jg AMERICAN MEN OF LETTERS 



Cooley further presents his position in the form of a 

 simile, as follows : 



Suppose that one were following a river through a valley, and 

 from time to time measuring its breadth, depth and current 

 with a view to finding out how much water passed through 

 its channel. Suppose he found that while in some places the 

 river flowed with a swift and ample current, in others it 

 dwindled to a mere brook and even disappeared altogether, 

 only to break out in full volume further down. Would he not 

 be led to conclude that where little or no water appeared upon 

 the surface the bulk of it must find its way through under- 

 ground channels, or percolate invisibly through the4 sand ? 

 Would not this supposition amount almost to certainty if it 

 could be shown that the nature of the rock was such as to 

 make the existence of underground channels extremely prob- 

 able, and if in some cases they were positively known to exist ? 

 I do not see that the inference is any less inevitable in me 

 case before us. We know that a race has once produced a 

 large amount of natural genius in a short time, just as we 

 know that the river has a large volume in some places. We 

 see, also, that the number of eminent men seems to dwindle 

 and disappear; but we have good reason to think that social 

 conditions can cause genius to remain hidden, just as we 

 have good reason to think that a river may find its way through 

 an underground channel. Must we not conclude, in the one 

 case as in the other, that what is not seen does not cease to 

 be, that genius is present though fame is not ? x 



Of the three theories of nature and nurture outlined in 

 the foregoing pages, the last one is generally accepted 

 by contemporary sociologists. Most of them agree with 

 the eugenist that his theory of racial improvement contains 



1 Charles H. Cooley, " Genius, Fame, and the Comparison of Races," 

 Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 

 ix, pp. 317-358. 



