The second result will be favorable or unfavorable, depending on the
characters which go into the cross; and it is not possible to predict
the result in human matings, because the various racial characters are
so ill known. It is, therefore, not worth while here to discuss at
length genetic theory. In general it may be said that some valuable
characters are likely to disappear, as the result of such crosses, and
less desirable ones to take their place. The great bulk of the
population resulting from such racial crosses is likely to be more or
less mongrel in nature. Finally, some individuals will appear who
combine the good characters of the two races, without the bad ones.
The net result will therefore probably be some distinct gain, but a
greater loss. There is danger that complex and valuable traits of a race
will be broken down in the process of hybridization, and that it will
take a long time to bring them together again. The old view that racial
crosses lead fatally to race degeneration is no longer tenable, but the
view recently advanced, that crosses are advantageous, seems equally
hasty. W. E. Castle has cited the Pitcairn Islanders and the
Boer-Hottentot mulattoes of South Africa as evidence that wide crosses
are productive of no evil results.
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