58 THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE 



anthropology and the allied subject of comparative 

 religion. The results of the patient labour of spade 

 and pick, among the sands of Egypt, and the waste 

 cities of Palestine and Asia Minor, by which the 

 relics of past civilisations have been brought to 

 light, may be compared with the unfolding of the 

 story of evolution by the study of the fossil contents 

 of rocks. But there are yet vast areas awaiting the 

 coming of the scientifically trained and equipped 

 explorer. The remains of the ancient peoples in the 

 central districts of Asia are still unmapped, and the 

 great inscriptions of Central America have so far 

 baffled all attempts to decipher their record. Never- 

 theless the causes which have contributed to the rise 

 and fall of civilisations are beginning to yield their 

 lessons for the future. 



Mankind is subject to evolution, and the average 

 composition and character of each race is always 

 changing, not only absolutely but in relation to 

 other nations. Hence arises the importance of a 

 study of the comparative rates of reproduction of 

 different sections of a nation, and of other agencies 

 that may affect racial qualities the subject-matter 

 of the study named Eugenics by the late Sir Francis 

 Galton (1822-1911), its founder. 



While Darwin was still at work, another series of 

 researches was being carried out on inheritance, 

 which only became generally known many years 



