The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-22
HUNANIrYs FUTURE.
No Present indications Of ManiCind'I
DlIAppea ranOe From the Earth.

BiIappea ranoe From the Earth.
To TIE EDITOR or TINS suS Sir; The news.
papers have given space 10 the announcement
by Dr Willltton. paleontologlst At CHICAGO
University. that the human race IA moHbund.
destined 10 an early end not this spring.
Il 10 ioculArly added, but In the course OF
few million years The prees service At
Chicago IL first rate, and IL certainly IL a rare
day when II fails 70 provide the public with
q new sensation from the university. This
one IL worth looking into.
Assuming that the author OF the state.
ment has not been quoted In form just as he
may have desired but that the substance
OF hls argument Ia correctly given, the pro-
position appears 10 be thus: The chief cause
OF extinction OF the great groups OF organisms
IN the history Of nature IL overspeolali Eat!on.
Man, only a member OF one OF these major
groups, primate or hominid. is subject 70
the same laws. When he becomes over
specialized he Il lost. Overspecial zation.
however. can be a source OF weakness In
an organic stock only a. IL causes dnncut
or Impossible adaptation to the conditions
OF existence II Is one OF the expressions
OF such failure OF adaptation accompanied
by the accumulated inherited tendency TO
excessive DEVELOPMENT Of acquired organs.
Loss Of racial vitality IL still more potent
factor and ever has been' IN the extinction
THIS ~ cause wholly apart from thnt
cited by Dr.. Wtston. and finds it, root In the
decline OF reproductive energy after The
culminant point Of the race is reached. These
two causes may he instanCed as not al all ~
the same value, oyerspecialization beng Of
minor efficiency and ono Of the several eN.
presSlons Of nOn-adaptabNty
] think q very seriously doubtful n the
human constitution shows sny reliable eve
dence Of breaking from either cause Man
is a monophyletic creature ~ one stock,
pe eH , enfeebod by lax of solidarity
in his origin. Ike every other organism
he is not OF equally sd,naced development
In all his parts. Some ORGANS are progressed,
some parts retarded In development, and some
arc as IL we'll known. useless and weakening
inheritanceS from a lowly past In the face
OF man. no fact concerning hls physical maze
up stands out more cogenuy than that, with
ments Of the division Of labor, OF special
physical and mental endeavor, there II no
ton, nor ls there evidence Of loss OF racial
vitality Statements OF the latter do not
stand the test Of analysis but fall to the ground
the body and the rising longevity Of the race
1t is easy to point out individual organs
which may seem 70 be slipping their functions
stomach but such changes a. are here in
yolved are adaptations TO nsistent condl-
tons In no wise disadvanta geous to the human
constitution. There Is no dependable evidence
that man 10 affected by the causes specified.
that because other races have Yielded ours is
yielding before them. There appears 20 me
nothing in the human constitution and the
whole course OF nature which does not fore
cast for our race a future not limited 70 a few
million years, when IL shall have eXtin Ruishcd
itself through a failure Of adjustment but
the entire constitution OF man points 20 an
ascending course for an indefinite future.
To say that a race may become extinct from
overspeciali1ation In the eense that has been
used by Prof. Williston Is TO convey q dis
turbing and Inaccurate impression DecTepit
and senile expressions OF race have become
extinct with the decline OF racial vitality, but
the stock Is perpetuated by more stable and
better adjusted descendants
The growing supremacy OF the human in
tellect Is an additional factor TO be seriously
reokoned with in forecastng the future eN-
istence OF the race. Man controls his oond-
tons Of existence in q sense never before true
In the history OF nature. he will continue 10
bring them under greater subiecton and
progressively reduce physical obstacles 70
his existence.
Racial types OF man which have been AZ.
fected by failure Of adjustment or loss Of
racial force have diminished and will disap-
pear but the stock itself. innerved and safe
guarded by a powerful intellectual progress
cannot fail 20 perpetuate itself into stable ex-
pressions Of indefinite perpetuity, adjusted 20
a more perfect balance with physical condi-
tons and equipped for a higher !ife than has
yet fallen 20 its lot, JOHN NJ. CLARKE
ALBANY. March 20,