56 DARWINISM AND RACE PROGRESS. 



wish to protect them. In consequence of this they 

 easily marry, and they are as a rule very fertile. 

 Galton ] says : " There is fair doubt whether a group 

 of young persons destined to die of consumption 

 contribute considerably less to the future population 

 than an equally large group who are destined to die 

 of other diseases." Now this phthisical type is very 

 common with us indeed, and it appears to be an 

 innate variation to which our race is liable. It is 

 evident, therefore, that those people with the tuber- 

 culous variation who, even under the present circum- 

 stances, manage to contribute their quota to the 

 population, would, were the bacillus tuberculosus 

 altogether exterminated, contribute more than their 

 share, and the type would become more common. 

 And let it be remembered that this type, apart from 

 the action of the bacillus, is a delicate and fragile 

 one and liable to other affections, and the effect of 

 giving the type any advantage in the struggle for 

 life would surely imperil the well-being of the future 

 of the race. When, some years ago, it was thought 

 that a cure for phthisis had at last been obtained, 

 great tribute was naturally and rightly paid to its 

 discoverer ; but had this cure proved as efficient as 

 the more sanguine were led to expect, it would be 

 terrible to contemplate the eventual suffering that 

 would have resulted from the constantly increasing 

 1 "Natural Inheritance," p. 182. 



