LAWS OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE 399 



It is not increased by an elimination which merely changes the char- 

 acter of defects without reducing their amount. Vices are the negative 

 of will power: criminal traits are the negative of development. They 

 are not independent characters corresponding to changes in the germ 

 cell. 



The main result of the preceding discussion is to show that the 

 unit-characters of the germ-cell do not correspond to the moral and 

 immoral traits made emphatic in social science. The biologic char- 

 acters important in social science are few in number, of which will 

 power is the only one on which the present progress of the race depends. 

 Social traits correspond to the peculiar conditions in which society 

 finds itself and they grow in number as the complexity of the environ- 

 ment increases. Chastity, thrift or temperance indicates desirable 

 social conditions which are pictured in the ideal they create. There 

 could be forty such characters with no biologic change except a growth 

 of will power. Progress in man is due to concentration of energy. The 

 central organs, the brain and its adjuncts, have grown at the expense 

 of the terminal organs such as the hand, foot, teeth and jaw. More 

 energy goes to the brain and less to the external structures of vital im- 

 portance to lower animals. This concentration of energy results in the 

 prolongation of childhood, the growth of psychic powers and the 

 dominance of will over instinct. But at the same time it creates a def- 

 icit in terminal organs which forces them into a state of decay. The 

 marks of these changes are the psychic effects revealed in thought and 

 the regressive effects seen in terminal organs. A single biologic tend- 

 ency could thus create all the difference that separates man from other 

 animals. 



We are now in a position to discuss the variations that create dif- 

 ferences between parent and child. One source of difference is degen- 

 eration, caused by a surplus of nutriment. This clogs the system, 

 produces morbidness and creates auto-intoxication. The final mark is 

 a weak will. The lack of central control is prominent in degeneration 

 and leads to many manifestations of which hysteria is an example. A 

 second difference of parent and child is due to retardation. Each or- 

 ganism in its development repeats the history of its ancestors. An im- 

 perfect recapitulation means that the growth of the child stops short 

 of the development of the normal ancestor. From this source many 

 variations arise. A third difference between parent and child is caused 

 by regression. As distinguished from degeneration and retardation, 

 regression is only partial indicating real progression in unobserved 

 parts. In man the terminal organs fail to come up to the standard 

 set by earlier development. The central organs, however, are progres- 

 sive and their growth is the real cause of the regression of terminal 

 organs. 



