EVOLUTION OF MAN l8l 



will leaven all society in time. More strict statutory limita- 

 tions upon marriage may ultimately be wise, but these will 

 not now secure the desired result. This will be reached 

 only through a larger general recognition of the responsi- 

 bilities in marriage, and the worthiness and beauty of 

 unselfishness here as everywhere else. Thus, in time, choice 

 in marriage may do much to counteract the hurtful influence 

 of having freed ourselves from the stress of the struggle for 

 existence. 



One good influence upon choice in marriage is being 

 felt through a comparatively recent change in the lives of 

 women, outdoor sports and outdoor life in general having 

 become so much more popular. Riding, tennis, golf, the 

 bicycle, bird study, nature observation, and the love of nature, 

 all are tending to take more and more women into the open 

 air. These things are perceptibly changing the ideas of 

 what constitutes attractiveness in a woman. It is now 

 somewhat the case, and seems likely to be more largely true, 

 that the girl who, because of physical incapacity, cannot 

 share in this vigorous, healthful, outdoor life, will be at a 

 social disadvantage. This is but one way of saying that 

 considerations of physical vigor will increasingly influence 

 choice in marriage, and this, of course, will be for the wel- 

 fare of the race. 



It is interesting to think what might be the result if there were started a 

 sect in which careful choice in marriage, under the advice of those most able 

 to discern hereditary tendencies, should be regarded as a sacred obligation, 

 looking toward an increasing perfection of the race in all respects, physical, 

 intellectual, and moral. It would probably be easy thus to raise human 

 stature to eight or nine feet or more, to very greatly increase muscular power 

 and agility, to very largely do away with invalidism, to increase the mental 

 capacity to an indefinite extent, and at first thought it would seem easy to 



