316 THE PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE 



regression may not be in progress, as a result of recent ma- 

 terial changes in civilized life. The absence of precise data 

 precludes extended discussion, but a permanent equilib- 

 rium would have such momentous consequences that mere 

 indications should not be disregarded. If we can obtain 

 even suggestive evidence, by comparison of the mental 

 product of the present day with that of the past, or in any 

 other manner, the facts are worthy of consideration. 



Comparison indicates that human mentality of to-day 

 does not differ appreciably from that which existed in the 

 dawn of written history. Discounting present capacity in 

 terms of cultural heritage, the wise and foolish seem to 

 have been distributed in much the same proportions during 

 many centuries. If defectives were less gently handled in 

 primitive times, it tended to raise the average. But since 

 the progressives were as commonly repressed, little change 

 was effected. Neither do the physical features of mankind 

 offer conclusive evidence of evolution during the centuries 

 in question. Resistance to certain diseases is probably an 

 instance of progressive modification. But this is being nul- 

 lified by the curative and preventive measures which medical 

 science has recently placed at the disposal of society. 1 



The individuals who exhibit high mentality at the present 

 day seem, therefore, to possess no greater capacity than did 

 those of earlier times. A modern boy may easily know more 

 fundamental facts of natural science than did any of the 

 Greek philosophers, but there is not one chance in a million 

 that he will become their equal. Modern men of ability 

 do not seem superior to those of antiquity, in view of ac- 

 complishment under different conditions. As for the aver- 

 age intelligence of to-day, the biologist challenges all claims 

 that inherent ability has changed perceptibly during thou- 

 sands of years. 



The superiority of the ancient Greeks did not consist 



, Archdall, "The Principles of Heredity," 1896; Holmes, S. J., "The 

 Trend of the Race," 1920. 



