Genetics and Ethics 325 



duty of society as far as possible to conserve these lives and to 

 develop these possibilities. 



It is possible greatly to improve education, to make it a potent 

 factor in development instead of a conventional veneer. In spite 

 of innumerable educational reforms the essential reform has not 

 yet been reached; mere refinements of bad methods are not real 

 reforms. The essence of all education is self discovery and self 

 control. When education helps an individual to discover his own 

 powers and limitations and shows him how to get out of his 

 heredity its largest and best possibilities it will fulfil its real func- 

 tion; when children are taught not merely to know things but 

 particularly to know themselves, not merely how to do things but 

 especially how to compel themselves to do things, they may be 

 said to be really educated. For this sort of education there is 

 demanded rigorous discipline of the powers of observation, of 

 the reason, and especially of the will. 



It is possible greatly to improve heredity: (a) By weeding out 

 from the possibility of reproduction human stocks bearing serious 

 defects, (b) By cultivating pride in good heredity and by dis- 

 couraging voluntary infertility on the part of those who have a 

 goodly heritage, (c) By increasing opportunities for early and 

 favorable marriages, (d) By carefully conserving the best hu- 

 man mutations or inherited variations. In this way if in any way 

 the better race will be produced. The possible improvements of 

 heredity are great, the possible improvements of environment 

 and training are great, but whether men of the future will be bet- 

 ter than those of the past or present is a question not only of 

 genetics but also of ethics. 



How better can I close this course of lectures than with the 

 words of Francis Galton, one of the greatest students of human 

 heredity and the founder of the science of Eugenics? 



"The chief result of these inquiries has been to elicit the reli- 

 gious significance of the doctrine of evolution. It suggests an 

 alteration in our mental attitude and imposes a new moral duty. 



