CHAPTER III 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN 



Objections to the doctrine of Natural Selection — The impossibility 

 of proving Natural Selection by a study of wild Nature — Man 

 no longer evolves along ancient lines — Social and moral 

 evolution a myth from a biological standpoint — Proof of the 

 actuality of Natural Selection obtainable from the study of 

 human death-rates — Zymotic disease the principal cause of 

 human elimination — " Parasitic " and " saprophytic " diseases 

 — Evolution against disease — Acquired and inborn immunity 

 — Acquired effects of disease not transmissible to offspring. 



It is admitted by nearly every student of the 

 question that Darwin's exposition of the method 

 of evolution is correct. But a diminishing remnant, 

 among whom, however, are still some eminent 

 thinkers and men of science, are as yet malcontent. 

 Their objections are twofold. Some of them 

 assert that acquired characters are transmissible, 

 and that therefore Darwin's theory does not ex- 

 plain the whole facts of evolution. With that 

 objection we have just dealt, and will have 

 occasion to deal again and yet again. The second 

 objection is more subtle, and therefore less easy to 

 meet. The objectors admit that, by following 



