210 THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN 



principally among themselves and, here 

 again, it was a case of weak kidneys, added 

 to weak kidneys, and the same weak ten- 

 dencies added to the same weak tendencies. 



When the English and Scotch families 

 intermarried, it was again a case of more 

 weak kidneys and more weak tendencies. 



When the Dutch intermarried with the 

 English or Scotch, which was infrequent, it 

 was another case of four weak kidneys, and 

 the same two weak tendencies added; and 

 they both had, more or less, hereditary fail- 

 ings, which the doctors of that day were 

 unable to cure. The men died off young of 

 dissipation and overwork affected them, be- 

 cause their sires did not have in their seed 

 healthy, strong and active life germs. The 

 daughters then began to marry outside 

 their set, and thus the family names were 

 lost, but every now and then, when I go to 

 California, Indiana, or Illinois, someone 

 will ask me if I ever heard of the Van D's, 

 the Van der W's, the Van S's, or the Van 

 Sin's of New York and, when I say, "Yes, 

 of course, I have," they say, "Why, they 

 were my grandparents." These old fami- 



