CONCLUSIONS 183 



potentialities of the mind in the germ, as there are of the 

 body. We all distinguish between good and bad ten- 

 dencies ; we all know of different temperaments and intel- 

 lectual capabilities in families — nay, in the various members 

 of the same family. 



It behoves us, therefore, to take a rational view of this 

 question. To quote R. C. Punnett's words at the end of 

 his book on Mendelism : " Education is to man what 

 manure is to the pea. The educated are in themselves 

 the better for it, but their experience will alter not one jot 

 the irrevocable nature of their offspring. Permanent 

 progress is a question of breeding rather than of pedagogics ; 

 a matter of gametes, not of training. As our knowledge of 

 heredity clears and the mists of superstition are dispelled, 

 there grows upon us with ever-increasing and relentless 

 force the conviction that the creature is not made, but 

 born." 



