118 HEREDITY [ch. viii 



by liberty and encouragement to marry, may only 

 lead to a repetition of the same evils in the next 

 generation. The present teaching of biology is per- 

 fectly clear, that in the case of the evils mentioned 

 above and many others, marriage of those afflicted, 

 and to a less extent of their near relatives, involves 

 a grave risk of transmitting the aflFection to descen- 

 dants, and 80 of inflicting serious injury upon society^ 



1 See [43J. 



