PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 643 
in evolution because it is accepted by biologists, we do not sufficiently realise 
the importance of this principle in our daily life, or its value as a guide to 
conduct and policy. It is probable that this doctrine had more influence 
on the behaviour of thinking men in the- period of storm and controversy 
which followed its promulgation fifty years ago than it has at the present day 
of lukewarm emotions and second-hand opinions. Yet, according to their 
agreement with biological laws, the political theories of to-day must stand or fall. 
It is true that in most of them the doctrine of evolution is invoked as supporting 
one or other of their chief tenets. The socialist has grasped the all-importance 
of the spirit of service, of the subordination of the individual to the community. 
The aristocrat, in theory at any rate, would emphasise the necessity of placing 
the ruling power in the hands of the individuals most highly endowed with 
intelligence and with experience in the affairs of nations. He also appreciates 
the necessity of complete control of all parts by the central government, though 
in many cases the sense organs which he uses for guidance are the traditions 
of past experience rather than the science of to-day. The liberal or individualist 
asserts the necessity of giving to each individual equal opportunities, so that there 
may be a free fight between all individuals in which only the most highly gifted 
will survive. It might be possible for another Darwin to give us a politic which 
would combine what is true in each of these rival theories, and would be in 
strict accord with our knowledge of the history of the race and of mankind, 
As a matter of fact the affairs of our states are not determined according to any 
of these theories, but by politicians, whose measures for the conduct of the com- 
munity depend in the last resort on the suffrages of their electors—i.e., on the 
favour of the people as a whole. It has been rightly said that every nation has 
the government which it deserves. Hence it is all-important that the people 
themselves should realise the meaning of the message which Darwin delivered 
fifty years ago. On the choice of the people, not of its politicians, on its power 
to foresee and to realise the laws which determine success in the struggle for 
existence, depends the future of our race. It is the people that must elect men 
as rulers in virtue of their wisdom rather than of their promises. It is the people 
that must insist on the provision of the organs of foresight, the workshops of 
exact knowledge. It is the individual who must be prepared to give up his 
own freedom and ease for the welfare of the community. 
Whether our type is the one that will give birth to the super-man it is 
impossible to foresee. There are, however, two alternatives before us. As 
incoherent units we may acquiesce in an existence subordinate to or parasitic 
on any type which may happen to achieve success, or as members of a great 
organised community we may make a bid for determining the future of the world 
and for securing the dominance of our race, our thoughts and ideals. 
The following Papers and Report were then read :— 
1, The Inorganic Composition of the Blood in Puerperal Eclampsia. 
By Professor A. B. Macatuum, F.R.S. 
2. Report on the Ductless Glands.—See Reports, p. 293. 
3. On the Comparative Anatomy and Histology of the Thyroid and 
Parathyroid Glands. By Mrs. W. H. Tuompson. 
4. On the Comparative Physiology of the Thyroid and Parathyroia 
Glands. By Dr. Branpson and Dr. J. A. Haupenny. 
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