SEX AND THE INDIVIDUAL 199 



having children. The failure to have children means 

 a break in the continuity of a life chain made up of 

 numberless links of germ plasma, derived from an 

 incalculably extended past. The biological gravity 

 of the break is profound too profound to be imme- 

 diately grasped by the imagination. For the first 

 break in the life stream is also the final break and 

 means the actual end of the long chain, the fatal sur- 

 render of all the rich and varied human possibilities 

 that lie in the future. No degree of self -develop- 

 ment, no personal satisfaction or pleasure, however 

 intense, is a real compensation for the failure of 

 a human being to avail himself of the privilege of 

 perpetuating his own life stream by allowing it to 

 mingle with that of a chosen life companion. Yet 

 many a man of superior powers has sacrificed his 

 line on the altar of wealth and social eminence. 

 Francis Galton called attention to the destructive 

 effect of the British Peerage on the continuity of 

 families. Of English judges raised to the peerage 

 for their ability, only a very few left families, despite 

 the fact that the possession of a title was a powerful 

 inducement to marry and transmit it. But the mar- 

 riages were commonly made late in life with women 

 of wealthy families and little reproductive power 

 the acquisition of a peerage requiring a considerable 

 outlay of money to maintain conventional standards 

 of dignity. The biological failure to continue the 

 race the only complete and irredeemable failure 

 in life may be glossed over by worldly success 



