The Blood of the Nation 



For a race of men or a herd of cattle 

 are governed by the same laws of selec- 

 tion. Those who survive inherit the 

 traits of their own actual ancestry. In 

 the herd of cattle, to destroy the strong- 

 est bulls, the fairest cows, the most 

 promising calves, is to allow those not 

 strong nor fair nor promising to become 

 the parents of the coming herd. Under 

 this influence the herd will deteriorate, 

 although the individuals of the inferior 

 herd are no worse than their own actual 

 parents. Such a process is called race- 

 degeneration, and it is the only race- 

 degeneration known in the history of 

 cattle or men. The scrawny, lean, in- 

 fertile herd is the natural offspring of 

 the same type of parents. On the other 

 hand, if we sell or destroy the rough, 

 lean, or feeble calves, we shall have a 

 herd descended from the best. It is 

 said that when the short-horned Durham 

 cattle first attracted attention in Eng- 



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