2gS Heredity and Environment 



them well established, but the devotee of eugenics cannot be sure 

 that his or her ideals will be followed in succeeding generations. 

 The father of Simon Newcomb is said to have walked through 

 the length and breadth of Nova Scotia seeking for himself a 

 suitable mate, but neither he nor any other eugenicist could be 

 sure that his descendants would follow a similar course, and long 

 continued selection along particular lines must be practiced if 

 the race is to be permanently improved. Mankind is such a mon- 

 grel mixture, and it is so impracticable to exercise a strict control 

 over the breeding of men, that it is hopeless to expect to get pure 

 or homozygous stocks except with respect to a very few charac- 

 ters and then only after long selection. 



But granting all these difficulties which confront the eugenicist, 

 there is no doubt that something may be gained by eliminating 

 merely the worst human kinds from the possibility of reproduc- 

 tion, even though no marvellous improvement in the human race 

 can be expected as a result of such a feeble measure. 



i. Possible and Impossible Ideals. Supermen. What the fu- 

 ture evolution of the human race may lead to is an interesting 

 speculation, but it is and can be only a speculation. There is no 

 present evidence that there will ever be a higher animal than 

 man on the earth, and the only evidence that there may be a 

 higher species than Homo sapiens is to be found in the fact that 

 there have been lower species of men in the past and that evolu- 

 tion has been on the whole progressive. The idea that by the aid 

 of that infant industry, eugenics, a new race of supermen is shortly 

 to be produced is an iridescent dream, and the fantastic demand 

 of some enthusiasts for changes in racial fashions has served to 

 bring this whole subject of eugenics into disrepute among 

 thoughtful men. 



Hereditary Classes. To a considerable extent ideals re- 

 garding individuals and society have differed among different 

 races in the past, but with the closer communications which have 

 been established between all parts of the earth in modern times 



