GO 



liear much of Race Suicide today. Perhaps uuder a more simple and san- 

 itary life the race would again become strong and healthy and prolific, just 

 as soil left to nature returns to its former condition. 



I referred to the fact that many of our plants are constantly on the 

 move. We see this exemplified again in man. Some people are moving all 

 the time, one might almost come to the conclusion that the old-time home 

 is disappearing. People will move from one house into another, from one 

 street to another, from one town to another, alternating perhaps between 

 town and country and from one end of the country to the other. One 

 wonders why people move so much. One important cause in my observation 

 Is on account of ill health. Many move into another house or into another 

 town in the hope of having better health. When they do find a congenial 

 place they are apt to stay, just as plants and animals stay. 



It is interesting to study the movement of population, of towns as a 

 whole or of certain streets or of certain buildings in the heart of the city, 

 say a large store or office or bank. "Office boys" are both from city and 

 country; many country boys go to the city to '"try city life". Some succeed 

 but many fail. We liear of the successes but we usually do not hear of the 

 failures, although there may be only one successful man to a hundred or 

 several hundred failures. I am reminded of the remark of an old mer- 

 chant : "The new boy who cannot stand the work of sweeping out the 

 store and running errands is not apt to make a good business man", mean- 

 ing in this case a storekeeper. The merchant knew this as a fact, he did 

 not attempt to explain it. I offered him this explanation : 



The new boy when put to sweeping may or may not react to dust 

 influences. If he reacts there will be more or less complaint of ill health 

 and in time he will drop out ; if he does not react he maj' gradually advance 

 and in time become a business man. The merchant whose name appears in 

 the city directory year after year maj' be regarded as an immune, as an 

 individual able to live under unsanitary city conditions. The directory does 

 not mention the numerous failures. The successful business man in the 

 city must be regarded as the survival of the fittest. He does not move 

 aliiiut; he remains fixed because he is able to bear the unsanitary environ- 

 ment. This moving about is, of course, seen at its best in large manu- 

 facturing establishments, where there is a constant influx of "new hands". 



Looking over the books on diseases of plants, one is surprised at the 

 anal(;gy between plant diseases and liuman diseases. One finds plant 



