THE NEXT GENERATION 



Yet we knew that if a student of the laws of inheritance 

 should come to town, and if he should hear certain definite 

 facts about the ancestors of these neighbors, even without a 

 glance at the men and the women themselves, or at their 

 children, he would be able to go from door to door and nail 

 on most of them a few definite statements about the children 



in the house. 



One label might read : 

 " Every child here has 

 light hair and blue 

 eyes." Another : " Every 

 child in this family has 

 dark hair and dark 

 eyes." Another : " Most 

 of the children unusually 

 bright." Still another : 

 " Children dark-skinned 

 with curly hair." 



And then if the same 

 student should go to the 

 small house around the 

 corner, and should know 

 what the parents and the grandparents of the children have 

 been, the paper nailed to the door would read : " Every child 

 in this family is either idiotic or feeble-minded." 



It is true that in many cases even the closest students of 

 inheritance would not be able to make definite statements 

 about color of hair, eyes, etc. Nevertheless, when all the doors 

 had been labeled, those who read the statements would see 

 that most of them told the truth about the children. 



Later chapters will show how it comes about that men are 

 able to speak so positively about persons whom they have 



JONATHAN EDWARDS 



