ASSIMILATION AND PROGRESS 
333 
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,