Abstract
THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE FINNO-UGRIANS.—Dr. U. T. Sirelius has published through the Government Printing Office, Helsingfors, a study of the history, culture, linguistic and physical characters of the Finno-Ugrian peoples under the title “The Genealogy of the Finns.” Although it is clear from the concluding chapter, which advocates political independence for those members of the group who have not already attained it, that the pamphlet is a piece of political propaganda, it is nevertheless a useful review of the evidence bearing upon Finno-Ugrian affinities and early history. No comprehensive survey of the physical characters of the Finno-Ugrians has been made, but such available data as are comparable indicate considerable divergence and show that they are no longer even approximately a homogeneous race. They fall into two main groups, one short, comprising Lapps, Ostyaks, and Voguls, all living near the Polar Circle, and a tall group to which belong all the other peoples, Hungarians, Baltic Finns, Volga Finns, and Permians. The Samoyeds, whose linguistic kinship to the Finns is now clear, resemble the members of the former group. In culture also there is a division between the Lapps, the Seryenians of Archangel, the Voguls and Ostyaks, belonging to the north, who live by hunting, fishing, or reindeer breeding, and the remainder, who are tillers of the soil.
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Change history
01 August 1925
In NATURE for July u, p. 61, col. i, paragraph 2, line 13, the words " It is also a genus long known only from Europe " should refer to Balanocrinus.
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Research Items. Nature 116, 60–62 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116060a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116060a0