316 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1397 



which such reforms can be justifiably ex- 

 tended. 



With regard to much of the research work 

 which is so urgently needed, most eugenical 

 societies will indeed have no option but to 

 leave it to others or to leave it undone; be- 

 cause ia many lines of enquiry a well 

 equipped laboratory and a highly skilled 

 staff are essential for success. Certain in- 

 vestigations, which need no special appara- 

 tus, however, could be carried on anywhere. 

 Moreover, the scientific material as received 

 from geneticists often needs to be thoroughly 

 discussed by eugenists in a scientific spirit 

 before being applied to human affairs ; and 

 we must not rely wholly on genetic research 

 for the supply of scientific material on which 

 to build. Wealthy patriots in all countries 

 will doubtless from time to time perceive 

 that by their wealth they might help to pro- 

 mote the acquirement of that knowledge on 

 which racial progress must depend in the 

 future. A strong central society might in 

 such cases play a useful part in suggesting 

 various directions in which, with their aid, 

 advances of great value could at once be 

 made; as well as being ready, if so desired, 

 to act as agents by whom the rcivestigator 

 would be selected and employed, care being 

 taken not to hamper him with undue control. 

 The more liberal the benefaction the more 

 fundamental and far-reaching might be the 

 researches thus undertaken, and the greater 

 the ultimate benefit to mankind. Tour en- 

 dowments in America are so magnificent that 

 you may not fully perceive how much they 

 are needed elsewhere. 



As to the first of the suggested lines of 

 advance, namely, as to getting into direct and 

 immediate touch with the public with the 

 hope of spreading abroad a general knowledge 

 of the laws of natural inheritance, this knowl- 

 edge should form the basis of all the argu- 

 ments brought forward at public lectures on 

 eugenics, that is, at lectures not forming part 

 of any extensive series. It is indeed in lay- 

 ing this foundation of scientific truth that 

 speakers on such occasions encounter their 

 greatest difficulties; for many prejudices aris- 



ing from ignorance have to be overcome. For 

 example, those who do not acknowledge to 

 themselves that men differ greatly from each 

 other in their inborn qualities, cannot be made 

 to realize the extreme importance of paying at- 

 tention to heredity in regard to social ques- 

 tions; and the acknowledgment that we do not 

 start even in the race of life will be hindered 

 by a disinclination which we all feel both to 

 regard any human disabilities as being in- 

 curable and to own that other individuals 

 may be greatly superior to ourselves. As to 

 the facts on which the scientific theories of 

 heredity are based, it is worse than useless 

 to attempt to give them in detail at single 

 lectures ; for lecturers should remember that on 

 such occasions they cannot hope to do more 

 than leave an enduring general impression on 

 the minds of their audiences. Except in 

 systematic courses of study, much must al- 

 ways be both stated and accepted on author- 

 ity; for to fully justify all the beliefs of 

 eugenists would require months rather than 

 days. " It is hardly possible," so my father 

 declared, " within a moderate compass to im- 

 press on the minds of those who have not 

 attended to the subject, the full conviction 

 of the force of inheritance which is slowly 

 acquired by rearing animals, by studying 

 the many treatises which have been published 

 on the various domestic animals, and by 

 conversing with breeders." ^ If this be so, 

 the public can only learn how to give to 

 natural inheritance its proper value by acquir- 

 ing information at second hand; and yet to 

 make any statement acceptable to audiences, 

 it must be in some degree endorsed by their 

 own reasoning powers. It is on this account 

 that allusion to the breeding of domestic 

 animals becomes almost a necessity in public 

 lectures on eugenics, for the wisdom of attend- 

 ing to breed in the case of cattle and dogs 

 is universally admitted. Great care should, 

 however, always be taken to indicate that, 

 though our experiences in the stockyard en- 

 able us better to understand the laws of 

 natural inheritance, yet our reliance on these 



1 ' ' Animals and Plants under Domestication, ' ' 

 Darwin I., pp. 447^48. 



