VARIATION AND HEREDITY 31 



social organization have thought it right to take steps 

 to prevent any persistent degradation of the racial type. 

 It is said that the inhabitants of China and Japan are, 

 at present, free from the burden of maintaining any 

 sort of lunatic or idiot asylum, and that the existence 

 of families in their midst handing on from generation 

 to generation a definite form of mental defect is 

 unknown among them, and would be considered a 

 degradation too great to be contemplated. If these 

 statements be confirmed, it will be interesting to see 

 whether their immunity can be preserved in the face of 

 the introduction of Western ideals. 



