4 o2 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



attributed to the germ-cell. All other traits can be traced directly or 

 indirectly to social or nutritive alterations. Heredity is the one power 

 that can transform man into a superman and we must rely on it to 

 reach this higher level. The actual problems we face to-day are those 

 of degeneration. We must get rid of the subman before we can rise to 

 the superman's level. The subman is made by environment as truly as 

 the superman will be made by heredity. We must therefore act 

 through objective agencies until the normal in men has been evoked. 

 Are social traits acquired or natural? Is degeneration in man due to 

 bad environment or to heredity? These are the problems which must 

 be fairly faced and definitely solved before it can be justly claimed that 

 man is freer from environmental control than are the lower forms of 

 animal life. 



