506 



ZOOLOGY 



Value of 

 prophets 



Sexual 

 selection 



Eugenics 

 and disease 



12. It must be remembered that we are concerned 

 not so much with immediate benefits (which must be 

 attained by other than eugenic means), as with the 

 welfare of the race in the long run and the course of 

 time. Hence we should be alive to the value of in- 

 dividuals whose work takes a long time to bear fruit, 

 such as reformers of various kinds and many scientific 

 investigators. William James well said that Saint 

 Paul was poorly adapted to the environment of his 

 day, since he was executed ; but he is magnificently 

 adapted to the larger environment of history. 



We can make the more subtle and precious human 

 qualities count plus in the struggle for existence only 

 by ourselves appreciating them. Hence the effort to 

 cultivate good morals and good taste is indirectly 

 eugenic, and may become a powerful factor for racial 

 betterment. 



13. Sexual selection must be considered an important 

 eugenic force. It has been objected that sexual selec- 

 tion is of small avail in man, because there is nothing 

 to prevent the marriage of all grades of inferior people. 

 This is not a valid objection, since the union of good 

 qualities conserves them, and in this way the race is 

 provided with a larger number of highly efficient 

 persons, who become very valuable even to the less 

 efficient, when engaged in socialized work. Hence the 

 economic independence of women, and coeducational 

 institutions for higher learning, both serve eugenic 

 ends. 



14. We may now return to Darwin's criticism of the 

 preservation of the unfit in civilized countries. We 

 have seen 'that the propagation of those possessing 

 serious inherited defects should be and can be largely 

 prevented. The warfare against infectious disease, 



