transformation and choice

Here is the transformation image I mentioned earlier -- late in the 19th century, the now ludicrous case was made by some that economic choices, the market, might cause a person to become less, to devolve. This Charles Bennett image has a woman who leaves her household to work (as a maid).  As a result, her "race" is transformerd.  It's from Shadow and Substance (my edition is -- Shadow and Substance by Charles H. Bennett and Robert B. Brough; London:  W. Kent & Co. 1860). You can see an online description here.  Though the case that market choices cause us to change "race" is patently silly, today, claims of hierarchy persist.