﻿EVIDENCE 
  ON" 
  MAN'S 
  EVOLUTION 
  HRDLiCkA 
  429 
  

  

  better, 
  for 
  something 
  ever 
  higher 
  and 
  better 
  in 
  every 
  line. 
  This 
  

   means 
  a 
  desire 
  and 
  striving 
  for 
  ever 
  greater 
  strength, 
  beauty, 
  bodily 
  

   and 
  mental 
  effectiveness, 
  mental 
  freedom, 
  ability, 
  power, 
  and 
  true 
  

   happiness. 
  The 
  more 
  man 
  is 
  developed 
  intellectually 
  the 
  more 
  there 
  

   is 
  of 
  this 
  striving 
  for 
  a 
  higher 
  state 
  and 
  happiness 
  and 
  progress 
  and 
  

   intellectual 
  freedom. 
  

  

  This 
  great 
  factor 
  was 
  not 
  so 
  manifest 
  in 
  times 
  past. 
  A 
  man 
  then 
  

   was 
  too 
  often 
  satisfied 
  to 
  serve 
  another 
  provided 
  he 
  had 
  enough 
  food 
  

   and 
  a 
  little 
  leisure. 
  This 
  agency 
  has 
  already 
  had, 
  and 
  is 
  bound 
  to 
  

   have 
  in 
  the 
  future, 
  a 
  very 
  potential 
  effect 
  on 
  man's 
  evolution. 
  Not- 
  

   withstanding 
  the 
  difficulties 
  in 
  the 
  v:aj 
  it 
  is 
  ever 
  refining 
  man's 
  

   mental 
  actions, 
  making 
  more 
  out 
  of 
  humankind 
  in 
  every 
  way. 
  And 
  

   with 
  it 
  will 
  proceed 
  an 
  ever 
  more 
  intelligent 
  and 
  discriminating- 
  

   sexual 
  selection, 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  past, 
  and 
  promises 
  increasingly 
  

   to 
  be 
  in 
  the 
  future, 
  a 
  potent 
  aid 
  to 
  favorable 
  evolution. 
  

  

  These 
  factors 
  and 
  agencies, 
  and 
  still 
  others, 
  are 
  plainly 
  in 
  action 
  

   on 
  the 
  civilized 
  man 
  to-day; 
  are 
  largely 
  taking 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  

   older 
  natural 
  agencies 
  which 
  gradually 
  have 
  been 
  losing 
  their 
  power 
  

   on 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  man's 
  evolution. 
  They 
  may 
  prove 
  equally, 
  and 
  

   in 
  some 
  respects 
  even 
  more, 
  effective. 
  Their 
  promise 
  is 
  a 
  gradual 
  

   orthogenesis, 
  or 
  evolution 
  of 
  man 
  in 
  the 
  right 
  direction, 
  physically, 
  

   as 
  far 
  as 
  this 
  may 
  still 
  be 
  possible, 
  but 
  above 
  all 
  intellectually 
  ; 
  evolu- 
  

   tion 
  toward 
  beings 
  ever 
  freer 
  from 
  imperfections 
  and 
  limitations; 
  

   an 
  evolution 
  in 
  general 
  ever 
  more 
  guided 
  and 
  safeguard 
  through 
  

   increase 
  of 
  knowledge. 
  

  

  But 
  this 
  highly 
  promising 
  road 
  is 
  not 
  without 
  many 
  obstacles 
  

   and 
  even 
  serious 
  dangers. 
  A 
  sober 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  future 
  sees, 
  

   indeed, 
  further 
  evolution, 
  but 
  evolution 
  amid 
  and 
  through 
  difficulties. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  these 
  may 
  here 
  be 
  enumerated 
  : 
  

  

  Modern 
  diseases. 
  — 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  record 
  in 
  the 
  distant 
  past 
  of 
  tuber- 
  

   culosis, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  very 
  scarce 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  dynastic 
  Egypt. 
  

   There 
  is 
  little 
  if 
  any 
  evidence 
  of 
  cancer 
  until 
  fairly 
  recent 
  times, 
  

   and 
  none 
  of 
  rickets. 
  As 
  animals 
  in 
  confinement 
  develop 
  diseases 
  

   unknown 
  in 
  freedom, 
  so 
  with 
  men 
  ; 
  domesticity 
  brings 
  new 
  infirmities. 
  

   These 
  are 
  often 
  now 
  connected 
  with 
  overexertion, 
  where 
  man 
  is 
  

   forced 
  beyond 
  his 
  powers 
  and 
  so 
  falls 
  more 
  often 
  a 
  victim 
  to 
  diabetes, 
  

   heart 
  and 
  lung 
  trouble, 
  nervous 
  disorders, 
  insanity. 
  They 
  are, 
  

   however, 
  also 
  connected 
  with 
  man's 
  lengthening 
  life 
  period. 
  Medi- 
  

   cine 
  is 
  trying 
  to 
  overcome 
  these, 
  but 
  so 
  far 
  not 
  very 
  successfully; 
  

   they 
  may 
  constitute 
  serious 
  impediments 
  to 
  human 
  progress 
  for 
  the 
  

   future. 
  There 
  is, 
  however, 
  no 
  perceptible 
  need 
  of 
  apprehension 
  that 
  

   diseases 
  of 
  the 
  civilized 
  man 
  — 
  barring, 
  perhaps, 
  the 
  lighter 
  psy- 
  

   choses 
  — 
  will 
  increase 
  or 
  that 
  new 
  and 
  uncontrollable 
  scourges 
  may 
  

   originate. 
  

  

  