822 The American Naturalist. [September, 
and predicate its results on posterity. The precepts and recepts 
which form the concept of equal rights also embody an eject 
which, though conjectural, is yet capable of clear demonstra- 
tion, and which declares that the final effect of female suffrage 
on posterity would be exceedingly harmful. 
We have shown, in Part II of this paper, that the pro- 
nounced advocates and chief promoters of equal rights are 
probably viragints—individuals who plainly show that they 
are psychically abnormal; furthermore, we have seen that the 
abnormality is occasioned by degeneration, either acquired or 
inherent, in the individual. Now let us see, if the right of 
female suffrage were allowed, what effect it would produce on 
the present environment of the woman of to-day, and, if any, 
what effect this changed environment would have on the psy- 
chical habitudes of the woman of the future. This portion of 
the subject will be discussed in Part III of this paper. 
III. THE DECADENCE. 
It is conceded that man completed his cycle of physical de- 
velopment many thousands of years ago. Since his evolution 
from his pithecoid ancestor, the forces of nature have been at 
work evolving man’s psychical being. Now, man’s psychical 
being is intimately connected with, and dependent on, his 
physical being, therefore, it follows that degeneration of his 
physical organism will, necessarily, engender psychical degen- 
eration also. Hence, if I can prove that woman, by leading a 
life in which her present environments are changed, produces 
physical degeneration, it will naturally follow that psychical 
degeneration will also accrue; and, as one of the invariable 
results of degeneration is atavism, both physical and psychical, 
the phenomenon of a social revolution, in which the present 
form of government will be overthrown and matriarchy estab- 
lished in its stead, will be, not a possibility of the future, but a 
probability. That the leaders of this movement in favor of 
equal rights look for such a result, I have not the slightest 
doubt; for, not many days ago, Susan B. Anthony stood beside 
