402 EVOLUTION OF MENTAL CHAKACTERS 



above the stage reached in the intermediate period. It is important 

 to observe that all primitive races known to us are representatives 

 of man after he had completed this step. So far, therefore, as 

 their mental faculties throw light upon the mental evolution 

 of man, it is the level of evolution reached after and not before 

 the evolution of social organization that is illustrated. 



We may now glance at the conditions characteristic of primitive 

 races and ask how they bear upon the selection of mental characters. 

 Primitive society we found to be characterized by hard and fast 

 rules which must be implicitly obeyed if social organization is 

 to be maintained. Obedience to these conventions is of the 

 utmost importance ; we may remember incidentally that, unless 

 the conventions are observed, an approximation to the optimum 

 population will not be made. There is in consequence a tendency 

 towards the elimination of those exhibiting characteristics in- 

 compatible with due subservience to the prevailing tradition. 

 Such characteristics are any marked developments of intellect 

 or of disposition away from the average. The man who will 

 not conform is not tolerated. However advantageous to the 

 individual certain developments might be, such developments 

 are not favoured because the importance of maintaining intact 

 the group to which he belongs is of greater moment. Thus, as 

 in the case of physical characters, the general tendency is on the 

 whole against further evolution and towards the preservation of 

 those types which have reached the position characteristic of 

 any primitive race. And it is to be noted that, whereas bodily 

 form is on the whole adapted to the physical environment, mental 

 characters are adapted on the whole to the traditional environment. 

 Men come to be selected in accordance with the needs of social 

 organization, and as tradition grows in amount also in accordance 

 with their capabihty of absorbing tradition. 



It is difficult to point to any factors which markedly favour 

 further evolution of mental characters. On reading the admirable 

 accounts of the daily life and customs of the Australians as given 

 by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen, or of a much more advanced 

 people — the tribes of Borneo, as described by Messrs. Hose and 

 McDougall — we observe, it is true, the respect paid to men of 

 experience and of rather more than average intelligence. We 

 can understand how men not up to the average level of intelligence 

 would not in all respects fare as well as others, but we do not 



