1S8 PRIMITIVE ANIMALS 



depended far more upon a continuity in tradition 

 than upon anything analogous to the process of 

 organic evolution. Let these traditions once dis- 

 appear, and the arts of civilization must be built 

 up again from the beginning. 



The recognition that permanent or hereditary 

 advances in evolution arise not through an increased 

 effort at attainment, but by an increased capacity for 

 attainment which occurs quite mysteriously and apart 

 from any exertion on the part of the organism, might 

 direct our attention to the possibility of mankind 

 advancing by this means, namely by the appearance 

 of a race with a greater capacity for civilization in its 

 widest sense, which would supplant existing races. 

 This possibility is based on reason ; and there is no 

 doubt that the process, which is the same as that 

 which we believe to have operated in the evolution 

 of organic life, has already played a considerable part 

 in the history of civilized man. As the conditions 

 change under which men live, the type of man most 

 fitted to survive and to leave offspring alters, so that 

 man by consciously creating his own environment, 

 which we call civilization, sets a standard by which 

 certain types are selected for survival and others are 

 eradicated. 



Civilized races are on the whole less violent and 

 deceitful, more intellectual and immune to zymotic 

 diseases and to alcohol than savages, and they owe 



