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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 918 



editor's preface that a good many errors and 

 omissions were found in the original indexes, 

 and to correct these and to provide a general 

 index it was decided to issue the present work 

 as a " Supplement " to the " Hand-list." It 

 contains about 22,000 entries, and its useful- 

 ness will be greatly appreciated by those 

 using the " Hand-list," or, in other words, by 

 all systematic ornithologists. 



The preface to the volume is by Dr. Sidney 

 F. Harmer, keeper of zoology in the British 

 Museum, and contains a tribute to Dr. 

 Sharpe's long period of distinguished service 

 as curator of birds at the museum. 



J. A. A. 



Heredity and Society. By W. C. A. Whetham 

 and C. D. Whetham. Longmans, Green 

 and Company. 1912. Pp. 190. 

 Of late years the attention of all who have 

 at heart the welfare of mankind in this coun- 

 try has been attracted by two main facts : first, 

 the reduction of the birth rate in the more 

 progressive and effective part of our popula- 

 tion to half or less than half of what it was 

 formerly, and the great increase in the num- 

 ber of inmates of institutions. Indeed, the 

 proportion of our population that receives 

 state care has nearly doubled in the ten years 

 from 1890 to 1900, and shows an increase 

 much larger than that of the population from 

 1900 to 1910. This increasing care of the de- 

 fectives is a heavy burden. One seventh of 

 the income of the state of New York goes to 

 maintain and enlarge the state institutions 

 for insane and other defectives — in some re- 

 cent years the proportion has risen to one 

 fifth, and it tends to increase. In view of 

 these facts the inquiry has naturally been 

 raised: What is the cause of this increase and 

 what is the way to stop it? And the answer 

 has come back from the students of heredity, 

 carrying with it overwhelming conviction : 

 the defectives are hred, and the way to stop 

 the rising cost of their care is to stop breed- 

 ing them. We are brought to our present pass 

 by the care we have taken to protect, rear and 

 let breed, the worse elements, while discourag- 

 ing the reproduction of the better. 



In England the same general phenomena 

 that strike us here are evident, and a eugenics 

 movement has gained great headway there. 

 Among the leaders in this " movement " have 

 been Mr. and Mrs. Whetham whose " Family 

 and the Nation " has had a great influence. 

 The present work is destined to play an 

 equally important part. It consists of a series 

 of thoughtful and interesting essays touching- 

 the biological aspect of the family. One can 

 not summarize the essays, and most of them 

 are beyond criticism. They must be read. 



In the chapter on variation and heredity 

 some of the well-known cases of family genius 

 are cited and some new ones, based on studies 

 of a Biographical Dictionary, are given. The- 

 authors point out that the explanation of why 

 some men of distinction have sons of distinc- 

 tion and some do not depends on the kind of 

 marriages the men make. It might have 

 added that the reason why geniuses are rare 

 is because, depending on recessive conditions, 

 they will reappear in the next generation only 

 when two strains with the tendency to like 

 genius are brought together. 



In the essay on natural selection the disas- 

 trous consequences to the race of extensive 

 sanitaria for consumptives and of eliminating 

 the death penalty are suggested; but there is 

 far more to be said on this subject than the 

 authors say in this chapter. In the essay on 

 the biological influence of religion, the au- 

 thors point out that the hardship that the- 

 Jews have undergone in the past has given 

 them racial strength and that in face of a more 

 humane treatment they may be killed off by 

 kindness. In how far may the keenness and 

 shrewdness of the Jew be due to the elimina- 

 tion of those who were not shrewd enough to 

 escape their persecutors? 



The two essays on the position of women 

 contain much food for thought. The incur- 

 sion of women into the industrial field as wage- 

 earners coincides in time with the fall in 

 birth rate. And in so far as the best women 

 are lured into professional and political life, 

 or fail to become mothers, the best bearing 

 branches of the racial tree are being cut off — 



