252 GENETICS 



large extent with respect to incest, and the marriage 

 of persons as noticeably defective as idiots or those 

 afflicted with insanity, and also in America with re- 

 spect to miscegenation, but a cautious and intelligent 

 examination of the more obscure defective traits, 

 exhibited in the somatoplasms of the various mem- 

 bers of families in question, is largely an ideal of the 

 future. Under existing conditions non-eugenic con- 

 siderations such as wealth, social position, etc., often 

 enter into the preliminary negotiations of a marriage 

 alliance, but an equally unromantic caution with 

 reference to the physical, moral, and mental charac- 

 ters that make up the biological heritage of con- 

 tracting parties is less usual. 



The scientific attitude is not necessarily^ opposed 

 to the romantic way of looking at things. Science 

 is simply "organized common sense," and romance, 

 that dispenses with this balance-wheel, although it 

 may be entertaining and always exciting at first, 

 is sure to be disappointing in the end. Marriages 

 may be "made in heaven," but, as a matter of fact, 

 children are born and have to be brought up on earth. 

 It follows w^ithout saying that it will be much easier 

 to stamp out bad germplasm when an educated senti-> 

 ment becomes common among all people everywhere. 



d. Segregation of Defectives 



Persons with hereditary defects, such as epileptics, 

 idiots, and certain criminals, who become wards of 

 the state, should be segregated so that their germ- 

 plasm may not escape to furnish additional burdens 



