INFERIOR STOCKS 31 



including some kinds of blindness and deafness, which 

 cause great suffering when they appear, and which are apt 

 to reappear in the same family for many generations. 

 Many of these maladies could undoubtedly be stamped out 

 in time if the persons so afflicted would make the noble 

 sacrifice of refraining from parenthood. This is, however, 

 a matter too technical here to be discussed at length. All 

 that need be said is that all deformed or diseased persons 

 should certainly consult a doctor before marriage. Indeed, 

 aU persons without exception had better do so. 



Some forms of insanity are said to be hereditary, and 

 others not to be so ; though this is hardly a logical distinc- 

 tion. It is true that insanity is sometimes the direct result 

 of a contagious disease. In such cases the descendants of 

 the insane and diseased man wiQ not be more likely to 

 become insane in consequence of their ancestor's disease; 

 and his insanity may, therefore, be said to be not hereditary. 

 If a person becomes insane, it is more often, however, 

 because he has a certain predisposition to this disease. 

 This predisposition may be strong or weak. If it is very 

 weak, insanity may be avoided, or what is called cured, by 

 leading a careful life. Now such a predisposition, whether 

 strong or weak, is Ukely to be passed on to succeeding 

 generations. Even if a person inherits a strong predisposi- 

 tion to insanity, it is not certain that he will become insane. 

 But if he does become insane, then his insanity will often be 

 described as being hereditary. It should be for the doctor 

 to decide in any case of insanity whether the predisposition 

 was strong or not. And, if strong, the person so suffering 

 certainly ought not to become a parent. Those who act 

 thus will be happier in the end for so doing. If they have 

 children, they will keep anxiously wondering whether their 

 malady will reappear in those they love so much. And if 

 it does reappear, they will have the agony of feeHng that it 

 is their own fault. 



As long as a person is in an institution for the insane, no 

 question as to parenthood can arise. As to those who have 

 been insane, and who are described as cured, there is often 



