IMPROVING THE HUMAN PLANT 



overlook the fact that the plant developer's privi- 

 lege of weeding out the unfit members of his 

 hybrid colony may change the entire complexion 

 of the situation. 



Cousin Marriages 



As to all this we are taking a wide view and 

 considering the American race as a whole. 



But in making the final interpretation, it will 

 be well to glance a moment at the needs of the 

 individual and to make application of one or two 

 principles of heredity to individual cases. 



In so doing we are no longer considering the 

 question of the mingling of different racial strains 

 but more particularly the blending of individual 

 traits as presented in marriages contracted by 

 persons of the same race and even of the same 

 community. 



Here we are obviously concerned with prob- 

 lems similar to those that confront the plant 

 developer who is making selection among the 

 members of an inbred colony, where his cross- 

 poUenizings do not involve different species or 

 varieties but only members of the same fraternity 

 or of closely related fraternities. 



In such a case, it is axiomatic to say that the 

 plant developer selects the individual plants that 

 come nearest to his ideal, and combines them. 



But of course it often happens that the plant 



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