DEGENERATION. 59 



careful study of the habits, arts, and behefs of savages ; 

 at the same time there is no doubt that many savage 

 races as we at present see them are actually dege- 

 nerate and are descended from ancestors possessed 

 of a relatively elaborate civilisation. As such we 

 may cite some of the Indians of Central America, 

 the modern Egyptians, and even the heirs of the 

 great oriental monarchies of prae-Christian times. 

 Whilst the hypothesis of universal degeneration as 

 an explanation of savage races has been justly dis- 

 carded, it yet appears that degeneration has a very 

 large share in the explanation of the condition of 

 the most barbarous races, such as the Fuegians, the 

 Bushmen, and even the Australians. They exhibit 

 evidence of being descended from ancestors more 

 cultivated than themselves. 



With regard to ourselves, the white races of 

 Europe, the possibility of degeneration seems to 

 be worth some consideration. In accordance with 

 a tacit assumption of universal progress — an unrea- 

 soning optimism — we are accustomed to regard our- 

 selves as necessarily progressing, as necessarily having 

 arrived at a higher and more elaborated condition 

 than that which our ancestors reached, and as destined 



