A BEQUEST TO THE AMERICAN GENETIC 



ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCHES IN 



HEREDITY 



INSPIRED BY THE THOUGHT THAT "IT IS ONLY BY A GREATER KNOWL- 

 EDGE AND APPLICATION OF THE LAWS OF LIFE AND GROWTH 

 THAT MAN CAN HOPE TO HASTEN HIS PROGRESS UPWARD" 



THE strongest luinian instinct is 

 that which perpetuates the race, 

 and the highest of human ideals 

 is the welfare of posterity- It is not 

 lack of interest hut lack of knowledge 

 that interferes with eugenic progress. 

 Not nian>- people see the need, and 

 there are ver>' few who ha\e a practical 

 conception of the possibilities of im- 

 pro\enient, to serve as a basis of 

 const ructi\e action. Charities and phil- 

 anthropies of many kinds have had rich 

 endowments for centuries, and cspe 

 cialK' "works of mercy" to care for the 

 diseased or defect i\e whose misfor- 

 tiHies wring our hearts. Few bequests 

 have been made to increase the knowl- 

 edge of heredit\-, although more knowl- 

 edge is the fundamental need. Research 

 in many subjects is being fostered by 

 large donations, including subjects as 

 far from any practical human interest 

 as the remotest stars or the world of 

 dei)arted spirits. Yet we expect that 

 our children and our children's children 

 will go on living in this world, and we 

 believe that the world will be a better 

 or a worse place for posterity in propor- 

 tion as right values of human life are 

 established. The general lack of inter- 

 est and support for human improve- 

 ment renders it the more important 

 that those who have deeper insight and 

 keener sense of eugenic responsibility 

 should seek for more effective ways of 

 establishing and widi-iiing the influence 

 of eugenic ideas. 



The need of establishing better ideals 

 of lunnan welfare may be considered as 

 the keynote of a remarkable testament 

 received recently by the American 

 f'cnetic Association. The way of 

 making the l)e(|uest and the reasons 

 that are given lend .so much interest 

 and value to this document that the 

 testator has been retjuested to allow 

 some parts of it to be published. 



and has given his consent, saying that 

 "If anything I have written could be 

 made the means of arousing new inter- 

 est in an>- fjuarter I would be highly 

 pleased." 



Passing over the sections of the will 

 that relate to appointment of trustees, 

 settlement of obligations and personal 

 bequests, the sections that explain the 

 eugenic and educational convictions of 

 the testator are as follows: 



"I hereby give and bequeath unto 

 the American Genetic Association 

 located in the City of Washington, Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, the sum of ten thou- 

 sand dollars, to be invested and 

 reinvested by the Council of said Asso- 

 ciation and the net income therefrom 

 to be used and applied by said Council 

 without reservation for the increase and 

 diffusion of knowledge regarding the 

 laws of heredity. In the event, how- 

 ever, that the said American Genetic 

 Association shall cease to exist or to con- 

 tinue engaged in the kind of endea\or 

 for which this fund is bequeathed, 

 the total amount of this bequest shall 

 revert to the Smithsonian Institution 

 located in the District of Columbia to 

 be administered by the Trustees of said 

 Smithsonian Institution in any way it 

 sees fit for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge regarding the laws of hered- 



"All of the rest, residue and remain- 

 der of my property, real and personal, 

 and wheresoever situate, I give, devise 

 and bequeath unto my trustee afore- 

 said, ill trust, to carry out the provi- 

 sions of this, my last will and testament 

 according to luy desires and wishes as 

 hereinafter contained. * * * 



"The fund created by the last para- 

 gra|)h of this will is to be devote(l and 

 used for beneficial purjioses only, my 

 wile and faiuib- and tho.se coming after 

 them to ha\e the jireference right 



428 



