270 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1953 



of the individual development and functioning of an organism and 

 of its historical evolution does not negate the existence of all the 

 marvels of what we called the superstructure. The emergence of 

 the latter is a miracle itself, and the exploration of life as it exists 

 truly only above the molecular level remains as valid and tempting a 

 task as ever before. 



Our discussion of genetics up to this point has been subsumed under 

 the heading "The adventures and delights of the spirit." The pur- 

 suit of such adventures and the tasting of their delights has had a 

 respected place in civilization, not the least in our own Western tradi- 

 tion. "The world," wrote Sir Thomas Browne in the seventeenth 

 century, "was made to be inhabited by beasts, but studied and con- 

 templated by man : 'tis the debt of our reason we owe unto God, and 

 the homage we pay for not being beasts. Without this, the world 

 is still as though it had not been, or as it was before the sixth day, 

 when as yet there was not a creature that could conceive or say there 

 was a world. The wisdom of God receives small honour from those 

 vulgar heads that rudely stare about and with a gross rusticity admire 

 His works. Those truly magnify Him whose judicious enquiry into 

 His acts and deliberate research into His creatures return the duty 

 of a devout and learned admiration." Had genetics accomplished 

 nothing else but its studies and contemplations, its position in the 

 world today would be assured as one worthy of a mankind which not 

 only wages war, invents nuclear explosives, and cannot learn fast 

 enough to use its powers for good, but also creates and supports seats 

 of learning and thought, preserves and defends some of the beauties 

 of the world, and, in spite of all, succeeds with innumerable unselfish 

 acts of duty and love. 



Yet man liveth not of adventures and delights alone. Genetics has 

 had the good fortune to fulfill not only the social function of exploring 

 its realm of the universe, but to contribute to our material well-being 

 and provide foundations for social measures. Let us now consider 

 some of these material products which we may call "the produce of 

 the mind." 



The most famous of the applications of genetics to the practical 

 world of today is the technique of raising hybrid corn. It had always 

 been the goal of plant and animal breeders to produce strains which 

 have two properties: one, to give high yields; and two, to be pure. 

 This latter trait, purity, would assure the homogeneity of the strain, 

 that is, the likeness of all individuals gi'own at the same time, and the 

 constancy of the strain, that is, the likeness of parents and offspring. 

 The likeness of the individuals of the same generation would assure 

 equal potential performance or yield from all of them, the likeness of 

 successive generations would enable the farmer to continue his stock 

 through the years. The radical innovation of hybrid corn retained 



