388 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



greatest social moment. We must cultivate a little of the patience of 

 God. It is perhaps unfortunate that so much attention from laymen is 

 focused upon this great field of research. The man of science needs to 

 work quietly, patiently, doggedly, without too much thought of so- 

 called practical value to follow from his studies. He is painting the 

 thing as he sees it for the God of things as they are, and he is fortunate, 

 in a way, if he can find a separate star where he may work undisturbed 

 by the too eager interest of the crowd who clamor to know the signifi- 

 cance of each brush-stroke. 



Shall we then attempt no practical application in eugenics of the 

 little knowledge of inheritance which we have already attained? For 

 myself, I am in doubt. A number of states are making laws for the 

 sterilization of certain undesirable classes, and are making the enforce- 

 ment of these laws subject to the "expert" advice of a board composed 

 generally of physicians. As a matter of fact there are very few states 

 in this union which have among their citizens men capable of exercising 

 expert judgment in these matters, and these men are not physicians, 

 but biologists engaged in studies of heredity. Furthermore, in but few 

 individual instances are there genealogical inheritance records which 

 can serve as the basis of such expert opinion. 



One thing, however, of the greatest practical value we can do. We 

 can promote in every possible way the gathering and safe filing of 

 human inheritance records, which in the future will serve as the 

 foundation of such practise of eugenics as shall prove wise and practical. 

 I can in imagination see the day when the compilation of inheritance 

 data for each citizen will be compulsory, and when the files of these 

 records will be the most valued of all state documents ; when no marri- 

 age license will be issued except after the most careful scrutiny of the 

 inheritance records of each contracting party by trained students of in- 

 heritance; and when the state will debar from marriage those whose 

 children will be a burden to the state. The bearing of children is, of 

 course, not an individual right, but a social privilege, and in time it 

 must come to be so recognized. 



With eugenics as our goal, with a hope of ultimately greatly im- 

 proving the fundamental character of the race, let us cultivate patience, 

 allowing time for the sure grasp of the phenomena and relations in 

 heredity, before attempting by law any but the most limited applications 

 of its principles to human marriage. Let us promote the view that 

 social welfare, not individual comfort, is the ultimate criterion in marri- 

 age, and meanwhile let us actively promote the gathering and pre- 

 serving of inheritance records for all persons, thus providing data for 

 intelligent practise of eugenics in coming generations. We can at once 

 insist upon the gathering of such data for all persons in our state penal 

 institutions, almshouses, hospitals, asylums, etc. I am told that the city 



