66 I'RKSIDKNTIAL ADDRESS— SECTION D. 



conditions of lionsing-, livelihood and education will exert a 

 proportionally great influence in keepino- the races pure. 

 Accurate records are a great consideration in this regard, and 

 it has occurred to me that in our system of registering births, 

 marriages and deaths we have an unusually reliable source of 

 information, provided it can be made available and properly 

 (dassified. There are, no doubt, gaps in the evidence from the 

 scientific standpoint, and the sooner any shortcomings along 

 that line are overcome, the better. I would therefore propose 

 that a committee of three or more members be appointed to 

 take the M-hole subject under consideration and report at the 

 next general meeting. 



Big Game. 



Civilisation is a merciless eliminating force. It tends to 

 destroy everj^thing not absolutely necessary for the progress of 

 the human race and to create monopolies in favour of essentials. 

 Science is the handmaiden of civilisation in the work of 

 adapting* conditions entirely to human needs. 



In iNTorth America can be witnessed the closing scenes in 

 the great drama in which the red man, the bison, the 

 deer, the bear, the opossum and the coon are being* annihilated 

 in favour of the introduced types — the white man and the 

 negro, the horse, the cow, the pig, the sheep, the goat and 

 the hen. 



In Africa the same process is being repeated. Although 

 published long ago, before anyone dreamed of a " big 

 game " problem in' Africa, the accompanying illustration 

 (Plate XXIX) makes it easy for one to imagine all 

 the principal types in conference over the possibilities of 

 annihilation at no distant date, and the zebra and 

 the gnu appear to have suddenly made up their minds 

 to escape the clutches of fate if they can. Why are they 

 all in danger of annihilation ? Simply because they are 

 apparently not essential to the welfare of man. Xot only 

 that, tliej' are a positive source of danger from the standpoint 

 of diseases that can be transmitted to liuman beings. Fnder 

 such circumstances, viewed dispassionately, it seems inevitable 

 that, however much one would like to preserve them, the 

 African types, with the possible exception of the ostrich, will 

 have to give yvaj in favour of the same domestic types that are 

 now everywhere dominant in Eiir()i)e and America. 



I feel constrained, however, to nttei- a word of warning. 

 These old types have survived all the vicissitudes of the ages, 

 and even now the chief charge against them is that they are the 

 natural reservoirs of pests and diseases under whose onslaught 

 we perish. Does it not seem lilv'ely that thorough research on the 

 reaction between the original tvpes and the pests and diseases 

 may lead to important discoveries on the question of immunity 

 or resistance? They may carry with them an inroortant secret 

 which, discovered before it is too Inte. mav be immensely 

 valuable in connection with other problems. While the process 

 of elimination is going on we should mnke sure that valuable 

 evidence does not disappear. If possible, colonies of all types 



