EUGENIC AND TRADITIONAL PROGRESS 313 



biological qualities ; but they lacked the social organisation of 

 the white man, and were necessarily vanquished by him. 



Thus, the ideal society would be that which combined the 

 maximum of social culture with the maximum of biological value. 

 But this, like all ideals, is impossible of realisation, and we must 

 content ourselves with approximating to it as far as possible. 



When we come to examine the question of the relation of 

 biological to social selection, we are at once met by difficulties 

 which arise out of the very complexity of the matter. On the 

 one hand, it is evident that, in the struggle for existence between 

 societies, social culture is an indispensable weapon. However 

 fit a society may be from the biological point of view, if social 

 culture, and the stability which is a consequence of such culture, 

 be absent, that society will fall a victim to a rival society which 

 is disciplined, organised, and stable, the biological value of both 

 races being equal. On the other hand, biological fitness also 

 has its cardinal importance in the struggle between societies ; 

 and if a society which is biologically unfit and socially fit is 

 better adapted to the conditions of existence than a society 

 which is biologically fit but socially unfit, the former must, 

 however, succumb before a society which is both biologically 

 and socially fit. It is certain that biological fitness reacts upon 

 social stability and culture ; and if the organisation of a society 

 be such that the operation of the law of natural selection is 

 restricted or prevented, so that biological regression is allowed 

 to set in, that society is doomed to disappear before one in 

 which natural selection secures the removal of the biologically 

 unfit ; and which is otherwise equal as regards the degree of 

 social culture. And, even should such an antagonistic society 

 not be forthcoming, it is certain that, sooner or later, the society 

 first described will succumb to the deficiencies and vices of its 

 own organisation. 



Although social culture is indispensable in the struggle for 

 existence between societies, it is a mistake to regard such culture 



