124 THE FAMILY AND THE NATION 



Such figures are given only as examples of the kind 

 of results to be expected. Nevertheless they enable us 

 to appreciate the rapid effect of natural selection on 

 the average character of the race. Let one section of 

 the community establish a faster rate of reproduction 

 than others, and quickly, with ever-increasing speed, it 

 grows relatively, and eventually dominates the whole. 



In past ages, in general, selection has probably 

 worked well. The stronger, abler stocks had more 

 offspring, and a better chance of rearing them. The 

 weaker, unsound strains were kept down, and their 

 bad qualities tended to be bred out of the race. The 

 rapidity and efficiency of such a process is shown by 

 the calculation just given. As long as all sections 

 of the community bred at their normal rate, nature, 

 unaided, looked after the quality of the stock by the 

 severity of her treatment. 



But the same figures, which show the speed of dis- 

 appearance by natural selection of bad qualities, make 

 clear the disastrous consequences which must attend 

 any artificial selection favouring the reproduction of the 

 undesirable elements of our people, relatively to that 

 of the good elements. If we find the birth-rate of the 

 better and more successful families in all sections of 

 the community falling seriously below that of the worse 

 and less successful families, our calculation shows that 

 bad hereditary qualities will rapidly spread through- 

 out the country. A study of the general birth-rate is 

 useless from this point of view ; the all -important 

 questions to ask are, " From what sections of the people 

 are we recruiting the nation .^ " " Who are the parents 

 of the next generation .? " It is desirable, no doubt, to 



