Blakeslee: Corn and Education 



53 



species, mentally and physically, now 

 than centuries ago? In other words, 

 has education exerted a beneficent in- 

 fluence upon biologic evolution? The 

 answer is not so obvious as in the case of 

 social evolution. 



Let us turn from man for a moment to 

 the simpler condition in corn. In Fig. 1 

 are shown two varieties of flint corn 

 differing somewhat in size, but of essen- 

 tially the same color of kernels when 

 enclosed in their husks. The upper 

 ear, however, has inherited the power of 

 developing red pigment when exposed 

 to the light. The kernels at the tip 

 where the husks admit light are regu- 

 larly colored, hence the name of "Smut 

 Nose" given to this variety. To make 

 the evidence of this response more 

 striking, the writer enclosed an ear in 

 dark paper with the letters L-I-G-H-T 

 cut out in stencil. In the photograph 

 (Fig. 2) the effect is evident where the 

 light has been admitted but, since the 

 " T " did not print well in the region of 

 the tip where the kernels failed to 

 develop, the evidence seems to spell 

 out a "ligh." 



We may call the red kernels "edu- 

 cated corn." They are well-red in 

 response to the external influence of 

 the light of the sun in the same way in 

 which a man may become well-read in 

 response to the external influence of 

 the light of education. While enlighten- 

 ment or darkness may influence the 

 appearance of the individual either of 

 corn or of men, such environmental 

 factors can have no effect on the ca- 

 pacity which alone is inherited. It is 

 difficult for many to realize that a 

 given characteristic is not inherited as 

 such, but only as the power of developing 

 that characteristic when the organism 

 is subjected to the proper environment. 

 What corn or men appear to be must be 

 distinguished from what they actually 

 are so far as their potentialities are 

 concerned. If kernels were taken from 

 the base of the ear of the "Smut Nose" 

 corn, they would be white, and thus 

 would resemble in color the Rhode 

 Island flint corn, below in Fig. 1 ; while 

 if the kernels were taken from the 

 tip, they would be red and thus would 

 resemble the red variety in Fig. 3, 



which is always red whatever the illumi- 

 nation. Yet all "Smut Nose" kernels, 

 red or white, produce the same kind of 

 offspring. They are actually similar 

 potentially, though appearing unlike. 

 No amount of illumination, though 

 carried on for countless generations, can 

 make the Rhode Island flint a well-red 

 race of corn. It is not in the "blood." 

 It lacks the capacity to respond suffi- 

 ciently to the influence of light in the 

 same way in which many types of 

 hirmans lack the capacity to respond to 

 the illuminating influence of education. 

 On the other hand no amount of dark- 

 ness, though continued for ages, can 

 suppress in the kernels of the Smut Nose 

 variety the power of becoming well-red 

 when given the opportunity of exposure 

 to light. It keeps and transmits its 

 capacity unchanged by the influence 

 of light or darkness. 



The human race kept in darkness or 

 exposed to the light of education is as 

 little directly affected in its innate 

 ability as these races of corn are by light. 

 The higher education or the lack of 

 education of women, for example, which 

 has been so much discussed, can have 

 no direct biologic influence upon the 

 nature of their children. 



EDUCATION ONLY A STIMULUS 



Education is merely a stimulus like 

 light that does not create nor change 

 the real nature of an individual but 

 only reveals the powers within. It 

 follows, therefore, that no amount of 

 exercise of mental or physical powers 

 of parents — in other words, of educa- 

 tion — can directly affect their chil- 

 dren. A man blinded at birth would 

 have no opportunity to practice the 

 painter's art, however great the artistic 

 gifts with which he entered life. Yet 

 his children would inherit no less 

 artistic power than if he had retained 

 full sight and gained renown by his 

 artistic production. This is not to say 

 that in both cases the chances would be 

 equal of the children developing into 

 recognized artists. On the contrary 

 any artistic education of the father 

 would be handed down by example to 

 the children and afford them a better 

 opportunity of recognizing and develop- 



