Note 150 — V HUMAN FECUNDITY

See, for instance, Eucken, Currents of Modern Thought, p. 264. When Herbert Spencer says (Principles of Biology, vol. ii, p. 431) that ‘advancing evolution must be accompanied by declining fertility’, he is apparently using the term fertility as equivalent to fecundity and is therefore misrepresenting the position. The Dean of St. Paul’s is doubtless aware of the true state of the case: nevertheless his reference to the subject is likely to be misleading. After remarking upon the fact that fecundity (which he calls fertility) decreases among animals with increasing care for the offspring, he goes on to say that ‘man is no exception to these laws’ (Outspoken Essays, p. 60). As a matter of fact, man is a remarkable exception to this ‘law’; if anything, his fecundity has increased. His position has become assimilated to that of the animals because his fertility has decreased—quite another matter.