290 Heredity and Environment 



the unfit and the preservation of the fit will cease to be the law 

 of future evolution, as it has been of the past. 



Existing Human Types. There are three principal types of the 

 human species white, yellow, and black and many subtypes 

 and races. These types and races differ in many regards in physi- 

 cal, mental and social characteristics, and their comparative value 

 has frequently been discussed. It is difficult to take an impartial 

 view of such a matter, though I suppose there would be little 

 question on the part of any well informed person that the white 

 and yellow types have contributed most to what we call civili- 

 zation. Nevertheless every race probably has good qualities which 

 could be made of service to society. The various races of cattle, 

 horses, sheep, etc., are all useful to man, but in different ways 

 and degrees, and the same is true of various races of men with 

 respect to civilization. In general the dominant races are the 

 most capable 'intellectually and socially, while those which have 

 been left behind or have been eliminated have been the less capa- 

 ble ones. And yet some very good races, possibly with capaci- 

 ties for high social and intellectual development, have been com- 

 pletely exterminated, as for instance the Lucayan Indians of the 

 West Indies, and the aborigines of Tasmania. 



Race Extermination. Few animals have suffered more whole- 

 sale destruction than have the more primitive races of men in dif- 

 ferent parts of the earth. Several species of man have become 

 entirely extinct, leaving only, as is generally believed, a single 

 existing species, Homo sapiens. Race extermination has been 

 witnessed in relatively recent times and on a large scale in the 

 West Indies, North and South America, Africa, Australia, New 

 Zealand and the Islands of the Pacific. But in the disappearance 

 of native races extermination is usually supplemented by amalga- 

 mation. After the most warlike members of a race have been 

 destroyed the more peaceful remnants are generally incorporated 

 in the conquering race. Thus the Maoris of New Zealand, the 

 finest native race with which the English have come in contact in 



