Chapter II 



Man's Ancestors 



SOME persons will reply to what has just been said by 

 declaring that man is not an animal. They will add 

 that it is, therefore, worse than useless to look to the 

 breeding of pigs and sheep when seeking for guidance in 

 our own affairs. A word or name is, however, in many 

 ways, like a label. You can tie it on to anything or tear 

 it off again, almost at your pleasure. If you choose to 

 attach the label of ** animal" only to what are generally 

 called the lower animals, then you may say if you like that 

 man is not an animal. You will, however, learn nothing 

 whatever about man merely by considering the name 

 you give to him. We must look at things themselves, and 

 not at the labels attached to them. What we want to 

 know about mankind is whether it is likely that the human 

 race would be benefited in the future by care being taken 

 in regard to breeding ; that is, in the same way that do- 

 mestic animals have certainly been improved in the past. 

 This is the question to be asked and answered. 



As to the lower animals, all students of science now 

 believe that if we could trace their ancestry backwards, 

 offspring to parent, generation after generation, for an 

 immense time, we should see that they were all descended 

 from some common stock. All the lower animals are, in 

 fact, very distant cousins. And, being thus related, it 

 is natural that they should all be improved in like manner 

 by care being taken in the selection of the individuals 

 that are allowed to breed. Is man their cousin also? 

 There is no good reason why he should be excluded from 

 this great family group, and he is not so excluded by those 

 who have looked into the matter carefully. We are of 

 common descent with the lower animals, and with us, as 

 with them, wonders could be effected by breeding. 



5 



