THE APPLICATION TO MAN 225 



content, immunity to rust, strong supporting straw, 

 and a high yield per acre. In the short time that 

 has elapsed, Professor Biffen has succeeded in pro- 

 ducing strains of wheat that combine all these de- 

 sirable characters to a remarkable degree. 



Such an immediate result would not have been pos- 

 sible before 1900, when the rediscovery of Mendel's 

 law revolutionized man's knowledge of the action of 

 heredity in nature. 



This same knowledge which has made possible the 

 improvement of wheat may be applied to the breed- 

 ing of man, for there is no reasonable doubt that 

 man belongs in the same evolutionary series with all 

 other animals, as Darwin showed, and is consequently 

 subject to the same natural laws to a considerable 

 degree. 



It must be admitted that thus far in the progress 

 of civilization more attention has been directed to 

 the scientific breeding of animals and plants, little 

 as that has been, than to the scientific breeding of 

 man. Let us hope that the future will have a dif- 

 ferent story to tell ! 



2. MODIFYING FACTORS IN THE CASE OF MAN 



There are certain qualifying factors which make 

 the problems of genetics somewhat different in the 

 case of man than of other organisms. 



For example, mankind has come to be partially 



exempt from some of the natural laws that affect 



other organisms. Thus with respect to the workings 



of natural selection man is partially under "grace" 



Q 



