562 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, L918. 



It may safely be said that the problem of degeneracy has now 

 passed beyond the academic stage, and that its practical importance 

 is recognised by most thoughtful persons. But its pressing nature 

 is still unrealised; and it is, perhaps, not unnatural that, in the 

 midst of the greatest war the world has ever known, it should be 

 regarded as a question which can well await the return of peace. 

 There could be no greater mistake. The military necessities of the 

 country and the large number of casualties have already emphasized 

 the importance of " man power " and directed attention toward the 

 declining birth rate and the conservation of child life. All this is 

 quite right and proper; but it is an incontrovertible fact that the 

 many medical rejections and the system of voluntary service have 

 both led to these casualties being disproportionately incident upon 

 the most fit, and that the general effect of the war has been to aug- 

 ment still further the previously existing tendency toward the sur- 

 vival of the least fit. And there is great danger that an indiscrimi- 

 nate increase in the birth rate, a demand for quantity irrespective 

 of quality, may still further contribute toward this result. Let us 

 make no mistake. The ending of the war will not end international 

 competition; and, if we are to maintain our national or economic 

 supremacy we shall need, not merely men and women, but the best 

 men and women we can produce. If we are to do this, the problem 

 of degeneracy must have a place in any scheme for increasing the 

 birth rate and building up the future manpower of the nation. 



