PREFACE vii 



all over the world seem to bear out Wallace's specu- 

 lation, and to prove that although physically man 

 now remains unchanged, mentally his development 

 continues. In other words, it would seem that the 

 evolution of the human race has passed from the 

 physiological into the psychological field, and that it 

 is in the latter alone henceforward that progress 

 may be looked for. This fact is especially interest- 

 ing at a time when the biological theories of 

 Weismann seem to set great limitations upon the 

 variability of species. Whatever may be the case 

 with the bodily characteristics of man, his psycho- 

 logical condition would appear to be highly sus- 

 ceptible to the influence of his surroundings, and 

 what we know of the law of heredity justifies the 

 belief that a mental state comprising an elaborate 

 set of social sentiments is more or less transmissible. 

 The child of civilised parents does not come into the 

 world with the same mental equipment as the little 

 savage. He is not obliged to work out all social 

 problems de novo. His mind has an hereditary bent 

 which enables him easily and naturally to fulfil his 

 duties as a citizen. No doubt it is difficult to deter- 

 mine what features in the character of an individual 

 are due to education and what to heredity. Until 



