500 THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE RACE: 



others, and may later untie in a hundred still diverse. Of 

 my characteristics I may say, like lago of his purse, " 'twas 

 mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands ". . . . " Our 

 characteristics exist elsewhere in humanity and will continue 

 to exist after that particular knot which forms the present 

 self has been untied " (Jennings, 1911, p. 906). 



There is a certain organic immortality which is the lot 

 of all, our strands live on. " It holds as well and in the 

 same sense for him who leaves no children of his own as 

 for the parent." " Each of us is but a knot in a continuous 

 web of strands that have, in other combinations, built up 

 many persons, and will, in still new combinations, build 

 up many persons. Thus as we have before taken part in 

 the development of brute and of man, we may hope to take 

 part in the development of superman" (Jennings, p. 910). 



It has been said that to find any enlightenment in the 

 persistence of strands of personality in collateral lineages 

 shows a very tawdry conception of what personality means 

 and a very limited appreciation of the sanctities of human 

 relationships. But this criticism is not quite fair: the biol- 

 ogist whom we quoted and with whom we agree was simply 

 making a biologist's contribution to one of the riddles of 

 existence the apparent wastefulness of fine flowers that 

 bear no seed. It is very unlikely that the same flowers will 

 ever appear again; the really fine individuality is unique. 

 But it is not unlikely that approximations to the same pat- 

 tern will recur. There is a conservatism in evolution, which 

 retains qualities on collateral lines even when a particular 

 lineage comes to an end. Mongrel ising makes for mediocrity, 

 but eugenic marriages make for masterpieces. One can 

 hardly reproach the order of Nature for cases where remedia- 

 ble social conditions have prevented fine personalities from 



