310 EVOLUTION AND MAN S PLACE IN NATURE 



with the possibility of transmitting nerve-sensibility 

 in matters of taste, as in the case of alcoholism. 

 What is considered as a thing of mere personal grati 

 fication, cannot be so regarded, if it be possible to 

 transmit a tainted, or even abnormally excited nerve- 

 condition. That this is possible, is one of the most 

 clearly established facts in the record of inherited 

 disorder. 1 Of the physical evils which can be trans 

 mitted, deteriorated nerve-system is alarming to 

 contemplate, touching closely on momentous questions 

 in morals and in national history. Dr. Clouston says 

 use of alcohol is unfortunately the most common of 

 all the causes of insanity. It is a general cause of 

 all kinds of the disease ; and if attention be concen 

 trated on cases in Britain in which it is directly the 

 cause of insanity in the individual life itself, from 15 

 to 20 per cent, of the cases of mental disease may, 

 taking the country through, be put down to alcohol 

 as a cause, wholly or in part.&quot; 2 Responsibility for such 

 evil, and for transmission of taint, depends on the 

 powers of reflection and self-regulation, possessed by 

 man, in view of ascertained results of indulgence. 



Now Ave pass to the larger and still more urgent 

 question, introducing the whole range of moral life. 

 Thus only can we complete the discussion of inherit 

 ance. Previous discussions are merely preliminary 

 and preparatory to more extended application. 



Each child born has its own distinct life-heritage. 

 No two moral agents start the race of life on precisely 

 the same terms. Each successive life, even in the 



1 On this subject, full of importance to society, see Lectures on 

 Mental Diseases, by T. S. Clouston, M.D., Lecturer in Edinburgh 

 University. 2 IUd , p&amp;lt; 436t 



