144 



The Journal of Heredity 



against malinj^ with certain alien races 

 are not irksome to the average man. 

 They rather add to the romance of mar- 

 riage. An aristocratic \mdc of race is 

 not antagonistic to a man's choice of a 

 mate, but rather determines it and adds 

 ultimately to his satisfaction. Certainly 

 marriages are hap])iest when a wise 

 taboo is respected. 



"It seems hardly necessary to meet 

 the theological objections to progressive 

 legislation along biological lines, as some 

 theologians are among the ablest sup- 

 porters of eugenic laws, and those who 

 are not would not agree with the prem- 

 ises of eugenics. A bishop, recently 

 addressing a university audience, con- 

 demned the eugenic movement, saying 

 that the selection of the more fit only 

 limited the field of religion, as it is the 

 unfortunate who need religion most. 

 Fortunately this is not a prevalent view 

 in any church. 



NEED FOR PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 



"In supposing that eugenic laws 

 cannot be enforced, critics doubtless 

 have in mind what they regard as 

 analogous cases of laws which were 

 enacted and became dead letters because 



the public did not feel their im])ortance. 

 Anti-tipping laws are examples of this, 

 and the jmblic certainly must demand 

 such a law in adx-ance of its enactment if 

 it is not to die on their hands. Much 

 eugenic legislation is, however, not pro- 

 hibitory in character, but is permissive 

 of certain powers on the part of the 

 courts or of commissions appointed for a 

 definite purpose. It is this sort of legis- 

 lation that must necessarily work best, 

 as it is not subject to violation and will 

 continue to be used as long as even a few 

 people are intelligently interested in it. 

 "Whatever may be said against such 

 laws as are presented in this pamphlet, 

 and they are righth- subject to much 

 criticism, it is evident that something 

 must be done to diminish the number of 

 mental defectives in our population. 

 War among primitive people, poverty, 

 disease, and capital pvmishmcnt did a 

 fairly thorough if not a very beautiful 

 piece of work before we began to 

 civilize them away. Some substitute 

 has to be found for natural selection. 

 Procreation of the undesirable must be 

 prevented by means which are least 

 cruel and least wasteful. These laws 

 already in force in the several states 

 indicate the growth of this opinion." 



Crosses With Zebu Cattle 



Crosses between zebu and native Italian cattle, made at the zootechnical in- 

 stitute of Perugia, are discussed by Director Carlo Pucci in L'Agricoltura Coloniale, 

 No. 10, 1914. The results convince him that (1) in all the first generation progeny 

 the zebu skeleton, dewlap, ear and musculature seem to be dominant; (2) the 

 skin color and size of horns of the zebu seem to be recessi\'e; (3) in general, all the 

 progeny show great activity and endurance; (4) they have a ver\- valuable i)redis- 

 position to lay on weight ; (5) they have a very high resistance to the foot and month 

 disease. 



Pollination of Cherry Trees 



That cherry trees frequently prove shy bearers because of inadequate jjolH nation 

 has been demonstrated at the state agricultural experiment station in Oregon. 

 It is found that some of the leading commercial \-arieties are practically self- 

 sterile, while others are inter-sterile; that is, some varieties are much better pollen- 

 izcrs than others for orchard i)lanting. Sometimes ])ollination works well in one 

 direction, while the recii)rocal cross i)ro(luces very little fniit. It thus becomes 

 necessary for cherrv growers, ]jarticularl\- in regions where onlx- a few varieties are 

 produced, to study each individual variety and find out its needs in i)()llination, 

 if they would avoid disaster. Inter-sterility among varieties is found not to be 

 correlated to closeness of relationslii]). 



