The morning call., 1893-12-07
DEGENERATION.
No Innate Tendency to
Progress.
What Leads to Personal Degradation
and Difficulty of Applying
Remedies.

President David S. Jordan's fourth fccture
at Golden Gate Hall last night was on the sub
ject Of Degeneration In EvOlutiOD." lone of
the greatest mistakes made by eyoiutonists,"
lie said, "is The supposition that there is an
innate tendency to progress. There is no such
tendency. More likely there ts an innate ten
deDcy TO 60 the other way.
progress comes not from anything inherent
in the organisms. but from the interaction of
the forces of nature on them by which they
become better adapted 10 their surroundings
and filter to hold their own in the struggle for
existence The white race consists of the chill
dren of those who overcame. And so OF the
horses and cows and cats; in some way they
are the children Of those who overcame who
put themselves in the line of development or
were brought there by circumstances and be-
came better and better adapted 10 their sur
roundings.
Progress means movement to a higher de-
VeiOpment, degeneration means a losing of
ground. All progress involves degeneration,
for whenever a function is not needed the organ
degenerates. and this degeneration sets To
VIII never an organ is not held by self activity
and natural selection To its highest asvel. The
sense OF smell not being so necessary for man
as for animals has become degenerate. In the
hunting dog Ii Is quite the opposite. Mans
body contains evidences OF such losses in the
appendix yermlfo MIS- The STUDY of the con-
temporary evolution OF man shows changes
constantly taking place; The lower jaw with
muscles is weaker, the peIvls In woman ia grow
ing larger, etc. Such changes are fitting man
better for his condition, but in many regards
making him more degenerate animal.
1.-The process of evolution Is fitting forms for
th-lr actual business, cats for the business of
cats. fishes for the business of fishes. Nature,
too, Is thrifty of material. and the law of cnm.
pensation works, What is gained in one Way
is lost in another. The fish In the Mammoth
Cave of Kentucky have adoed delicacy OF feel
ing. but have lost their eyes. The Ihiid eye
Which In man modern science has discovered to
be connected with the piDeal gland, has disap-
peared, TO the probable betterment of The two
remaining
The word nigh may mean complexity of
structure in general, or compexity as in the
woodIhrush andthe ant, or It may mean COM
plexlty OF speci structure or complexity of
nerve structure; sometimes adaptation 10
complex environment, in which respect man IL
superior TO the woodthrush. Sometimes high
means large size with resultant strength. as in
lie elephant, and sometimes resemblance to
man, as in the ape. Low means the reverse.
1T often happens that degeneration in
structure Is simply better adaptation 10 sur
rounoings. 1t often happens that animals be-
come less complex while advancing to better
adapta ion, as can be seen 10 governments
where red tape Is ths sign of poorer adapta-
tlon and III the grammar of such languages as
English, where less elaboration means greater
strength.
Degeneration is decline In rank. and the
nrsL fOi N Is adaptation 10 simple surroundings.
This can be seen in the seal, whose ancestor
was probably like bear, but whose environ
ment had been limited 10 the water and
dudptcQ 10 Tue narrower lie. a second form
OF degeneration Is divergence from isolation or
'gettlng out OF the SWIM 1 bus the birds of
Lower California have lost owing to their
separation from their kind, so the animals of
an island become degenerate. A third form
tbat degeneration takes Is reduction of SIZE, as
In the ant, whose littleness prevents IL from
accomplishing much. Sometimes IL is loss of
Vlg0r from surroundings as from bad air,
Water. climatr. hlonheys from South America
soon die here; they cannot stand the climate.
Sometimes reduction of seIf-activty is fol-
lUh 4 Ion
III The corals though great share OF progress
Is owing TO cooperation The most inte esting
form OF degeneration Is that which comes from
the loss OF self-actiyity accompanied by with
drawal from the struggle OF existence in a posi-
tlon where lie is assured them. Good examples
are The tuncates that from fish have turned
into an inert sac attached to the piles at tie
Wharves, and the sacculiBa, In origin a crab.
have become Iasites on the ordinary crab
and lost all of their own functions.
'Applying the law to human life, men shell
tered from destruction and deprived OF In
centlve TO action and allowed TO mate with un-
1tness soon become degenerate. The case of
the cretlns OF Aosta Is well known TO travellers,
race OF idiots that have been cnariJably cared
Tor since the middle ages, and utterly untitled
Tor any kind OF life; or the famous Jukes
family in New York, that for generations have
produced nothing but beggars, muI del ers
prostitut and thieves McCulloch studies in
Indianapolis show that nearly one TWEEN ieth
cause, and here Is whore he danger from for
eign emigration lies. There are In Europe
thousands OF places VIII re the people are in
fected with this degeneration, and .sho can
bring US nothing except hereditary pauperism
and crime. This degeneration is caused by
ennui, as In the perrage of England. by dssi-
patton, by slavery and by evil associations.
we cannot XIII the degenerate, that would be
against the law Of mutual help; we cannot
allow their VICES 10 destroy them on accoun, of
Its wastefulness, but we must save the unforiu-
nate by encouraging self-actlvity, permit the
incapable TO become extinct with the least pos.
slble suffering.."