It is to be regretted that so little attention has for some time been paid to this most important question. The result is that the effects of the intermixture of races are not much better known now, than they were twenty or thirty years ago. The only thing which may be considered certain is, that the hypothesis of the depressing influence of crossing upon fertility, as the theory has generally been propounded, involves a great deal of exaggeration. It is chiefly owing to M. Broca’s celebrated essay, ‘Sur l’hybridité,’ that this doctrine has been so widely accepted. He asserts that the connections of Europeans with Australian women have proved very slightly prolific, and that the mongrels resulting from them are almost sterile. “No statistical writer,” he says, “nor any historian, enumerates cross-breeds among the Australian population.”[1664] Yet, this land has for a considerable time been inhabited by European colonists, many of whom have not had opportunities of marrying wives of their own race. It has also been shown that the cohabitation of whites and native women is very common in Australia. But the number of mongrels there is, nevertheless, exceedingly small, so small that in the native dialects there does not exist a single word to designate them.[1665] Supposing that these remarkable statements referred chiefly to the eastern and southern parts of the Australian continent, I asked Bishop R. Salvado and the Rev. Joseph Johnston, living in West Australia, to inform me whether, in that country, any mixed race exists, and, if so, whether it is fruitful or not. From the former, who has lived among the West Australian aborigines for more than forty years, and through an excellent work on their life and customs has gained the reputation of a first-rate authority, I had the pleasure of receiving the following answer, dated New Norcia, October 17, 1888:—“With regard to the sterility of the half-caste natives, of which I had no experience when I wrote my book, I am able now to deny it altogether, except in cases similar to those among the Europeans. I know several cases of husband and wife, half-caste natives, having at present six and seven and even eight children, and they may in time have more; and I know a good many Europeans who, having married native women, have several children. In fact, in the case of one of those marriages there were six children, and in another seven, and I could give the name of each of them.” The Rev. J. Johnston writes, “There is a school for half-caste boys and girls at Perth, and they seem bright and intelligent children, not unlike Polynesian children. As they grow up, they go out to service, and some of the youths are employed as post and telegraph messengers.... At the New Norcia mission, there are several half-caste families, as well as blacks, and they all have children.” The following statement of Mr. Taplin referring to the aborigines of the Lower