Chap. 20 THF. PHYSICAL BASIS OF HERFDITY 419 



committees of physicians and, where feasible, the consent of the person in- 

 volved. The laws of twenty-seven states provide for sterilization of the feeble- 

 minded and permanently insane under such well-guarded provisions. California 

 has carried out the law extensively and with satisfactory results. The American 

 performance of sterilization was settled by the Supreme Court in a decision 

 given on May 2, 1927, in which Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes made his 

 famous remark, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." 



Positive eugenics is largely education in the ideals of what good citizens 

 should be and the power which they have upon society. Awards for large 

 healthy families have been more frequent in the eagerly militaristic countries 

 than in America. For the most part the positive aspect of eugenics takes care 

 of itself. 



