descendants? That there were families who kept up tradition so strictly that no proselyte could enter into them is doubtless true, but such was not the case with all classes. And in other countries, like Persia, Arabia, the land of the Khazars, and elsewhere, the same process went on.

But let us now come to other European countries besides Rome. The Councils of Orleans (538 A.D.), of Toledo (589 A.D.), and of Rome (743 A.D.) prohibit intermarriage between Christians and Jews; the same prohibition was enacted in many other Councils in later periods and in many other countries. As long as conversions were allowed legally, or by some means tolerated, intermarriages frequently took place. The Jew has no preference for or any aversion from one race or another, provided he can marry a woman of his religion, and vice versa. (It is not the place here to explain the psychological ground for this.) Intermarriage and climate are, in my opinion, the reasons for the differences in appearance between Jews of various countries. That traces of the original race are in very many cases, and perhaps in most cases, left, cannot be wondered at. The same traces are to be found in the Celtic races, the Slavs, and the Latins, with the difference that intermarriages between these races have taken place on a larger scale than amongst the Jews.

It is, in my belief, outside the question to distinguish two different tribes of Jews-1st, those with a well-developed nose, black and striking eyes, and fine extremities in one word, the noble race of the Sephardim, or the SpanishPortuguese Jews; 2nd, those who have a thickish nose, large mouth, and curled hair, features which are represented amongst the Ashkenazim, or the German-Polish Jews. Even Jews with red or fair hair are pointed out, but not as a special type. But this is only a revival of the old legend which existed for a long time amongst the Jews themselves in the middle ages, viz., that the noble Spanish race are descended from the tribe of Judah and the rougher German-Polish Jews from the tribe of Benjamin. This legend had such effect that intermarriage between the Spanish and German Jews was for a long time avoided. Now this ethnological fact would only be possible if we could admit that removal or voluntary emigration was carried on in such a systematic way that the tribe of Judah spread in the East and went to the Iberic peninsula, and that the tribe of Benjamin settled in France and Germany, from whence it came to the Slavonic provinces. There is, however, no trace of such a systematic emigration, and surely the Romans did not care at that time for the distinction of the two tribes, when they sold them as slaves or transported them for the sake of the safety of the empire. If such a separation of

types were admitted, we should have to make a third one for the Italian Jews, who stand between the German and the Spanish Jews. Can it be shown that communities exist composed only, or in the majority, of Jews with fair or red hair and blue eyes? Certainly not. On the contrary, we find often in a family a part of the children having a dark complexion and another part with fair hair. This phenomenon must be ascribed to some yet unknown reason or to the influence of climate.

What is curious to notice is that the manners and habits of the so-called distinct tribes are also different, in accordance with the features, viz., the Spanish and Eastern Jews have a kind of refinement in speech and gesture, while the German-Polish Jews are rougher in both; and the Italian Jews lie again between the two. But this also must be attributed to the manners and speech of the nations amongst whom they lived, and with whom they were in daily contact. We shall go further; there is even a difference in the literature of the medieval Jews of the two so-called tribes. The Spanish Jews are much more logical and clear in their casuistic compositions, and dislike scholastic discussions, whilst the contrary is the case with the German-Polish Jews, whose casuistry reaches the climax of logical mistakes, of scholastic torture, and absurd thinking. The Italians stand again between these two in this matter. Can this be attributed to a difference between the two tribes, or not rather to the character and tone of the nations amongst whom they lived? Another difference must be noticed also in the pronunciation of Hebrew words. It lies chiefly in the clear â, the é, and the th, with the Spanish Jews; for which the GermanPolish Jews have an o, an i, and an s. The gutturals are not distinguished by either of the Jews except by those who live amongst the Arabs, whilst the ain is, strangely enough, pronounced by the Italian and by some Portuguese Jews as a nasal ng. This difference of pronunciation is not tribal, but influenced by the languages spoken round them. In a word, there are no two distinct tribes amongst the living Jews, and they are not of wholly pure blood. I believe that it is quite imaginary to say that the Jews represented on Egyptian and Assyrian monuments exactly resemble the Jews now living. Certainly we find individuals who bear a resemblance to the Jews of the monuments, and who may be the remnants of families which took special care against intermarrying with proselytes; but the bulk of the Jews, if dressed in European costume, would present few characteristics by which they could be recognised. The only strong similarity existing amongst the living Jews is that they often still bear, more or less, the stamp of oppressed individuals, a stamp which they cannot get rid of

quickly, since there are many countries even now where they are treated like pariahs, and from whence they emigrate to more civilised lands; and these Jews are at once recognised in the streets, but not those who have shared in the advantage of civilisation and education. As I have already said, there remains something typical in the features, just as in the case of the Celts, Teutons, Slavs, and other tribes. That the Jews keep together is by no means due to a tribal instinct; they were forced to do so by the Ghettos, and such a habit cannot be got rid of in one generation. That it is not the race which holds them together, but the religious community, may be concluded from the fact that they are interested in the amelioration of the Jews in Russia and the East, as also in that of the Falashas' in Ethiopia, the black Jews in Cochin, and the Bene Israel in India,3 who are certainly not of their race.

We pass now from the ethnological question to the anthropological results relating to the Jews. We shall find here also the same abnormal state of things and contradictory statements on the part of those engaged in research. Let me state at once that there exist no skulls or skeletons belonging to ancient Jews, and in all probability none will be found. In the climate where they are buried, none can be preserved except by embalming, which was not frequently in use in the Jewish nation. The dead were too much respected amongst the Jews of all ages to allow of any pathological examination of the corpse; indeed, every effort was always made, and is still made, in the orthodox communities of Poland, Hungary, and the East, to avoid a post-mortem examination. This is most likely due to the same superstitious repugnance that the Mohammedans have to amputation, in order that the body may be kept intact until the time of the resurrection. It is a matter of the greatest difficulty even now, as stated by Dr. Blechmann in his essay "On the Anthropology of the Jews" (Ein Beitrag zur Anthropologie der Juden, Dorpat, 1882), to induce a Jew to be

The Falashas are a tribe which is not Semitic, but rather Nubian. The name Falasha means "immigrated"; they believe themselves to be descendants of the queen of Saba. Their language is a kind of Amharic, and they do not know Hebrew at all. Their Bible is written in Ethiopic, and their hymns in the vernacular language. They observe strictly the laws of the Pentateuch, except as to some local modification, but know nothing of the Jewish traditional interpretation, neither of the Rabbinic (the Talmud), nor of the Karaitic (of those who repeat the Talmud but have another traditional interpretation).

2 Of the black Jews Dr. Buchanan says that he could not distinguish them from the Hindoos. The missionary, Joseph Wolf, says of them in 1833: "Their complexion is like that of the Hindoos; indeed, even at this time, many of the Hindoos at Cochin become converts to Judaism.

3 The Bene Israel are fixed in the neighbourhood of Bombay; they pretend to be descendants of the ten tribes, but their features are Hindoo. They do not know Hebrew at all, but observe the laws of the Pentateuch.

measured, so that we have to rely mostly for the physical state of the Jews on information gathered from examination for the general military service. We shall put together what is known about Jewish skulls from the dissertation of Dr. Blechmann. The first notices, he says, were given by Blumenbach, who states (in 1790) that a Jewish skull in his possession was recognised amongst many others as peculiarly formed, even by men whose speciality was not anthropology. His description is the following:-"Maxime quidem nasus aquilinus et mentum porrectum, tam vero etiam maxillæ superiores qua naribus subjectæ sunt in acutiorem angulum spinæ nasali continuum concurrentes. Suturæ non tantum genuinæ illæ ossium calvariæ planorum, sed et reliquæ quas harmonias vulgo vocant, ad unum fere omnes senio decrepito confusæ et obliteratæ." Wachter (in 1812) gave after him a description of another skull which represents another Jewish type, most likely of a Spanish Jew. He confirms Blumenbach's statement, adding that he found in the external part of the orbit, where in general the temporal nerves lie, an important cavity or depression, whilst in the interior of the orbit he found an elevation. He also says that Professor Brugmans at Leyden had found the same peculiarities in two other Jewish skulls. Of course, in order to make this a standard peculiarity of Jewish skulls, many other skulls in all parts of the world must be examined. Blumenbach might have left unnoticed this peculiarity in the skulls which he possessed. As to the measure of Jewish skulls, Pruner-Bey (in 1864), who had three of them, gives 75 mm.; Welcker (in 1866), who examined eighteen skulls, found an intermediate skull with 784 mm.; he does not give the measure of each. Dr. J. B. Davis (in 1867), who examined seven skulls, finds the measure from 71 to 84, intermediate 77·1; finally, Dr. Weisbach (in 1878) gives the intermediate of 81.11, and from the measure of nineteen living Jews he gives the measure of 79 to 88, intermediate 82:15. So far for the skulls.

Dr. Blechmann gives statements of the height of the Jews, the measurement of the chest, the length of the arms and of the extremities, according to military reports in Russia, Germany, and the Austrian provinces, which are not very favourable to the physique of the Jews in general. They are short, measure in circumference less than half of the height, and they are very weak on the whole. Dr. Blechmann comes also to the conclusion that the differences in the measure of the skulls, which I have noticed above, represent different types of Jews, of which he admits also the two above mentioned, viz., the Spanish and German-Polish. He quotes authorities for it, such as Dr. Weisbach, Karl Vogt, Franz Maurser and finally Dr. Andree; the

information of the last is second-hand and inaccurate. No one of them makes out a special type of the Jews with fair or red hair, but they all firmly believe that neither intermarriage nor climate has had any influence on the physique of the Jews, and that the Jews of the present time greatly resemble those on the monuments of Egypt and Assyria. I have already doubted this, and stated my view as to the impossibility of two separate emigrations of two types. At all events no certainty can be attached to reports of the physical condition of the Jews until individuals are examined in the various parts of the world. Jerusalem, for instance, possesses Jews of the greatest variety and the beginning of the system of measurement could be made there, but they are all nearly half famished. Next, the state of health and the relation of the height to the size of the chest among the Jews in Yemen and Kurdistân, where they are shepherds, agriculturists, and artisans of all kinds, will have to be investigated. Only then shall we be able to decide why the descendants of the Macchabean warriors and of those who kept Titus and Hadrian thoroughly occupied for several years, are now proportionally less fit for military service and more delicate in health than their Christian brethren.

The following paper was read by the author:--

On the RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS of MODERN JEWS.
By JOSEPH JACOBS, Esq., B.A.

[WITH PLATES I AND II.]

In the following research I have endeavoured to bring together all the data, scientific or historical, which bear upon the question of the purity of the Jewish race. I have found it necessary for this purpose to scrutinise somewhat closely many Jewish qualities and habits that have hitherto been regarded as peculiarly the results of race. Most of these, however, have been found to be due to social causes, and cannot therefore be regarded as primarily racial. Nevertheless I trust even the discussion of the secondarily racial qualities of Jews with which this paper opens may not be without interest to students of anthropology. They exhibit, I conceive, a striking example of the influence which the social life of man has upon his physical qualities. For a decision on the main question, I have been forced to turn