THE PATH OF DEGENERATION IN SOCIOLOGY 211 



5. Degenerative adaptation in -colonial legislation. 

 In his treatise (Annalisi della proprieta capita- 

 lista), Loria furnishes another striking example of 

 the law of degeneration : " When English colonies 

 were first formed in America, the colonists hesitated 

 to establish any legislation other than that of the 

 mother-country. They were habituated to it; it 

 was written in their own language, and therefore 

 seemed best to correspond with their national 

 characteristics. But, from the outset, the greatest 

 difficulties were met with in the application of this 

 legislation to the colonies. 



" In the first place the Statute law of England, the 

 most recent addition to the legislation, was found 

 to be quite unsuited to the economic condition of 

 a colony, and so common law alone came to be 

 established, which, being the more ancient, was 

 better suited to the social organization of a newly- 

 formed society. But even this form of legislation 

 did not remain permanent under social conditions 

 profoundly different to those in which it had been 

 originally established, and the construction of a 

 special legislation was found to be necessary. In 

 this way the common law of England came to be 

 regarded as unsuited to her colonies, excepting in 

 such cases as were unprovided for in the new 

 colonial law." * 



Loria then proceeds to give numerous examples 

 of how these colonial statutes owing to the simi- 



1 Loria, Annalisi della proprieta capitalista, ii. 48. 



