454 TRADITION AND HEREDITY 



to tradition than to an unfavourable germinal constitution in 

 producing the results which we see. 



When the differences are less, there is again the advantage of 

 hybrid vigour, though this again is transitory. More important 

 is the chance of a favourable re- combination of characters. Many 

 interesting speculations have been made, though they are all very 

 fanciful, with regard to the fortunate blendings which have 

 produced some races, the bringing together of practical capacities 

 and imagination and the like. In general we may regard such 

 crossing as genetically favourable and of considerable importance 

 in history. Its frequent occurrence in Europe and Asia has 

 probably favoured those regions as compared with India, where 

 racial differences have perhaps been too great, and China, where 

 they have perhaps been too small. 



Nevertheless, it is probable that too great an effect has been 

 attributed to the genetic results of crossing. When we come to 

 consider traditional changes, we shall see how potent a factor is 

 the contact of traditions which accompanies the intermingling of 

 stocks and to which the greater part of the results observed have 

 to be in all probability attributed. 



It has been noticed that to an increasing extent from the first 

 period onwards the selection of mental characters comes largely 

 to be determined by tradition. The trend of tradition sets in 

 a peculiar direction ; tradition develops in a groove and the 

 peculiarities tend to become exaggerated. Men are favoured in 

 so far as they are innately adapted to the chief features of the 

 tradition. In an oligarchic society like that of ancient Peru the 

 naturally servile man fares better than the self-assertive man ; 

 among the warlike tribes of North America the servile man goes 

 under. It may be argued that so distinctive a religion as the 

 Mohammedan would only gain ascendancy where the average 

 innate mental faculties were of a peculiar kind ; however that 

 may be, it is clear that once having gained ascendancy this 

 peculiar tradition would favour a certain mental type and dis- 

 courage others. Thus again we see the tendency of germinal 

 change to reinforce the trend of traditional change rather than 

 to determine traditional change. 



We also saw that under a segmentary organization of society the 

 tendency was towards the preservation of a certain type of 

 mental constitution adapted to the peculiar tradition. Departures 



