608 THE CONTROL OF LIFE: 



often can a man truthfully say that he was hereditarily 

 compelled to put his inherited talent in a napkin and bury it 

 in the ground. 



As the result of well-chosen influences and strenuous dis- 

 cipline, an individual may acquire some desirable quality, 

 — usually a nurtural modification of an inherent predisposi- 

 tion. Now, as we have seen, it seems unlikely that this sort 

 of personal gain can as such get into the racial treasure-box. 

 The possibility remains, however, of re-acquiring the gain 

 in each successive generation; or, contrariwise, of saving a 

 generation from a gratuitous loss. This is peculiarly im- 

 portant for Man, where the extra-organism al social heritage 

 counts for so much in nurture, especially as regards the 

 higher human qualities. 



On another line of thought, it is doubtful whether those 

 who are not accustomed to look at life biologically are quite 

 aware of the value of variations. These new departures, 

 idiosyncrasies, eccentricities, individualities, originalities 

 are the most precious things in the world, — when they are 

 on the upgrade. If we do not understand them we call 

 their possessors cranks ; if they are ahead of the race, yet ap- 

 preciated, we speak of genius. In their finest human ex- 

 pression they mean reachings forwards to super-man. No 

 one can offer a recipe for their production, but this practical 

 point is clear, that, given a promiseful new departure, we 

 may fail to make anything like the best of it if the nurture 

 be not likewise evolving. Good nurture gives a progressive 

 variation more chance of realisation, success, and transmis- 

 sion. It is a sad waste when a fascinating new plant is 

 choked in a sluggard's garden. Nurture determines in part 

 the sort of reception that a new variation meets with, and 

 nurture consists in part of a subtle complex of liberating 



