Above all, the habit of carrying the war of criticism into regions of art and culture with which the writer is obviously unfamiliar: this also marks the tendency of the writer's mind. To criticise the doing of that which he can by no means do; to destroy that which he can by no means make; to leave no margin of leniency in his judgment, for the imperfections which disfigure all human work: these are the familiar failings of youth, of the unripe mind. They are also those of the type of mind that never attains ripeness--of the Degenerate: we are forbidden, on high authority, to apply to our brethren a shorter and less modern term. But although the doctrine of Degeneracy has thus found its way to the general reader in a form which is often much to be regretted, it is nevertheless a doctrine which, if wisely used, may lead to the most beneficial results. Already it is widely recognised, by the thinkers of all nations, that the theory of degeneracy, when thoroughly understood, must revolutionise our treatment of the criminal classes. Instead of the attempt to punish, civilised legislation must eventually, in many cases, substitute a system of restraint. It is useless to try to reform the idler or the thief, whose instinct for idling or thieving is as imperative as a cat's instinct for catching mice. So long as he goes free, so long will the instinct reassert itself at every renewal of opportunity. Repeated punishment of the offender, who is powerless against his own impulses, is frequently a mere cruelty; while his repeated release, at the termination of every punitive sentence, is, on the other hand, still more certainly, a cruelty to the community at large, which he afflicts by his presence. Public opinion is gradually becoming awake to the necessity for fresh methods of dealing with these problems; it is by the patient investigations of scientific men that it has been enlightened. TABLE SHOWING THE PLACE OF MAN IN CLASSIFICATIONS =Grade IV.= TRIPLOBLASTIC Animals with a BODY-CAVITY. =Group.= CHORDATA; Animals with a Notochord. =Phylum.= VERTEBRATA; Animals with a Back-bone. =Class.= MAMMALIA; Animals that suckle the young. =Order.= Primates. =Genus.= Homo, i.e. man. _Species._ Sapiens (possessed of sense). Meanwhile, it must not be forgotten that the theory of degeneracy has its cheerful aspect. It enables us to look at the offending fellow-creature who belongs to the criminal classes, as an incomplete development rather than as a hardened sinner. It reminds us, too, that the criminal and the idler of to-day are now, what in the times of savagery and animalism, every man once was. The degenerate criminal, in fact, stands as a landmark, to point out the progress which has been made by the human race. This was the starting-point, where now he stands. How great the progress that is measured by the distance between him, and the orderly, kindly-hearted citizen of the present age!