PREFACE. 



The present volume is intended to meet the increasing 

 demand that I have found, not only at Chautauqua As- 

 semblies and in centers of culture, but throughout the en- 

 tire country, for a practical treatise on heredity and pre- 

 natal culture. I have endeavored to reduce the known 

 facts and laws of reproduction to a definite science and 

 present them in a non-technical, concise form, hoping 

 thereby to enable thoughtful parents to apply these laws to 

 the improvement of their offspring. I have purposely 

 avoided the discussion of biological problems and specula- 

 tions on the physical basis of heredity, and confined my- 

 self to what seems most important to the practical applica- 

 tion to the science. I have considered prenatal culture 

 in the light of, and in accordance with, the new psychol- 

 ogy. This I deem one of the most important and helpful 

 departures from other works on heredity. In recognizing 

 the potency of a suggestion in prenatal impressions and 

 introducing the new methods of brain building and soul 

 growth, I fully realize that I shall incur the criticism of 

 some, and that I am not in accord with certain time- 

 honored theories. No matter; the new psychology has 

 come to stay. The efficacy of suggestion in soul building 

 is a demonstrable fact, therefore I do not hesitate to base 



