476 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Our neighboring field on the right is that of biology — or more nar- 

 rowly the field of genetics — but here we find indeed that our relation- 

 ship is very close, that we possess in fact only one section of the big 

 biological farm, and that, however big and important our corner may 

 be, nevertheless, it is only a corner of the larger field of genetics. Our 

 relationship is indeed here so close that we shall need no fence between 

 us. We have, it is true, somewhat different conditions to contend with, 

 but the same problems to solve, and by retaining our good fellowship, 

 we may hope to receive much aid from this neighbor, whose conditions 

 are in some ways much simpler than our own, and who can, therefore, 

 make more rapid independent progress. 



On the other side we are bordered by the field of euthenics. Un- 

 fortunately, we have not always, up to the present, been able to get 

 along with this neighbor on the best of terms, hut there is every reason 

 why our relations should be amiable and friendly, cooperative and help- 

 ful ; we both have the same objects in view — our ideals are the same, 

 but we are not in thorough accord as to the methods by which they may 

 best be attained. 



Since the relations between the other biological sciences and eugen- 

 ics are so obvious, let us examine a little more fully those between 

 eugenics and euthenics. According to one of the foremost exponents of 

 euthenic ideas in this country, euthenics means, " The betterment of 

 living conditions, through conscious endeavor, for the purpose of se- 

 curing efficient human beings," or " Euthenics deals with race improve- 

 ment through environment," while " Eugenics deals with race im- 

 provement through heredity." * Galton himself defines eugenics some- 

 what more broadly as " The science which deals with all influences that 

 improve and develop the inborn qualities of a race," 2 though he must 

 have had chiefly hereditary influences in mind, since he adds: 



The aim of eugenics is to represent each class or sect by its best specimens, 

 causing them to contribute more than their proportion to their next generation; 

 that done, to leave them to work out their common civilization in their own way. 



We may conclude, therefore, that the point at issue between eugenics 

 and euthenics is clearly that of the relative influence of heredity and 

 environment in the development of the human race, and as such, we 

 may proceed to discuss it further. 



Whatever may have been the degree of controversy in the past and 

 whatever may be the opinion of the practical breeder, the philosopher 

 or the reformer, biologists are practically agreed that the environment 

 can have no hereditary effect on organisms, at least in the crude way 

 commonly inferred under the caption of the "inheritance of acquired 



J " Euthenics, the Science of Controllable Environment," by Ellen H. Eich- 

 ards, Boston, 1910. 



2 Nature, Vol. 70, 1904, p. 82. 



