Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



189 



ARE WE GOING UTTERLY TO 

 THE DOGS? 



Dr. Tredcold contributes to the Qiiartirly for July 

 a study of eugenics which is most lugubrious reading. 

 He accepts the retrogression of the people of England 

 as an indisputable fact. The diminished death-rate 

 does not demonstrate improvement in our inherent 

 vitality. 



SICKNESS INCREASING. 



He quotes from the statistics of the friendly societies 

 to prove that sickness is distinctly on the increase. 

 Amongst the workers of the country as a whole the 

 amount of sickness is 10 per cent, higher. Infant 

 mortality has been decreased, but out of every thousand 

 childrcnborn to-day there are practically as many who 

 die from immaturity as in 1873. He quotes the chief 

 medical officer to the Board of Education to show the 

 extraordinarily high percentage of defective children. 



INCAPACITY INCREASING. 



The mental condition of the people of England he 

 finds ver\- disquieting. He concludes that the propor- 

 tion of the mentally weak in the entire community 

 must be well over i per cent. Lumping together Poor 

 Law relief and Old Age Pensions and charitable 

 expenditure, he concludes there has been a very real 

 increase in the proportion of those persons who are 

 unable or unwilling to sub'sist by their own efforts. 

 Since the begmning of the century there has been a 

 marked increase in crime. On the other side of the 

 account, he grants the increa.se of membership in the 

 friendly societies and of savings bank depositors. 



He then sets himself to discover to what this '" dis- 

 tinct increase in deterioration " is due. Of the two 

 factors, ensironmenl and heredity, the environment 

 of the people has been steadily improved. It is the 

 other factor that has prevailed. 



THE PROPAGATION OF THE UNFIT. 



A study of the birth-rate fully explains the retro- 

 gre-s^sion of the nation. The decline has been chiefly 

 marked in the most capable, most cultured, and most 

 intellectual classes. The Hearts of Oak Benefit Sot iety 

 shows that the falling-ofT in the birth-rate in the million 

 and a quarter population represented by its members 

 has fallen by <i\ir 52 per cent, from 1880 to 1904. 

 Dr. 'I'redgold sav> : — " Sufficient has lieen said to show 

 that the decline in the birth-rale is not unilorm through- 

 out the community, but ihut it is practitallv confined 

 to the best elements ; and that the worst elements, 

 the ins. me, the feibli- minded, the diseased, the pauper, 

 ihe thriftless, and, in fact, the whole parasitic clas.-> of 

 the nation, arc coiUinuing to propagate with unai)ated 

 .md unrestricted vigour." Further danger lies in the 

 fact that these degenerates frequently mate witli the 

 lieallhy members of the community : — " 'i'he wliole 

 lendencv ol modem sentiment and present-day rivili- 

 bUtion is not so much to aid the fit as to favour the 

 survival and propagation of the unfit." 



REMEDIES; 



Dr. Tredgold goes on to advocate, as the best remedy 

 in restrictive eugenics, the segregation of the unde- 

 sirable in suitable colonies or institutions. In con- 

 structive eugenics he would recommend that in com- 

 petitive examinations for appoinlinents regard should 

 be had to the family history of the candidate, as also in 

 all responsible appointments, university scholarships, 

 bursaries ; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer might 

 provide some more definite encouragement to the pro- 

 pagation of the eugenically fit. He himself advocates 

 the institution of a national system of family records. 

 He thinks that the First International Congress in 

 Eugenics, now being held in London, may mark an 

 epoch in the history of civilisation. 



FLIES CARRYING INFECTION. 



In Bedrock for July Dr. Graham-Smith describes a 

 number of interesting experiments on house flies. Ik- 

 says : — 



Flies fed on coloured syrup often regurgitate coloured fluid 

 twenty-four or more hours later, though fed in the interval on 

 plain syrup. When infected food has been given, the infecting 

 bacteria are usually lound in great numbers in these "spots," 

 and moreover, fluid regurgitated from the crop is used to 

 dissolve or moisten sugar and other similar dry food 

 materials. The importance of the habit cannot therefore 

 be overestimated. These experiments show that flics are 

 at)le to infect sugar for at least two days after feeding on an 

 emulsion of Bacillus pro<iigioius in syrup. Other experiments 

 showed that the excrement deposited by flies is heavily infected 

 for at least two days. A long series of experiments also showed 

 that flics which had been fed on emulsions of certain bacteria 

 aie capable of infecting fluids, such as mill;, on which they feed 

 or mlo which they fall. In the case of the house fly, gross 

 infection may be produced in milk for at least three days, and a 

 smaller degree of infection for ten days or longer. Blue-bottles 

 produce gross infection up to six or nine days, and some degree 

 of infection up to three or four weeks. 



Wiih the belter known disease-producing bacteria the follow- 

 ing results were obtained. The typhoid bacillus may remain 

 alive in the intestine of the fly for at least six d.ays, and flies can 

 infect materials over which they walk for at least two days. 

 The bacilli which produce the symptoms of meat poisoning 

 behave in the same way. Tuliercle bacilli can be found in the 

 intestines of flies ten days or more afler infection. 



It has been conclusively shown that (under experimental 

 condiiions) flies can carry and distribute disease-producing and 

 putrefactive bacteria for several days after infecliim, and it is 

 probable that ihey frt<iurnlly do so under natural condiiions. 

 Their habits are such that they are likely lo inlect food if the 

 opportunity occurs. In most cases ihe amount of infection is 

 likely 10 be small, and if tlie infecteil food is eaten at once no 

 harm may Ik: done, but it must be remembered that under suit- 

 able conditions, as in milk, many ilisease-producing bacteria 

 mulliply exceedingly fasi, and that milk which has become 

 infected and then set aside for a few hours may contain large 

 nuiiiljcrs of such bacteria. Under such circumstances the 

 consiiiiur receives a very large dose. 



Two dangers ctinnected with town-planning are 

 pointed out in the Cmitliii Cities tiiiii Tmcit Planniw^ 

 Miii^iiziiie by Mr. li. La ker. One is the retarding of 

 building enterprise by ill-considered planning, tin- 

 other liie stimulation d it in areas which had better 

 remain unbuilt on. 



