DEGENERATION. 



28l 



generation is taking an important part. Degeneration 

 is known among men as well as among the lower animals 



FIG. 23. Adult Sacculina attached by root 

 processes to the crab. (After Lang.) 



FIG. 24. Section of 

 mature Sacculina. 

 (After Lang.) 



or plants. It is governed by similar laws. The condi- 

 tions of human degeneration are essentially those of 

 degeneration on lower forms. The causes which will in 

 the long run transform a crab to a Sacculina will make 

 paupers of the descendants of parasitic men. As it is 

 the mind that makes the man, the essence of human 

 degeneration is failure of the nervous structures and 

 functions. It means decline in the accuracy of thought 

 and the veracity of action. The soundness of the ma- 

 chinery of response to external conditions determines, 

 in general, the life and character of man. Degeneration 

 in man is therefore " a morbid deviation from the moral 

 type," so far as nerve functions are concerned. 



Personal degeneration comes naturally with the pe- 

 riod of old age. The compound animal or " colonial 



