Post by SwordandCompass on Nov 12, 2004 2:17:30 GMT -5
" long or prognathous jaw, the stigmata to the phrenologists of a lower evolutionary order, degeneracy, or criminality. Thus John Beddoe, who later became the President of the Anthropological Institute (1889-1891), wrote in his Races of Britain (1862) that all men of genius were orthognathous (less prominent jaw bones) while the Irish and the Welsh were prognathous and that the Celt was closely related to Cromagnon man, who, in turn, was linked, according to Beddoe, to the "Africanoid". The position of the Celt in Beddoe's "Index of Nigrescence" was very different from that of the Anglo-Saxon. These ideas were not confined to a lunatic fringe of the scientific community, for although they never won over the mainstream of British scientists they were disseminated broadly and it was even hinted that the Irish might be the elusive missing link! Certainly the "ape-like" Celt became something of an malevolent cliche of Victorian racism. Thus Charles Kingsley could write
I am haunted by the human chimpanzees I saw [in Ireland] . . . I don't believe they are our fault. . . . But to see white chimpanzees is dreadful; if they were black, one would not feel it so much. . . ." (Charles Kingsley in a letter to his wife, quoted in L.P. Curtis, Anglo-Saxons and Celts, p.84).
www.victorianweb.org/history/race/Racism.html
One of the earliest example of a discriminating, but very influencial view on the Irish can be found in papers by Richard Twiss and William Lithgow (1640). They described the Irish as wild animals, and recommending English trademen in India the use of the breasts of Irish women as a moneybag because of their size and quality."[/u]
Dr. John Beddoe (1826-1911) of Bristol, one of
the most famous Victorian ethnologists and founding member of the Ethnological Society, regarded pigment and the colour of hair and eyes as clues to the ethnic composition especially of the British people.
Committed to the methods of quantitative analysis, Beddoe observed and measured physical features among the population of Great Britain, Ireland, and Western Europe. He developed a so-called “Index of Nigrescence“, which was designed to quantify the amount of residual melanin in the skin, the iris as well as the follicles of the hair (Beddoe 1885).
Although not being a racist in the tradition of Chamberlain, Hunt and Knox (see below), his index implied that one end of the scale was preferable to the other.
He found out that the index rose steadily as he moved from east to west in England and Ireland, and the highest index of all - over 70% on his scale - was found in parts of Wales and western Ireland. Further he contrasted the fairer and orthognathous upper classes of Saxon origin and the more melanous and prognathous workers of Wales and Ireland. The darkest, most prognathous Celts encountered on his trips inspired Beddoe to speculate on their African genesis, and he chose the term “Africanoid“ to describe this extrem type with its jutting jaw
www.may.ie/igu/meuller.pdf
download that pdf great reading!
I am haunted by the human chimpanzees I saw [in Ireland] . . . I don't believe they are our fault. . . . But to see white chimpanzees is dreadful; if they were black, one would not feel it so much. . . ." (Charles Kingsley in a letter to his wife, quoted in L.P. Curtis, Anglo-Saxons and Celts, p.84).
www.victorianweb.org/history/race/Racism.html
One of the earliest example of a discriminating, but very influencial view on the Irish can be found in papers by Richard Twiss and William Lithgow (1640). They described the Irish as wild animals, and recommending English trademen in India the use of the breasts of Irish women as a moneybag because of their size and quality."[/u]
Dr. John Beddoe (1826-1911) of Bristol, one of
the most famous Victorian ethnologists and founding member of the Ethnological Society, regarded pigment and the colour of hair and eyes as clues to the ethnic composition especially of the British people.
Committed to the methods of quantitative analysis, Beddoe observed and measured physical features among the population of Great Britain, Ireland, and Western Europe. He developed a so-called “Index of Nigrescence“, which was designed to quantify the amount of residual melanin in the skin, the iris as well as the follicles of the hair (Beddoe 1885).
Although not being a racist in the tradition of Chamberlain, Hunt and Knox (see below), his index implied that one end of the scale was preferable to the other.
He found out that the index rose steadily as he moved from east to west in England and Ireland, and the highest index of all - over 70% on his scale - was found in parts of Wales and western Ireland. Further he contrasted the fairer and orthognathous upper classes of Saxon origin and the more melanous and prognathous workers of Wales and Ireland. The darkest, most prognathous Celts encountered on his trips inspired Beddoe to speculate on their African genesis, and he chose the term “Africanoid“ to describe this extrem type with its jutting jaw
www.may.ie/igu/meuller.pdf
download that pdf great reading!
