174 THE STORY OF ANIMAL LIFE 



untaught, begins to degenerate. The want of 

 fresh air and light associated with slum life, and 

 even in the country, associated with the homes 

 of the poor, are factors in the case that are not 

 to be forgotten. Add to these drink, and the 

 other sins of the fathers which are visited on the 

 children. All these are among the causes of de- 

 generacy. 



Nay more, the very virtues of the parents, as 

 we account them, may lead to the degeneracy of 

 the offspring. Overwork, either physical or men- 

 tal, causes the deterioration of the family, and 

 in our days nearly every man successful in any 

 career, either commercial or intellectual, is guilty 

 of overwork. The " haste to be rich," equally 

 with the haste to be famous, tells on the next 

 generation. Those who are fond of moralising 

 at the expense of their neighbours, enjoy point- 

 ing out the unsatisfactory careers of the sons 

 of men who have become rich. Almost invari- 

 ably such a one is idle, we are told, and fond of 

 pleasure. Good cause has he to be so. He 

 comes into the world with weakened constitution, 

 owing to his father's strenuous career; and if he 

 were to work as hard as his father, he would 

 probably soon be dead ; or at least his children, 

 in their turn, would be miserable and diseased. 

 Nature guides his inclinations, and whispers " Do 

 not work too hard," " Do not deny yourself too 

 much " ; and thus, so long as his father's money 

 maintains him, his life is preserved. 



What is the kind of degeneracy that overtakes 

 the family of the brain-worker ? The modern 

 world is full of it. We owe to the unamiable 

 genius of Max Nordau a criticism of the intel- 

 Uctual world of the present day, which attributes 



