DUAL PARENTAGE. 



have treated at length in the chapter on Parental 

 Adaptation. When the nature of the parents do 

 not blend in the offspring, the child usually re- 

 sembles one parent to a very marked extent, or, 

 if the parents are about equal in strength, the child 

 will be a composite of the strong characteristics of 

 both parents, having most extreme and contradic- 

 tory traits of character. 



The relative influence of parents upon offspring 

 seems to depend largely upon two conditions : ( I ) Relative 

 the strength of the sex attribute or virility ; 

 (2) the individuality of the parent. Other things 

 being equal the traits of character peculiar to the 

 parent having the greatest sexual vigor will rule 

 in the offspring ; but the influence of sex is modi- 

 fied by the relative individuality of the two par- 

 ents. Some families are much stronger of con- 

 stitution, much more pronounced in their indivi- 

 duality than others. Such stamp their peculiarities 

 upon offspring generation after generation, deter- 

 mining the principal traits of character for good 

 or evil despite the influence of a less dominant par- 

 ent. 



When the sex attribute and also the physical 

 and mental constitution of the parents are of about 

 equal strength, the boys, with few exceptions, re- Resemblances. 

 semble the mother in temperament, cast of intel- 

 lect and aspiring sentiments, and the girls resem- 

 ble the father in these same qualities. Almost all 

 superior men are born from superior mothers, al- 

 though many have had ordinary, and some very 

 inferior fathers. Almost all women of marked in- 

 telligence, heroism or strong individuality resem- 

 ble their fathers. Rarely does even a superior wo- 



