12 'Cbc Conservative.
THE PASSING SHOWER.
( Arbor Lodge. )
From o'er the prairie the wind blows by ,
The soft clouds float in the clear blue sky ,
Afar , o'er meadows and fields of green ,
The coining mist of the rain is seen.
Tall trees along the horizon stand ;
Below is sinking the rolling land
In curving waves which fall and rise ,
A tranquil , motionless sua it lies.
And down ( lie slopes with their verdured
tint
The shower comes , and the faintest glint
Of silver gleam from its somber gray
Is shining out from its fringing spray.
And up the hills where the corn fields grow ,
O'er orchards slanting in fruitful row ,
O'er parching earth with its furrows deep ,
The fresh drops fall in their onward sweep.
They reach the woodland that curves
between
The pasture cleft by the dark ravine ,
And creep midst leaves as if sad to go
To paths that wind in the shade below.
The wet air comes like a swelling tide.
From great barn doors that are open wide
The farmer watches the bowing grain
That crowns his toil on the fertile plain.
From country homes , over hedged roads
down ,
The shower comes to the dusty town ,
And pelts and tunefully taps each pane
With rapid chime of a gay refrain.
Then , joining the turbid Missouri's sweep ,
The darting drops in its current leap.
Berne on in flight o'er the basin land
To where , uprising , its outlines stand ,
Still on beyond , o'er the distant view
Where ha/.y bluffs wear an opal hue ,
The drifting cloud of a summer day
Melts out of sight in its fleeting way.
The sunbeams glance , when the rain has fled ,
On lowly grasses with jewels spread ,
And seek the gems in their hiding place
Within each flower's uplifted face.
The shining leaves and the trees upbear
A network radiant in the air.
The prairie smiles with the fresh , sweet
power
Of new lifo brought by the passing shower.
MAHY FHENCH MORTON.
UK ADS AVIN.
The San Francisco Daily Call of May
12 , contains the following instructive
and interesting telegram :
STANFOUD UXIVEUSITY , May 11 Dr.
O. C. Olossou , who is measuring the
heads of the Stanford students in the
gymnasium hero in an endeavor to ob
tain data to substantiate the theory that
the shape of the human skull has much
to do with race movements and habits ,
will remain at his post until the end of
the semester , when he will go to San
Francisco to pursue his investigations
among the Swiss , German and French
inhabitants there. Next fall ho will
take the measurements at Berkely sim
ilar to those now being taken hero.
One Hundred mid Thirty Longheads.
Doctor Olosson has examined about
180 students. Although ho has not
compiled the information obtained , he
is able to say that a large majority of
the men at the university are of the
long-headed urban typo , the chief char
acteristics of which are migratory activ
ity , energy , late marriages and small
families. Ho is under the impression
that there is a much larger number of
blondes at Stanford than in the Eastern
colleges , though in the shape of the head
there is no material difference between
them. It is asserted that Eastern col
lege students are more narrow headed
than those in England.
The rioncor Type.
This fact has an important bearing on
the statement that the long-headed type
of people is responsible for the settle
ment of this country. It is known that
in the north of Europe the long-headed
typo predominates , but it grows weaker
toward the south. Heuco the fact that
the students of the United States are
narrower headed than the students of
England shows that even where the
long-headed type predominates it is the
most extreme cases of this formation
that are the ones to migrate. The in
fluence of their traits is one of the reas
ons why new countries develop rapidly
until such numbers of the broad-headed
or Alpine type , with their slow or sta
tionary habits and average intellectual
ity , reduce the high activity of the pioneers
neers , when the growth is slower. The
same is to a certain extent true in the
birth and growth of towns aud cities.
The investigations being made by
Doctor Closson aud his colleagues in
anthropological study have revealed
some curious facts relative to the popu
lation of the United States. In the
first place , it is believed that there is a
tendency for blonde complexion and
tall stature to associate with the nar
row type of head. It is found from
army measurement statistics that the
people of the United States are taller
than those of Continental Europe ; that
the people of the different nationalities
who have migrated here are taller than
their countrymen at home ; that even
the population of the Western United
States averages taller than that of the
East , while the people who come West
from Massachusetts are taller than those
left in Massachusetts.
Only Two Types.
These strange coincidences of physical
characteristics with race movements
have led anthropologists to arrive at the
conclusion that there were originally
two types of men one short of stature ,
dark coinplexioned , broad-headed and
sluggish in nature ; the other , tall ,
narrow-headed , blonde , unsettled in
habits and of an inquiring mind. The
intermarriage of these two types has
brought about the various kinds of men
we have today , and so it in no wise re
futes the theory to find a broad-headed
man with the mental and domestic
characteristics attributed to the other
type , and vice versa. Nevertheless , this
seems to be the exception , not the rule ,
and the general contour of the head still
stands as the clearest exponent of
permanent hereditary differences in the
human species. Not that these eminent
scientists believe in "bumpology" and
support fake phrenologists in their as
sertions that they can tell by fingering a
man's cranium whether he is senti
mental or sour , a thief or a parson , a
poet or a scientist , but the color of the
eyes and the size of the human stature
are liable to modifications by local cir
cumstances , while the shape of people's
heads is little influenced by climate ,
food or habits.
habits.A
A 11 road View.
This wide view of mankind is not of
as great importance to the particular
group of anthropologists to which Doctor
Closson belongs , as is the question of
social stratification and displacement.
Society has often been likened to a pyra
mid , whose base is the bone and sinew
of the laud and the apex the upper
classes , but this likeness can be carried
still farther the base being largely of
the broad-headed type of men , gradua
ting toward the top into a predominance
of the narrow-headed. The pyramid is
constantly changing. People are drop
ping off at the top and being recruited
from the ablest representatives of the
lower classes. It is known as a fact that
several generations ago the average fam
ily of genteel parents was eight children ,
where now it is only two.
IMuiii People.
From the large common class of soci
ety grow two distinct classes one , the
intelligent middle class in city and coun
try , whoso members have medium-sized
families , but somehow fail to materially
better their condition ; and the other ,
the upper class , with nervous , energetic
characteristics and small families. Both
of these latter two classes , the majority
of whom are narrow headed , tend to die
out , but the number of generations uec-
essary to accomplish this has not been
determined. This is one of the things
which Doctor Closson , Doctor Sargent
of Harvard , and Doctor Ripley of Col
umbia are now attempting to find out ,
and at the same time discover the exact
effect of education and refinement on
the size of the family.
The study in California will afford
data , though necessarily incomplete , as
to the size of families among Californ-
ians. What the ultimate result of the
investigation in anthropology in Europe
and the United States will reveal is only
a surmise , but it is liable to cause a re
construction of ideas as to the history of
the human race , and will undoubtedly
throw considerable light on our obscure
past. Already the investigations have
led to a well-defined belief , supported by
solid reasoning , that the home of the
Aryan race was in the center of Europe ,
rather than in India , and that the
blonde , narrow-headed type of man or
iginated in Scandinavia , when that land
was larger and its climate more suitable
for human habitation.