5o HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS 



zygomas " is the result of the perfection of their 

 organs of sense.^ 



Then the whole life of man is influenced by the 

 amount and quality of food which he receives. 

 Cooks have much to do with the thinking and the 

 morals of the world. The state of society, whether 

 it is one of war or peace, also leaves its impress 

 on the character. It is well known that the 

 children born just after the French Revolution 

 were of a peculiarly nervous temperament ; and 

 the number of insane patients in France for some 

 years afterward was very great. 



Environment may also put its impress on the 

 individual before his birth. It may either modify 

 or intensify heredity. The mother of Napoleon 

 was a woman well prepared by nature for such a 

 son. She accompanied her husband in his cam- 

 paigns, riding with the troops on horseback, and 

 encamping in a tent at night. Napoleon was born 

 in the midst of war, and the life of the mother 

 before his birth was passed in the midst of the 

 soldiery. He was a true son of Mars. On the 

 other hand, his son, whom he fondly hoped would 

 perpetuate his name, was weak, indolent, and 

 inefficient like his mother, Marie Louise. When 

 some one said to the Emperor, " Sire, the educa- 



1 Descent of Man, Darwin, p. 34. 



