CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGES. 275 



and such communities as those of Pitcairn and St. 

 Kilda. 



It is certain, then, that consanguineous marriages 

 must be extremely dangerous in communities like 

 our own. Where the laws of natural life are so gravely 

 interfered with they should rarely, indeed, be entered 

 into, if at all. Yet we must admit that just as we 

 can cultivate by " in -and -in -breeding" pathological 

 or degenerate characters such as the insane, gouty, 

 or scrofulous diathesis, so it is possible, by the same 

 means, to foster physiological or healthy characters. 

 The natural law works for good as well as for evil, 

 and it is possible, by means of intermarriage of those 

 belonging to a family noted for some physical or 

 intellectual excellence, to deepen and fix that good 

 character in the family. Thus, the marriage of 

 cousins in whom the literary, artistic, musical, or 

 other talent is prominent will in all probability pro- 

 duce children in whom the particular talent of the 

 parents will be still more strongly marked. A good 

 example of this is found in the numerous family of 

 the Bachs, the musicians, who freely intermarried, 

 and elevated their talent, possessed by all, to' the 

 level of genius in some of their members. 



In this manner any mental or physical character 

 may be transmitted, deepened with each transmission, 

 and finally fixed as a constant character in the family. 

 Even what might be called accidental characters, 

 or peculiarities, may be seized upon by the breeder 

 and fixed in the family. This is constantly done by 



