CONCLUSIONS 173 



principles must therefore be considered the fundamentals 

 of all Social Science. Man, though far above the brute 

 creation by reason of his higher emotions and under- 

 standing, is yet essentially an animal. Life, and with it 

 social life, cannot be understood without a thorough grasp 

 of the underlying biological phenomena. Though socio- 

 logical problems cannot be solved on the strength of 

 biological principles alone, it is these latter which — instead 

 of being neglected, as they generally are — have first to be 

 sifted and taken account of in order to find a stable basis 

 for fruitful discussion of the " social question." 



To come nearer to our subject, what is the central 

 problem set before us in the foregoing chapters ? We 

 have learnt the facts about the inheritance of characters, 

 the method of their transmission in the individual, and 

 their distribution in a given population. We have dis- 

 cussed the influence of environment and other factors in 

 th'3 production of certain characteristics. Finding that 

 there are only these two sets of potent factors, the hereditary 

 /ind the environmental, in the evolution of races, we come 

 /to see that the consideration of social progress from a 

 biological point of view resolves itself into the question of 

 the relative values of these factors. Indeed, we may 

 express the whole matter before us as essentially the 

 problem of " Heredity and Environment." 

 / We have touched upon this subject repeatedly during 



the course of our book, but shall here deal with it coherently, 

 and also draw some practical conclusions from it. For the 

 question is of vital importance, seeing that from our 

 decision on this point — the relative influence of the 

 hereditary and environmental factors on the race — depends 

 the progress and welfare of future generations. 



To treat of environment first, we must point out at 

 the outset that good and favourable conditions are an 

 absolute essential for the proper development of every 

 living organism. The normal and healthy growth of each 

 individual is possible only on the appropriate stmiuli 



