324 GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



medium of exchange. This condition is accompanied by 

 more or less segregation into classes or castes; those with 

 limited abilities or opportunities do the routine labor of the 

 community, those with unusual endowments or good for- 

 tune accumulate stores of desirable assets. There is thus a 

 continual struggle between those who sell labor and those 

 who have wealth. The most pitiable " hangers-on" of 

 modern civilization are those who make no contribution to 

 society, but live parasitically on the fruits of the labor or 

 the wealth of others. Commerce tends to eliminate tradi- 

 tion and the bigoted following of the folk ways of particular 

 communities. As one nation associates with another and 

 finds good workmanship, bright intellects, and shrewd 

 minds, the contact is conducive to mutual respect and 

 esteem. 



The position of women in any nation is a fair standard of 

 its civilization. In primitive societies men fight and hunt, 

 women do all other necessary work. Work, therefore, is 

 often looked down upon as something effeminate and un- 

 worthy of strong manhood. This attitude makes lazy 

 men and overburdened women a strong nation cannot 

 result. Another evil that has often crept into half-civilized 

 nations is slavery. In olden times slaves were one of the 

 recognized rewards of conquerors and women were prac- 

 tically slaves to men. But slavery has decreased because 

 it cannot be successful unless large quantities of new land 

 are available for tillage. Furthermore, slaves are expensive 

 and wasteful. They do not work to their limit of produc- 

 tiveness because they can receive no reward except " self- 

 maintenance." No highly civilized nation countenances 

 slavery today. In modern society, also, women are fast 

 gaining legal, industrial, and intellectual equality with 

 men. This does not mean that one sex will or should be- 

 come like the other, but if civilization progresses each will 

 have equal rights in society. 



In the most cultured nations we can see many evi- 

 dences of the primitive instincts for self-maintenance, self- 



