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Show 266 BASIS OP AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1900 * The lack of immunity against infectious and epidemic diseases must be laid to a different source. These come from the whites, and the Indians have not yet acquired the racial immunity. As a consequence, measles, scarlet - fever, and small- pox have a mortality among the aborigines which greatly exceeds that among the whites- a single epidemic of measles will sometimes almost extinguish an Indian village or tribe. Whether or not epidemic diseases of any sort existed before the coming of the Europeans is doubtful. At the present time tuberculosis is creating havoc on many of the reservations, particularly on the Pacific slope, where the wet climate creates conditions favorable for its progress. In some tribes tuberculosis is so prevalent that practically every individual shows evidence of it. Syphilis and other venereal diseases also contribute to the deterioration of many stocks. Another Indian trait which has been widely noted is hospitality. This was undoubtedly the outcome of the communal life where property was common and individual ownership hardly existed. The term is, therefore, somewhat misapplied, since food was regarded as free, and the individual owner nothing more than a custodian by force of circumstance. The misconception with regard to the position of woman has also been noticed. In tribes where the matriarchate was fundamental, as among the j |