Genetics and Ethics 317 



of germ cells which never develop. A more dreadful though 

 less universal tragedy is the loss of real personalities who have 

 all the native endowments of genius and leadership hut who for 

 lack of proper environmental stimuli have remained undeveloped 

 and unknown; the "mute, inglorious Miltons" of the world; the 

 Caesars, Napoleons, Washingtons who might have been ; the New- 

 tons, Darwins, Pasteurs who were ready formed by nature but 

 who never discovered themselves. One shudders to think how 

 narrowly Newton escaped being an unknown farmer, or Faraday 

 an obscure bookbinder, or Pasteur a provincial tanner. In the his- 

 tory of the world there must have been many men of equal native 

 endowments who missed the slender chance which came to these. 

 We form the habit of thinking of great men as having appeared 

 only at long intervals, and yet we know that great crises always 

 discover great men. What does this mean but that the men are 

 ready formed and that it requires only this extra stimulus to call 

 them forth? To most of us heredity has been kind — kinder than 

 we know. The possibilities within us are great but they rarely 

 come to full epiphany. 



6. Self Knowledge and Self Control. — What is needed in 

 education more than anything else is some means or system 

 which will train the powers of self discovery and self con- 

 trol. Easy lives and so-called "good environment"' will not 

 arouse the dormant powers. It usually takes the stress and 

 strain of hard necessity to make us acquainted with our hidden 

 selves, to rouse the sleeping giant within us. How often is it said 

 that the worthless sons of worthy parents are mysteries ; with 

 the best of heredity and environment they amount to nothing, 

 whereas the sons of poor and ignorant farmers, blacksmiths, 

 tanners and backwoodsmen, with few opportunities and with 

 many hardships and disadvantages, become world figures. Prob- 

 ably the inheritance in these last named cases was no better than 

 in the former, but the environment was better. "Good environ- 

 ment'' usually means easy, pleasant, refined surroundings, "all 

 the opportunities that money can buy," but little responsibility 



