generation, thus elevating and perfecting the race. Here in this law we have combined free agency, moral certainty of action, and the highest possible order of motives.

If there is a great law of human increase, what are the facts in the animal and vegetable kingdoms? The same general laws that govern all organic matter in these lower orders, it is believed, govern and control all the changes that take place in the human system. It is true, there are some points of variance, and some modifications that are not strictly analogous; but, in the main, the general principles operating in these several departments are the same. A little over one hundred years ago, the first systematic attempts were made in Great Britain to improve domestic animals, since which time, by a series of experiments and observations, the most surprising improvements and changes have been made. Certain results were uniformly found to follow certain conditions; and so sure have these relations been considered, that if there was any slight exception or variation in the result, some cause or explanation readily presented itself. To such an extent have these experiments been carried, that they have resulted in what may be considered as settled principles. Now, when these principles are all carefully analyzed and traced back to their primary sources, they will be found based upon the laws of physiology, and when summed up or reduced to a system, they all centre in one general law of propagation. Facts and arguments of the most positive char

acter might here be adduced by way of proof and illustration, to show that it is the same law of increase which we have described as applying to the human race. And by such a law, and by no other theory, as we conceive, can these improvements and changes be satisfactorily explained.

Among vegetables and plants, similar principles prevail. All the improvements and changes here made are governed by the application of physiological laws; and these laws, when scientifically examined, will be found to be part and parcel of one general law..

The records of history strongly corroborate this theory in various ways; yet there is great difficulty in making here anything like a proper test or application of this law, inasmuch as history furnishes no formal account or description of what was the physical organization of any people where such changes were taking place. Even the various works treating expressly of population seldom make any reference to physical qualities or physiology, as though the great organic laws of the system had comparatively little agency in the matter. But let us gather up some facts from different points of view. As a general rule, families and communities have multiplied most where there was the greatest aggregate amount of health; and, on the other hand, the sickly and diseased, as a whole, have increased much less. It is an established fact that consanguineous marriages, if continued for some time, and also the intermarrying of certain orders, like that of the nobility or peer

age, carried on through several generations, result in less and less offspring, and sometimes in entire extinction of families. Such unions, in fact, beget too much likeness or sameness of qualities in organization; and if there are weaknesses or predispositions to disease in the contracting parties, they are transmitted in a more serious and dangerous form. It is also an established fact, that all those families in which are found genius, great talents, and supreme devotion to intellectual pursuits, are not prolific; and if both the heads of such families are thus distinguished, the case is more marked, the offspring growing less in number, and the name soon becoming extinct. Such has been generally the family history of great scholars, authors, poets, of nearly all who have been eminent or distinguished in any department of science.

There are three points of view, referring to the present construction of society, as well as to its past history, from which important evidences bearing upon the subject may be obtained. It should be borne in mind that this law of increase, in its highest development, is based upon a perfectly well-balanced organization, sound in structure throughout, with every organ performing its appropriate function. If we take, then, this type of organization as a physiological standard, let us see what would be its practical application in the extreme deviations from this model. It is a fact no one will dispute, that there is a great difference in the number of children in different classes

and communities. It is found that just in proportion as we ascend the scale in refinement, education and all the higher elements of civilization, there will be, in about the same degree, a diminution of offspring. It is well known that the families in what are called the upper classes become, from generation to generation, less productive, and in the course of time extinct, unless replenished from the lower walks in life. Hence, in nations most highly civilized, those standing at the head of government, and occupying the highest positions in power and influence, have, in the course of time, few to represent them. If we admit the foregoing statement as a well-established historic fact, we naturally seek an explanation of it. The simple reason is, as we conceive, that their style of living taxes the brain altogether too much; it developes a great predominance of the nervous temperament at the sacrifice of other parts of the body, which by inheritance is increased from generation to generation. The balance of structure and harmony of function in organization is radically changed, and carried to an intense development of nervous tissue, which in its very nature is unfavorable to the procreation of offspring. It illustrates the principle of Fourier, that "just in proportion as individuals or a community become perfected in civilization, in the same proportion the race inclines to run out."

If now we pass to the other extreme of society and physical organization, what are the facts?

The first impression might be that the birth-rate here would be large, and that there might be from this source a steady and permanent increase of numbers. There may be individual cases of this character, and temporary increase of a race or community; but in the long run these are the exceptions. For nowhere do we find any account of a tribe or race, living in a purely savage, barbarous state, leading a coarse, low, sensual, animal life, that has been at all fruitful in children through several successive generations. It is true, such classes are always changing, and sometimes increasing in numbers by immigration; but seldom do they multiply extensively from their own resources. Such is the verdict, we believe, of all history, both ancient and modern. The laws of nature have wisely fixed limitations to the increase as well as to the prosperity of such a people. Illustrations of this may be found in certain portions of Asia and Africa, among the South Sea Islanders, and in the Indian tribes of our own country. It may, perhaps, be alleged, that the reason for this limitation is not in the birth-rate so much as in the manner of living. A careful examination of all the circumstances will show, we believe, that the primary and chief causes arise from violation of physiological laws. The nutrition here goes either to support the body of the individual alone, or is consumed in the mere gratification of the animal propensities. When the lower and grosser parts of the body become too predominant and active, they soon