Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/301

 NOTES AND ABSTRACTS 285

delayed by social distances. They have pierced all the flimsy armour of fashion, they have penetrated the shams of culture, and have told his inmost sense of consciousness his soul what hers is like. By that knowledge his soul has chosen hers ; and linless science can analyze this subtle process of spiritual selec- tion, it must stand aside.

By all means let eugenics advance ! But let its exponents pause to analyze first what is now the most powerful factor governing the selection of the sexes, and seek to take advantage of it rather than to stifle it with mere physical agencies. To sterilize defective types is one thing ; to eliminate the criminally weak and diseased is another equally reasonable. But let us beware lest we do anything that may tend to obliterate by physical means the higher instructive teachings of sexual selection.

FROM PROFESSOR J. H. MUIRHEAD : I think Mr. Galton's suggestions for the advance of the study and practice of eugenics most important, and hope our Society may do something to forward the subject.

FROM DR. MAX NORDAU : The shortness of the time at my disposal, and the vastness of the subject treated by Mr. Galton, do not permit me to deal with the paper as it deserves. I must limit myself to a few obiter dicta, for the somewhat dogmatic form of which I crave the indulgence of the Sociological Society.

Theoretically, everybody must hail eugenics. It is a fine and obviously desirable ideal, to direct the evolution of the individual and the race toward the highest possible type of humanity. Practically, however, the matter is so obscure and complicated that it can be approached only with hesitation and misgivings.

We hear often people, even scientists, say : " We breed our domestic animals and useful plants with the greatest care, while no selection and foresight is exer- cised in the case of the noblest creature man." This allusion to the methods of breeding choice cattle implies a biological fallacy. The breeder knows exactly what he wants to develop in his stock ; now it is swiftness, now it is staying power ; here it is flesh, there it is wool ; in this case it is abundance of milk, in that a capacity for transforming, quickly and completely, food into muscle and fat of a high market value. The breeder is working out the one quality he is aiming at, at the cost of other qualities which would be of value to the animal, if not to its owner. The selection practised by the breeder in view of a certain aim creates new types that may be economically superior, but are biologically inferior. To put it flatly : our vaunted thoroughbreds, the triumph of selection exercised for many generations, may be wonderfully adapted to the one particular end they are destined for ; they may flatter our utilitarianism and fetch high prices ; but their general vital power is diminished ; they are less resistant to the injuries of life ; they are subject to diseases far less frequently, or not at all, met with in non-selected animals of their kind, and if not constantly fostered and protected by man, they would be unable to hold their own in the struggle for life.

It is clear that we cannot apply the principles of artificial breeding to man. Which quality of his are we to develop by selection? Of course, there is the ready answer : " Mens sana in corpore sano." But this is so general and vague a rule that it means nothing when it comes to practical application. There is no recognized standard of physical and intellectual perfection. Do you want inches ? In that case, you have to shut out from your selection Frederick the Great and Napoleon I, who were undersized, Thiers, who was almost a dwarf, and the Japanese as a nation, as they are considerably below the average of some European races. Yet in all other respects than tallness they are very recom- mendable specimens of our species. What is your ideal of beauty? Is it a white skin, clear eyes, and fair hair? Then you must favor the northern type and exclude the Italian, Spaniard, Greek, etc., from your selection, which would not be to the taste of these nations.

If from somatic we turn to intellectual perfection, we encounter the same difficulties. Some highly gifted individuals have inductive, others deductive talents. You cannot easily have in the same man a great mathematician and a great poet, an inventor and a statesman. You must make up your mind whether you wish to breed artists or scientists, warriors or speculative philosophers. If