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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  fortunately 
  these 
  fears 
  are 
  not 
  well 
  grounded. 
  Many 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  

   are 
  preserved 
  are 
  not 
  unfit 
  except 
  in 
  some 
  one 
  particular, 
  as 
  in 
  a 
  

   predisposition 
  to 
  or 
  lack 
  of 
  immunity 
  toward 
  one 
  disease, 
  such 
  as 
  

   diphtheria 
  or 
  consumption. 
  And 
  with 
  the 
  really 
  weaker 
  who 
  are 
  

   preserved 
  there 
  enters 
  into 
  play 
  a 
  most 
  beneficial 
  factor, 
  the 
  old 
  

   but 
  ever 
  potent 
  vis 
  medicatrix 
  naturm^ 
  which 
  heals" 
  and 
  strengthens. 
  

  

  Were 
  it 
  not 
  for 
  this 
  important 
  factor, 
  whole 
  groups 
  of 
  mankind 
  

   would 
  probably 
  have 
  perished 
  in 
  the 
  past, 
  as 
  after 
  the 
  epidemic 
  of 
  

   syphilis 
  in 
  Europe 
  in 
  the 
  sixteenth 
  century. 
  Many 
  families 
  have 
  

   certain 
  infections 
  or 
  weaknesses, 
  but 
  we 
  see 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  

   cases 
  the 
  family 
  does 
  not 
  perish; 
  instead 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  gradual 
  restitu- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  generations 
  through 
  this 
  and 
  strengthening 
  by 
  

   marriage 
  with 
  healthy 
  stock, 
  the 
  bad 
  effects 
  may 
  disappear 
  entirely. 
  

  

  Through 
  ever 
  more 
  effective 
  self 
  -protection 
  man 
  counteracts 
  the 
  

   hard 
  mastership 
  of 
  nature. 
  He 
  is 
  replacing 
  nature's 
  tutelage 
  by 
  

   more 
  and 
  more 
  correct 
  self-training 
  and 
  education. 
  Children, 
  on 
  

   the 
  whole, 
  are 
  ever 
  more 
  carefully 
  trained, 
  and 
  adolescence 
  is 
  turned 
  

   more 
  effectively 
  in 
  a 
  fit 
  direction 
  — 
  brief 
  periods 
  of 
  demoralization, 
  

   such 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  postwar 
  period, 
  notwithstanding. 
  

  

  The 
  white 
  child 
  and 
  adolescent 
  of 
  to-day 
  lead, 
  on 
  the 
  average, 
  a 
  

   more 
  normal 
  and 
  healthy 
  life 
  than 
  did 
  the 
  child 
  and 
  adolescent 
  of 
  

   any 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  past. 
  Growing-up 
  girls 
  and 
  boys 
  are 
  taught 
  that 
  it 
  

   is 
  not 
  desirable 
  to 
  mate 
  with 
  the 
  sick 
  or 
  the 
  mentally 
  unfit. 
  More 
  

   rational 
  and 
  scientific 
  care 
  is 
  taken 
  of 
  the 
  defectives, 
  in 
  this 
  way 
  

   eliminating 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  serious 
  disgenic 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  past. 
  

   School 
  and 
  college 
  life 
  are 
  being 
  regulated 
  ever 
  more 
  rationally. 
  

   Hours 
  of 
  labor 
  are 
  reduced 
  to 
  avoid 
  physical 
  and 
  menial 
  exhaustion, 
  

   and 
  harmful 
  labor 
  of 
  children 
  is 
  largely 
  done 
  away 
  with. 
  In 
  many 
  

   factories 
  the 
  workmen 
  are 
  being 
  taken 
  care 
  of 
  as 
  valuable 
  assets 
  of 
  

   the 
  concern. 
  Men 
  in 
  mass, 
  soldiers 
  and 
  employees, 
  are 
  being 
  restored 
  

   to 
  health, 
  strengthened, 
  and 
  instructed 
  in 
  hygiene. 
  All 
  this 
  together 
  

   is 
  certain 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  large 
  and 
  v/holesome 
  evolutionary 
  influence 
  upon 
  

   the 
  future 
  generations. 
  

  

  New 
  ambitions 
  and 
  necessities, 
  new 
  inventions, 
  and 
  especially 
  new 
  

   and 
  intense 
  competitions, 
  are 
  acting 
  powerfully 
  upon 
  present 
  man 
  in 
  

   highl}^ 
  civilized 
  societies 
  — 
  much 
  more 
  so 
  than 
  they 
  have 
  ever 
  acted 
  

   in 
  the 
  past. 
  When 
  we 
  Aveigh 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  the 
  automobile, 
  movies, 
  

   radio, 
  the 
  daily 
  newspaper, 
  etc. 
  ; 
  when 
  we 
  contemplate 
  what 
  groups 
  

   of 
  competing 
  business 
  men 
  or 
  any 
  other 
  men 
  go 
  through; 
  when 
  we 
  

   feel 
  man's 
  utmost 
  efforts 
  in 
  all 
  directions 
  — 
  we 
  can 
  not 
  but 
  recognize 
  

   that 
  things 
  very 
  potent 
  are 
  developing 
  in 
  human 
  relations, 
  which 
  

   must 
  have 
  an 
  effect 
  upon 
  man's 
  further 
  evolution 
  in 
  a 
  mental 
  as 
  well 
  

   as 
  in 
  a 
  physical 
  direction. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  greatest 
  factors 
  of 
  contemporaneous 
  and 
  future 
  progres- 
  

   sive 
  human 
  evolution, 
  however, 
  are 
  the 
  thirst 
  and 
  striving 
  for 
  the 
  

  

  