162 



The Journal of Heredity 



Through what has just l?een read 

 runs, what I really helieve to be, an 

 honest expression of opinions which 

 seem to be basically good and may indi- 

 cate that the reason for the usual suc- 

 cess of college matches lies in the 

 clearheadedness of the participants. It 

 is a matter of opinion which sex as 

 here recorded is ])etter versed in the 

 requirements of dual happiness, or 

 whether the honors are not evenly di- 

 vided. That many of the ideals will be 

 altered in the years preceeding their 

 realization is fully to be expected, but 

 if only a portion of these hopes ma- 

 terialize we have a fair basis for a 

 satisfactory home life. Consideration, 

 unselfishness, a sense of humor, with 



its running mate common sense, can 

 lead to little else than afifection. These 

 requisities the college freshmen seem 

 to glimpse more or less clearly and it 

 is encouraging. 



At any rate we can gather a com- 

 posite picture of the ideal college mate 

 from the foregoing, but we must admit 

 that all the tragedy was Hot penned by 

 Shakespeare for the lament arises in 

 the words of the victim "this dear 

 friend, is my ideal and I think that 

 I have found her. But — last July she 

 announced her engagement to another, 

 so my house of cards has fallen." But 

 on with the dance — another concludes 

 with the exclamation — "now let me look 

 for that woman" ! 



Hygienic Marriage Laws 



Das Aertzliche Heiratszeugnis, 

 Seine Wissenschaftlichen und Prak- 

 tischen zur Frauenkunde und Eu- 

 genetik No. 2. Pp. 72. Leipzig, 

 Verlag von Curt Kabitsch, 1921. 



The desirability of having appli- 

 cants for a marriage license present a 

 certificate of medical examination has 

 often been urged, and has been given 

 expression in bills offered at one time 

 or another in almost every state leg- 

 islature of the Union. Some states 

 have actually adopted such a law, but 

 the administration of these statutes 

 has not given satisfaction to either 

 friends or enemies of the measure. 

 The principles underlying such legis- 

 lation are discussed from almost every 

 ])oint of view, by eight specialists 

 whose addresses are assembled in the 

 I)resent book. 



A law providing for medical exami- 

 nation before marriage is frequently 

 described as eugenic ; it is, however, 

 largely hygienic, although two classes 



of conditions are naturally dealt with, 

 the inheritable and the infectious. In 

 the United States the expense is 

 charged to the applicant, but the Ger- 

 man students hold that the state 

 should provide the examination with- 

 out cost. 



Nearly all of the German writers 

 here represented are opposed more or 

 less strongly to the compulsory medi- 

 cal examination before marriage. The 

 grounds are exceedingly various, but 

 the lack of competent examiners 

 (especially of women physicians) is 

 one of the most serious. Dr. Hirsch, 

 in the concluding paper of the series, 

 makes a strong plea for the compul- 

 sory examination but holds that it 

 should not be associated with any 

 prohibition of marriage. The candi- 

 dates for matrimony should be re- 

 quired to know their own condition ; 

 then it must be left to them (save in 

 exceptional cases of insanity, already 

 covered by law) to decide whether or 

 not thev are fit to marrv. — P. P. 



