374 



The Journal of Heredity 



defects. Tlic best way to determine 

 what varieties possess the most effec- 

 tive combination of character for cul- 

 tnre under wee\il conchtions is to study 

 the results of variety tests conducted 

 under weevil conditions. These studies 

 reported here were made mainly in ad- 

 vance of the weevil infestation in Mis- 

 sissippi, partly with the idea in view of 

 predicting^ what varieties would be most 

 efficient in lint production in the face 

 of weevil attack. 



"Now that we have several years' ex- 

 perience with the weevil, these results 

 help to exi)lain why certain varieties 

 are more productive under weevil con- 

 ditions than others. For this reason 

 they should be of value to the cotton 

 l)reeder. It was mainly as an aid to 

 the j)lans contemplated by the Missis- 

 sippi Experiment Station for attempting 

 to (level<ip more desirable varieties by 



hybridization that this analysis of the 

 fruiting processes was undertaken. The 

 results here presented show in what va- 

 rieties or in what types certain qualities 

 may be found. Experience in field com- 

 pari.son of varieties and in conducting 

 \ariety tests should, with the aid of 

 these results, enable the observer to 

 form a fairly good estimate of the im- 

 portant characteristics of different va- 

 rieties and of tiie degree in which they 

 possess certain qualities, without hav- 

 ing to resort to detailed and lalx)rious 

 studies, such as these have been. 



"I low much can be accomplished to- 

 wards the combination of the several 

 desirable qualities of different varie- 

 ties through hybridization is another 

 question. Partial successes already ob- 

 tained in this direction are a favorable 

 indication." 



Disease and Natural Selection 



While it is usually assumed that va- 

 rious race poisons have a (Hsgenic effect 

 upon mankind, it has been occasionally 

 pointed out that the effect of alcohol 

 and venereal diseases is, in the long 

 run, a selective process, tending to 

 eliminate the socially and morally un- 

 fit. This latter theory is based upon 

 the belief that the morally inferior 

 tend, on the average, often to acquire 

 diseases leading to sterility. In other 

 words, there is a correlation between 

 morality and total net offspring. 



Figures supporting this idea have been 

 very meager. b"or this reason a por- 

 tion of the report of 11. C and M. A. 

 Soloman, published in Mental Hygiene, 

 for January, 1918, and reprinted in the 

 bulletin of the Massachusetts Commis- 

 sion on Mental Diseases (\'ol. II, No. 

 1), has considerable interest for eugen- 

 ists. These writers have been making 

 extensive investigations into the fam- 

 ilies of the neurosyphilitic and count- 

 ing the lunuber of children born in such 

 families. Their conclusions follow: 



"Xo greater cause of race suicide can 

 be imagined than syphilis. I'V)r ex- 

 ample, of the grouj) of 247 families 

 eighty-four, or .^4'';'^ , were sterile — had 

 no children: <>f tlie 160 families of 



paretics fifty-three, or 33%, had no chil- 

 dren. In the population at large the 

 least i)roductive group as to children 

 is supposed to be the college-trained, 

 but we find among the Harvard and 

 Yale graduates only from 19 to 23% 

 of infertile marriages in contrast to the 

 33% among paretics. It was found, 

 further, that 20^^ of the families had 

 abortions, miscarriages and stillbirths, 

 while dead children occurred also in 

 20%. 



"As a result we find the average of 

 living children per family to be 1.3, a 

 figure very much lower than necessary 

 to keep the population stable. The fig- 

 ures are about the same for families 

 in which the original ])atient had or had 

 not nervous system involvement. The 

 birth rate for the 247 families averages 

 1.7 children. bVom the United States 

 census report it is found that the ave- 

 rage birth rate in our vicinity is 4.4 

 children per family. Rut this difference 

 between 1.7 and 4.4 does not tell the 

 whole story. Were it not for syphilis 

 the 4.4 figure would be higher, for that 

 average includes the syiihilitics. Rut 

 of the 1.3 living child.cn iicr familv. 

 many are afllicted with syphilis and will 

 have a shortened life and a lessened 

 efficicncv." 



