ASSIMILATION AND PROGRESS
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For instance, the East European Hebrew usually has
a round head (brachycephalic). His American-born
child becomes more long-headed than his parent, while
the descendant of the South Italian, who in Italy has
a head of the long type (dolichocephalic), becomes
more short-headed than his parent. In other words,
in this country, the heads of the descendants of these
races that are so markedly different in Europe ap
proach a uniform type, so far as this characteristic of
the shape of the head is concerned. This fact is ex
tremely suggestive, inasmuch as it shows that even
those characteristics of people that seem to be most
permanent are subject to very marked modifications in
the American environment.
RESULTS OF INVESTIGATIONS
The features of bodily form that were especially
studied by the Immigration Commission were stature,
weight, length of head, width of head, width of face
a nd color of hair. The types that were examined
were the Bohemians, Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians, He
brews, Sicilians, Neapolitans and Scotch. These were
selected because they represent divergent European
^Pes, and because, also, they have come to this coun
try of late years in so large numbers. The changes
that have been observed, as summarized by Professor
Franz Boas of Columbia University, who was in im
mediate charge of the investigation, are as follows:
The Bohemians, Slovaks and Hungarians, and Poles, repre
senting the type of Central Europe, exhibit uniform changes.
Among the American-born descendants of these types the
stature increases, and both length and width of head decrease,