729.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  social  reformer  the  impor-
tant fact  is  that  man's  intellectual  powers,  including  his  capacity  to
learn  even  in  old  age  and  to  communciate  his  acquired  knowledge,
thoughts,  and  mental  attitudes  to  his  fellows,  confer  on  him  great
powers  of  altering  the  mental  and  material  environment  and  of
adapting  himself,  and  more  especially  the  next  generation,  to  the
alteration.     Improved  mental  development  may  thus  be  made,  if
not   positively  beneficial  to   the   individual   in  his    struggle    for
existence,  at  least  not  positively  injurious.     For  example,  in  the
course  of  one  or  more  generations  a  savage  environment  may  be
exchanged  for  one  more  civilized  ;  or  an  atmosphere  of  prejudice
and  superstition  may  be  made  to  yield  to   one   relatively  more
enlightened.       Modern   Japan,   in  which   ideas  are   now   openly
prevalent  the  expression  of  which  only  a  few  years  ago  would  have
entailed  death,  is  a  case  in  point.     Though  the  mind  of  this  race
has   altered   in  some   very   important   particulars,  though  it  has
some   intellectual  characters  different  from  those  which  it  lately
possessed,  yet  we  have  no  reason  to  suspect  any  germinal  altera-
tion such  as  would  probably  be  indicated  by  a  marked  change  in
physical  growth.
