HUMAN CONSERVATION 329 



and charity and religion have presided over the union. 

 The result is that idiocy is multiplied and intensified. 

 The cretin of Aosta has been developed as a new species 

 of man. In fair weather the roads about the city are 

 lined with these awful paupers human beings with 

 less intelligence than a goose, with less decency than 

 the pig." 



Whymper, writing in 1880, further observes: "It is 

 strange that self-interest does not lead the natives of 

 Aosta to place their cretins under such restrictions as 

 would prevent their illicit intercourse; and it is still 

 more surprising to find the Catholic Church actually 

 legalizing their marriage. There is something horribly 

 grotesque in the idea of solemnizing the union of a 

 brace of idiots, and, since it is well known that the dis- 

 ease is hereditary and develops in successive genera- 

 tions the fact that such marriages are sanctioned is 

 scandalous and infamous." 



Since 1890 the cretins have been sexually segregated, 

 and in 1910 Jordan reported that they were nearly 

 all gone. 



E. DRASTIC MEASURES 



A fifth method of restricting undesirable germplasm 

 in the case of confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles, and 

 rapists may be mentioned, namely, the extreme treat- 

 ment of either asexualization or vasectomy. The lat- 

 ter is a minor operation confined to the male which 

 occupies only a few moments and requires at most only 

 the application of a local anaesthetic, such as cocaine. 

 There are probably no disturbing or even inconvenient 



