6 WHAT IS EUGENICS? 



The existence of this blood relationship between man 

 and the lower animals was, it is true, nearly universally- 

 denied but a short while ago. Many who have not studied 

 the question deny it still. Then what has brought about 

 this wonderful change of opinion amongst the students of 

 science? Many reasons can be given in favour of this 

 belief in the common descent of all animals; but these 

 reasons can be thoroughly understood only by reading 

 some of the many books on the subject. In these works 

 it can be learnt that it is in the oldest rocks that the re- 

 mains of the most simple or primitive creatures are found. 

 It is only in those parts of the ground beneath us which 

 were laid down in more recent times that there exist fossil 

 remains of creatures at all like those which now surround 

 us. Living things have evidently appeared on earth in 

 such a way that what we call the highest came last. Then, 

 again, animals which are found living near each other 

 when wild are more like each other than animals that live 

 far apart. If the body of the unborn babe is examined, 

 it is found to contain parts which seem likely to develop 

 so as only to be useful to animals living in water. These 

 useless parts are like relics indicating the kind of life 

 lived by our remote ancestors : they cannot have been put 

 there merely to puzzle us. 



When studying all the living beings we see around us, 

 students of science have, in fact, been at work at a kind of 

 great jigsaw puzzle. They have found that the pieces 

 will fall into their places only if it is assumed that a blood 

 relationship exists between all animals, including man. 

 In this way hundreds of previously unexplained facts, 

 such as those above mentioned, can now be explained. 

 It can, therefore, no longer be denied that man has de- 

 scended from some ape-like ancestor. We must accept 

 this as a fact in framing our social policy. And this 

 change in our beliefs has no doubt amounted to a revolu- 

 tion in thought. All such revolutions must have some 

 effect on our actions. 



