Leading Articli-s in thi-: Re\ii-:\vs. 



337 



MAX NORDAU ON DEGENERATION. 



In the Ilibbert Journal Dr. Max Xordau dis- 

 russev his favourite theme. As against the proposal 

 for the sterilisation of degenerates, he says " we need 

 not interfere ; the process accomplishes itself auto- 

 i.iticallv." The advanced degenerate cannot beget 

 r bear children. Weismann's theory finds no mercy. 

 It is not a scientific hypothesis, but mysticism of the 



worst kind : — 



Wcismann jo's attemptc-d to deny that the germ of life 

 v-hich is iraniinitled hy p.ircnts lo off pring can share in the 



.,>n,^e sustained l>v the parental organism. To future his. 

 • .rians of science it will be a matter for astonishment that such 

 an extravagant doctrine can have been conceived by a biologist 

 and accepted, for a time, by serious scientists. 



WHAT IS HERITABLE. 



Onlv tho^e acquired characteristics are heritable 

 which influence the quality of the germ : — 



A Slate of the nervous system which aflecls the innervation of 

 the gcfn-S'^"'!* '^^^ 'heir physical and chemical function, a 

 (lysciasy of the organic liquitls, through which the chemical 

 composition oi ihi- glands, the nutriment drawn into them from 

 the blood, and the germ-cells formed and secreted by them, is 

 altered; do intl lence the germ-plasm to such an extent as to 

 make il quite intelligible that it should form new individuals 

 ■,v!io resemble their parents, but are somewhat different, or very 

 afferent, from their more distant ancestors. 



(.ENERAL LOOSENING OF MORALITS'." 



IhciC give thousands the courage to e.xpress and 

 lollow tendeniies which they would otherwise have 

 ^Hppre3sed with shame. Not only so : — 



We grailuiUy observe a general loosening of morality, a 

 lisappearance of logic from thought and action, a morbid 

 .rriiabilily ami vacillation of public opinion, a relaxation of 

 character. 



.\ mean, cowardly egoism, which is pleasantly dubbed 

 "sovcreigniv of ihe personality," smothers public spirit, the 

 ■ nse of national solidarity, energetic patriotism ; self-sacrifice 

 ; >r the common weal is becoming a rarity, while anti-militarism, 

 intipatrioti^iTi, and twaddle about the theor)' of anarchism 

 .ibound. 



" INTOXir\TI0N " THE CAUSE OF DEGENERACY. 



Of renudv Dr. Nordau is chary. The degenerate 

 himiell i- il<i»med: his heredity is his fate. The root of 

 degenerarv is an intoxication of one or both pro- 

 genitors. Inlipxicalion from without is happily being 

 lomlwitcd. nut without prospect of success, by the 

 dolhcnbur^' system, temperance legislation, by the 

 new wav oi ireatmg syphilis with ]".hrlich's salvarsan. 

 sanitation, protection of people from adulterated lood- 

 siufls. Auto - intoxication— organic wear and tear 

 through fatigue consequent on over-exertion — is the 

 more dilficuit and deadly : — 



Tlir iloniinani pari played in proloolion l>v the machine. In a 

 m.r.- rut. nl.iii! ..n which man in ihe factory lias Ijeen dcgradeil, 

 and the ivcriiu r.-.T.ing division of lai>our, which condemns the 

 worker lo an eternal, aulomalic repetition of a smnll niiml>er of 

 movements, and rc<liice« the pari taken in his work by the 

 inlrllcclual f.iculiir* 10 a minimu n, wears him out one-sidedly, 

 and therefore ii'iickcr and more completely ihan is the case 

 when, with a varied, manifold activity, which calls in lurn upon 

 different groups of muscle* and requires the conlinual inter- 



vention of imagination, judgment, and will, he manufactures 

 some complicated object of common use from the raw material 

 up lo ihe perfect article. 



THE ILLUSION OF WEALTH. 



Dr. Xordau lays his finger on the spot from which 

 this evil arises : — 



The whole end of civilisation seems lo be economic. AH 

 progress aims at facilitating and augmenting the production of 

 goods. Thai in this process the individual is being worn out is 

 not considered. The world-economy is not euda;nionislic. It 

 does not ask whether il enhances the happiness of the single 

 Ininian being. Il produces wealth, and sets this on a level with 

 happiness — a manifesi illusion. 



SOCIALISM A REMEDY. 



Socialism would be a remedy : — 



Extreme Slate iniervenlion in the sense of the .Socialistic 

 programme, while il would deprive the individual of all 

 economic autonomy, would probably ensure lo him better 

 hygienic conditions, short hours of labour, a belter style of 

 living, freedom from care, and Ici'iure to occupy himself in 

 things that bring diversion and cnlerlainment, and would 

 rescue him from the over-exertion and fatigue that make him 

 a progenitor of degenerates. .Since, however, il seems 

 chimerical to look for a realisation of the integral Socialistic 

 programme at any date to which we can now look forward — 

 modest lentative measures like Mr. I.loyd George's Old Age' 

 Insurance are of no efficiency — we must ngard this theoretically 

 conceivable remedy (or degeneration as practically inapplic- 

 able. 



THE DECISIVE CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONS. 



Once, Dr. Nordau points out, degeneracy affected 

 onlv the ruling cla^s of the nations. Now. with a popu- 

 lation more 

 and more ur- 

 ban, it affects 

 the people as 

 a whole. De- 

 generation has 

 its chief home 

 in the large 

 towns ; the 

 population of 

 the large towns 

 is condemned 

 as a whole to 

 degeneracy : — 



(,)nc thing is 

 cerLain : in the 

 great historic 

 contest of the 

 nations the ad- 

 vantage will rest 

 with those that 

 know how to 

 in a i n t n i n a 

 strong ami toler- 

 ably prosperous 

 and contented 

 pi-a«nnlry, and 

 the first to go 

 under will be 

 (hose thai most 

 lliorjughlylrans- 

 forin tlicmselvi-s 

 into peoples of 

 large towns. 



Kikrriii. I 



Crime in Paris. 



'This is what lliey are comine to in the 

 Paris police I " 



