256 GENETICS 



It is possible that if some of the philanthropic 

 endeavor now directed toward alleviating the con- 

 dition of the unfit should be directed to enlarging the 

 opportunity of the fit, greater good would result in 

 the end. In breeding animals and plants the most 

 notable advances have been made by isolating and 

 developing the best, rather than by attempting to 

 raise the standard of mediocrity through the elimina- 

 tion of the worst. 



One leader is worth a score of followers in any 

 community, and the science of genetics surely gives 

 to educators the hint that it is wiser to cultivate the 

 exceptional pupil who is often left to take care of 

 himself than to expend all the energies of the in- 

 structor in forcing the indifferent or ordinary one 

 up to a passing standard. The campaign for human 

 betterment in the long run must do more than avoid 

 mistakes. It must become aggressive and take ad- 

 vantage of those human mutations or combinations 

 of traits which appear in the exceptionally endowed. 



There are various ways in which this improvement 

 of society may be brought about. 



a. By Subsidizing the Fit 



The following unconfirmed newspaper clipping 

 illustrates the point of what is meant by subsidizing 

 the fit so far as certain physical characteristics are 

 concerned. "Berlin. Dec. 11, 1911. The Empe- 

 ror is reported to be interested in a plan proposed 

 by Professor Otto Hauser for the propagation of a 

 fixed German type of humanity, a type which 



