xii PREFACE 



minimum, will not the sublime abnegation of heroes 

 and the mighty genius of the pioneers of science 

 descend to the same level? 



All these torturing doubts and questions are 

 answered by Dr Lluria in a system highly 

 sympathetic and inspiriting. This is our interpre- 

 tation of it : 



Present production, the work of a hungry and 

 uneducated minority, is deficient as regards the 

 necessities of the race. Divorced from the natural 

 laws, our brain evolves but poor and most inade- 

 quate results. And, as an inevitable consequence 

 of the poverty of nutriment and the rigorous 

 overworking of the majority, is produced moral 

 and physical suffering, physiological misery, the 

 degeneration of the species, and, in the moral 

 sphere, hatred of class and discontent. 



But such a deplorable state of things cannot last 

 for ever. A time will come when science wiH 

 illumine the conscience and elevate the mind. And 

 then, when, having banished the fetish of capital, 

 man has incorporated himself with the laws of 

 evolution ; when, having scrutinised and exploited 

 the forces of Nature, the cosmos labours for 

 ourselves, setting in motion an endless number of 

 machines, and manufacturing articles at ridiculous 

 prices ; when, having discovered the secret of 

 chemical synthesis, the engineer of the future 



