Inheritance of Human Characters 123 



which we are reasonably sure in dealing with 

 animals and plants. 



Fortunately, there are some studies of the 

 inheritance of physical characters that are 

 quite satisfactory. There is an increasing 

 number of studies of the inheritance of insanity, 

 feeble-mindedness, epilepsy, and alcoholism by 

 the scientific staff of institutions dealing with 

 such cases, and we do have a fairly good mass 

 of material in the lines of descent of the royal 

 families of Europe, where the matings and the 

 characters of the individuals are more or less 

 matters of history. Thariks to the generosity 

 of some men of wealth and foresight, apprecia- 

 tive of the importance of a better knowledge 

 of the laws of human heredity, we have in 

 several countries well-endowed laboratories 

 with expert staffs founded on purpose to study 

 this topic; such are the Galton Laboratory of 

 Eugenics in England and the Eugenics Labora- 

 tory of the Carnegie Institution, Cold Springs 

 Harbor, New York. 



Occasionally a family is found in which one 

 or more members have five fingers instead of 



