HERESY 



2782 



HERMITS 



either parent in features, and its mental apti- 

 tudes may be entirely different from theirs. 

 Moreover, environment exerts a strong influ- 

 ence over individual inheritance. If previous 

 to the birth of her child the mother lives un- 

 der conditions that induce worry and fretful- 

 ness, the child is likely to possess these char- 

 acteristics. The child born to a mother under 

 ideal prenatal conditions is more likely to 

 possess a loving and pleasant disposition. 



Mental Traits. The inheritance of mental 

 traits has been studied for a long time. Psy- 

 chologists, recognizing the interdependence of 

 mind and body, have shown beyond doubt 

 that parents transmit health or disease, 

 strength or weakness, both physical and men- 

 tal, to their children to a far greater extent 

 than many of them realize. The statistics of 

 criminologists show 'that the great majority 

 of criminals are born defective, weak in mind 

 or body, or both, so that their powers of re- 

 sistance are weak. Marriage of defectives re- 

 sults almost inevitably in defective children. 

 If those criminally inclined marry, their chil- 

 dren are likely to have the same tendencies. 

 The inhabitants of small, isolated communi- 

 ties, like those on small islands, are likely to 

 degenerate because of the continuous inter- 

 marrying in families closely related. There 

 are many illustrations of this fact. 



The child who is well born is fortunate, and 

 if in addition both mother and child have the 

 advantages of an ideal environment the new 

 being starts life with many obstacles removed 

 from his pathway to success. Oliver Wendell 

 Holmes was once asked when the training of 

 a child should begin. He replied, "With his 

 grandparents." W.F.R. 



Consult Parker's Biology and Social Problems; 

 Darbishire's Breeding and The Mendelian Dis- 

 covery. 



Related Subjects. The following subjects are 

 closely related to this topic, and should be read 

 in connection with it : 

 Breeding Eugenics 



Criminology Evolution 



HERESY, hehr'esi, an opinion or doctrine 

 of a member of any Church which is contrary 

 to the established creed of that Church. The 

 person whose ideas differ from the accepted 

 belief is called a heretic. Heresy, which by 

 many members in churches was considered a 

 wrong and exceedingly pernicious belief, was' 

 punished by death until religious freedom ob- 

 tained full sway among the nations. From the 

 thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, heretics 



were persecuted in Spain, Italy and France, 

 while in England many were burned at the 

 stake. Such reformers as WyclifEe, Huss and 

 Luther were considered as heretics by the Ro- 

 man Catholic Church. In modern times reli- 

 gious freedom is so extensive that in practi- 

 cally all countries a man is permitted to hold 

 any belief that appeals to him as right. See 

 WYCLIFFE, JOHN; Huss, JOHN; LUTHER, MAR- 

 TIN. G.W.M. 



HERMES, hur'meez. See MERCURY. 



HER 'MIT CRAB, a strange crab which has 

 been called the cuckoo of the seashore, for, 

 like the cuckoo, it does not build a home of 

 its own (see CUCKOO). It uses the cast-off 

 spiral shells of other creatures, or sometimes 

 drags out the 

 occupant of a de- Wo) '^j^ 

 sirable shell and 

 devours the poor 

 victim in order 

 to obtain its 

 home. Unlike 

 other crabs, the 

 hermit crab has 

 a soft, unpro- 

 tected tail. It is 

 to shelter that 

 tail that a shell 

 is needed. As the crab increases in size, it 

 changes to a larger shell. So firmly does the 

 hermit attach itself to its home, by means 

 of strong hooks at the end of the body, that 

 it is impossible to draw it out without tearing 

 the body. The habit of living alone in a house 

 no doubt suggested the name hermit. 



There are several species of hermit crab 

 of various sizes, most of them belonging to 

 tropical shores. A species common on the 

 Atlantic coast of the United States is the 

 short-armed hermit. Fishermen call it jack- 

 in-the-box, thief and stone lobster. The latter 

 name is given through a superstitious belief 

 that it turns into a lobster. See CRAB. 



HERMITS, persons who withdraw from so- 

 ciety and live alone, usually for religious con- 

 templation and with a view to avoiding the 

 temptations and cares of the world. The early 

 centuries, notably the third, witnessed a great 

 development of this practice. The first her- 

 mit is said to have been Paul of Thebes, who 

 fled to the Egyptian desert, where he lived for 

 ninety -years. This solitary life also began 

 among the Christians in the period of persecu- 

 tion. Communities were formed through the 

 influence of Saint Anthony, who is known as 



HERMIT CRAB 

 In its borrowed shell. 



