nor has sociology long since gone outside the purely human
for explanations of the facts of human society. Nowadays, however,
psychology has a firm comparative basis and sociology finds much that
is illuminating and helpful in the purely biological aspects of the
human animal. Very naturally, then, we have had social science
studying man as Man, with a capital M: biological science studying man
as a natural animal.

But now that modern trend of scientific synthesis which has brought
forth a Physical-Chemistry and a Chemical-Physiology and a
Bio-Chemistry, is combining the purely social and the purely
biological studies of man into a new Bio-Sociology. And as one phase
of this new partnership we have the subject of Eugenics--the science
of racial integrity and progress, built upon the overlapping fields of
Biology and Sociology.

We can trace the idea, perhaps better the hope, of Eugenics from the
modern times of ancient Greece. Plato laid stress upon the idea of the
"purification of the State." In his Republic he pointed out that the
quality of the herd or flock could be maintained only by breeding from
the best, consciously selected for that purpose by the shepherd, and
by the destruction of the weaklings; and that when one was concerned
with the quality of his hunting dogs or horses or pet birds, he was
careful to utilize this knowledge. He drew attention to the necessity
in the State for a functionary corresponding to the shepherd to weed
out the undesirables and to prevent them from multiplying their kind.
Plato stated clearly the essential idea of the inheritance of
individual qualities and the danger to the State of a large and
increasing body of degenerates and defectives. He called upon the
legislators to purify the State. But the legislators paid no heed. The
able-bodied and able-minded continued to be sacrificed to the God of
War; the degenerates and defectives--not fit to fight--were the ones
left at home to become parents of the next generation. And to-day
Greece remains an awful warning.

We cannot describe or even enumerate the wrecks of the many plans for
race improvement that are strewn from Plato to our day. Sporadic,
emotional, visionary, often it must be confessed suggested by
possibilities of material gain to the "leader"--they have all passed.
They failed because they were unscientific; because there was
available no solid foundation of determined fact upon which to build.
One need suggest only