THE APPLICATION TO MAN 305 



claim the attention because they are so universal. 

 Some which stand out from the mass, such as the 

 physical traits of eye-color and the color and charac- 

 ter of hair, may be regarded as indifferent so far as 

 the welfare of the individual is concerned, while others 

 like skin color and certain racial features that charac- 

 terize particular strains of "blood" may, under certain 

 circumstances, work a social handicap upon their pos- 

 sessors according to the traditions of the community in 

 which they appear. 



A long list of desirable mental traits might be enu- 

 merated that seem in a general way to be subject to 

 the laws of inheritance, although they have not yet 

 undergone the careful analysis demanded by modern 

 genetics which deals in unit characters rather than in 

 lump inheritance. 



Musical, literary, or artistic ability, for example, 

 mathematical aptitude and inventive genius, as well as 

 a cheerful disposition or a strong moral sense are 

 probably all gifts that come in the germplasm. They 

 may each be developed by exercise or repressed by 

 want of opportunity, nevertheless they are fundamen- 

 tally germinal gifts. 



A genius must be born of potential germplasm. 

 There are no "self-made men." Each has within from 

 his ancestry, the potentiality of whatever he becomes. 

 No amount of faithful plodding application can com- 

 pensate for a lack of the divine hereditary spark at 

 the start. 



