1 88 THE NEXT GENERATION 



not be feeble-minded, but they will be able to pass feeble- 

 mindedness on to their descendants. 1 



In Vineland these facts of inheritance guide the men and 

 women who are in charge. The result is that the feeble-minded 

 persons of the place are kept as separate as are the cretins 

 of Aosta. Elsewhere in the world they are not always sepa- 

 rated. Often they receive some training and then are sent 

 out into the world to shift for themselves. 



It is at this point that danger threatens the next genera- 

 tion, for these half-trained, feeble-minded people are feeble- 

 minded still. As such they are able to pass their affliction 

 on to later generations. This must be prevented. 



If the Vineland plan were carried out everywhere, and if 

 alcohol and germ diseases were not allowed to work havoc 

 with germ cells, feeble-minded people would soon be as un- 

 known in the United States and elsewhere as are the cretins 

 in Aosta. 



This is the gospel of prevention which modern science 

 preaches. 



As we know, however, we cannot altogether separate phys- 

 ical inheritance from the power of environment. The two 

 have joined hands, and they travel together. Together also 

 they help or harm both the body and the brain. 



The next chapter gives a bit of history about the effect of 

 environment on the physical well-being of generations of 

 children. 



1 In the Kallikak family the feeble-minded mother was responsible for 

 all those feeble-minded descendants ; but, since she was feeble-minded, and 

 therefore irresponsible, the weight of the responsibility rests with the father, 

 who chose her as the mother of his first-born son. 



