IMAGERY IN SOCIAL GROWTH 343 



may dormant lie, and come to life again long after its 

 social parents have passed away. New civilizations 

 incorporate the more stable elements of its construc- 

 tive Tightness into themselves, revitalize them and uti- 

 lize the accumulated profits contained in its literature, 

 arts, and sciences, for the upbuilding of a new social 

 life. 



A new race, or a new social system may then feed, 

 vulture-like, on the carcass of a dead, or moribund, 

 civilization, but it cannot rise to the former level by 

 those means alone. It will itself die when its resources 

 in the dead are exhausted, unless it holds within itself 

 the elements of a self-sustaining, creative power. 



Or the life of a social system may be prolonged by 

 sacrifices, by self-control, and by the corrective medi- 

 cine of equal justice. But good will is not enough, 

 nor equal justice, to enlarge the scope of life and insure 

 its further growth and continuity. For a social system 

 cannot grow beyond its powers of conveyance to and 

 from the sacrificial altars of individual life. To ex- 

 tend that power, the vision of the truth must be more 

 exact and comprehensive; the instrumentalities of the 

 physical world must be enlisted in its service. Social 

 inheritance can have no constructive value if the her- 

 itage makes no effective appeal to the intelligence, for 

 unless that appeal is heard there can be no compulsion 

 to save its heritage and utilize it in self-construction. 



VI. Mental Limitations and Unadaptive Social 



Growths 



In small social groups, cooperative aims are easily 

 attained. In larger groups, where social undertakings 



