352 HEREDITY AND SELECTION IN SOCIOLOGY 



placing of obstacles in tlie way of their economic development. 

 We will not here recapitulate our figures or the observations 

 already made concerning them ; we wiU merely remark that some 

 of the phenomena examined may lead to unexpected results, 

 over and above those which can immediately be deduced from 

 them. Thus, late marriage is a direct evil for the race, in that 

 it lessens the degree of fertility ; but late marriage entails an 

 increase of venereal disease, which is likewise a social danger ; 

 and it is thus also an indirect evil. The " senseless luxury and 

 unbridled extravagance " of which a thoughtful and earnest 

 man like Mr. W. S. Lilly justly complains is likewise not only 

 a direct evil ; it interferes, harmfully, with the conditions of 

 marriage, and disturbs the normality of the marriage-rate. 

 Largely owing to these economic conditions, women are not 

 married on accoimt of their physical or moral value, but because 

 of their financial status ; and when we remember that the 

 plutocracy, like the aristocracy, is by no means a body which is, 

 as a whole, possessed of great physical vigour, this state of 

 affairs must have a harmful effect on the organic value of the 

 upper classes. Li the same way, many other social phenomena 

 must be judged not only according to the amount of harm which 

 they entail directly; but also by the consequences which may 

 spring from them indirectly. 



