vi THE NEXT GENERATION 



in his youth, and which he harbored in his system until, as old age 

 approached, his body lost its power of resistance. The lurking disease 

 then gained the upper hand and conquered him. Thus it was that the 

 man's own sin defeated him. 



In addition he dragged others down with him. The beautiful woman 

 whom he married was ignorant of his past history and entirely ignorant 

 of the laws of family health. They had several children. The first two 

 were syphilitic and died at birth. The diseased germ cells of the father 

 explained this. 



The third baby seemed normal until he was four years old, when he 

 showed syphilitic symptoms and mercifully died shortly afterwards. 



The fourth child is still living with his mother in New England. He 

 is thirteen years old. Until a year ago he was unusually bright. He at- 

 tended school and did remarkably well for a while. Then a cloud began 

 to show itself. Little by little it is spreading over his whole mind. He 

 still gets out his geography with pride and tells you facts he once learned. 

 He tries to learn more facts, but the power is gone. He has had to stop 

 going to school, and each day his mind becomes more vacant. 



His mother watches the change in agony, but she is helpless. Her 

 only son is being swept beyond her reach, and she knows it. At last also 

 she knows the cause. She knows what it is that doomed him. She 

 knows why all her children have suffered such ruin. She knows that 

 in each case destruction came through the father. 



This, then, was the greatest sin of the man not that he destroyed 

 himself, although this was sad enough, but that he crushed the lives of 

 his innocent wife and his helpless children. And the reason he did it 

 was that he did not know the danger and that he did not control him- 

 self in his youth. He was ignorant. 



This is but a single instance where thousands might be given. 



No right-minded woman would, with her own hands, prepare herself 

 for cruel suffering; neither would she willfully kill her baby. Yet any 

 woman who, knowing the danger, allows herself to marry a man who is 

 not morally upright and physically pure invites the tragedy and the 

 suffering which lies in wait for her and for her children. 



No right-minded man would, willfully and with his own hands, kill his 

 helpless baby, yet any man who, knowing the facts, dares to run the 

 risk of contracting this dread disease is as guilty as if he had killed his 

 own children with his own hands. 



