THE TREND OF EVOLUTION 165 



prevented or controlled. All this notable progress in the con- 

 quest of nature is the result of cooperative effort. No one 

 person, however great his contributions, could have made any 

 important advance alone and unaided. Every discovery is 

 based upon many others which have gone before, and all civi- 

 lized countries and ages have contributed to the advancement 

 of knowledge. In short, progress during historic times has 

 not been in the individual but in the association of individuals, 

 not in the inherited capacities of persons but in the organiza- 

 tion of society. 



Not only the direction of social evolution, but also the future 

 evolution, of the body and mind of man will be determined to 

 a great extent by society. Progress through natural selection 

 is exceedingly slow and wasteful, intelligence is a great time- 

 saver as contrasted with "trial and error," and intelligent arti- 

 ficial selection affords the most rapid and satisfactory means 

 for the improvement of the human race. There is no doubt 

 that mankind could, if it would, breed a more healthy, more 

 intelligent, more moral type than the general average of the 

 existing race. By means of artificial selection, requiring no 

 more intelligence than that which is now used in the breeding 

 of domestic animals, weakness of body, of mind, and of social 

 instincts could be largely eliminated, and the average of the 

 race could be raised to a level more nearly that of the best 

 existing individuals. To a large extent mankind will deter- 

 mine its own destiny on this planet. Whether it has wit enough 

 to save itself from the dangers which now threaten is a serious 

 question. 



PRESENT CONDITIONS AND TENDENCIES 



Our watchers on Olympus would see in present conditions 

 and tendencies of the human race some promising prospects 

 but much cause for grave concern. Perhaps the conditions 

 which would cause most anxiety are the nullification or com- 



