186 SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



and mores, custom and tradition, is by suggestion and 

 imitation as well as by conscious inculcation. Under the 

 conditions of life in primitive groups as well as under 

 the more complex relations of modern society, men com- 

 municate with one another by rudimentary or developed 

 methods of intercourse. In either case the same funda- 

 mental law of social psychology holds. The possibility 

 of communication depends upon the density of popula- 

 tion, and also upon the degree of development of the 

 means of communication and the use made of those means. 

 Where the population is relatively dense and people live 

 in close touch with one another the spread of ideas is 

 rapid. Isolated communities do not receive the new 

 ideas for a long time. Hence it is that in style of dress 

 the country people always tend to be behind the city 

 people. If the means of communication are highly devel- 

 oped, then, even though the population is not dense, 

 ideas and news will spread rapidly. For example, the 

 telegraph spread the news of the battles of the Chinese- 

 Japanese War, some years ago, throughout the length and 

 breadth of our country so that every little hamlet knew 

 of the happenings and discussed them, whereas in China, 

 many of the people living at a comparatively short dis- 

 tance from the scene of the conflict did not even know that 

 their country was engaged in war; and yet China was 

 much more thickly populated than the United States. In 

 primitive society, the possession of superior language 

 and the great facility in the use of this language, gave 

 to one group the means of an intercourse which an in- 

 ferior group lacked. It gave unity and coherence to its 

 organization and furthered its development. 



The most heightened phase of communication which 

 rests on density of population is known as "The Crowd." 



