This historic fact underlies the ferocious controversy which has been raised over the ethnic origin of the Prussians, the issue being whether the populations in Brandenburg, Silesia, Posen, West Prussia, and other districts in eastern Germany, are Alpine Wends or true Nordics. The truth is that the dominant half of the population is purely Teutonic and the remainder of the population are merely Teutonized Wends and Poles of Alpine affinities. Of course, these territories must also retain some of their early Teutonic population and the blood of the Goth, Burgund, Vandal and Lombard, who at the commencement of the Christian era were located there, as well as of the later Saxon element, must enter largely into the composition of the Prussian of to-day. Some anthropologists regard the Teutonized round heads of south Germany as a distinct subdivision of the Alpines because of the large percentage of blond hair and still larger percentage of light colored eyes. The most important communities in continental Europe of pure German type are to be found in old Saxony, the country around Hanover, and this element prevails generally in the northwestern part of the German Empire among the Low German-speaking population, while the High German-speaking population is largely composed of Teutonized Alpines. The coasts of the North Sea extending from Schleswig and Holstein into Holland are inhabited by a very pure Nordic type known as the Frisians. They are the handsomest and in many respects the finest of the continental Nordics and are closely related to the English, as many of the Post-Roman invaders of England either came from Frisia or from adjoining districts. All the states involved in the present world war have sent to the front their fighting Nordic element and the loss of life now going on in Europe will fall much more heavily on the blond giant than on the little brunet. As in all wars since Roman times from a breeding point of view the little dark man is the final winner. No one who saw one of our regiments march on its way to the Spanish War could fail to be impressed with the size and blondness of the men in the ranks as contrasted with the complacent citizen, who from his safe stand on the gutter curb gave his applause to the fighting man and then stayed behind to perpetuate his own brunet type. In the present war one has merely to study the type of officer and of the man in the ranks to realize that, in spite of the draft net, the Nordic race is contributing an enormous majority of the fighting men, out of all proportion to their relative numbers in the nation at large.