of Plato, in The City of (he Sun. To Francis Gallon, how- 

 ever, we are indebted f6r bringing Eugenics to the atten- 

 tion of the public as a plan worthy of serious consideration 

 and, whenever practicable, of immediate application. 



The Eugenist believes that while much can be done to 

 improve the human race by euthenic methods,— by educa- 

 tion, control of dieases, sanitary improvements, and general 

 conditions of living— there remains much to be done through 

 the application of improved methods of breeding. It has 

 already been shown that Nature is probablv a more im- 

 portant factor than Nurture in the highest development of 

 organisms, and that the improvement of the common races 

 of animals amd plants has followed along well recognized 

 lines of the laws of inheritance. 



It is hardly to be expected that the method of the stock 

 breeder for race improvement, viz., the selection of the best 

 for breeding purposes will be applied in the case of man. 

 The development of a race of super jnen is Utopian, and the 

 most that can be hoped for is the elimination of the worst 

 human kinds from the possibility of reproduction. 



The question of the relative infertility of the more well- 

 to-do and socially efficient stock has given rise to much ser- 

 ious discussion. Many causes have been assigned for the 

 low birth-rate which leads to race-suicide. In some cases 

 the condition is undoubtedly due to the lack of healthy out- 

 door work and the absence of the "simple life," in other cas- 

 es it is due to "selfish celibacy and selfish non-maternity," 

 and in others to the high cost of living which makes it hard 

 to rear a family under modern conditions. (See Kellicott 

 p. 115). 



Mendelism of Human Characters 



Recent investigations go to show that the laws of in- 

 heritance apply also to man, and that many characters, 

 — good and bad — are transmitted according to Mendelian 

 fashion. Eugenics, however, has to deal specially with the 

 problem of preventing the transmission of undesirable 

 traits such as feeble-mindedness, insanity, [epilepsy, deaf- 

 muteness, etc., all being heritable. (See Goddard, Feeble- 

 mindedness; Its Causes and Consequences, 1914). 



Not much direct evidence has been accumulated regard- 

 ing the inheritance of normal characteristics, but it has been 

 shown that eye-color (blue and brown), hair color, hair tex- 

 ture, skin color, nervous temperament, etc., are inherited 

 according to Mendel's laws. 



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