Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/37

 EUGENICS 25

myself invented it, and deliberately changed it for " eugenics." Dr. Hutchison believes that environment is far more important than stock, but you know per- fectly well how one baby, dog, horse, differs enormously from another by nature ; and surely it is not denied that we should take pains to increase the multiplication of the best variants.

Mr. Elderton in his few remarks touched on an important point that the insurance offices might give a great deal of information. I quite agree with him in that, and also on the correlation of certain diseases and fertility. I thought it was always said that consumptive mothers were prolific. I remember I went with very great pains into medical data to get certain results of that kind. I was appalled at the want of precision in getting up the facts. The facts brought forward by one group did not agree with those brought forward by another. I went to the Consumptive Hospital at Brompton, and found a total divergence of opinion as to what consumption was. I am speaking of twenty or thirty years back.

As to Mr. Kidd, I do not attach importance to his points. His drones would have selected the best drones, and each one would have selected the best of its kind and worked out their own civilization in their own way.

I have little more to say, except that I do feel that if the society is to do any good work in this direction, it must attack it in a much better way than the majority of speakers seem to have done tonight.