Page:Personal Beauty and Racial Betterment.djvu/76

 prohibitions against promiscuity than have ever been attempted.

In these cases again, education and publicity seem to be the chief available weapons at present. Minor legislation, such as severe punishment of individuals who can be shown to have infected others, and of syphilitic individuals who become parents, are worthy of consideration, but economic and general social influences bearing on the situation should not be neglected.

If, by concerted efforts of the governments of the world, venereal diseases could be finally stamped out, no events in the Christian era would be worthy to rank with this accomplishment except the defeat of the Mohammedans by Charles Martel and the defeat of the followers of the “good old German god” by Foch.

In all stages of society there have been developed restrictions on mating which are conveniently described as incest-prohibitions. The wide variations in the tabus or conventions of this sort have given rise to much discussion among anthropologists and sociologists, but the universal principle on which these tabus are based is now quite clear. Whether the prohibition is against the mating of blood-relations of certain degrees, or against mating of persons socially related through