SUMMARY OF FACTS REGARDING SEX AND HEREDITY

  1. The function of sex has been developed in the process of evolution for the purpose of perpetuating life.
  2. The sexual functions are very closely related to the life of the individual, and can be normal only when the laws of nutrition and of general hygiene are observed.
  3. The idea of prenatal culture as commonly taught is a delusion; the only method that the mother can employ to control the growth of her unborn child is to live a wholesome, normal life, physically and mentally, and thus supply her own body and that of the child with perfect material for the building of living cells.
  4. The powers of heredity are often overestimated, and many of the weaknesses and disorders of life supposed to be inherent can be overcome by proper nutrition and environment. All life, whatever be the inherited tendencies, will be developed to the highest possible capacity by obeying the laws of individual growth, for in the individual, as in the race, Nature is always striving to bring the products of her work to the highest degrees of perfection.

Lesson XXI