1 00 HEREDITY 



physical deterioration witnessed in our great towns 

 and cities is cited as a ^posteriori proof of" this racial 

 senility, and, though no explanation of the details of 

 the process is advanced, a priori arguments are also 

 forthcoming. In the first place, there is the argu- 

 ment from analogy. As the individual grows and 

 reaches maturity, and declines and dies, so plainly 

 must the race. This type of argument appeals to 

 many minds, but it is worse than worthless. It 

 needs no expert logician to detect the palpable fallacy 

 involved. Because the race may be likened to a 

 living entity, such as the individual, whatever is true 

 of the individual is true of the race ! On the con- 

 trary, the individual and the race are far more truly 

 antithetic than analogous. The profound contrast 

 between them is that the individual is mortal, the 

 race immortal. Being mortal, the individual must 

 die — that is evident ; being immortal, the race does 

 not die. Hence the suggested analogy is worthless. 



Another argument is based upon what is commonly 

 called history. Other races have risen and fallen, 

 and so must this. Here, again, is one of the many 

 accepted beliefs which are accejDted simply because 

 they are not analysed. No known factor or fact of 

 organic evolution or heredity helps us in the smallest 

 degree to understand how or why such an inevitable 

 decadence should occur. It is quite incomprehensible 

 that the physical factors of the germ that make for 

 success should contain within themselves a principle 

 of decay. When we come to look at the facts of 

 history more closely, we discover abundant evidence 

 to show that the phenomena of the rise and fall of 

 nations are not dependent upon physical or organic 



