118 CHANGE IN CHARACTER. 



parentage and organisation. Allowing for rare exam- 

 ples of physiological ' reversion/ it may be said that 

 they do not come from any adequate, self-sustaining, 

 self-directing stratum of society ; they cannot be 

 lifted the ' Homes ' do not profess to lift them to any 

 high self-sufficing level. While writing this note two 

 interesting items of news reach me : one is that some, 

 if not all, the officials in these admirable institutions 

 declare that " there is nothing in heredity." Following 

 closely on this item comes the intelligence that Cana- 

 dian opinion is calling for greater care in the selection 

 of boys. Greater selective care means, and can only 

 mean, the need of greater attention to organisation 

 that is, to heredity. The " Homes " claim that cir- 

 cumstance is enough, and all that ' circumstance ' can 

 do the " Homes " have done. The inherent endow- 

 ments of weak children as of other children cannot 

 be radically changed; but the propensities of weak, in 

 greater degree than the propensities of other, children 

 can be acted upon with good results. Some knowledge 

 of the character of the parental line now the father now 

 the mother which each boy mainly follows would be 

 of great value to those officials (and to others) who are 

 capable of using such knowledge. 



NOTE IV. MORALS. 



In the first edition of this little work (1886) I used 

 the expression " Moral Nerve " in a very special sense. 

 By ' nerve ' I mean an aggregation or assemblage of 

 (innumerable grey nerve cells with their still more 

 innumerable communicating threads. I need not dwell 

 on the word ' moral/ Broadly speaking, our moral 

 sense our sense of right and wrong is clear, clearer 



