hand over all the activities of -the individual, mental or physical, fostering some and -repressing others, marking the limit to all. Personal -actions, the acquisition of property, the expression of -opinions, all are by common consent of every community -absolutely subjected to the ethnic mind, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>will of the group, and the physical power of the -group stands ready to compel obedience to this will.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Distinctly the ethnic and not the individual will; -for in laws we have frequent examples of the contrast -between the two, when no individual approves a law -which all approve. There is not an American writer -who would be willing to have the expression of his -thoughts gagged by government; and not one but -approves of the law of libel.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In no relation of human life has the influence of -law as a moulder of ethnic mental unity been more -observable from earliest times than in that of Marriage.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is my own opinion, based on a long study of the -subject, that physical fidelity, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la fidélité du corps</span></i>, as -Manon Lescaut expressed it, of either sex to the other -never was, and is not now, what is termed a “natural” -trait of human character. The native desire for sexual -variety is equally strong in both sexes and has been so -from the beginning.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Marriage laws, it should be borne in mind, have -been everywhere and in all time framed by the males -alone, and they all reveal the intention of the framers -to preserve a right of property in the female, to limit -her sexual freedom, while their own remains unrestricted.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Collateral interests, such as the extent of the food-supply, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>the rules of transmission of property, the purity -of castes or classes, and the like, have frequently -entered into the bearing of marriage laws; but the -first and continued aim remains the prevention of -feminine infidelity and the retention of masculine -independence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>For this reason, the woman, even in the most advanced -states to-day, is deprived of civic rights and -kept in economic dependence; she is allowed no part -in either the making or the execution of the laws, -and her position is ranked with that of minors or -adults of undeveloped minds.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Government, therefore, with few exceptions, differs -from language in this, that it is the exclusive production -of the male ethnic mind, and must be considered -to express the masculine traits only.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The form of marriage intimately affects two questions -of prime importance in ethnic psychology: that -of purity or intermixture of blood, and that of the -permanence of the group.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In an earlier chapter I have emphasised the results -of close and of mixed breeding in man as one -of the controlling factors of his advancement. It is -obvious that the forms of marriage called endogamous, -where the only recognised marriages are within -the clan; monogamous, where there is but one wife; -and “preferential” polygamous, where there are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>several wives, but the children of one only are recognised -as legitimate, greatly favour close breeding.</p> - -<p class='c010'>General polygamous marriages, on the other hand, -lead infallibly to intermixture of stocks and the enfeeblement -of the higher in its mental capacity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Not less do these laws affect the permanence of the -group. This depends directly on the amount of property -it has, and its ability to keep it.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In any form of communal marriage the property -descends in common and belongs to the clan or consanguine -group. There is no stimulus to the individual -to augment it, as he gains nothing for himself. -Hence, such marriages early fell into disuse.</p> - -<p class='c010'>General polygamous marriages are scarcely less -fatal. Equal rights of inheritance between the offspring -of several mothers lead to dissipation of the -inheritance and to family feuds in the division. This -is conspicuously true of inherited dignities and power. -In history no polygamous nation has long survived -the internecine feuds between the many heirs to the -throne. The Sultan is safe only when all his brothers -are murdered.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The marriage laws powerfully influence the ethnic -mind in another direction, heavily fraught with weal -or woe for its destiny; that is, in the respect for -woman as a sex, in the honour shown her, in the -sentiment of chivalry.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>This is a true ethnic sentiment, quite apart from -personal affection or romantic love. It reflects the -position of woman in the group, not in the family, -and reflects the feelings of the individual mind -toward woman as a sex, as a part of the general -group.</p> - -<p class='c010'>If we regard culture as the full development of -the sentiment and emotions, as well as the intellectual -faculties of a community, then I know no one -criterion which will measure its degrees more accurately -than the prevailing opinion about woman, her -place and her dues.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Where the laws make her distinctly dependent and -inferior, where, in marriage, she becomes more or less -the property of her husband or the mere instrument -of his passion, it is impossible that the general sense -of the community can regard her with high esteem. -This is the case in all polygamous nations.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The chivalry of the Middle Ages was the direct -consequence of the inflexible monogamy commanded -by the Church.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Closely related to these influences are those of -celibacy and divorce as sanctioned by law.</p> - -<p class='c010'>By “Occupation” in ethnology is meant that aim -to which the individual devotes most of his time, -thoughts, and energies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It does not necessarily mean to “work” or to gain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>a livelihood. In many cases it is mere amusement -or a routine of social customs, or, like the beggar, -sitting still and asking alms.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Whatever aim it acknowledges, the occupation is -one of the most direct and potent agencies in the -formation of character, individual and national; in -Shakespeare’s phrase, “almost the nature is subdued -to what it works in, like the dyer’s hand.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Some ethnographers have selected the prevailing -occupations as the best of all tests to distinguish the -grades of man’s cultural advance. They have divided -his progress into a hunting, a pastoral, an agricultural, -and a commercial stage. Much may be said in -favour of such a division. At any rate, it indicates the -close connection between human life in the aggregate -and individual avocation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is certain that the man or the group who have -to devote their whole energies to obtain the necessities -of existence must advance very slowly or not at -all in the intellectual life. This partly explains the -stationary culture of the Australian black and the -native of our arid western plains.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But it does not follow, as some theorists would -have us believe, that leisure, the non-necessity of -work, in itself favours progress. The reverse is the -case. The Polynesians, for whom nature’s harvests -were ample, were as low as, often lower than, the Australian. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>Nothing favours progress but ordered industry -directed toward a distant purpose.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The manner in which occupations, therefore, modify -the ethnic mind varies with the character and aims of -the occupations. The first distinction may be drawn -in the degree in which they favour social intercourse, -and thus promote the unity of the group. In this -respect agriculture holds a low place. The unprogressive -character of farming communities is notorious. -The contrast of the adjectives rustic and -urbane shows it to be an observation of ancient -date. The cause lies chiefly in the isolation of the -farmer, and the suspicion and jealousy with which he -usually regards his nearest neighbours.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Another cause lies deeper and is of general value. -Where there is but one prevailing occupation, where -all men’s thoughts and energies are directed along the -same lines to the same ends, there can be little social -advance. For the best results to the group the -movements of individual activities should be in intersecting, -not in parallel lines. This is the main secret -of the superiority of city life, in spite of its many -drawbacks.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The respect, or lack of it, with which a community -regards occupations is a marked trait of ethnic psychology, -and reacts powerfully on the position and -destiny of the nation.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>In England, commerce, “trade,” is widely regarded -as somewhat degrading. Yet were she to lose her -trade she would promptly sink to a fourth-class power—an -illustration of what I have before remarked, that -a sentiment of the group-mind may not be that of the -individuals of the group.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The vocation of arms is regarded in modern -Europe with admiration, but in China with disrespect; -the results of which have proved that the -Chinese, if correct, are far ahead of their time.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The veneration of the priestly office has coloured -the thoughts and written the fate of many a nation; -and there is no lack of examples to-day where their -oracles close the ethnic mind to the admission of -verifiable knowledge and the results of science.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The disrespect for occupations beneficial to the -group is an invariable proof of low intelligence in the -ethnic mind. The result of such a sentiment is anti-social -and weakens the power of the group as a unit, -by promoting divisions and opposition among its -members.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The extreme of this is seen in the system of castes, -rigidly carried out, as in India, and resulting everywhere -in national impotence and ethnic dissociation. -The former system of feudal aristocracy in Europe -was little better, and led to civil wars, the fruits of -national disunity.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>National unity, to be of the highest type, must be -based on equal respect for every man’s employment, -if that employment is of advantage to the community.</p> - -<p class='c010'>By confining the exercise of certain highly honoured -occupations to so-called “privileged” classes, a heavy -blow is dealt at the unity of the ethnic mind. Class -jealousy and party antagonism are developed, followed -by a corresponding weakening of the national force. -Modern democracy fully recognises this danger, but -has been unable to remove it under the guise of -nepotism and succession in office.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It need hardly be added that where there exists a -recognised distinction between owners and slaves, or -between a “ruling” and a “subject” class, unity of -group sentiment or thought is out of the question.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Yet, in modern life strenuous exertions are frequent -to insist on a distinction of the occupations of -men and women, based, not on capacity or opportunity, -but on the fact of sex alone, the general -effort being to confine women to “menial” or mechanical -occupations only.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The philosophical ethnologist can see in this -nothing but the near-sighted effort of the strong -to oppress the weak, unaware of its sure recoil on -themselves. In reducing the influence of woman, -exerted through beneficial activities, the <em>ethnos</em> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>directly diminishes the elements of its own advancement. -Goethe never wrote a deeper truth than in his -famous lines:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Das ewig weibliche,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Zieht uns hinan.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And the ethnic psychologist has no sounder maxim -than that uttered by Steinthal: “The position of -woman is the cardinal point of all social relations.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The ethnic psychologist has a wide field in the -study of the influence of particular occupations on -the minds of those engaged in them, and thereafter -on the mind of the group. He will have to examine -the assertion that some, though necessary, are in -themselves deteriorating to the better elements of -humanity. Can the slaughter of men in war be carried -on without brutalising the sentiments? Can commerce -be successfully conducted without deception? -Can the advocate do his best for the guilty client -without impairing his sentiment of truthfulness?</p> - -<p class='c010'>Further subjects of study must be the influence of -occupations on home and family life. Many involve -travel, enforced absences, or a migratory career, -weakening such ties.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A marked tendency of modern occupations is -toward increased specialisation. A man will spend -his life, it has been said, in making the ninth part -of a pin; and it has been asked, with accents of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>despair, what hope for the mental growth of such a -case? Yet, in fact, the lawyer confined to his local -code, or the medical specialist to the diseases of one -organ, has the horizon of his daily labour as narrowly -circumscribed.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The truth is that the individual is in the position -of the primitive tribe. If he is forced to give all his -waking hours to “getting a living,” it matters little -what his employment is. One is as bad as another. -And if by his work he wins leisure, all depends on -the use of that leisure. Spinoza gained his bread -by grinding optical glasses,—surely an uninspiring -mechanical drudgery! But in odd times he wrote -his <cite>Ethics</cite>, than which no nobler contribution to the -highest realms of thought has ever been composed.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span> - <h3 class='c007'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <span class='large'><em>THE INFLUENCE OF THE GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT</em></span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c009'>The extent to which the geographic environment -decides the character and history of a people -has been and still is a question on which competent -writers differ widely.</p> - -<p class='c010'>On the one side we have such writers as Draper, -Menschikoff, von Ihering, Ratzel, and generally the -Russian and English schools, who seek in climate, -soil, and waterways the explanation of the whole -of history. Their views may be summed up in the -maxim of von Ihering, “The soil is the Nation.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>In contrast to them stand the pure psychologists, -notably the French school, who refuse to admit any -great or lasting power of the material surroundings -on the psychical traits. These, they claim, are to be -looked for in race and in permanent anatomical -differences, persisting in all climes and spots. They -would say with the philosopher Hegel: “Tell me -not of the inspiration of Ionian skies! Have they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>not for a thousand years spread their beauties in -vain before degenerate eyes?”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The latter party, however, by no means insist that -the environment is indifferent. They would entirely -agree with Professor Wundt, that purely psychological -laws are inadequate to explain the events of -history, and that we must constantly take into account -the associated physical conditions in order -correctly to tell the story of human development. -They would not deny that in some remote and invisible -past the racial mind, like the racial anatomy, -must have absorbed its permanent characteristics -from local impressions; but this once accomplished, -they would argue, both orders of characteristics became -ineffaceable.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Even the most determined of the “anthropo-geographers” -will not deny that the power over the -mind which they attribute to geographical features -diminishes in proportion as culture increases, to the -extent that it is no longer coercive in civilised life. -Nor can anyone who reflects be blind to the fact -that the sameness brought about by subjection to -given geographical conditions is something very different -from the unity produced by mental association.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The decision of this debated question presents itself -to me in a light which I have not seen stated by -previous writers.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>Both parties are right. We must agree with Hegel -that the most lovely and advantageous spots on earth -fail to develop their inhabitants; and yet, where such -development takes place, we can always point to the -geographic conditions which have alone rendered it -possible.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In reality, the question is one only indirectly of -geography. It belongs, directly, in quite another department -of research, that of Economics, the science -of the production and distribution of material wealth.</p> - -<p class='c010'>No matter how fertile the soil, how inviting the -waterways, how smiling the skies, man will remain -amid it all the savage of the prime unless he have -within him the psychical stimulus to make use of -these for the increase of his wealth; and that stimulus -comes not from without.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Material wealth is as much a condition of mental -growth as is bodily nutrition, but is just as far as is -the latter from being either a synonym or a measure -of such growth. It is a prerequisite, not a correlate.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The application of this principle explains the discrepant -facts which have led to the conflict of opinions -in anthropo-geography. Without geographic facilities, -a nation cannot become wealthy; and without wealth -it is even more at a disadvantage than the individual.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Poverty and riches are what most influence the -fate of men and nations.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Armuth ist die grösste Plage,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Reichthum ist das höchste Gut.</span></div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'><span class='sc'>Goethe.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>Life itself is a question not merely of means, but -of ample means. In central England the rich have -an average longevity of forty-nine years, the poor -but twenty-five years; in Berlin the rich live fifty -years, and the poor thirty-two years (Farr, Kolb).</p> - -<p class='c010'>The higher culture, anything above the mere fight -for life, can find a place only when it is possible, -through accumulated wealth, to call a truce in that -fight. The leisure so obtained may not be, generally -is not, employed to that higher end; but without it -the effort remains impossible.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Anthropo-geography, therefore, is primarily a -branch of economics, not of ethnology. It affects -the ethnic mind only indirectly, and not at all -through the action of any laws of its own. It is a -vital factor in the production of tribal or national -wealth, but in no way influences the use which the -tribe or nation may make of that wealth; while this -is the only question with which the ethnologist or -the historian of human culture is primarily concerned.</p> - -<p class='c010'>With this perfectly clear understanding on the real -bearings of the much-talked-of “geographic environment,” -I shall proceed to review its leading divisions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Such a conclusion will not be favoured by those -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>writers who teach that the surroundings exert in -some manner an inspiring or a depressing effect on -the mind, and that this reflects itself in the ethnic -character. What! they will exclaim; are we to count -for nothing the sweet meads, the sparkling waters, -the glory of the landscape, and the hues of the flowers? -The grandeur of the forest, the sublimity of -beetling crags, the solemn expanse of the ocean,—are -these of no avail in impressing the souls that -see them with exalted aspirations and fervently -stimulating the imagination?—</p> - -<p class='c010'>Alas! “The hand of little use has the daintier -touch,” and lifelong familiarity with the most beautiful -scenes of nature reduces to zero the stimulus -which they are capable of yielding to others.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Wordsworth held the other view and could sing:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The thought of death sits easy on the man</div> - <div class='line'>Who has been born and dies among the mountains.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>But it is obvious, on reading the note in which he -explains the source of his observation, that it was -their social culture, not their local habitation, which -imparted this seeming indifference to the peasantry. -Precisely the same indifference to death among their -congeners in France was noted long before by -Montaigne.</p> - -<p class='c010'>There are three chief economic factors, derived -from geographic surroundings, which decide the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>material welfare of a human group on any part of -the earth’s surface. They are:</p> - -<p class='c010'>1.—The distribution of the surface land and water.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2.—The character of the soil with reference to -productiveness, in the mineral, floral, and faunal -realms.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3.—Its salubrity for man.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These favour or oppose the three essential desiderata -for human progress, to wit:</p> - -<p class='c010'>1.—Intercommunication.</p> - -<p class='c010'>2.—Abundant nutrition and materials for the arts.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3.—Bodily health.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Distribution of Land and Water.</em>—The -Iroquois Indians call the peace-belt of wampum -which is exchanged between friendly tribes a “river,” -because it unites, as does some smooth watercourse, -those living apart. This is a sweet native tribute to -the influence of navigable streams in bringing man -into relation to man. Bays, fiords, and harbours permitted -man with frail early craft to keep along the -seashore for thousands of miles. Thus the Tupis -migrated from the river La Plata to beyond the -mouth of the Amazon and far up that stream; while, -antedating history, the Mediterranean peoples dared -the stormy Iberian coast to visit the remote Cassiterides -and the boreal isles of Thule.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The Delaware Indians expressed their relationship -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>among themselves by saying, “We drink the same -water,” meaning that they all dwelt on the Delaware -River and its tributaries. Thus watersheds, through -the facility of intercourse they offered, became -natural national areas, and developed unity of -thought and feeling.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Lake-districts exerted a like influence and became -not only strongholds by their pile dwellings, but -centres of tribal unity. When Cortes reached the -valley of Mexico he found the shores of the lake -occupied by three nations, independent but closely -federated for offence and defence.</p> - -<p class='c010'>These are examples of the unifying powers of the -watery elements; but in its might as a torrential -stream or as “the unplumbed, salt, estranging sea,” it -severs the families of men with a no less stringent -potency. No more striking example can be offered -than that of the American race, the so-called “Indians” -of our continent. They extended over the -whole area from the austral to the boreal oceans, -a race-unit, identical in anatomical traits, but absolutely -isolated from the rest of mankind, not a trace -of European, Asiatic, or Polynesian influence in their -languages or cultures.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The land areas offer obstacles more frequently -than facilities to tribal intercommunication. Mountain -chains, deserts, steppes, vast swamps, dense forests, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>and tangled jungles isolated by formidable -barriers the early hordes, leaving them to battle -singly with the difficulties of existence. The Roman -writers say that interpreters for seventy different -languages were needed in the Caucasus, and de Leon -pretends that in the mountains of Ecuador there -were as many tongues as there were villages. That -Egyptian and Babylonian civilisation flourished contemporaneously -for five thousand years without either -colouring the other is explained by the trackless and -arid desert which lay between them.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Differences in mere <em>area</em>, a matter of square miles, -materially modify the ethnic mind. Great men are -not born in small islands. The less the area of a -state, the less the variety of its life, the fewer the -stimuli to thought and emotion, the narrower the -range of observation. The ethnographer Gerland -attributes the mental degeneracy of the Polynesians, -compared to their cognates, the Malays, directly to -the much smaller islands which they were obliged to -inhabit.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Mere <em>number</em> acts in a similar manner on the -<em>psyche</em>. A nation of many millions has greater self-confidence; -each citizen feels its power strengthening -his own courage, his faith is firmer in what so many -believe, and he is the readier to labour for aims which -so many admire.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>The relation of the area to the number yields the -<em>density</em> of the population, which, with its collateral -condition of <em>distribution</em>, is a ruling factor in ethnic -life.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I have placed the geographic features which favour -or impede intercommunication first on the list of -those which modify the ethnic mind; and designedly -so.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the philosophic study of human development -the social and anti-social factors demand our first -attention. A man becomes man only as one of many. -Nothing so lames progress as isolation; nothing so -hastens it as good company; and I am fain to endorse -the proverb that bad company is better than -none. Rapid transportation is the key to the -phenomenal growth of the nineteenth century: transportation -of weight by steam, of thought by electricity. -The Romans knew the value of good roads -and made the best which have ever been constructed; -the Phœnicians and Greeks won their pre-eminence, -not by the resources of their home provinces, but by -their skill as sailors.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>The Soil.</em>—Next and second in deciding the history -and character of a people comes the nature of the -soil, the earth, on which they live.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Its value is to them in what it yields, either spontaneously -or by labour. The primitive man contented -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>himself with the former; but culture came along -when toil entered. For culture ever demands an -effort greater than that immediately necessary for -existence, because its aim, from first to last, is directed -to the future; and the higher the culture, the -more distant is that future.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Even the earliest men levied tribute on all the -realms of nature. The cave-dwellers of the Gironde -caught fishes and trapped beasts; they gathered nuts -and edible roots; and they sought diligently for the -stones best adapted to lance-points and scrapers. All -this we know from the remains left in their rock-shelters. -They utilised the soil to the full extent of -their knowledge and wants.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The wealth they thus amassed was scanty and -transitory; but when their successors, the neolithic -peoples, appeared with domesticated animals, an -agriculture, a beginning of sedentary life and city -building, and, ere long, devised the excavation of -ores wherewith to fashion weapons of bronze, the -land areas suitable for these occupations soon became -the centres of ethnic life and property.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I need not pursue the story of the growth of these -prime industries: the cultivation of the soil, the -domestication of animals, the exploitation of mines, -the transformation from a wandering to a sedentary -life, from vagabondage to the hallowed associations -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>of a home, and the effects which these changes -wrought on the sentiments and intellects of tribes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>What I wish particularly to point out is that what -man asks from the soil is primarily nutrition,—only -nutrition, a living. It is the “food-quest” which has -been so vividly portrayed in American primitive life -by Mindeleff and so fully set forth by Mason: the -tribe enslaved by the soil; its laws, religion, customs, -hopes, and fears wrapped up and submerged in the -desperate strife for food. Only where there is a surplus, -where wealth rises above want, is it possible for -the group to free itself from this bondage to the clod,—to -become more than an “adscript of the glebe.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>The relations between man and the fauna and -flora of the region he inhabits are constant and intimate. -The progress of civilisation has been traced -by Pickering and others in the distribution of plants -cultivated by man for his food, use, or pleasure. They -have been rightly named by Gerland “the levers of -his elevation.” Especially the cereals supplied him a -regular, appropriate, and sufficient nutrition. Their -product was not perishable, like fruit, but could be -stored against the season of cold and want. Their -cultivation led to a sedentary life, to the clearing and -tillage of the soil, to its irrigation, and to the study of -the seasons and their changes.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The grain, once harvested, still required preparation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>to become an acceptable article of food. It -must be soaked or crushed and in some way cooked. -These processes stimulated inventive ingenuity, encouraged -regular labour, and required specialisation -of employment.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the hunting and fishing stage of culture the -fauna supplies the chief articles of food. To obtain -it was man’s earliest school of thought. He had to -surpass the deer in swiftness and the lion in strength, -or devise means to circumvent them. We find the -early cave-men had accomplished as much. They -prepared pitfalls for the mammoth, traps for the -sabre-toothed tiger, foils for the fleet reindeer, and -did not hesitate to encounter even the formidable -rhinoceros. Nets, hooks, and fishing-gear were -thought out with which to lure and ensnare the denizens -of the streams.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But a far more rapid advance in his culture condition -came about when man bent his energies to the -preservation, not to the destruction, of the lower -animals. By the process of domestication he secured -not only an abundant supply of food in their milk and -flesh, but beasts of burden and draught, facilitating -rapid intercourse and enabling him to conquer more -rapidly the nature around him.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The mental growth of many peoples has been inseparably -linked to a single animal. Thus the Tartars -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>of the steppes have their horses, the Todas their -cows, the Tuaregs their camels, without which their -social organisations would be wholly lost.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The absence in America of any indigenous animal -suited for burden or draught which could be domesticated -was one of the fatal flaws in the ancient culture -of the continent, drawing a line beyond which progress -in many directions became impossible.</p> - -<p class='c010'><em>Salubrity.</em>—By salubrity I mean the general tendency -of a locality to maintain the normal functions -of the body.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This depends chiefly on what is included in the -term “climate,” for soils become unhealthy only -through the action of climatic conditions. These -may be classed under three headings:</p> - -<p class='c010'>1. Temperature, which considers both the actual -amount of heat and also the rapidity or extent of its -variations (the “range”).</p> - -<p class='c010'>2. Moisture, including rain- and snow-fall and the -average humidity.</p> - -<p class='c010'>3. Variety, not merely in the two conditions above -mentioned, but of seasons, winds, clouds, electricity, -etc.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The last-mentioned has been too frequently overlooked -or underrated by medical and ethnographic -geographers. In reality, it is the most potent of the -three in its results on the human body and mind. It -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>is easy to show that it is not the extreme of heat or -cold which acts injuriously on the system, but the continuance -of the temperature. A climate with a marked -seasonal contrast between summer and winter is confessedly -more invigorating than one, no matter how -delightful, which is practically the same from year-end -to year-end.</p> - -<p class='c010'>To keep in health, to maintain the functions in -their highest relative activity, is the condition of the -most effective work. Neither the individual nor the -ethnic mind can reach its best results unless the body -is in a healthful condition. Hence, those localities -which are prone to endemic diseases or to frequent -epidemics can never maintain a population intellectually -equal to spots more favoured in this respect.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The most marked and widespread of the endemic -poisons is <em>malaria</em>, the result of a paludal germ which -has not yet been isolated. Heat and moisture are requisite -to its development, and immunity from it is -unknown in any race.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Malaria is the curse of plains and lowlands, while -mountainous regions have almost the monopoly of -goitre and cretinism. These endemic maladies directly -diminish the mental powers through disturbing -the circulation of the brain. They contribute largely -to the inferior intellectual status of mountaineers, -already prepared by the isolation of their lives.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>The most important ethnic question in connection -with climate is that of the possibility of a race adapting -itself to climatic conditions widely different from -those to which it has been accustomed. This is the -question of Acclimatisation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Its bearings on ethnic psychology can be made at -once evident by posing a few practical inquiries: Can -the English people flourish in India? Will the French -colonise successfully the Sudan? Have the Europeans -lost or gained in power by their migration to -the United States? Can the white or any other race -ultimately become the sole residents of the globe?</p> - -<p class='c010'>It will be seen that on the answers to such questions -depends the destiny of races and the consequences -to the species of the facilities of transportation -offered by modern inventions. The subject has therefore -received the careful study of medical geographers -and statisticians.</p> - -<p class='c010'>I can give but a brief statement of their conclusions. -They are to the effect, first, that when the migration -takes place along approximately the same isothermal -lines, the changes in the system are slight; but as the -mean annual temperature rises, the body becomes -increasingly unable to resist its deleterious action until -a difference of 18° F. is reached, at which continued -existence of the more northern race becomes impossible.</p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>They suffer from a chemical change in the condition -of the blood-cells, leading to anæmia in the individual -and to extinction of the lineage in the third generation.</p> - -<p class='c010'>This is the general law of the relation to race and -climate. Like most laws, it has its exceptions, depending -on special conditions. A stock which has -long been accustomed to change of climate adapts -itself to any with greater facility. This explains the -singular readiness of the Jews to settle and flourish in -all zones. For a similar reason a people who at home -are accustomed to a climate of wide and sudden -changes, like that of the eastern United States, supports -others with less loss of power than the average.</p> - -<p class='c010'>A locality may be extremely hot, but unusually free -from other malefic influences, being dry, with regular -and moderate winds, and well drained, such as certain -areas between the Red Sea and the Nile, which are -also quite salubrious.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Finally, certain individuals and certain families, -owing to some fortunate power of resistance which -we cannot explain, acclimate successfully where their -companions perish. Most of the instances of alleged -successful acclimatisation of Europeans in the tropics -are due to such exceptions, the far greater number of -the victims being left out of the count.</p> - -<p class='c010'>If these alleged successful cases, or that of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>Jews or Arabs, be closely examined, it will almost -surely be discovered that another physiological element -has been active in bringing about acclimatisation, -and that is the mingling of blood with the -native race. In the American tropics the Spaniards -have survived for four centuries; but how many of -the <em>Ladinos</em> can truthfully claim an unmixed descent? -In Guatemala, for example, says a close observer, <em>not -any</em>. The Jews of the Malabar coast have actually become -black, and so has also in Africa many an Arab -claiming direct descent from the Prophet himself.</p> - -<p class='c010'>But along with this process of adaptation by -amalgamation comes unquestionably a lowering of -the mental vitality of the higher race. That is the -price it has to pay for the privilege of survival under -the new conditions. But, in conformity to the principles -already laid down as accepted by all anthropologists, -such a lowering must correspond to a -degeneration in the highest grades of structure, the -brain-cells.</p> - -<p class='c010'>We are forced, therefore, to reach the decision -that the human species attains its highest development -only under moderate conditions of heat, such -as prevail in the temperate zones (an annual mean -of 8°–12° C.); and the more startling conclusion -that the races now native to the polar and tropical -areas are distinctly <em>pathological</em>, are types of degeneracy, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>having forfeited their highest physiological -elements in order to purchase immunity from the unfavourable -climatic conditions to which they are subject. -We must agree with a French writer, that “man -is not cosmopolitan,” and if he insists on becoming a -“citizen of the world” he is taxed heavily in his best -estate for his presumption.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The inferences in racial psychology which follow -this opinion are too evident to require detailed mention. -Natural selection has fitted the Eskimo and -the Sudanese for their respective abodes, but it has -been by the process of regressive evolution; progressive -evolution in man has confined itself to less -extreme climatic areas.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The facts of acclimatisation stand in close connection -with another doctrine in anthropology which -is interesting for my theme, that of “ethno-geographic -provinces.” Alexander von Humboldt seems to -have been the first to give expression to this system -of human grouping, and it has been diligently cultivated -by his disciple, Professor Bastian.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It rests upon the application to the human species -of two general principles recognised as true in -zoölogy and botany. The one is, that every organism -is directly dependent on its environment (the -<em>milieu</em>), action and reaction going on constantly -between them; the other is, that no two faunal or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>floral regions are of equal rank in their capacity for -the development of a given type of organism.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The features which distinguish one ethno-geographic -province from another are chiefly, according -to Bastian, meteorological, and they permit, he -claims, a much closer division of human groups than -the general continental areas which give us an African, -a European, and an American subspecies.</p> - -<p class='c010'>It is possible that more extended researches may -enable ethnographers to map out, in this sense, the -distribution of our species; but the secular alterations -in meteorologic conditions, combined with the -migratory habits of most early communities, must -greatly interfere with a rigid application of these -principles in ethnography.</p> - -<p class='c010'>The historic theory of “centres of civilisation” is -allied to that of ethno-geographic provinces. The -stock examples of such are familiar. The Babylonian -plain, the valley of the Nile, in America the -plateaux of Mexico and of Tiahuanuco are constantly -quoted as such. The geographic advantages these -situations offered,—a fertile soil, protection from enemies, -domesticable plants, and a moderate climate,—are -offered as reasons why an advanced culture -rapidly developed in them, and from them extended -over adjacent regions.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Without denying the advantages of such surroundings, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>the most recent researches in both hemispheres -tend to reduce materially their influence. The cultures -in question did not begin at one point and -radiate from it, but arose simultaneously over wide -areas, in different linguistic stocks, with slight connections; -and only later, and secondarily, was it successfully -concentrated by some one tribe,—by the -agency, it is now believed, of cognatic rather than -geographic aids.</p> - -<p class='c010'>Assyriologists no longer believe that Sumerian -culture originated in the delta of the Euphrates, and -Egyptologists look for the sources of the civilisation -of the Nile valley among the Libyans; while in the -New World not one, but seven stocks partook of the -Aztec learning, and half a dozen contributed to that -of the Incas. The prehistoric culture of Europe -was not one of Carthaginians or Phœnicians, but was -self-developed.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span> - <h2 class='c008'>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<ul class='index c002'> - <li class='c020'>Acclimatisation, 194</li> - <li class='c020'>Adaptability, 58</li> - <li class='c020'>African, 27, 79, 89, 133, 134, 136, 138</li> - <li class='c020'>Alcoholism, 99</li> - <li class='c020'>American Indian, 70, 142, 153, 159, 162</li> - <li class='c020'>Ammon, 87, 128</li> - <li class='c020'>Annamite, 132</li> - <li class='c020'>Arab, 99, 102, 196</li> - <li class='c020'>Aristotle, 15</li> - <li class='c020'>Arizona, 134</li> - <li class='c020'>Aryan, 130, 161, 166</li> - <li class='c020'>Asia Minor, 117</li> - <li class='c020'>Assyria, 156</li> - <li class='c020'>Asthenia, 117</li> - <li class='c020'>Atavism, 151</li> - <li class='c020'>Australian, 52, 105, 136, 137, 142, 159, 168, 174</li> - <li class='c020'>Aztec, 71, 199</li> - <li class='c002'>Bache, 132</li> - <li class='c020'>Baker, 152</li> - <li class='c020'>Baldwin, 75</li> - <li class='c020'>Bastian, 15, 153, 158, 197, 198</li> - <li class='c020'>Berendt, 145</li> - <li class='c020'>Black Death, 102, 162</li> - <li class='c020'>Blackstone, 169</li> - <li class='c020'>Boas, 153</li> - <li class='c020'>Boole, 14</li> - <li class='c020'>Bowditch, 152</li> - <li class='c020'>Brachycephaly, 129</li> - <li class='c020'>Brain, 126</li> - <li class='c020'>Brazilian, 24, 108</li> - <li class='c020'>Broca, 153</li> - <li class='c020'>Browning, Mrs., 66</li> - <li class='c020'>Buckle, 87, 158</li> - <li class='c020'>Buschan, 160</li> - <li class='c020'>Bushmen, 88, 134, 135</li> - <li class='c020'>Byron, 138, 144</li> - <li class='c002'>Cakchiquel, 145</li> - <li class='c020'>Capitan, 83</li> - <li class='c020'>Castren, 113</li> - <li class='c020'>Cattell, 132</li> - <li class='c020'>Caucasus, 187</li> - <li class='c020'>Centralisation, 39</li> - <li class='c020'>Chauvinism, 115</li> - <li class='c020'>China, 68, 79, 137, 176</li> - <li class='c020'>Chippeway, 52</li> - <li class='c020'>Climate, 192</li> - <li class='c020'>Collignon, 87, 135, 150</li> - <li class='c020'>Comparative psychology, 3 <em>ff.</em></li> - <li class='c020'>Cope, 10</li> - <li class='c020'>Cortes, 186</li> - <li class='c020'>Cousin, xvi</li> - <li class='c020'>Criminality, 106</li> - <li class='c020'>Crusades, 93, 109</li> - <li class='c020'>Cuba, 116</li> - <li class='c002'>Darwin, 140, 148</li> - <li class='c020'>Delusions, 108</li> - <li class='c020'>Destructive impulse, 115</li> - <li class='c020'>Divorce, 94</li> - <li class='c020'>Dolichocephaly, 129</li> - <li class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>Dominant ideas, 110</li> - <li class='c020'>Draper, 180</li> - <li class='c020'>Dreams, 108</li> - <li class='c020'>Dumont, 98</li> - <li class='c002'>Economics, 182</li> - <li class='c020'>Education, 53</li> - <li class='c020'>Ellis, 94, 141</li> - <li class='c020'>Emerson, ix</li> - <li class='c020'>Erotomania, 114</li> - <li class='c020'>Eskimo, 89, 118, 132, 145</li> - <li class='c020'>Ethnic ideas, 21 - <ul> - <li>—psychology, defined, vii <em>ff.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c020'>—— a natural science, xii</li> - <li class='c020'>Exaltation, 113</li> - <li class='c020'>Ezzelino da Romano, 115</li> - <li class='c002'>Faculties, disuse of, 68</li> - <li class='c020'>Farr, 183</li> - <li class='c020'>Feminism, 140</li> - <li class='c020'>Féré, 87</li> - <li class='c020'>Ferrero, 114</li> - <li class='c020'>Folk, 33</li> - <li class='c020'>Folklore, 51</li> - <li class='c020'>Forethought, 61</li> - <li class='c020'>Fouillée, 131</li> - <li class='c020'>Fuegian, 18, 34, 127, 132</li> - <li class='c002'>Galton, 91, 92</li> - <li class='c020'>Gambetta, 127</li> - <li class='c020'>Gerland, 77, 187, 190</li> - <li class='c020'>Gobineau, 153</li> - <li class='c020'>Goethe, 55, 138, 178</li> - <li class='c020'>Goitre, 101</li> - <li class='c020'>Group, defined, 33, 42</li> - <li class='c020'>Guaranis, 113</li> - <li class='c002'>Haeckel, 132</li> - <li class='c020'>Hale, 105</li> - <li class='c020'>Haliburton, 134</li> - <li class='c020'>Hegel, 180, 182</li> - <li class='c020'>Height, 134</li> - <li class='c020'>Heredity, 147</li> - <li class='c020'>Hervé, 133, 140, 153</li> - <li class='c020'>Home-sickness, 117</li> - <li class='c020'>Hovelacque, 153</li> - <li class='c020'>Humboldt, von, A., 89, 197</li> - <li class='c020'>—— W., 28</li> - <li class='c020'>Hurons, 112</li> - <li class='c020'>Hybridity, 152</li> - <li class='c020'>Hypersthenia, 112</li> - <li class='c020'>Hysteria, 112</li> - <li class='c002'>Iconoclasm, 116</li> - <li class='c020'>Ideal, The, 9</li> - <li class='c020'>Ideas, elementary, 20 - <ul> - <li>—ethnic, 21</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c020'>Ideation, 4</li> - <li class='c020'>Ihering, von, 180</li> - <li class='c020'>Iles, 80</li> - <li class='c020'>Imagination, 8</li> - <li class='c020'>Imbecility, 105</li> - <li class='c020'>Incas, 199</li> - <li class='c020'>India, 70, 109, 176</li> - <li class='c020'>Individual and Group, contrasted, 23 <em>ff.</em></li> - <li class='c020'>Indo-Chinese, 140</li> - <li class='c020'>Indo-European, 166</li> - <li class='c020'>Indonesian, 133</li> - <li class='c020'>Industry, 54</li> - <li class='c020'>Infanticide, 137</li> - <li class='c020'>Instinct, 6 <em>ff.</em></li> - <li class='c020'>Intellectual Deficiency, 104 - <ul> - <li>—Process, 13</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c020'>Intelligence 6</li> - <li class='c020'>Inventiveness, 56</li> - <li class='c020'>Ireland, 83</li> - <li class='c020'>Iroquois, 185</li> - <li class='c002'>Jacoby, 151</li> - <li class='c020'>Japanese, 133</li> - <li class='c020'>Jesuits, 112</li> - <li class='c020'>Jevons, 13</li> - <li class='c020'>Jews, 102, 161, 195, 196</li> - <li class='c020'>Jingoism, 115</li> - <li class='c020'>Johnson, 89</li> - <li class='c002'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>Kamchatkan, 108, 132</li> - <li class='c020'>Kant, 143</li> - <li class='c020'>Klemm, 55</li> - <li class='c020'>Kohlbrügge, 152</li> - <li class='c020'>Kolb, 183</li> - <li class='c020'>Krafft-Ebing, 94</li> - <li class='c020'>Krejči, 23</li> - <li class='c002'>Lamarck, 148</li> - <li class='c020'>Land and Water, distribution of, 185</li> - <li class='c020'>Language, 18, 164</li> - <li class='c020'>Lapouge, 99, 111, 128, 130</li> - <li class='c020'>Lapps, 118, 134</li> - <li class='c020'>Law, 167</li> - <li class='c020'>Laycock, 119</li> - <li class='c020'>Lazarus, vii</li> - <li class='c020'>Lenguas, 162</li> - <li class='c020'>Leon, de, 187</li> - <li class='c020'>Letourneau, ix, 61, 159</li> - <li class='c020'>Libyans, 199</li> - <li class='c020'>Licentiousness, 94</li> - <li class='c020'>Lichtenstein, 14</li> - <li class='c020'>Liebig, 127</li> - <li class='c020'>Livi, 131</li> - <li class='c020'>Locke, 4</li> - <li class='c020'>Lombroso, 131</li> - <li class='c020'>Lykanthropy, 109</li> - <li class='c002'>Malaria, 100, 193</li> - <li class='c020'>Malay, 12, 112, 113, 187</li> - <li class='c020'>Malthus, 139</li> - <li class='c020'>Mania, epidemic, 109</li> - <li class='c020'>Manouvrier, 143</li> - <li class='c020'>Marriage, 170 <em>ff.</em> - <ul> - <li>— abstention from, 92</li> - <li>— premature and delayed, 91</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c020'>Mason, 190</li> - <li class='c020'>Mayas, 71, 92, 131</li> - <li class='c020'>Melancholia, 117</li> - <li class='c020'>Menschikoff, 180</li> - <li class='c020'>Mental Shock, 102</li> - <li class='c020'>Mexicans, 99, 186</li> - <li class='c020'>Mill, 124</li> - <li class='c020'>Mind, human and brute, compared, 3 <em>ff.</em> - <ul> - <li>—mechanical action of, 14</li> - <li>—unity of, 3 <em>ff.</em></li> - <li>—of the Group, 23 <em>ff.</em></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c020'>—— not creative, 30</li> - <li class='c020'>Mindeleff, 190</li> - <li class='c020'>Modes of Progress, 72</li> - <li class='c020'>Mohammedan, 111</li> - <li class='c020'>Moisture, 192</li> - <li class='c020'>Montaigne, 184</li> - <li class='c020'>Morgan, 80</li> - <li class='c020'>Mortillet, de, 77</li> - <li class='c020'>Müller, 136</li> - <li class='c020'>Muscular System, 134</li> - <li class='c002'>Napoleon, 44</li> - <li class='c020'>Natality, diminution of, 96</li> - <li class='c020'>Nation, 33</li> - <li class='c020'>Nervous System, 132</li> - <li class='c020'>Neurasthenia, 118</li> - <li class='c020'>Nippur, 76</li> - <li class='c020'>Normans, 151</li> - <li class='c020'>Northmen, 161</li> - <li class='c020'>Nostalgia, 117</li> - <li class='c020'>Nott, 153</li> - <li class='c020'>Nutrition, 190 - <ul> - <li>—imperfect, 87</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c002'>Occupation, 173</li> - <li class='c020'>Orgeas, 157, 160</li> - <li class='c020'>Osseous System, 133</li> - <li class='c002'>Pascal, 5, 83</li> - <li class='c020'>Pathology, 159</li> - <li class='c020'>Permanence, 39</li> - <li class='c020'>Personality, 11</li> - <li class='c020'>Peruvian, 52, 71, 99, 134</li> - <li class='c020'>Perversion, conditions of, 107</li> - <li class='c020'>Pickering, 190</li> - <li class='c020'>Plato, 24, 53</li> - <li class='c020'>Polynesian, 114, 159, 162, 174, 187</li> - <li class='c020'>Post, 11</li> - <li class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>Progression, arithmetical, 78 - <ul> - <li>—geometrical, 80</li> - <li>—saltatory, 80</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c020'>Progress, rate of, 77</li> - <li class='c020'>Psychic Cells, 16</li> - <li class='c002'>Quakers, 69</li> - <li class='c020'>Quatrefages, de, 153</li> - <li class='c020'>Quechuas, 92, 131</li> - <li class='c020'>Quen, de, 112</li> - <li class='c020'>Quetelet, 14, 40, 107</li> - <li class='c002'>Rabelais, 144</li> - <li class='c020'>Race, 33</li> - <li class='c020'>Ranke, 87</li> - <li class='c020'>Ratzel, 160, 180</li> - <li class='c020'>Receptiveness, 59</li> - <li class='c020'>Reibmayr, 155, 156</li> - <li class='c020'>Remembrance, 52</li> - <li class='c020'>Reproduction, 135</li> - <li class='c020'>Ribot, 143</li> - <li class='c020'>Romanes, 5</li> - <li class='c020'>Rousseau, 72</li> - <li class='c002'>Salubrity, 192</li> - <li class='c020'>Schaffhausen, 123</li> - <li class='c020'>Schmidt, 76</li> - <li class='c020'>Seeland, 145</li> - <li class='c020'>Self-consciousness, 10</li> - <li class='c020'>Semites, 102</li> - <li class='c020'>Sexual subversions, 90</li> - <li class='c020'>Siam, 69</li> - <li class='c020'>Siberians, 99, 113</li> - <li class='c020'>Skull measurements, 128 <em>ff.</em></li> - <li class='c020'>Soil, 188</li> - <li class='c020'>Soul, 16 <em>ff.</em></li> - <li class='c020'>Spinoza, 179</li> - <li class='c020'>Steinthal, vii, 178</li> - <li class='c020'>Stock, 33</li> - <li class='c020'>Symonds, 115</li> - <li class='c020'>Syphilis, 101</li> - <li class='c002'>Tartar, 89, 191</li> - <li class='c020'>Tasmanian, 159</li> - <li class='c020'>Temperament, 143</li> - <li class='c020'>Temperature, 192</li> - <li class='c020'>Tibet, 92</li> - <li class='c020'>Tiedemann, 127</li> - <li class='c020'>Todas, 192</li> - <li class='c020'>Toxic agents, 98</li> - <li class='c020'>Tribe, 33</li> - <li class='c020'>Tuaregs, 192</li> - <li class='c020'>Tupis, 185</li> - <li class='c002'>Van Brero, 12</li> - <li class='c020'>Van Buren, 136</li> - <li class='c020'>Variation, physiological, 46 - <ul> - <li>—progressive, 49</li> - <li>—regressive, 64</li> - <li>—modes and rates of, 72</li> - <li>—parallel and divergent, 73</li> - <li>—in circles and curves, 75</li> - <li>—in waves, 77</li> - <li>—pathological, 82</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c020'>—— etiology of, 85</li> - <li class='c020'>Vierkandt, 23, 56</li> - <li class='c020'>Vikings, 67</li> - <li class='c020'>Virchow, 83</li> - <li class='c020'>Vital Powers, 142</li> - <li class='c002'>Waitz, 158</li> - <li class='c020'>Weight, 134</li> - <li class='c020'>Wordsworth, 184</li> - <li class='c020'>Wundt, viii, ix, xi, xiii, 26, 28, 143, 181</li> -</ul> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span> -<img src='images/illus-224.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>The Science Series</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c015'>Edited by Professor <span class='sc'>J. 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The ability with which Dr. Hollander pleads the case -is commensurate with his courage in stemming the current of adverse -prejudice. While this work is of special interest to professional men, -as lawyers and physicians, it is valuable to all who are interested in -the phenomena of mind and the problems of education.”—<cite>Outlook.</cite></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS</div> - <div><span class='sc'>New York</span>       <span class='sc'>London</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c005' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c002'> - <li>Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Basis of Social Relations, by Daniel G. 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