260 THE PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE 



ing from the past progress of our species, I am afraid that 

 the globe will have cooled down so far, before the advent of 

 this natural millennium, that we shall be, at best, perfected 

 Esquimaux." 



For practical purposes, however, it is encouraging that man 

 may improve his condition in the course of a century or so, 

 a thing we obviously do accomplish in some degree. And 

 we may expect material advance in the near future, if we 

 do no more than prohibit what is clearly bad, while giving 

 social approbation to the kind of matings which make for 

 better men. But shall we stop here once we recognize the 

 facts? We have given up, among individuals if not among 

 nations, the cherished right to knock the other fellow on the 

 head if he disagrees with us; and the type of mind which 

 desires progress rather than precedent believes that the 

 future will see the surrender or restriction of other rights now 

 regarded as fundamental. It may even come to this matter 

 of marriage and giving in marriage. Already we are making 

 the attempt to prevent hereditarily defective individuals 

 from reproducing their kind, something we can accomplish 

 only when the facts of heredity are fully known for these 

 particular cases. Moreover, eugenic propaganda lead the 

 thoughtful and conscientious members of society to consider 

 their obligations in the light of heredity. 



When we really get beyond the present sky-line we shall 

 do more than this; for the future will demand better brain 

 and more of it than the past, and a sound body to go with 

 the better brain. It has been said that "the rulers of the 

 world have been big eaters"; which is probably true, in so 

 far as those who hold their fellow-men effectively in hand 

 are, commonly, men and women of some brute-force. One 

 might say, as the converse of this, that the thinkers of the 

 world are below the average in physical attainment. For, 

 while it cannot be stated accurately, it seems clear that na- 

 ture exacts heavy penalties for too much intellectual effort, 

 and that for most of the race physical toil, even though 



