244 REPRODUCTION, PUBERTY AND LONGEVITY. 



power of th whole community, and an increase in the average 

 longevity. 



The effect of delay in arriving at puberty gives more time for 

 physical development and adds to the physical as well as to the 

 mental powers. I have previously shown that some of the finest race 

 horses are the product of old sires and dams, and we know that 

 those animals which are slowest in arriving at puberty are the 

 strongest and most tenacious of life. Among the races of men we 

 find the same thing. The white race is the physical superior to all 

 others, they arrive at puberty from 13 to 15 and live to the age of 

 70 or 80. The degraded races arrive at puberty at 8 or io, 8 and 

 rarely live beyond the age of 45. Wherever those races which, 

 according to the advice of Galton, Haycraft and others, begin 

 reproduction at an early age come into contact with the late matur- 

 ing and slowly breeding whites, they rapidly fade away. We see 

 the result of it on the American Continent, the Sandwich Islands, 

 New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere. 



TREATMENT OF THE CHILD. 



Next after the question of puberty, or perhaps coming before 

 it in a practical sense, in the process of adding age to parents, is 

 the problem of right living. While the principal element in deter- 

 mining the age of puberty is undoubtedly the effect of its inherit- 

 ance, it is quite true that climate, surroundings and actions have a 

 material influence. Stimulation or excitement may precipitate 

 what would otherwise be delayed. It is therefore desirable that 

 a child's early life should be guided into proper channels so that 

 the habits it forms may neutralize the bad inheritance and 



(8) The Human Species, p. 415. 



(9) Comparative Longevity, p. 107. 



