68 THE MENDEL JOURNAL 



two parents. That is, the offspring will consist, 

 in the long run, of an equal number of individuals 

 who are hybrids, or D i?'s, and of pure individuals, 

 or R Ks, who are carrying only the recessive char- 

 acter. The hybrid individual will carry both the 

 dominant and recessive character, but will ex- 

 hibit in his structural features or psychical con- 

 duct only the dominant one. That is, he is some- 

 thing different from what he appears to be. His 

 influence on the race, in respect of his hereditary 

 transmission, may be quite the opposite to that 

 expected, if the expectation be based on his present 

 apparent condition. This is a fact which social 

 reformers and all others who aspire to interfere 

 with Nature's processes would do well to clearly 

 realise. It is easy enough to heedlessly interfere 

 with the workings of Nature, and to misunderstand 

 her, but it is impossible to escape the consequences 

 of so doing. 



If tliis conception of segregation and gametic 

 purity be true of human Hfe, it is easy to see how 

 important a bearing it has upon the problems with 

 which Genetics* and Eugenics are concerned. If 

 we, as students of these branches of biological science, 

 desire to see only our individuals of good civic 

 qualities mated, and if we find upon further study 

 that a certain proportion of our apparently good 

 citizens are carrying in a recessive condition the 

 antithetic bad quahties, which may become mani- 

 fested in the next generation, clearly our line of 



* For a definition of Genetics and Eugenics, see Appendix, p p. 110 and 112. 



