The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-03-19
IoyGEyLTY INCREASING.
-,-rANS BEG MING GIANTS OF
80 .-ATCRE AND INTELLECT.

- Everything ~ " N>9 IA q III GIG.
=" rvact Moral Stasus-ProE Her
", the Chair of Natural History
y. W. Cincinnati University Says
u is Forming in America New
-, instinct from All Others On the
r. If the Earth-The Facts and
figures ~
TIA the cries OF the alarmists that the
- Is rapidly degenerating, man, as an
W.. 70, and as a rational being, goes right
-. - in the grand march of improve.
O- ~, that marks the aga.
nI ~. aside from what man is doing, nat
~ Il 70 reward him for his enterprise,
w. '.'-, wonderful work for man. 1t con-
~ IN no less q thing than increasing his
.,d rendering him by that means more
'.,rigeut This fact has been noted by
lots and in conversation with one of
cr.nnati's noted investigators in the
'. -l,s Of biology, Prof. C. L. Herrick,
oms interesting thoughts were brought
ut Prot. Herrick occupies the chair of
..,ral history at the Cincinnati university
.ais a recognized authority in his peculiar
|,,.nch-the science Of life.
~ have no data at hand from which to
-.as nositiyely,n said the professor, "butit
r recognized fact that men are increasing
s,za THE increase is slow, and perhaps
W. ir1ecognigable in a hundred years, but by
"a,nari1c the man of to-day with the man
= a tbousand years ago, the increase is
|~.rted The only measurements we have
q ,bo rnadjpval man exist in old armoT,
"a that the comparison may be just we
80 ,,sa the modern soldier as a base.
Wv mon trial, it has been found that this
|. IA ornor is too small for the average
soI5isr of today by several inches-the most
|.oticaable difference being in the hight.
M largest arnor is too small for the small
Isl soldier of the present time.
nsone persors have attempted to &C.
count for this by citing the fact that the
varriors of old we're from the ranks of the
|nobihty. and hence were not so well devel-
|oned as the modern soldiers, the majority Of
whom are country bred. But this does not
stand. Granted that the soldiers OF the two
AGES be from the two widely different
ALIASES. the severe training Of knight of
|tbe middle ages was far more conducive to
the Development OF sturdy frames than is
|tbe he of the modern farmer, with all his
|laborsaving machinery. The youth OF the
nobility we're allowed to grow with exercise
merely for health until they were matured,
when they were put through a course
hi training compared with which the
|toil of the farmer is light The
|young farmers of to-day who enlist in
Ehe armies are, as a rule, from that
class whose developme t has been retarded
|by the lack of proper nourishment-if such
be possible to any extent. l believe every
|chlli has marked out in him at the time Of
|ms birth the measure of the stature he is to
.attain at maturity, no matter what the con-
|ditio-s be. Attempts are often made to
account for tall men in certain districts
Iron the presence of lime water and the
beculiar food eaten there, as in the case OF
|Kentuckans. All Kentuckians are not
barge, and those whose are are descendants
bf common stock of pioneers who were of
barge stature, the difficulties to be overcome
lin the settlement of that state rendering it
impossible for any but robust men to obtain
Ia f0othold
when a whole nation is of huge stature
|qute good reason may be found in The
conditions Of the climate and soil. or other
attending circumstances, and the same rea-
son holds good in all cases of large or small
peoples OF the huge in stature. the ancient
IGermans furnished al excellent example.
4 The nature of TIE soil and the rigorous
climate rendered the expenditure of great
physical force necessary to extract suste-
rarce, and only those possessing this could
exist The Germans, recognizing this fact,
Feared their youth most carefully, and only
{ placed onerous duties upon their shoulders
.ghnu mo tpHa6 frafYnd Time fheav
aiter hundreds of years, came to be one of
great physical power.
Again, take the races Of liliputians
pea as in the Arctic regions and in central
AiFca. The amount of physical strength
Ssould exc out a living from the barren
PAINS OF Greenland, or the extreme north
'n shores Of Europe or America, since the
4 MY possible source of sustenance is from
lltlng and fishing. To do these requires
XIII and adroltness rather than strength,
4 Nd, moreover, the character of the food
1len captured is not such as is needed to
ElStaln large man. The lack Of certain
Flds OF food, or the difficulty of getting it
oes not hold IA the case Of the liliputians
Il Arrlca-who, by the way, are accurately
EScrlbed by Herdotus, Stanley having
merely confirmed his acc )unts, which have
Pen doubted up to Stanley's time-for
lese all kinds of food are abundant. But
zee how this very abundance affects the peo-
lIe Those parts, while they are exceeding
y fruitful, also abound with carnivorous
annals, SO that the inhabitants owe their
very existence to their small size and their
l8HiVy, winch enables them to elude the
Ierrors Of the tropical forest and to dwell
fnong tho branches of the trees.
Note the great law of natural selection
u survival Of the fittest running through
ue'e instances. The ancient German of
llali slz3 would perish from lack of the
luits which he might have in abundance
lau ne the strength TO delve In the stub
' 'Ir1 sou. The giant Esquimau, while he
alg4e catch as many fish as his smaller
roIhers, would pine through the lack of
odrlshment OF those very fish upon which
~ Drothers might grow fat, while the
" African liliputian, through
us awKwardness and his inability to
well at ease among the branches, would
a. az an easy prey to wild beasts.
% 1t goes on. The great law,
lAs nuge wedge. pressed up
3uQ Gown with equal force and certainty.
]aO tae huge Germnas disappeared by rea-
va VI thelr lntermarriage with other ma
IN ana as soon as the land of the lilipu-
: r ,e,S III Africa shall have come under the
n aL Of modern arms of de-
eui and offense against the ami
nS who rule it, the dwarfs will
,'a away with the condition that created
In rd and will only live as other dwarfs
IL giants of other times now live in the
,o and elves of the chIldren's
tSory books. Nature is continually
r VI off freaks, and these
ND \ seldom take the form Of giants
Ia dwarfs, but they must not be consid-
reG In the grand summing up. So. also.
,ii parents may have large children.
,o',i - tneSe families were traced back IL
U uoIa De found that they have ancestors OF