NATURE 
263 
THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1972. 
RECENT WORKS IN EUGENICS. 
(1) Heredity and Society. By W.C.D. Whetham, 
F.R.S., and Catherine D. Whetham, his wife. 
Pp. viii+190. (London: Longmans, Green, 
and Co., 1912.) Price 6s. net. 
(2) An Introduction to Eugenics. By W. C. D. 
Whetham, F.R.S., and Catherine D. Whetham, 
his wife. Pp. viii+66. (Cambridge: Bowes 
and Bowes; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd. ; 
Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1912.) 
Price rs. net. 
(3) Heredity in Relation to Eugenics. By C. B. 
Davenport. Pp. xi+298. (New York: Henry 
Holt and Co., 1911.) Price $2.00 net. 
(1) HE authors of this volume record that 
one of them, on being presented to “a 
distinguished bishop and penetrating scholar of 
the last generation,’ was asked: “What is your 
opinion of the theory of politics?’’ The chapter 
entitled ‘“ Heredity and Politics” contains the 
answer, which was not ready at the time, namely, 
that the ultimate object should be to improve the 
innate qualities of the race; for if this be done 
improvement in environment will follow as a 
necessary consequence. It contains also an 
examination of the probable results of some of the 
more recent humanitarian legislation, which, 
hurriedly aiming at the relief of distress, does not 
stop to inquire whether that relief will not produce 
a few years hence a manifold increase of the 
distress which it is intended to eliminate. Yet the 
hurry manifested in some forms of legislation is 
no more noticeable than the delay in others. The 
case of the feeble-minded quoted in the following 
paragraph will serve example for the 
present :— 
as an 
“A Royal Commission has taken voluminous 
evidence and issued a report in favour of com- 
pulsory care and detention. Nothing stands in 
the way of reform save the apathy of our legisla- 
ture on a question where all competent opinion 
is agreed, but which does not appeal to the votes 
of the multitude, and the perversity of some of 
our educationalists, who persist in thinking that 
they can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” 
We rejoice that this reproach on our legislature 
is shortly to be removed. 
Among the other points dealt with in this 
chapter is the eugenic effect of the. present 
incidence of local and imperial taxation, tending 
as it does to penalise marriage and parenthood 
among the self-supporting. Separate chapters 
are devoted to the biological influence of religion, 
the birth-rate, and the position of women both in 
the past and in the present. To attempt to sum- 
NO. 2220, VOL. 89] 
marise them would be to do them an injustice. 
We can cordially recommend them to anyone 
interested in the bearing of these questions on 
the future of the race; the treatment is thought- 
ful and sincere, and could not be in any way 
offensive to people whose views are strongly 
opposed to those expressed by the authors. 
(2) This volume should form a useful intro- 
duction to the study of eugenics, and should go 
far towards spreading eugenic ideas. It contains 
the short and simple annals of the subject, 
a statement as to what constitute “racial quali- 
ties,” and an account of the various methods by 
which knowledge has been or may be acquired. 
It concludes with a chapter on the construction 
of society and a descriptive bibliography. 
(3) The point of view of the author of this book 
is that Mendel’s laws are universally applicable 
and the best, indeed the only, guide in practical 
eugenics. The chapter somewhat inappropriately 
headed “The Method of Eugenics” contains an 
illustration of these laws drawn from the results 
of crossing red- and white-flowered four o’clocks, 
together with an account of the phenomenon of 
karyokinesis, particularly in the maturation of 
the germ-cells. The reducing divisions are 
described as the mechanism by which segregation 
is brought about. The author rightly insists that 
it is the germ-plasm which is transmitted, and 
in order to avoid falling into the verbal error of 
describing somatic characters as inherited, the 
word germ-plasm is used very freely, and some- 
times a little awkwardly, as, for instance, in the 
phrase on p. 207, “‘a germ-plasm which easily 
developed such traits as good manners, high cul- 
ture, and the ability to lead in all social affairs.” 
More than half the volume is occupied by ‘“‘ The 
Inheritance of Family Traits.”” As something like 
one hundred different characters are dealt with, in- 
cluding many out-of-the-way diseases like congenital 
traumatic pemphigus, in 150 pages partly occupied 
with pedigree charts and photographs, it can be 
supposed that the treatment is not in all cases 
exhaustive; indeed, it may in parts be described 
as scrappy, but this is partly compensated for by 
the fullness of the bibliography. After this more 
general questions are discussed, such as the geo- 
graphical distribution of inheritable traits and the 
modification of racial characters brought about by 
immigration and emigration. The extraordinary 
influence for good or evil which may be exerted 
by the descendants of a single individual forms 
the subject-matter of an interesting chapter, and 
the work concludes with a discussion of the rela- 
tion between heredity and environment and some 
suggestions as to the organisation of applied 
eugenics. 
M 
