HUMAN CONSERVATION 57 1 



much of which rests upon questionable foundations. The great 

 present need is to learn more facts; to sift the truth from error in what 

 is already known ; and to reduce all these data to workable scientific 

 form. Much progress is being made in this direction, owing to the 

 impetus given by the revival of Mendel's illuminating work, but as yet 

 the science of eugenics is in its infancy. 



The most systematic and effective attempt in this country to 

 collect reliable data concerning heredity in man has been initiated by 

 the Eugenics Section of the American Breeders' Association under the 

 secretaryship of Dr. C. B. Davenport. In 1910 the Eugenics Record 

 Office, with a staff of expert field and office workers and an adequate 

 equipment of fire-proof vaults, etc., for the preservation of records, 

 was opened at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York, with 

 Mr. H. H. Laughlin as superintendent. "The main work of this 

 office is investigation into the laws of inheritance of traits in human 

 beings and their application to eugenics. It proffers its services free 

 of charge to persons seeking advice as to the consequences of pro- 

 posed marriage matings. In a word, it is devoted to the advance- 

 ment of the science and practice of eugenics." The publication of 

 results from the Eugenics Record Office has already been begun. 



The Volta Bureau, founded about twenty-five years ago in 

 Washington by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, is collecting data with 

 reference to deafness and has now systematically arranged particu- 

 lars concerning the history of over 20,000 individuals. In England, 

 also, the Galton Laboratory for Eugenics, founded in 1905, is system- 

 atically collecting facts about human pedigrees and pubHshing the 

 results in a compendious "Treasury of Human Inheritance." 



Besides these special bureaus of investigation, innumerable facts 

 about the inheritance of particular traits are being incidentally brought 

 together and made available in various institutions and asylums 

 throughout the world which are immediately concerned with the care 

 of defectives of different types. It is in connection with such institu- 

 tions for defectives that much of the most successful "field work" of 

 the Eugenics Section of the American Breeders' Association is being 

 accomplished in the United States. 



3. FURTHER APPLICATION OF WHAT WE KNOW NECESSARY 



Human performance always lags behind human knowledge. 

 Many persons who are fully aware of the right procedure do not put 

 their knowledge into practice. It follows, therefore, that any pro- 



