56 



The Journal of Heredity 



they were grown. Thus an increase 

 or decrease of varieties of corn in a 

 mixed population might be consciously 

 or unconsciously brought about by 

 their relative rates of reproduction. 

 The same may be said of varieties of 

 human beings. 



It is conceivable that a nation sud- 

 denly become educated in science above 

 its neighbors would, thereby, be enabled 

 to succeed in its wars of aggression and 

 to establish a national dominance over 

 less educated peoples. Unless, however, 

 the subjugated races were reduced in 

 population or in their powers of repro- 

 duction by such conquest, the dominant 

 nation would contriVjute no increased 

 share to the comj^osition of the human 

 race as a whole. History, however, 

 does not warrant us in assuming that 

 conquest increases the relative rate of 

 reproduction of the conquerors. In 

 civilized countries the effect may be 

 the opposite. Even if the conquerors 

 were favored in the re])roductive rate, 

 what would be increased in transmission 

 would be merely the relative average 

 ability to react to education possessed 

 l)y the dominant race. This example 

 of a possible biologic advantage of 

 education at the i)rescnt time seems 

 extremely doubtful. 



TWO DIRECT EFFECTS 



There are two ways, however, in 

 which it is generally agreed that educa- 

 tion directly affects the rate of reproduc- 

 tion. On the one hand, knowledge of 

 the laws of health decreases the general 

 mortality, especially in infancy, while 

 on the other hand, education, if i)ro- 

 longed, delays marriage and decreases 

 the number of offspring. Unfortunately 

 these two influences do not balance. 

 It is a striking fact revealed by eugenic 

 investigation, that the average numl)er 

 of children l)orn and brought to maturity- 

 in educated families is far less than in 

 uneducated families. Statistics show 

 that college graduates are not having 

 children enough to keej) uj) their num- 

 bers — and this seems truer for graduates 

 of women's c(jlleges than for those from 

 men's colleges. In other words, edu- 

 cated men and women arc not repro- 

 ducing themselves. 



Little in the way of organized effort 

 is being accomplished to equalize the 

 relative rates of reproduction, either by 

 increasing the birth rate among the 

 educated or by decreasing the birth rate 

 among the unedvicated classes. On the 

 contrary, those who recently have at- 

 temjited to disseminate information 

 which would tend to lower the l)irth 

 rate of the uneducated have been 

 arrested and threatened with imprison- 

 ment. The movement for birth control 

 is biologically of advantage in so far as 

 it tends to equalize the relative birth 

 rates of the better and less desirable 

 varieties of men. 



It is true that education is only 

 one of the associated factors in\'olved 

 in the decreased rate of reproduction of 

 the so-called educated classes. The edu- 

 cated take more thought for the mor- 

 row. After estimating the relative cost 

 of a child or of an automoh)ile. they 

 sometimes choose the latter. Automo- 

 biles undoubtedly increase the tendenc\- 

 toward race suicide. The same may be 

 said, however, of any other luxury or 

 economic necessity that foresighted par- 

 ents allow to interfere with the normal 

 increase in the size of their families. 



If the u])per classes represent in 

 native ability a fair average sample of 

 the whole ])opulation, their decreased 

 rate of reproduction ma\' have no great 

 significance since the losses in their ranks 

 could be made good by the education 

 of those in the classes below them. 

 The educated, however, are not a mere 

 average sample. They constitute a 

 select group containing not only those 

 most educated but in large ])roportion 

 those most cai)able of education. The 

 greater the o])i)()rtunities offered to all, 

 the more closely will the grade of 

 education attained rejircsent the innate 

 ability. At the present time, therefore, 

 the relative low rate of reproduction 

 of the educated is truly alanning. 

 The contention seems ])lausible that 

 the downfall of Rome and of other 

 ancient civilizations is to be attributed 

 largely to this very influence of educa- 

 tion in decreasing the relative birth rate 

 of their l)ettcr classes. It is not the 

 ])uri)ose of the jjresent article, however, 

 to follow further the effects of education 



