1 78 THE STORY OF ANIMAL LIFE 



criticism into regions of art and culture with 

 which the writer is obviously unfamiliar: this 

 also marks the tendency of the writer's mind. 

 To criticise the doing of that which he can by no 

 means do ; to destroy that which he can by no 

 means make ; to leave no margin of leniency in 

 his judgment, for the imperfections which dis- 

 figure all human work: these are the familiar 

 failings of youth, of the unripe mind. They are 

 also those of the type of mind that never attains 

 ripeness of the Degenerate : we are forbidden, on 

 high authority, to apply to our brethren a shorter 

 and less modern term. 



But although the doctrine of Degeneracy has 

 thus found its way to the general reader in a form 

 which is often much to be regretted, it is never- 

 theless a doctrine which, if wisely used, may lead 

 to the most beneficial results. Already it is 

 widely recognised, by the thinkers of all nations, 

 that the theory of degeneracy, when thoroughly 

 understood, must revolutionise our treatment of 

 the criminal classes. Instead of the attempt to 

 punish, civilised legislation must eventually, in 

 many cases, substitute a system of restraint. 



It is useless to try to reform the idler or the 

 thief, whose instinct for idling or thieving is as 

 imperative as a cat's instinct for catching mice. 

 So long as he goes free, so long will the instinct 

 reassert itself at every renewal of opportunity. 

 Repeated punishment of the offender, who is 

 powerless against his own impulses, is frequently 

 a mere cruelty; while his repeated release, at the 

 termination of every punitive sentence, is, on the 

 other hand, still more certainly, a cruelty to the 

 community at large, which he afflicts by his pres- 

 ence. Public opinion is gradually becoming awake 



