LAWS CONTROLLING HUMAN SOCIAL HEREDITY 315 



man had an influence in shaping the destiny of the 

 Western continent equal to that of Washington? 

 And yet he had no children. Among animals it is 

 the individual that produces and rears the greatest 

 number of offspring to maturity that is the greatest 

 success, while the one which j^roduces none is a total 

 failure. According to the standard of natural selec- 

 tion, Washington was a total failure, while the Jukes 

 family, with its numerous offspring, was a great 

 success. But the fact stands apparent that the Jukes 

 family has had no influence upon human evolution, 

 while Washington turned it in a new direction. 

 Among mankind the individual may count by what 

 he does during his life and not simply by the off- 

 spring he leaves. 



Thus we find that social heredity has been respon- 

 sible for the greatest organizing force in history. As 

 we look over the history of mankind as far back as 

 we can trace it we find that the force of the individ- 

 ual has ever been the most potent influence in de- 

 veloping organization. It has been the force of per- 

 sonality that has been the center around which organ- 

 izations have usually developed. While principles 

 have been ever manifest as an underlying cause for 

 the different steps in social evolution, it has com- 

 monly been individuals that have produced the stim- 

 ulus toward union. The single reformer may change 

 the beliefs and hence the actions of the world; the 

 inventor changes the whole aspect of civilization and 

 the discoverer modifies every phase of the world 

 touched by man. Alexander made the great Grecian 

 empire; Caesar created imperial Rome; Mohammed 

 founded the great Mohammedan nation; Luther 

 changed the thoughts and actions of the world; 



