Help with understanding this

I run into the following:

"In his doctoral dissertation of 1906, Terman examined seven “bright” and seven “stupid” boys and defended each of his tests as a measure of intelligence by appealing to the standard catalogue of racial and national stereotypes. Of tests for invention, he wrote: “We have only to compare the Negro with the Eskimo or Indian, and the Australian native with the Anglo-Saxon, to be struck by an apparent kinship between general intellectual and inventive ability.” Of mathematical ability, he proclaimed: “Ethnology shows that racial progress has been closely paralleled by development of the ability to deal with mathematical concepts and relations.”

So what does "appealing to" mean here? My understanding is that if A appeals to B, then B finds A attractive. But this meaning does not make sense here.

In addition, what is "the standard catalogue of racial and national stereotypes"? And how do I understand it in the context of the sentense "by appealing to the standard catalogue of racial and national stereotypes"?

Thank you very much...