1 64 THE NEXT GENERATION 



Man has indeed learned at last that, for the sake of this 

 generation and the next, he must know not simply the laws 

 of individual health and of inheritance, but also the laws of 

 family health. 



We shall soon see that these three sets of laws travel 

 hand in hand, and that ignorance about any one of them is 

 dangerous to all concerned. 



In former times the watchword of a nation was : " Be a 

 patriot. Be ready to die for your country." 



In modern times the command is : "Be a patriot. Live 

 right, and live for your descendants." Put in other words, 

 this means : Don't die needlessly. Keep yourself vigorous 

 and healthy, and so conduct your life that you will be a 

 worthy ancestor of coming generations. 



This modern patriotism is indeed the nobler kind, for if 

 it is held to and carried out by successive generations of men, 

 far-away descendants of those who live to-day are sure to be 

 a blessing to their country, whether they live for it or die for it. 



Through a knowledge of cause and effect and through 

 the choice of his own mind and the power of his own will, 

 a man may prove that he is worthy of the crown which 

 evolution has placed upon him. 



No test of manhood or of womanhood is greater than that 

 which has to do with the welfare of family life. 



The following chapters give facts about health, and about 

 its relation to inheritance, concerning which no thoughtful 

 person can afford to be ignorant. 



