72 proceedings: anthropological society 



exposure, and wounds, together with an acquisition of new diseases. 

 "These assumptions," said the speaker, "are enough to make the pessi- 

 mist despair of the future of the race, but happily these assumptions are 

 not entirely correct. In the first place we have no scientific basis for 

 the belief that any of the warlike nations of the past have actually 

 degenerated physically as the result of wars Unques- 

 tionably there are losses from every great war, and in these I include 

 the debilitating effects of wounds and disease, but fortunately these 

 appear to be only temporary." 



"There are wonderful laws working on living nature, including human- 

 ity. One of these is the elimination of the unfit. Another is adapta- 

 tion, still another is restitution, and finally there are the laws of com- 

 pensation. These laws have taken care of war-ridden mankind in 

 the past, and as they work with undiminished vigor they can safely be 

 expected, with such intelligent assistance as can now be given, to accom- 

 plish still more in the future." Treating of the action of these laws, Dr. 

 Hrdlicka noted that many afflictions caused by the war are curable and 

 others are not transmitted to progeny. The most dangerous diseases 

 of previous wars have largely been eliminated by preventive means, 

 while science is already coping with new conditions that have arisen. 



The speaker then recounted some of the compensations that will 

 arise from the war, chief among which he placed the impetus given to the 

 struggle against alcoholism. Important also among the compensations 

 will be the great intellectual stimulus, the social and national regen- 

 eration, and the raising of this nation from an isolated and somewhat 

 selfish position to that of a world power in the best sense of the term and 

 for the good of humanity. 



In the discussion which followed this communication the office of the 

 Surgeon General, U. S. A., was represented by Lieut. Sidney Morgan, 

 Sanitary Corps, U. S. N. A., who spoke on the surprisingly large per- 

 centage of wounded men who, by expert care, are retui'ned to their homes 

 fitted to be useful members of society. 



Mr. Frank D. Tansley, ex-president of the Patria Club of New York 

 City, stated that the ratio of casualties in the present war is about the 

 same as that in the Civil War, from which the nation has been able to 

 recover. Mr. E. T. Williams, of the State Department, noted that there 

 may be a deterioration of the race in time of peace, due to industrial 

 conditions and crowding of factories. Dr. John R. Swanton contrasted 

 imperialistic and emulative civilizations, to the advantage of the latter; 

 Mr. James Mooney emphasized the thought that psychology is the 

 dominant factor in race differentiation; and Dr. Leo J. Frachtenberg 

 spoke of predominant elements in every race. Rev. John M. Cooper 

 mentioned an essential vitality which is the outcome of circumstance 

 and which has been, to some extent, lacking in American youth but 

 which may be developed by present conditions. 



Frances Densmore, Secretary. 



