Heredity and Environment 119 



favour. In any case their mental state is a diseased 

 one, and in the present constitution of society it is no 

 doubt a very difficult problem to discover means to 

 remove this morbid development. No doubt in time 

 this will be done, but in the meantime we must take 

 care that this movement shall not abrogate the true 

 function of woman, which gives her the privilege of 

 ruling the world by means of her influence upon the 

 mind of the child. 



Environment, then, we are entitled to consider is the 

 chief force in moulding the lives of men and influencing 

 their thoughts and the future of the race for good or 

 ill. It is our duty to see that it is for good, and never to 

 forget that what is a good environment for one is good 

 for all. That is why we must act always in order to 

 benefit not one sect, one class, one tribe or nation, but 

 humanity. In this way only can we hope to bring 

 about that environment which shall eventually accom- 

 plish the highest possible development of each unit of 

 the race physically, intellectually, and spiritually. 



The Eugenics Congress brought prominently before 

 the public mind many interesting points in regard to 

 heredity and environment. We have already quoted 

 Mr. Balfour's opening address, and it is with much 

 gratification that we again recall some of his statements. 

 " The Eugenist thinks that he ought deliberately to 

 consider the health, the character, and the qualities of 

 succeeding generations. That is a characteristic of 

 domestication that is totally absent from animals in 

 the wild state. It is not a problem of the individual, 

 but of society. We sometimes see it stated that, after all, 

 society is the sum of the individuals that compose it. 

 In a sense that is true — the whole is always the sum of 

 its parts, but in that sense it is quite an unmeaning and 

 useless proposition. In the only sense in which it 

 means anything it is not true ; and whether we shall 



