stance, is of a striking Malay type. It is not impossible, nor even improbable, that Malays were borne on the "Japan Current" northward from their tropical abodes to the Japanese islands; but there is no historical record of such a movement. Therefore the best authorities, like Rein and Baelz, do not acknowledge more than slight traces of Malay influence. A more recent theory concerning the origin of the real Japanese or Yamato men, as

they called themselves is that they are descendants of the Hittites, whose capital was Hamath, or Yamath, or Yamato.

There are two distinct types of Japanese: the oval-faced, narrow-eyed, small aristocratic class; and the pudding-faced, full-eyed, flat-nosed, stout common people. Of these, the latter is the one claimed to be Malay. The plebeians, having always been accustomed to hard labor by the sweat of the brow, are comparatively strong; the others, having been developed by centuries of an inactive life, have inherited weak constitutions. Indeed, the people, as a whole, are subject to early maturity and early decay. There is a Japanese proverb to this effect: "At ten, a god-like child; at twenty, a clever man; from twentyfive on, an ordinary man." And, in spite of the fact that there have been remarkable exceptions to this rule, careful investigation by Japanese supports the truth of the proverb. And yet there seems to be no the similarity of Malay customs to our own. In the structure of their houses even this was very manifest." -Japan Mail.

I doubt that modern education and conditions of life show a gradual improvement in this respect.

The average Japanese, compared with the average European or American, has a lower stature 1 with a long body and short legs. A good authority states that "the average stature of Japanese men is about the same as the average stature of European women"; and that "the [Japanese] women are proportionately smaller." Some one has wittily called the Japanese "the diamond edition of humanity."

The Japanese also weigh much less than Europeans. The average weight of young men of twenty years of age in Europe is about 144 pounds, while the average weight of the strongest young men of the suburban districts of Tokyo was only about 121 pounds; which gives the European an advantage of 23 pounds.

The Japanese are very quick to learn. Their minds are strong in observation, perception, and memory, and weak in logic and abstraction. As born lovers of nature, they have well-trained powers of observation and perception, so that their minds turn readily to scientific pursuits. And as the ancient Japanese system of education followed Chinese models, the power of memorizing by rote has been strongly developed, so that the Japanese mind has little difficulty in becoming a storehouse of historical and other facts. But, as the powers of reasoning and abstraction have not been well trained, the

1 Dr. Baelz estimates the average stature at about 5 feet.

Japanese do not take so readily to mathematical problems and metaphysical theorems.

The typical Japanese is loyal, filial, respectful, obedient, faithful, kind, gentle, courteous, unselfish, generous. His besetting sins are deception, intemperance, debauchery, and these are common sins of humanity. In respect to these evils, he is unmoral rather than immoral; and in his case these sins should not be considered so heinous as in the case of one who has been taught and knows better.2 And it is with reference to these very evils that Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism have been a complete failure in Japan, and that Christianity is making its impress upon the nation.

There never were distinct and rigid castes in Japan, as in Egypt and India, but formerly there were four classes in society. These were, in order, the official and military class; the agricultural class, or the farmers; the laboring class, or the artisans; and the mercantile class, or merchants. Above all these were the Emperor and the Imperial family; below all these were the tanners, grave-diggers, beggars, etc., who were the Japanese pariah, or outcasts. The first class included the court nobility, the feudal lords, and their knights; they alone were permitted to carry two swords, were exempt from taxation, and were also the special educated and literary class, because they

1 See also subsequent chapter on "Japanese Traits."

2 His is simply a case of what is called "undeveloped moral consciousness."