ORIGIN O F RACTAL CHAR,ilCTERISTICS I N h.

f A N
L. BOLK
Director, Airatomical Iirstiiute, Universiiy of Amsterdam

Before entering upon the subject itself of this paper, it is

necessary to summarize my ideas as to the biological principles of anthropogenesis in general. Without the knowledge
of these, the contents of this communication would be hard
to understand.
The faculties by which the genus Homo differs from the
other Primates a r e of a physiological and of a morphological
nature. Not only a s a form, but also as an organism, man
occupies a very particular place among the members of this
group. As to the human organism, this is characterized by
the considerable duration of its existence. In this regard it
occupies not only a peculiar place among Primates, but among
mammals in general. The number of mammals with an average span of life like that of man is very small, the surpassing
of it is very rare (elephant). Anyhow, there is but little
doubt that tlie span of life of the pithecoid ancestors of man
was equal to that of recent monkeys and apes. So the principal physiological phenomenon of the process of anthropogenesis mas an increase of the average tlnration of individual
existelice, each period of life-the fetal, infantile, juvenile,
the adult, and the period of senescence-having participated
in this extension. The rate of development, as well as the
course of all other vital phenomena, appears therefore to be
retarded during the process of anthropogenesis. This is the
main content of what I call the hypothesis of retardation as
a n aetiological factor in the development of the geniis Homo.
Metaphorically, hnman life progresses like a retarded film.
1
A h I E R I C A N JOUIIN.4L O F P H V b l C A L A N T H R O P O L O G Y . V O L . SI11, NO.
A P l t l l r J I l N E , 1929

L. BOLIl

During anthropogenesis this retardation worked in two

directions: First, by an alteration of the rate of the vital
processes as a whole, including morphogenesis in general,
and, secondly, by a more particular retardation in the development of some somatic features. The former bears a
pure physiological character ; the latter, on the contrary, was
the cause of the somatic differences, worked out by little and
little in the course of time between the pithecoid ancestor of
mankind and recent man. When the development of a somatic
feature is checked, it may persist in some stage or other of
its development, either infantile or fetal, and in the utmost
case, the checking may be of such an intensity that its evolution is wholly suppressed. As a consequence of these
agencies, the body acquires typical features, all showing a
common character, viz., the infantile or fetal state of their
evolution. I n this way the body as a whole gets a somewhat
peculiar aspect : it becomes fetalized, as I have called it. Now
I have shown already in some previous papers1 that nearly
all typical characteristics of the human body are persisting
fetal stages if compared with the development of the other
Primates. Somatically, man is therefore a highly fetalized
form. I n the present paper I intend to consider the chief
racial differences of mankind in the light of retardation and
f etalization.
The ideas about the origin of racial characters in man
have changed in the course of time in correspondence with
the changed ideas on the biological principle of the origin
of species. The same factor to which the origin of new
species was due must have been also the cause of the differThe part played by the endocrine glands in the evolution of man. Lancet,
Sept. 10, 1921.
On the significance of the supraorbital ridges in the Primates. Proc. K. Ak.
Wetensch. Amsterdam, XXV.
I The problem of orthognathism.
Proc. K. Ak. Wetensch. Amsterdam, XXV.
I The chin problem.
Proe. K. Ak. Wetensch. Amsterdam, XXVII.
On the problem of anthropogenesis.
Proe. K. Ak. Wetensch. Amsterdam,
XXIX.
Dns Problem der Menschwerdung.
8, J e n a (G. Fischer), 1926.

O R I G I N OF RACIAL C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S I N M A N

entiation into races. It is, however, very remarkable that

no summarizing work exists in which the Characters of the
human race are explained by the evolutionary factors which
form the essentials of Darwins and Lamarcks theories. Now
and then, one finds in the literature an attempt to explain
a racial character as the result of the action of one of these
factors. I n most cases this is, however, more an attempt to
fit in this character with that evolutionary factor than an
argumentation that it was a necessary effect of its action.
Besides, in these attempts sexual selection always played a
leading part. Now, sexual selection is an evolutionary factor,
which one may nearly always call upon when the origin of a
property cannot be explained from other factors (natural
selection, functional adaptation, etc. ) . The convincing force
of this factor is therefore a very mean one.
The fact that the racial characters of man have never yet
as an entity been tested on the current evolutionary factors
is comprehensible from the circumstance that these properties
cannot be explained by the principles of the existing theories.
The differences in the shape of the sknll, the color of the skin,
the prognathism, the dentition, and the weight of the brain,
the formation of an epicanthus-these are all racial features
hardly to understand as results of iiatural selection or fnnctional adaptation.
Now in recent times there is a very obvious attempt at
explaining the features which mark off one racial type from
another in quite a different way. For it becomes more and
more apparent that the evolutionary factors of Darwins and
Lamarcks theories do not suffice to explain the origin of
new species. This problem appears to us in a somewhat
different light than to the preceding generation. There is a
general tendency to-day to trace back the origin of new
species t o the action of internal factors. And it is a very
logical phenomenon that this change in our biological conceptions is noticeable in the ideas about the evolution of
racial characters. While the conception about the origin of
species takes a new tract the ideas about the formation of

L. BOLIE

racial features cannot stay behind, but have to turn into an

identical direction. It is very remarkable that in the system
of newer ideas the origin of the racial characters has been
worked out and defended with greater consistency than that
of species. It seems as if, in general, one does not dare to
accept the consequences of the new biological conceptions as
far as the origin of species is concerned.
I n English literature Keith has given a very instructive
summary of the biological principles of the differentiation of
mankind into racial types in his presidential address to the
anthropological section of the British Association in 1919.
He summarizes his statements in the following sentence:
The bodily and mental features which mark the various
races of mankind are best explained by the theory, that the
conformation of man (and ape and of every vertebrate animal) is determined by a common growth-controlling mechanism which is resident in a system of small but complex
glandular organs. Keith here expresses his opinion, in a
very unambiguous way, that the origin of the racial characters is due to an internal cause, the action of hormones;
and, as is shown elsewhere in his lecture, he holds the opinion
that a different composition of the hormones is a rational
interpretation of the various racial features.
Corresponding views are advocated in American literature
by Stockard (Human types, Am. Jour. Anat., vol. 31) and
also by German authors. So, Pfuhl, in an essay on The
relation between the racial and constitutional investigations
(Zeitschrift fur IConstitutionslehre, Bd. 9, 1923), summarizes
his view as follows: Each race is characterized by a type
of hormonic equilibrium of its own, by which it is essentially
different from all other races. The entity of somatic and
mental properties of a race depends on the action of its
endocrine system. All constitutional differences between the
human races are manifestations of differences of the hormonic equilibrium. And further : somatic features as such
are not objects of inheritance, but special functional faculties
of the endocrine organs are transmitted.

O R I G I N O F RACIAL C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S I N M A N

The same standpoint is taken by Jens Paulsen in The

nature and origin of racial characters (Archiv f. Anthrop.,
Bd. 46, 1920). This author writes: J think the essential of
racial features is the visible manifestation of different combinations of the endocrine products. Each-even
smallvariation in the equilibrium of the same, due f.i. to a functional preponderance of some endocrine organ, creates a
definitive racial feature.
The acceptability of the conception of Keith, Stockard,
Pfuhl, and Paulsen is corroborated by the results of investigations concerning the comparative development of endocrine
organs in different races. F o r such valuable papers we are
indebted to Muller and Shellshear. The former has published
a paper in which he demonstrated that the Malayan population of Java has, in average, a much smaller thyroid gland
than the European white. On the other hand, the average
weight of the hypophysis is heavier in the former than in
the latter. There is a similar difference, although to a lesser
extent, between Europeans and Chinese. Although the activity of an endocrine gland is, of course, not proportional
to its volume-hormonic action being not simply a quantitative problem, but preponderantly a chemical one-these facts
are yet of sufficient importance for the acceptableness of a
relation between race and endocrine system. Viewed more
closely, it seems even superfluous to claim special proofs for
the existence of this relationship. For, once feeling inclined
to the opinion that the action of hormones dominates morphogenesis, this idea cannot be confined to the human body in
general. Individual properties, common family features, and
racial characters are only more detailed manifestations of a
hormonic action during ontogenesis. I n regard to our theory
it is therefore not of primary importance to demonstrate that
the formation of races is due to such an action, but that the
nature of the racial characteristics is in accordance with the
evolutionary principle of our theory, i.e., that they are effects
of a retarded development.

L. BOLK

But in order to complete the facts arguing in favor of the

relation between the characteristics of a race and the anatomical conditions of the endocrine glands, we have still
shortly to mention the researches of Shellshear on the thymus
gland in the Chinese {China Medical Journal, August, 1924).
As an interesting peculiarity of this people, the author has
found that the thymus gland persists among them sometimes
till old age-a fact considered by the author as an expression
of retarded development. As a more general symptom of
retarded development, the author draws the attention on the
childlike countenance of the Chinese. One remarks that the
conception of Shellshear agrees with ideas about race formation defended by Keith and me.
Now we will proceed to examine the question formulated
above: if the racial characteristics of man are effects of a
retarded development.
If the entire genus Homo, after having arisen from its
pithecoid ancestral form, would have been equally retarded in
all its ramifications, the terminal shape of all people living
to-day would be identical, save for the differences due to
nutrition and environment. But if the factor of retardation
has operated less actively in one group than in another, this
must have given rise gradually to differences in the terminal
form of these groups-to differentiation of the genus. I n
the group subjected to a more effective retardation, conditions will persist in a stage of development which is passed
by the other groups continuing their development till a
further point. If this view is correct, we shall have to show
that the somatic differences between the races are phenomena
of fetalization.
More than once, the fact has been pointed out that retardation has not only been the evolutionary factor of somatic
properties, but its sphere of influence implies the totality of
vital processes of man. If now, as asserted, the formation
of races is due to an unequal retardation, those races which
have been least fetalized will also be least retarded in the
physiological sense; their vital course will be quicker, the

O R I G I N OP RACIAL C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S IN M A N

duration of their life shorter. Summarizing the above, I

shall have to show that the essential of the differences between human races is an unequal rate of development and
duration of life and a varying intensity of fetalization.
It is a pity that our knowledge of the physiological differences between the races is as yet a very poor one. While the
physico-anthropological investigations enable a fairly complete survey of the principal somatic characteristics of the
main races, the physiological anthropology, on the contrary,
is f a r behind compared with the former.
An important item about which we would like more information is the span of life of the races. The present state of
our knowledge, however, is very incomplete about this point.
We have practically no reliable data on the average duration
of life of uncivilized people. Concerning the negroes in the
United States, there are statistics given by Raymond Pearl
(Span of life and average duration of life. Natural History, vol. 25, 1925). I n this publication is shown in a satisfactory manner that in the eastern United States the average
span of life of the white population is considerably longer
than that of the negroes, as is proved by the following data:
In the year 1920, the expectation of life at birth was, for the
white males, 54.05 years ;for the negro males, 40.45 years ; for
white females, 56.41 years, and for negro females, 42.35 years.
The differences between both races are very considerable, as
for the males as well as for the females it amounts to nearly
fifteen years. Besides, the given figures show still another
interesting peculiarity, namely, that also in negroes the duration of life of the male is shorter than that of the female;
likewise in the white races.
The significance of the given data lies, however, in the
great difference between the averages of both races. Undoubtedly, more than one factor is responsible for this.
Among these the hereditary factor is of preponderant importance, but how much is due to the environment factor is
hard to say. By no means, however, may the difference be
exclusively imputed to the influence of environment ; the

L. BOLK

amount of it is too high to be explained satisfactorily by the

external factor. I think that, on account of the given data,
it may be considered as proved that as a racial characteristic
the span of life of the white exceeds that of the black, even
if it is not possible to express this in absolute figures.
If we now again take into consideration that prolongation
of the span of life through retardation is an inherent phenomenon in the evolution of man, it follows that this physiological difference between the white and the black race is due
to an unequal retardation, the white being more retarded than
the black. So we conclude that a very important feature of
physiological anthropology is quite in accordance with the
principle of our theory.
Although it is regrettable that physiological anthropology
supplies too little statistical material to compare the biological racial characteristics, our knowledge of the functional
evolution of lower races acquired from general impressions
is, nevertheless, such that the above result about the duration of life is supported by observations of other functions.
So there is no doubt that black individuals grow more quickly
than white men, reach their adult state at an earlier age,
while sexual maturity also is acquired earlier than in white
individuals. The youthful countenance, which the white races
and also the Mongol race may keep until a fairly advanced
age, is much sooner lost in the black races; the symptoms of
bodily decay as signs of senescence occur much sooner. The
shorter duration of life in the black races is obviously accompanied by a more rapid course of the vital processes.
A comparison of the age at which the dentition is complete
proves the correctness of this view. We confine ourself here
to drawing attention to the fact that the dentition of the
North American Indians is sooner complete than that of the
white population, and in the black inhabitants of South Africa
the full dentition is acquired, again, at an earlier age than in
the Indians of North America. The appearance of the different teeth in their regular succession supplies some kind of
standard for the developmental rate of a race more reliable

O R I G I N O F RACI.4L C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S IN M A N

than the menarche, which is too strongly influenced by the

environmental factor. Of the same opinion is Suk, who examined the dentition of 1000 Zulus of South Africa and 700
Europeans (Eruption and decay of permanent teeth in
Whites and Negroes. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop., vol. 2). He
found that in the latter the eruption of the permanent teeth
occurs at a slower rate than in the former. This means that
in the whites the function of the deciduous teeth is prolonged
in comparison with that in black people. Without exception,
in Zulus the permanent set of teeth is complete at the age
of fifteen years, including the third molar, which never is
wanting.
On account of the retarded eruption of the permanent teeth
in the whites, the author remarks : These interesting results
naturally raise the question as to whether the developmental
stage as a whole is not already longer among civilized Whites
than it is among primitive people.
An investigation with almost equal results as those of Suk
is made by Hrdli6ka on 826 Indians of North America. The
investigator found that also in this people the second and
third molars erupt at an earlier age than in whites.
A proof of the greater retardation of development in the
white races, of quite different nature from the above, is
delivered by Herskovits in his paper on the growth of colored
boys in the city of New York (Am. J. Phys. Anthrop., vol. 7 ,
1924). From his study the author concluded : that coloured
boys grow faster in height and weight to the 16th year t,han
white boys, and that coloured boys show the same acceleration
in growth characteristic of white boys during adolescence,
which however occurs approximately one year earlier even
tho the coloured boys come from a poorer economic level than
the white boys to whom they are compared.
Although we can only give a few accurate data on the biological racial characteristics, there is little doubt as to the
more intensive retardation of the white races in comparison
with the black ones. The evolutionary factor, which dominated the evolution of man, has given rise through an unequal
intensity of its action to racial differentiation.

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L. BOLK

After the discussion on the significance of physiological

racial features, we may proceed with that on the somatic differences-a subject much more instructive than the former.
The proof that the principal anatomical differences between
races are brought about by an unequal retardation is to be
procured without difficulty.
As a first point, we shall examine the color of the skin, the
feature on which the historically oldest anthropological system was founded. Although we cannot supply absolute evidence, no expert doubts but that the ancestral form from
which man originated possessed a colored skin; we are, however, fully ignorant about its shade and the intensity of the
pigmentation. But we may perhaps consider the intensive
black skin of gorilla, chimpanzee, and siamang as a hint,
which is corroborated by the fact that in the genus Homo
itself, negroes and Papuans have a coal-black skin, and conclude from both facts that the ancestral form of man also
possessed a black skin. The white skin and the lighter shades
of this organ should therefore be looked upon as properties
acquired in the course of anthropogenesis. Now a white skin
is indeed nothing else than a persisting fetal condition,
brought about in the past by a process of continual retardation and suppressing of pigment formation in the skin. Starting from an ancestor with a black skin, hair, and iris, the
faculty of pigment formation has been suppressed more and
more, the color became less intense, passed from black into
brown, red, yellowish, all transitions between black and white
or fair. The more the formation of pigment was suppressed,
the more the skin kept the color of the fetal body, until at last
in the white races it remained almost the same as in the
fetus. Albinism is the pathological h a 1 state of this decolorating process, in which the faculty of pigment formation
is entirely suppressed.
The fetalization of the color of hair and eyes has a course
parallel to that of the skin. It is very probable that in the
past both processes have not synchronized, but that the process of getting brighter of the skin has started earlier than

ORIGIN O F RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN MAN

11

that of hair and eyes. As a rule, mankind is characterized

by black hairs and strongly pigmented iris, while fair hair
and blue eyes are very rare exceptions indeed, if we consider
their numerical occurrence in the genus Homo as a whole.
There is only a single race-the Homo nordicus-which has
acquired these features. With every color of skin, even the
perfectly white, black hair and brown eyes are combined.
Dark skin, on the contrary, combined with blue eyes and
light hair never occurs as a racial characteristic. From these
facts may be concluded that depigmentation of the skin is an
older process than that of hair and eyes, the latter being a
symptom of progressive fetalization, only acquired in the
last phase of anthropogenesis and by which a new race
originated-the Homo nordicus.
The shades in the color of races are, therefore, the manifestation of different grades of fetalization, the formation
of pigment is more or less suppressed and in equal degree the
skin, eyes, and hair have kept a fetal aspect. The Nordic
race is the most progressive as f a r as this symptom of
fetalizatioii is concerned.
The faculty to form pigment was, however, not only
weakened, but also retarded in its manifestation. A sign
hereof is found in the extremely fair, as well as in the extremely black, races. It is generally known that in the Nordic
race, as a rule, the hair becomes darker during childhood ; the
very pale shades of the hair of the newborn are substituted
by darker ones. The same may be noticed in regard to the
iris. This darkening of hair and eyes in the Homo nordicus
after birth is the last utterance of the process of pigmentation, which, in the ancestral form of that race, started already
in the fetal period to act so intensively that hair and eyes at
birth were black and brown as in the other races.
A phenomenon principally like that just described for
the white race is to be observed in the black races. The skin
of the newborn negro is considerably paler than that of the
adult. Only after birth the skin acquires, more or less
rapidly, its final black color. Thus, in the iiegro also, the

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L. BOLK

influence of retardation is obvious. The darkening of the

hair and eyes in the fair race is a phenomenon of the same
biological significance as the darkening of the skin in the
negro child.
So the most striking anthropological feature-the color of
the skin-seems therefore to be worked out by the factor of
retardation, checking till suppression the evolution of a
faculty. The various colors of the human skin are symptoms
of succeeding stages of fetalization. As far as this characteristic goes, the Homo nordicus seems to be the most
fetalized of all races. One dare not generalize this conclusion, f o r there are symptoms of fetalization, present in other
races, which are lacking in the Nordic. A very interesting
specimen of this is the epicanthic fold of the Mongolian raceafter the skin color the most convincing proof that the racial
characteristics are effects of retarded development.
To demonstrate the correctness of this statement, I am
obliged to communicate the main results of an inquiry made
on purpose on the development of the regio orbitalis in the
human embryo. It is customary in an enumeration of racial
characters to mention for the Mongolian race the narrow
slanting palpebral fissure and epicanthic fold. But the anatomical structure in the orbital region of the Mongols shows
still other characteristics of no less importance, namely, the
flattened root of the nose and the more or less protruding
eyes, thus a slight exophthalmos. These latter two characters, together with the epicanthic fold, form a coherent
complex, an anatomical unity-the Mongol complex, as I will
call it. It is certainly of great importance that these three
anatomical characteristics represent a persistent fetal complex proper to the human embryo in general. For if in a
European fetus the development of the face is examined,
it may be ascertained that in this object the three abovementioned features occur temporarily. As to the flattened
root of the nose and the slight exophthalmos, a simple observation of some fetus of four or five months old is satisfactory to ascertain their existence. As to the epicanthic

ORIGIN O F RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS I N M A N

13

fold, the ascertainment of its existence requires a special

study of the origin and differentiation of the system of folds,
which is formed on and around the fetal eyelids. My intentional inquiry as to this point of ontogenesis brought out the
fact that in the fetus of the white race, also, a stage occurs
with a true epicanthic fold. This, however, generally disappears during the further formation of the face. In his
text-book on human embryology Broman also calls the
epicanthic fold a normal embryological phenomenon.
Thus one of the principal somatic characteristics of the
Mongols-the structure of their face-delivers a new proof
that the differentiation of mankind into races is due to the
action of retardation, by which a circumscribed anatomical
region perseveres in its fetal state. The same biological
factor which caused the evolution of the human being from
its apelike ancestors also brings about the differentiation of
the genus Homo into races. This fact throws an unexpected
light upon some peculiar phenomena, which until now were
hard to understand. I refer here to the occurrence of an
identical anatomical feature in different races, of which justly
the epicanthic fold is a very interesting specimen.
This fold does not only occur as a normal feature in the
Mongolian races, but in other races as well. Especially in the
pure Hottentots of South Africa and in the crossings of these
with the white population, the so-called Rehabother Bastards,
who are thoroughly examined and described by E. Fischer,
the epicanthic fold is a very common feature. Fritsch, one
of the first anthropologists who drew attention t o this peculiarity, has pointed out already the improbability of a crossing with Mongolians as the cause of this peculiarity. He also
rejected the occurrence of this common character in Hottentots and bfongolians as an indication of nearer relationship
between both types, thus excluding the possibility of a hereditary factor. He inclined, on the contrary, to the view that in
both races the fold originated independently, and, in order
to render this idea acceptable, he explained its origin as the
result of the tension in the skin, caused by the contraction of

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L. BOLIi

muscular fibers. Fischer, who also in Rehobothians very

often found an epicanthus, also rejects a Mongolian influence.
This author, however, cannot agree with the aetiological view
of Fritsch, and declares the phenomenon very difiicult to
explain (Die Rehobother Bastards und das Eastardierungsproblem beim Menschen. Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1913).
It is a remarkable fact that the possession of an epicanthic
fold among the population of Africa is not confined to the
Hottentots. I n the December, 1934, number of Man, Seligman writes about the occurrence, in the f a r southern Sudan,
of a not inconsiderable number of healthy, mentally normal
individuals having narrow eyes, often with a well-marked
epicanthic fold. The following interesting detail he adds to
his description: the face may be broad and flat and the
bridge of the nose may be low and broad, the nose itself short
and rather infantile in form. The latter detail, especially,
is of importance in connection with the significance of the
epicanthus as a symptom of fetalization. Seligman points
out further that these pseudo-Mongolians are not confined
in Africa to the southern Sudan and quotes, as proof, the
following communication from a letter of Mr. Meek from
northern Nigeria: I have formed a curious impression,
absurd as it may seem, of Mongolian influence in these parts
at some time. Seligman does not agree with that. opinion.
He writes: I regard the occurrence of a more or less well
developed type hitherto generally regarded as proper to the
yellow race, in Black Africans in Central and Western Africa
as an interesting example of the independent origin of variations.
Finally, the following observation may be recorded. The
Dutch anthropologist Kleiweg De Zwaan, who has examined
the inhabitants of the island of Nias near Sumatra, found in
about half the individuals (46 per cent) a more o r less wellmarked epicanthus. I n the Meiiang Kabau Nalayan of
Sumatra the same investigator observed the fold in about a
quarter of the individuals (Die Insel Nias bei Sumatra.
Mart. Nijhoff, den Haag, 1913).

O R I G I N 01 RACIAL C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S IN M A N

15

The occurrence of an identical somatic property in several

groups of mankind may be, according to Seligman, an interesting example of the independent origin of vat-iations ;
this, however, does not explain the phenomenon. The explanation of it is given by the previously mentioned fact that
every human fetus passes through a stage in which it possesses an epicanthic formation. By the perseverance of the
same in the Mongolians, this race is endowed with a fetal
property disappearing in the other races. But it now appears, from the reports of the above-mentioned authors, that
this property may be fixed also in black races of Africa and
in Malayans.
We need not be much astonished about this independent
arising of an identical somatic characteristic in several
groups of mankind, if considered in the light of the hypothesis
of retardation. For this factor is the basis of human evolution-all men are, and have been, subjected to it. And it is
easily understood that, in the past, an identical somatic property may be arrested in its development in wholly different
groups of men. It is not this side of the problem which is
mysterious to us. The question which we would like to solve
concerns the selection exercised by the principle of retardation. Why has the pigment formation in the skin been arrested-or the development of the upper part of the face?
The selection of the somatic properties on which retardation
exerts its influence-that is an unsolved problem for us. The
circumstance that, in several groups of men, the development
of an identical fetal condition has been arrested proves that
this selection is regulated by some power or other. The regio
orbitalis seems to be predilected in this respect. The epicanthic fold persists not only in Mongolians, negroes, and Malayans, but also in the white race it is to be observed. For I
need hardly remind of the fact that among Europeans, not
very seldom, children are born with an anatomical structure
of the upper part of the face corresponding entirely to the
normal condition in the Mongolian race. The genesis of this
Mongolism in the white race appears in a ilew light throiigh

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L. BOLK

the fundamental idea of my theory. A fetal condition, the

persisting of which is normal in the Mongolian race, now persists in a white individual by too strong a retardation. The
fold, however, is in this individual an anomaly; the persistence of the fetal condition is the conseqnence of a pathological retardation. I n most cases, however, it disappears during
childhood, while the bridge of the nose becomes prominent.
I am not aware of another example by which the principle
of retardation and fetalization as leading factor of anthropogenesis is revealed in such a convincing way as by Mongolism
in a white individual. The disappearance of the fetal epicanthus which normally takes place before birth has been
delayed in such cases until the postfetal phase. German investigators have disclosed that-at, least among the newborn
in southern Germany-a more or less developed epicanthus
is not a t all rare. Drews even mentions 25 per cent (Ueber
das Mongolenauge als provisorische Bildung. Archiv fur
Anthropologie, Bd. 18, 1889)-a proportion which I think too
high. But, however this may be, this statement may somewhat give rise to the supposition that also in the white race
there is a tendency to fetalization of the regio orbitalis.
We shall not dwell here on the fact that in the Nordic race
Mongolism may be accompanied by a backward mental development (Mongoloid idiocy). As to this phenomenon, I
confine myself to the remark that, according to my opinion,
in such cases the concurrence of a psychic and a somatic
pathological retardation is the manifestation of a common
cause. Besides, the problem about the significance of retardation of the development of cerebral faculties as an
evolutionary principle also for the psychic faculties of man
deserves every consideration. I n the case of Mongoloid
idiocy we deal with the effect of a pathological retardation
in the development of mind, just as, for instance, many a
monstrous anomaly of the body is the effect of a pathological
retardation of some part of the latter. And this conformity
raises the question whether the evolutionary principle of retardation may have something to do with the normal psycho-

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17

genesis of man. The discussion of this point is, however,

beyond my authority.
The occurrence of an identical somatic property in two
races is, as we have shown, satisfactorily explained by the
hypothesis of fetalization. This explanation was fairly easy
as to the epicanthus. I n every human embryo there is a
stage with depressed nasal bridge, exophthalmos, and epicaiithic formation-the Mongolian complex, as I called it. I n
most men this stage is succeeded by another; in a minority,
however, especially in Mongolians, it persists.
Now, the epicanthus is not the only example of a somatic
property occurring in several races as a manifestation of an
independent origin of racial characteristics. Another one
may be mentioned here, which several races have in common
without the evidence of closer relationship. I mean the
shape of the skull. I n order to simplify the discussion of
this point as much as possible, I shall in future confine myself
to the contrast between dolichocephalic and brachycephalic
skulls. These two groups include races so unlike that it is
out of the question that the identical shape of the skull would
be a criterion of relationship. And among the various systems
of racial classification found in anthropological literature,
there is no one in which the skull form is used as a criterion.
There is a general agreement about the fact that homologous
cranial shapes have originated independently more than once.
Before the problem of the origin of the present chief types
of the human skull-dolichocephalic and brachycephalic-can
be dealt with, another question has to be decided on first of
all: Which was the head form of primitive man? Was he
long-skulled or broad-skulled? It is clear that on the answer
to this question depends the formulation of the next. If one
arrives at the conclusion that primitive man has been dolichocephalic, an explanation has to be found for the origin of
brachycephaly, and the reverse if one holds the opinion that
he was brachycephalic.
For the answer to this question reliable materials are
altogether lacking; we can only form an approximative
.4XERICIN JOURNAL O F PHYSICAL .4NTHROPOLOGY, VOL. X I I I , NO.

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L. BOLK

opinion, based on an appreciation of phenomena. And I

think there are some indications pointing strongly in the
direction of dolichocephaly as a characteristic of our oldest
human ancestor. There are a t first the skulls of Homo
neanderthalensis-the
oldest remains of the human race
known to us of which we are able to determine the index
cephalicus with absolute certainty-all
belonging to the
dolichocephalic type. Also the Talgay skull, undoubtedly a
specimen of a very primitive human skull, is dolichocephalic.
A next argument in favor of my conclusion I see in the shape
of the Pithecanthropus skull. This Primate, which has
reached a degree of development approaching nearest to
that of man, had a long skull. Nevertheless, I leave the
genealogical relationship between this extinct Primate and
man entirely out of the question. Its dolichocephaly is for
me no evidence that it is an ancestral form of the genus
Homo, but only an indication that the developmental factor
which gave rise to the genus Homo had also already caused
manlike properties in the group of Primates, of which
Pithecanthropus is a representant.
A third motive for my opinion is-I do not hesitate to
acknowledge it-weak, as it is no appreciation of a property,
but a point of view about the relation between the shape of
the skull and the adoption of the erect attitude by the human
ancestral form. I cannot argue in this paper my conviction
that the strong development of the optic region and consequently of the occipital lobe of the brain-a feature which
has been of great importance in the evolution of man, as
Elliot Smith has demonstrated-has caused a protrusion of
the occipital region of the skull, the occipital vault, as I shall
denominate it. This occipital vault, which was favoring the
acquisition of the erect attitude, rendered the skull dolichocephalic. For it is more than probable that mans pithecoid
ancestor was brachycephalic, as Primates generally are. As
a very rare exception, however, in the gorilla, the anthropoid
with the highest cerebral weight, a dolichocephalic skull is
found. The attention is d r a m to this fact by me in a com-

ORIGIN OF EACIAL CHARACTBI:ISTICS IN M A N

19

municatioii, On the occurrence of a dolichocephalic race of

gorilla (Proc. Kon. Akad. Amsterdam, vol. 28, 1925. See
also: H. A. Harris, Endocranial form of gorilla skulls.
Am. J. Phys. Anthrop., vol. 9,1926).
I n the above arguments my opinion is grounded that the
primitive races of man have been dolichocephalic. I f , therefore, to-day brachycephalic races are found, this property
must have been acquired afterward. The brachycephalic
type must have originated from a dolichocephalic one.
Bbout the cause of the various shapes of the human skull,
many suppositions are found in the literature. So it has
been supposed that the shape of the female pelvis determined
that of the skull; an influencc of the nature of the soil has
been advocated-a mountainous territory would be favorable
for the origin of brachycephaly. I do not want to criticize
these explanations, because it seems to me that in connection
with my hypothesis of fetalization a much simpler explanation is to be given.
It is a matter of fact that the cephalic index undergoes a
marked decrease in the course of fetal growth. Each human
fetus is brachycephalic during the first months of its existence. After Schultz (Fetal growth of man and other
Primates. Quarterly Review of Biology, vol. l), a dolichocephalic index (that is, lower than 80) does not appear until
the sixth fetal month. Thus, dolichocephaly is a property
acquired in a later stage of individual development; longheaded individuals must have changed their head-shape
during their ontogeny more than broad-headed. I n the beginning, I think, in all individuals this change took place, longheadedness being the character of all primitive man. Under
the influence of retardation the early fetal condition has been
stabilitated in some groups of mankind, the brachycephalic
shape persisted and was the starting-point for racial divergence. As by the agency of retardation, the white races retain
an unpigmented skin, the Mongolian race the previously described Mongolian complex, so the brachycephalic races
retain the round skull of their earliest life. Thus the latter

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L. BOLK

is, like the white skin and the Mongolian fold, a symptom of
fetalization. We now understand why brachycephaly occurs
in various races, without this being an evidence of closer
relationship. For a brachycephalic skull is the initial form
in all embryos, and the possibility that this form perseveres
exists a priori in each human individual. Whether this possibility is realized depends on hereditary factors.
It is said that in brachycephalic races the cephalic index
decreases somewhat after birth in the course of postnatal
growth. To such a conclusion have come Porter and HrdliEka
in America, Rose in Germany (quoted after Schultz), and
Frets in Holland (Genetica, vol. 3, p. 193). This change of
the skull form is not without interest, because it seems to me
to be a phenomenon of the same order as the darkening of
the light hair in children of the Nordic race. This darkening
is, as I have exposed, a retarded and much weakened manifestation of the becoming black-haired of fetuses in the other
races. Once this occurred in every human fetus, the lighthairedness being an acquirement of younger date and very
limited among man. Now, the postnatal darkening of the
hair in this people is the effect of the tardied process of pigment formation, which in the ancestors of the white race also
was accomplished during fetal life. Of quite the same character is the decreasing of the cephalic index of brachycephalic
people during childhood. In former times of all human
fetuses the shape of the skull was changed during fetal life
from brachycephalic into dolichocephalic. The now living
brachycephalic races are, therefore, off spring from longheaded ones, just as the fair people are a descendant of a
black-haired race. I n the course of time, however, the transforming process of the skull in certain groups of mankind
was retarded and growing weaker, the initial fetal form of
the skull was more and more retained, and, finally, brachycephaly was persisting till the terminal state of the skull.
Now, it is ascertained, by the investigations of the abovementioned authors, that also in brachycephalic races there is
yet a slight tendency to become less broad-headed, this prov-

ORIGIN O F RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS I N M A X

21

ing that the original transforming force is not yet wholly

extinet ed.
We now leave this point to proceed to a few reflections
relating the racial differences of dentition. This system has
already been discussed once before in connection with the
different rapidity of development of the set of teeth in whites
and negroes. It could be demonstrated that in the former
the developmental rate was retarded. Quite in conformity
herewith are the results of a comparative study of the frequency of the common anomalies of dentition in various
races. An investigation of the historical development of the
primate dentition has made it clear to me that the successive
changes which have taken place are results of retardation of
development ; furthermore, that the most frequent anomalies
in the set of teeth of man are the effect of retarded development and therefore the regular continuation of the historical
development of the primate dentition, pointing in the direction of the future structure of the human set of teeth. I must
confine myself to these theses, the arguing of which shall be
given elsewhere. Now, it is obvious that the richer a race
is in individuals with such progressive variations of their
dentition, the much more it is retarded in this respect.
The most common variations in human dentition are :
absence of the third molar, reduction and absence of the
lateral incisor in the upper jaw, occurrence of a fourth molar.
I add to these, on account of the significance of this variation
for the history of our teeth, the persistence of the second
deciduous molar in the lower jaw-a variation which as yet
has not had the attention it deserves.
Among these variations the occurrence of a fourth molar
may be regarded as an atavistic phenomenon ; in the ancestral
forms of man the development of this tooth has been suppressed. This process evidently was accomplished in the
same way as that of reduction and loss of the third molar
in man of to-day. In summarizing the main features of the
history of human dentition, these are the following : Relating
to the fourth molar : retardation of eruption, reduction of

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L. BOLK

the form, and suppression of the germ of this tooth. This

process has taken place in the past in the ancestors of man.
As to the third molar : retardation, reduction, and, frequently
already, suppression as in the foregoing tooth, but occurring
in recent man. As to the lateral upper incisor: reduction
and suppression; and, finally, relating to the second deciduous molar in the lower jaw: persistence-that means a becoming permanent of this element-accompanied by a suppression of the development of the second premolar.
The above review demonstrates in a satisfactory manner
the considerable influence of the retarding factor for the
evolution of the teeth of recent man. If we now compare the
frequency of these variations in various races, a very obvious
difference is noticeable. So the absence of the third molar
in the white race surpasses that in the negroes rather much.
I n ninety-seven negro skulls De Terra met this absence not
a single time. As a contrast, in 250 Dutch skulls examined
by me, with an otherwise complete set of teeth, a third was
absent either on one side or on both sides in the upper jaw
in 19.5 per cent, in the lower jaw in 22.6 per cent. The percentage of Dutchmen in which all third molars are present
will not amount to 70. I f it further be taken into consideration that in most individuals the third molar is of a reduced
form, it becomes clear that the white race has been retarded
much more in this respect than the black race.
The same is true for the upper lateral incisor. According
to De Terras statistics, this tooth is missing in 4 per cent
of the Europeans and reduced in 13 per cent; in negroes, on
the contrary, it fails in less than 1 per cent and is reduced
in about 3 per cent.
As shown by the above data, those anomalies of the teeth
which are the effects of developmental arrests are more frequent in the white race than in negroes. This fact is sometimes interpreted as a sign of degeneration. I cannot agree
with this view. The reduction of the t,eeth in white people
is a symptom of continued agency of the normal evolutionary
factor by which man originated.

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23

The persistence of the second deciduous molar in the lower

jaw points at the same direction, being also a symptom of the
non-interrupted agency of the retarding factor. I n this case,
however, the effect differs somewhat from that on the third
molar of the permanent set. F o r here, replacement of a tooth
has been suppressed; an element which normally has a temporary existence has become permanent, while the successional tooth is not formed at all.
This variety is not as rare as one might think. I n the
anatomical museum of the University of Amsterdam there
are thirty lower jaws of adult man all showing this peculiarity. And as x-ray examination has revealed, in no one
of these is there a vestige of a successioiial tooth. Now, it is
a matter of importance that not a single case of permanency
of a deciduous molar in other races has come to my knowledge. So, as to this anomaly, the white race seems to be more
retarded than the others.
The relations are, however, reversed in regard to the frequency of the fourth molar in human dentition. It is found
more frequently in uncivilized races than in the white. In
order to correctly set forth the significance of this phenomenon, I must first of all mention a fact from the history of the
primate dentition. What is the significance of the fourth
molar, which may occur as a variation in all genera of the
Catarrhini? It has been mistaken for an indication that
there were four molars in the Primates ancestral form and
also for an evidence of the unlimited productivity of the
dental ridge. The explanation is much simpler. The fourth
molar of the Catarrhini is identical with the third molar of
the Platyrrhini. Of this latter group of monkeys the third
molar has been retarded in its development and has finally
been wholly suppressed, while simultaneously the third deciduous molar became a permanent tooth. I n the ancestors of
the Catarrhini, therefore, a molar erupted yet after the tooth
now being the hindmost in these monkeys. This explains
the relatively frequent occurrence of a fourth molar-or
Distomolar, as I have called it-in this group of Primates.
Especially in anthropoids this variation is not a rare one.

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L. BOLIi

Now in man this supernumerous tooth is found more frequently in the black races than in the white-a proof that
the suppression of the evolution of this tooth is more radical
in the latter than in the former.
If, therefore, the frequency of the typical t-ariations of
human dentition is a racial character, this frequency appears
to be the consequence of an unequal intensity of retardation,
the teeth of civilized people having been influenced to a
greater extent by this factor than those of uncivilized races.
In the teeth of the former, progressive reduction is more
frequent ; atavistic variations, on the contrary, occur more
rarely, while the permanency of a deciduous tooth has, so far,
only been found by me in the white race.
Up to now, only a comparison has been made between the
white race and the negroes. As f a r as the Mongolian race
is concerned, Shirokogorof has published some data by which
the more rapid development of the teeth in the Chinese in
comparison to the Europeans becomes evident (Process of
physical growth among the Chinese, vol. 1, Shanghai, 1925).
The author concludes as follows (p. 71) : The process of
dentition is not quite the same among the Chinese and the
Europeans, the wisdom tooth appears as early as 15 and 16
years. At the age of 11 years the teeth always number 28,
in the Europeans 24. Thus there is a premature (comparatively with Europeans) appearance of the second (11years
and earlier) and third molar (15 years).) Concerning the
eruption of teeth, the Chinese are apparently less retarded
than the Europeans.
I n the discussion of the color of the skin, epicanthus, and
shape of the skull it was easy to show that the essential in
these cases is the persistence of a fetal condition. A fair
skin, pale eyes, fair hair, epicanthus, and round skull are
real fetal conditions, being present in the adult, owing to
the agency of the retarding factor. Now it goes without saying that concerning the teeth, racial differentiation as result
of retardation cannot be brought about by persistence of the
fetal state. The function of the teeth is incompatible w,th a

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25

persistence of such conditions. In this case tlie racial differences are caused by an unequal rate of development, by an
arrest in the development of definite components, by the
persistence of an element which originally functioned only
during the infantile phase of life. And in all these cases tlie
white race appears to be tlie most progressive, as being the
most retarded.
In his already previously quoted study on fetal growth of
mail and other Primates, Schultz has given his particular
attention to the development of the hand and foot in white
and negro fetuses. The coiiclusion at which he arrives is of
importance, because tlie difference between the two races in
these parts of the body is a manifestation of an unequal
degree of fetalization. After having stated that the hand as
well as tlie foot becomes narrower with advancing growth,
he reminds of tlie fact, first demonstrated by Keibel, that
the relative width of the hand and foot in monkeys equals
that of man at early stages of development. Now, tlie initially high hand index becomes reduced very rapidly in the
large majority of the monkeys and apes. I n man this decrease proceeds very slowly and is less marked; thus man
retains tlie fetal coiiditioii much more closely than other
forms do. So mankind as a whole differs from the other
Primates by a conservatism of tlie fetal form of the hand
and, though in a lesser degree, also of the feet. Now, as a
first difference between whites and negroes, Schultz points
out that both hand and foot are relatively longer and narrower in negroes than iii whites-racial differences which
can be recognized in tlie averages of large series of fetuses.
This means that in whites a younger fetal condition is retained than in negroes, or, in other words, hand and foot
are more strongly fetalized in whites than in black people.
I hope that the above discussion suffices to demonstrate
that the principle of retardation is shedding some new light
on the nature of tlie racial differences. The efforts to explain
the special feature of a race with tlie aid of existing theories
on evolution have failed; by the principle of retardation and

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L. BOLK

fetalization they become comprehensible to us. Our startingpoint was the logical hypothesis : the same evolutionary factor
which created the species also must have brought about the
racial differentiations within the limits of this species. Darwin, in his discussion on the origin of human races (Descent
of man, seventh chapter), starting from the same consideration and declaring, at the end, to be disappointed in all his
attempts to elucidate the differences between human races,
supposes finally that sexual selection may have been an important factor. Surely, however, this influence was insufficient to create all differences, as Darwin states, and many
of them are spontaneous variations. Now, the attempt to
declare the racial characters by the fundamental evolutionary
principle of my theory was, 1 hope, more successful. For,
as far as we have been able to find out, the direct cause of
racial differentiation is a more o r a less intensive agency of
retardation.
By this knowledge, however, I have pointed out already, the
whole problem of the origin of races is not at all solved;
only the identity of the aetiological factor of species and race
formation is demonstrated. There remains yet very much
unexplained. As little as we can solve the riddle why retardation of development was intensified so much in the
pithecoid ancestors of man, that the genus Homo originated
as a strongly specialized form, just as much we remain in
the dark wherefore in one group of mankind the fetal condition of the pigmentation of the skin, eyes, and hair was fixed,
in another group the fetal shape of the skull, etc. We can
only comprehend the anatomical mechanism of the evolution
of species and races. To penetrate till the biological basethe selection of the properties which are fetalized-is refused
to us. Neither can we solve the question why one group of
mankind has been fetalized more intensively than another.
That such is really the case is sufficiently clear from the
preceding, and raises the question: Which human race has
been fetalixed strongest? This question is of great importance from an anthropological as well as from a sociologi-

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27

cal point of view. F o r it need hardly be emphasized that a

different degree of fetalization means a more or less
advanced state of hominization. The further a race has
been somatically f etalized and physiologically retarded, the
further it has grown away from the pithecoid ancestor of
man. Quantitative differences in fetalization and retardation
are the base of racial unequivalence. Looked at from this
point of view, the division of mankind into higher and lower
races is fully justified.
However correct this map be theoretically, the practical
application of this point of view, as formulated in the question, which races are higher and which lower, offers great
difficulties. First, because as yet we have a very incomplete
knowledge of the anatomy of the races, and further, because,
as we have demonstrated, racial differences are not always
simple gradations in the fetalization of the same property,
fetalization having gone in divergent directions.
As far as I can survey the data at our disposal, I would
confine myself, in the question as to the race in which hominization has advanced most, to a comparison between the black
and the white races. There is an undeniable unequivalence
between these two groups of mankind which one cannot fail
to appreciate. Owing to their long skull, their black skin,
their strong prognathism, their more ancestral dentition
(cause of a less prominent chin), the structure of their hand
and foot, the more rapid course of their development and life,
and, not the least, the absence of any positive fetal character
not occurring in the non-black races, the black race represents a special group of mankind, being less fetalized, less
retarded.
An attempt, however, to determine the position of various
non-black races, from the point of view of fetalization, fails.
In this matter the lack of data whereupon the cornparison
might be based is felt strongly. Only a comparison of hlongolian and European people promises some result. Such a
comparison shows that one can hardly speak of different
degrees of fetalization between both groups of mankind, their

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L. BOLK

special properties pointing rather to a divergency of fetalization. F o r the Mongolian race has, in the brachycephalic skull,
the epicanthic fold, flattened nose bridge, exophthalmos, the
fetal character of the general form relations of the brain-a
property to which attention has been drawn by Ariens Kappers (Proc. Ron. Akad. van Wetensch. Amsterdam, vol. 35,
192T)-a series of fetal characteristics which are partly missing in Europeans. The latter have, on the contrary, in their
fair skin and partly in their fair hair and pale eyes and
finally in their taller stature, fetal characteristics absent in
the Mongolians.
It would be a mistake to compare the value of these characteristic properties as symptoms of a higher or lower degree
of hominization. The same holds again, if we compare the
two Cisalpine European races: Homo nordicus and Homo
alpinus. The former is taller, depigmentation is more advanced than in the latter, which, on the contrary, possesses
in its brachycephaly a fetal feature lacking in the Homo
nordicus. The type with the fetal characteristics of both,
the brachycephalic, fair-haired, blue-eyed individuum of tall
stature, may be considered the most progressive.
Finally, it is not superfluous to recall to mind that the
sociological and cultural importance of a race is not determined in the first place by its somatic, but by its psychological,
properties. And I gladly leave the question to be answered
by authorities on this subject-whether there is a relation
between retardation as the evolutionary factor of mankind
and the degree of mental evolution not only of the race, but
also of the individual.