i6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the mountain from whicli the wind constantly blows. 4. A build- 

 ing in the southern part of Korea which has one room having 

 the dimensions of one thousand squares ; one square has the 

 dimension of seven feet each way ; the floor equals an acre in 

 extent. 5. A beach composed of water-worn stones assuming the 

 shapes of wild beasts, cattle, mountains, and other forms. (Ob- 

 jects of this kind are often seen mounted on little teakwood 

 stands in Japan and China.) 6. A river called by a Korean name 

 which means " against sand " in other words, it is believed that 

 the water flows in one direction while the sand runs in an oppo- 

 site direction. 7. A flute one thousand years old, and only one 

 man has been known who could play on it. 8. A stone Buddha. 



An examination of Korean objects of manufacture, as exhib- 

 ited in the United States National Museum, and in the Museum 

 of the Peabody Academy of Science in Salem, will convince one 

 of the degraded condition of the people. The rude musical in- 

 struments, rude pottery, rough work generally, and the almost 

 complete absence of all industrial art handwork, testify to the 

 alarming decay of the nation. Flanked as Korea is by China on 

 the one hand and Japan on the other, with their advanced indus- 

 tries and skillful art handwork, and possessing, as Korea does, 

 the records of a great past, the degradation and decay that have 

 come upon the nation must have come about through their own 

 fault. Repeated demands for an explanation of these conditions 

 only brought out the answer that a noble could ruthlessly claim 

 from the artisan any work he might do, and this without recom- 

 pense. As a result, all ambition is crushed, and the workman 

 dares not attract the attention of these official sharks by fabricat- 

 ing anything of special excellence. From hand to mouth they 

 live ; the masses are in abject poverty, and the only comforts 

 they appear to command are heat and tobacco. The corruption 

 of the official class makes Tammany officials seem like white- 

 robed angels. 



Conclusion. If my various questions have been correctly 

 answered, one may glance at the preceding statements and realize 

 in how many ways the habits and customs of the people prevent 

 work, discourage industry, and in a surprising number of in- 

 stances encourage the survival of the unfittest. The appalling 

 waste of time, the degrading habits of life, and the avarice and 

 oppression of the official class illustrate in a forcible manner the 

 result of unnatural selection. When one learns, for example, that 

 custom, following Confucian doctrines, commands an industrious 

 brother to waste his energies in supporting a number of idle, dis- 

 solute brothers, thus permitting them to survive to transmit their 

 lazy and vagabond tendencies, one can easily understand the 

 present degradation of the people. 



