112 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [8 :3— Mar., 1912 



of this index is quite similar to that of the Dewey decimal 

 system for classifying books, the general headings being: 



0. General Traits, 



1. Integumentary System, 



2. Skeletal and Muscular Systems, 



3. Nervous System, 



4. Mental Traits, 



5. Sense Organs, 



6. Nutritive System, 



7. Respiratory System, 



8. Circulatory and Lymphatic Systems, 



9. Excretory and Reproductive Systems. 



All available material is being indexed according to surname, 

 place,' and trait. At the present time the office is making a special 

 study of insanity, epilepsy, feeble-mindedness, Huntington's 

 chorea, hare-lip, musical talent, mathematical talent, resistance 

 and susceptibility to tuberculosis, cancer, and skin color. Ulti- 

 mately it is hoped to extend these studies over the entire range 

 of human traits. The above studies were selected for the first 

 investigation on account of their bearing upon the treatment 

 of the eleemosynary classes of the country with the possible 

 hope of ultimately cutting off the supply of defectives. 



The various races of domestic plants and animals were bred 

 to a high state of perfection through two processes, namely, 

 (1) the cutting off of the lower levels, and (2) by mating the 

 best germ-plasms of the upper levels. Thus a more remote 

 development of the Eugenic program must call for a promo- 

 tion of the general knowledge of the inheritance of traits to 

 the end that public sentiment may direct the inclusion of Eugenic 

 studies in every liberal education, that marriage laws and cus- 

 toms based upon scientific truths may evolve. But alluring 

 as the prospect may seem, we should not lose sight of the fact 

 that the present program is research. 



Note. — Readers of the Nature-Study Review and stu- 

 dents of nature generally doubtless find much interest in human 

 nature and its mutation from generation to generation. Those 

 desiring to participate in Eugenic studies can address letters to 

 the Eugenics Record Office, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, 

 New York, which office will supply forms and suggestions for 

 recording family traits adequate to Eugenic research. 



References. 

 Eugenics, C. B. Davenport. Henry Holt & Comiiany. pub- 

 lishers, New York. 



