2 A STUDY IN HEREDITY 



result that the use of that poison is now more general 

 and widespread on the surface of the globe than at 

 any former period. But fifty centuries and more of 

 known failure have not yet disheartened temperance 

 reformers; and still, as in years long past, we are 

 urged by them to seek a remedy in coercive measures, 

 the futility of which has been proved a thousand 

 times. 



Temperance reformers have been actuated almost 

 invariably by religious or philanthropic motives. 

 Seldom has the problem been approached from a 

 scientific standpoint, and then only by observing 

 the effects of alcohol on the individual. But, since 

 a craving for alcohol of greater or lesser depth is 

 readily awakened in most men, and since different 

 races of men, Spaniards and American Indians for 

 instance, differ vastly in respect to the depths of 

 their desires for indulgence, it is plainly important to 

 ascertain the origin of this craving, and in particular 

 the causes which have rendered some races more or 

 less inclined to excessive indulgence than others. 

 In other words, it is plainly important to study the 

 effect of alcohol, not only on the individual but also 

 on the race. The problem then becomes one for 

 the evolutionist ; and when he has ascertained why 

 Spaniards, for example, are less prone to deep indul- 

 gence than Englishmen, and ^ /or/zbrz than American 

 Indians, we may, by following the path that Nature 



