558 



The Journal of Heredity 



than mulatto parents themselves. Such 

 proves, indeed, to be the fact. Now, 

 the white offspring of two mulattocs 

 when mated together would seem al- 

 ways to give only white children. Nu- 

 merous stories that are current of the 

 rcapiicarance of full black-skinned negro 

 children from two white parents one 

 of whom is of remote negro origin we 

 could not confirm. A few stories to this 

 effect were, indeed, current in Bermuda 

 but they all related to matings that 

 were made long ago and of whom the 

 principal i^arties had passed away. Un- 

 less further more precise evidence to 

 the contrary is forthcoming the current 

 folk lore of such recurrence of full 

 blacks to whites may be relegated to 

 the category of "old wives' tales." 

 The very different grades of skin color 

 in the offsj^ring of mulattoes correspond 

 to a ]jo]:)ular nomenclature, also, and 

 in addition to white we have the quad- 

 roon, the mulattoes, the samboes (or 

 three-fourths black), and the full black. 

 And if the proportion of black in the 

 whole ])opulation be considered, it will 

 be found that, in the descendants of 

 mulattoes, these five points represent 

 exce]jtionally common positions in the 

 general frequency curve of skin color. 

 One of the interesting facts brought 



out in the investigation was the fact 

 that the negro skin-color undergoes a 

 clear development from birth onward 

 during the first two years or more of 

 life. The negro child at birth has an 

 extremely light-colored skin, somewhat 

 more yellowish than that of a white 

 child. But within a few hours after 

 the child is exposed to the daylight 

 color begins to form and most swiftly in 

 those parts which arc exposed to the 

 sunlight, excepting that the perineal 

 region of the infant is, at birth, quite 

 highly pigmented. Eventually, how- 

 ever, about the same depth of pig- 

 mentation is achieved whether the child 

 grows into a woman or a man. There 

 seems to be no difference in the color 

 of the mulatto children whether the 

 dark parent be the father or the mother. 



No correlation was found in these 

 studies of the children of mulattocs be- 

 tween the color of the skin and the curli- 

 ness of the hair; so that, indeed, white- 

 skinned, kinky-haired children and black 

 skinned, straight -haired children were 

 not an uncommon occurrence. 



Our studies, also, furnish no support 

 for the view that hybrids are less fertile 

 than pure races in man. Some of the 

 most fecund families of Jamaica are 

 those of mulattoes. 



The Principles of Eugenics 



Those who are seeking to retain the name ' ' Eugenics ' ' for that section of genetics 

 which deals with man, are not likely to welcome the little book called "The Prin- 

 cijjles of Eugenics" by Blanche Eames, Assistant Principal of the Correspondence 

 School of Gospel and Scientific Eugenics (Chicago) , which has just been issued by 

 Moffat, Yard and Company, New York (pp. 91, price 75 cents). The writer be- 

 longs to that school which sees in sex hygiene the principal factor of eugenics. 

 "Heredity" is limited to one chapter of 12 pages, while the other chapters dis- 

 cuss Reproduction, Race Poisons, Instruction in Sex Truths, Tobacco and Drugs, 

 Parental Nutrition and Environment (two chaj^ters) and Continence. The author 

 is a convinced, although not critical, disciple of Lamarck, and an equally convinced 

 and uncritical believer in "])renatal culture," "maternal impressions" and similar 

 phenomena which most genetists consider little better than superstitions. The 

 book is sub-titled "A Practical Treatise," but the practical measures of eugenic 

 import which the author proposes seem ]:)rincipally to consist of negative eugenics 

 through asexualization and positive eugenics through j^roper mental attitude of 

 expectant mothers. The Journal of Heredity can hardly accept this as a 

 working j^rogram for the science of eugenics. The author has u.seful ideas on the 

 subject of racial i)oisons and sex hygiene, and it is a pity that she could not pre- 

 sent them excejjt under the name of eugenics. 



