SOCIAL AND WORLD ASPECTS 225 



areas of the earth's surface, althoui^h where the yellow 

 and brown races, for example, are in contact in south- 

 eastern x\sia a gradual transition occurs between them. 

 Where evolution has been going on independently in 

 these races for such long periods, and some races have 

 progressed far beyond others, both mentall}' and 

 culturally, it is foll}^ to suppose that crosses between 

 a progressive and a primitive race can lead to a desir- 

 able result from the point of view of the advanced 

 race, or even of the primitive race. Many native 

 African and other tribes are in the Stone Age, so far 

 as their culture is concerned, and it cannot be ex- 

 pected that their mentality has advanced beyond 

 that period. The mental status of the average 

 Palaeolithic man is difficult to determine. Although 

 the mental capacity of modern man has not increased 

 during the historical period, yet it is necessary to 

 suppose that the development of the human mind 

 has consisted in something more than the mere 

 accumulation of tradition. In other words, there 

 has been a real evolution in which the mind has been 

 one of the reacting elements. The mental level of 

 the average Palaeolithic man can hardly have been 

 higher than that of our modern feeble-minded. The 

 Australian black-fellow appears to be an earh' Pakeo- 

 lithic survival, resembling Mousterian man, and 

 wholly incapable of coping with the white man's 

 civilisation. It is clear that other races represent 

 different stages of mental development. 



This, of course, is often disputed, and it is frequently 

 held that Palaeolithic man was potentially the mental 

 equal of modern civilised man. This depends on the 

 sense in which the term " potential " is used. The 

 important point is that primitive races are largely 

 incapable of taking hold of the white man's civilisa- 

 tion and profiting by it, or adapting it to their own 

 use, except in a primitive way. No doubt, as Carr- 



13 



