GENETICS AND ETHICS 491 



possible improvements of heredity are great, 

 the possible improvements of environment and 

 training are great, but whether men of the fu- 

 ture will be better than those of the past or 

 present is a question not only of genetics but 

 also of ethics. 



How better can I close this course of lec- 

 tures than with the words of Francis Galton, 

 one of the greatest students of human he- 

 redity and the founder of the science of Eu- 

 genics ? 



"The chief result of these inquiries has been to 

 elicit the religious significance of the doctrine of 

 evolution. It suggests an alteration in our mental 

 attitude and imposes a new moral duty. The new 

 mental attitude is one of a greater sense of moral 

 freedom, responsibility and opportunity; the new 

 duty which is supposed to be exercised concurrently 

 with, and not in opposition to the old ones upon 

 which the social fabric depends, is an endeavor to 

 further evolution, especially that of the human race." 



