CROSSING AND CLOSE-INTERBREEDING. 205 



ductive philosopher (it was lucky that he did, as his 

 readers would have never suspected it); and repre- 

 sented his mode of discovery of sociological, ethno- 

 logical, and other truths, to be a process peculiarly 

 positive and scientific. The process was this: He 

 relied solely upon statistics: When a problem pre- 

 sented itself, he carefully added up such of the 

 figures, in said statistics, which to him appeared to 

 refer to that side, of the question, which he fancied 

 to be the truth. He also added the figures on the 

 opposing side : He compared them : If the sum on 

 the side, first mentioned, preponderated; the ques- 

 tion was, then, scientifically and positively resolved. 

 All cavil at the result, could be naught but the emana- 

 tion of an ignorant and superstitious mind, fatally bent 

 upon being perverse. 



To give the man his due, in candor it must be 

 stated, that, if the sum, of those figures, in the statis- 

 tics, which pertained to. the side, from which his 

 prejudices leaned, was greater than the sum of those 

 on the side he favored, he yielded his preconceived 

 opinion, and deferred, with grace, to the statistics ; for, 

 from them, it was scientific heresy, to hold, there could 

 be any appeal. Thus, the " liberal " tone of his mind 

 would have occasioned a predilection for the side which 

 contended, that no evil results from close interbreed- 

 ing; as the ascertainment of such to be a fact, would 

 show that the religious command, to abstain from 

 consanguineous marriages, was a senseless prohibi- 

 tion. If, however, he had added up his little sums, 



and had found the testimony of experience to be (to 



18* 



