CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO 



EUGENICS 



Objections i. THE word eugenics, proposed by Francis Gallon 

 of England, is used to designate the science and art of 

 human breeding, whereby it is supposed that the race 

 may be improved, or prevented from deteriorating. 

 This idea arouses strong prejudice in the minds of 

 many people, because they associate it with animal 

 breeding, in which practical ends are sought without 

 reference to the desires of the animals themselves. Such 

 people also recall that animal breeders follow fashions, 

 and produce or conserve the most grotesque creatures, 

 such as the pug dog or the poodle. They do not wish 

 to see human equivalents of the pug dog or the poodle, 

 and they fully understand that many of the most 

 valuable human qualities are intangible, and in- 

 capable of being accurately measured or tested. The 

 excellent human being is such because in him are united 

 many qualities, in a happy combination ; and to at- 

 tempt to create such a one by breeding seems as gro- 

 tesque as an effort to write poetry by- an application 

 of the rules of grammar. 



Eminence of 2. It may further be objected by the student of 

 invalids history and biography that many of the most valuable 

 men, from a social standpoint, have been invalids, who 

 could never have survived under Spartan rules. Thus, 

 Darwin was a lifelong invalid, Keats was a consump- 

 tive, Milton was blind, and so forth. It is a peculiarity 

 of human society, that its success and efficiency depend 

 largely on the existence of individuals who in many cases 

 are personally ill-fitted for the struggle for existence. 



3. Even the student of genetics may point out that 

 human beings, especially in civilized countries, are 



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