ttribute the decline of the Yankee element as a numerical factor in the
large New England centers to the race degeneracy of the Puritan, while
ignoring the proper cause--the influx of the Celt.

Mr. Hoffman's conclusions as to the Negro population are not generally
accepted by students of social problems. Their position is more clearly
stated in a recent notice of the work now under review. "Concerning the
first of these chapters dealing with population he (Mr. Hoffman) reaches
conclusions very different from those generally held by those who have
discussed the subject on _a priori_ grounds. The general impression has
been that the colored population was increasing at a rate greater than
that of the whites, owing both to the greater number of children born
and also to the fact that all children of a mixed race were counted as
blacks. From such a condition of affairs it would naturally be assumed
that the race to which all half-breeds were credited would, especially
if prolific, rapidly gain upon the other race."[13]

On the appearance of each census since emancipation, there has been some
hue and cry as to the destiny of the Negro population. Public opinion
has been rhythmical with reference to its rise and fall above and below
the mean line of truth. In 1870 it was extermination; in 1880 it was
dreaded that the whole country would be Africanized because of the
prolificness of a barbarous race; in 1890 the doctrine of extinction was
preached once more; what will be the outcry in 1900 can only be divined
at this stage, but we may rest assured that it will be something
startling.

NEGROES IN CITIES.

The author's studies in the minor features of the Negro population form
the most interesting and valuable work which has yet been undertaken on
the subject. The urban drift, the tendency to concentration, and the
migratory movements of the black population are treated with fullness
and force. It is interesting to know that there are 13 cities in which
the colored population exceeds 20,000, and 23 in which it exceeds
10,000, and that the rate of increase of the colored element in these
centers is enormous--more than 30 per cent. The concentration of the
colored population in certain sections of cities is quite suggestive.
The following table will disclose some of the striking features which
Mr. Hoffman has exhibited at length.[14]

City. Colored No. Colored population
population. Wa