374 THE TREND OF THE RACE 



affect the disposition to suicide, so that it is not safe to ascribe the 

 increasing suicide rate mainly to our deteriorating inheritance, 

 although it is not improbable that the latter factor is one of 

 importance. Many families have been described in which there 

 has been a strong and apparently hereditary bent toward suicide. 

 But from the nature of the case it is scarcely feasible to compare 

 the relative strength of nature and nurture in leading people to 

 end their lives. 



A number of writers who have discussed the possible degener- 

 acy of the human species have derived much comfort from the 

 decreasing death rate and the increasing average duration of life. 

 W. Kruse, for instance, in a long article on this theme (Entartung, 

 Zeit. soz. Wiss., 6, 359 and 41 1, 1903) comments on the decreasing 

 death rate of Germany and upon the decreasing morbidity of the 

 German army, after which he exclaims "Wo bleibt da die Degen- 

 eration? " This rather nai've performance really contributes very 

 little to the solution of the problem. Mortality and morbidity 

 have been so profoundly affected by advances in hygiene that 

 they would be bound to decrease, even in face of an extensive 

 deterioration in native vigor. 



The problem of the alleged increase of degenerative diseases 

 has elicited a good deal of discussion and opinion in the subject is 

 still much divided. In a paper on The Increasing Mortality from 

 Degenerative Maladies 1 by E. E. Rittenhouse of the Equitable 

 Life Insurance Society of the United States it is claimed that the 

 mortality from such diseases is becoming greater for all ages of 

 life, although it is relatively higher for the advanced age periods. 

 "In sixteen cities the mortality rate from heart, apoplexy and 

 kidney affections alone has increased in thirty years from 17.94 

 to 34.78, or 94 per cent; during ten years (1900-1910) it increased 

 from 29.4 to 36.78, or 18 per cent. In New Jersey (1880-1910) it 

 increased from 16.5 to 34.3, or 108 per cent." It is shown that the 

 death rate in advanced ages over 45-54 has increased in these 

 same cities and also in Massachusetts and New Jersey, and 

 probably in other cities and states with less adequate statistics. 

 1 Pop. Sci. Man. 82, pp. 376-380, 1913. 



