NURTURE VERSUS NATURE 



no escape from the conclusion that such a restric- 

 tive programme would be of enormous benefit to 

 the coming generations. The lessons of heredity 

 are futile unless we are prepared to act upon 

 them. And there is no reason why action should 

 stop with halfway measures in regard to the 

 classes just named. The imbecile, the insane per- 

 son, and the criminal are undesirable progenitors 

 of members of a civilized community. In the in- 

 terests of the community they should be scien- 

 tifically restrained from incurring the obligations 

 of parenthood. 



That, seemingly, is the first and perhaps the 

 most unequivocal lesson in negative eugenics 

 that may be drawn from the modern studies of 

 heredity. 



THE QUESTION OF RESTRICTING MARRIAGES 



When we turn to the other aspect of the sub- 

 ject that has been most widely exploited the 

 question, namely, of putting legal restrictions on 

 the marriage of persons suffering from various 

 diseases we find ourselves on much more debat- 

 able ground. 



Some rather plausible laws have been put on 

 the statute books of various states in the past two 

 or three years, making it obligatory for persons 

 seeking a marriage license to show a medical 

 certificate giving them a clean bill of health with 

 regard to one or two transmissible diseases. The 



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