258 BIOLOGY OF DEATH 



means are not injurious to health, nor, like abortion, an 

 offense against public morals) to such an extent that the 

 children could be brought up as efficient citizens and with- 

 out deterioration in the standards of their civilization; 

 and that parents should not limit the size of the family 

 for any other reasons except on account of definite hered- 

 itary defects, or to secure an adequate interval between 

 births. ' ' 



I am able to make no prediction as to how civilized 

 countries wiU solve (if they do solve) the problems 

 arising out of the impending saturation with human popu- 

 lation of the portion of the earth's surface habitable by 

 man. The certainty and assurance with which various 

 ones of my friends advance solutions excites my wonder 

 and admiration. But what impresses me even more 

 is that scarcely any two of them agree on the nature 

 of the panacea. To some it is birth control, to others 

 synthetic foods derived from the atmosphere or else- 

 where, and so on. 



For myself, I am content if I have succeeded, in even 

 a small measure, in indicating that population growth pre- 

 sents a problem fast becoming urgent; a problem that 

 in its overwhelming sig-nificance and almost infinite rami- 

 fications touches upon virtually every present human ac- 

 tivity and interest, and in particular upon the activities 

 comprised in the terms public health and hygiene. 



