Chap. XXI.] AND CONCLUDING REMARKS. 385 



festl'y depend on the development of the cerebral sys- 

 tem. 



• 



Man scans with scrupulous care the character and pedi- 

 gree of his horses, cattle, and dogs, before he matches 

 them ; but when he comes to his own marriage he rarely, 

 or never, takes any such care. He is impelled by nearly 

 the same motives as are the lower animals When left to 

 their own free choice, though he is in so far superior to 

 them that he highly values mental charms and virtues. 

 On the other hand, he is strongly attracted by mere wealth 

 or rank. Yet he might by selection do something not 

 only for the bodily constitution and frame of his offspring, 

 but for their intellectual and moral qualities. Both sexes 

 ought to refrain from marriage if in any marked degree 

 inferior in body or mind ; but such hopes are Utopian and 

 will never be even partially realized until the laws of in- 

 heritance are thoroughly known. All do good service 

 who aid toward this end. When the principles of breed- 

 ing and of inheritance are better understood, we shall not 

 hear ignorant members of our legislature rejecting with 

 scorn a plan for ascertaining by an easy method whether 

 or not consanguineous marriages are injurious to man. 



The advancement of the welfare of mankind is a most 

 intricate problem : all ought to refrain from marriage who 

 cannot avoid abject poverty for their children ; for pov- 

 erty is not only a great evil, but tends to its own increase 

 by leading to recklessness in marriage. On the other 

 hand, as Mr. Galton has remarked, if the prudent avoid 

 marriage, while the reckless marry, the inferior members 

 will tend to supplant the better members of society. 

 Man, like every other animal, has no doubt advanced to 

 his present high condition through a struggle for existence 

 consequent on his rapid multiplication ; and if he is to 



advance still higher he must remain subject to a severe 

 36 



