EUGENICS 507 



however, is eugenic in so far as it substitutes profitable 

 for unprofitable selection. Smallpox, for example, is 

 strongly selective, but the individuals preserved have 

 no other common merit than that of being able to 

 resist smallpox, which is not in itself a valuable social 

 faculty. The ancient saying, "Those whom the gods 

 love, die young," bears testimony to the lack of corre- 

 lation between the ability to resist disease and any 

 other merit. In so far as useless forms of selection are 

 eliminated, useful ones gain added significance. 



The idea of sexual selection in man and the economic 

 emancipation of women give new meaning to Coventry 

 Patmore's beautiful lines : 



Ah, wasteful woman, she who may 

 On her sweet self set her own price, 

 Knowing he cannot choose but pay : 

 How she hath cheapened paradise ! 

 How given for naught the priceless gift, 

 How spoiled the bread and spilled the wine, 

 Which, spent with due respective thrift, 

 Had made brutes men, and men divine ! 



