36 THE METHODS AND 



If there are societies which refuse to apply 

 the new knowledge, the fault will not lie with 

 Genetics. I think it needs but little observa- 

 tion of the newer civilisations to foresee that 

 they will apply every scrap of scientific know- 

 ledge which can help them, or seems to 

 help them in the struggle, and I am good 

 enough Selectionist to know that in that day 

 the fate of the recalcitrant communities is 

 sealed. 



The thrill of discovery is not dulled 

 by a suspicion that the discovery can be 

 applied. No harm is done to the investigator 

 if he can resist the temptation to deviate from 

 his aim. With rarest exceptions the dis- 

 coveries which have formed the basis of 

 physical progress have been made without 

 any thought but for the gratification of 

 curiosity. Of this there can be few examples 

 more conspicuous than that which Mendel's 



