[Z] F. Prinzing Medizinische Statistik, Verlag von Gustav Fischer in Jena, 1906.
The Remedies
The remedies, however, are plainly indicated:
- Eugenics, to improve the stock.
- Periodic physical examinations to detect the earliest signs of disease, and especially infective foci in the head, such as diseased gums, tooth sockets, tonsils, nasal cavities, etc.
- The practice of personal hygiene along the lines of ascertained individual needs.
Cancer, another disease heavily on the increase in all civilized countries, may be combated by similar measures.
SECTION IX
EUGENICS
“How to Live” deals mainly with personal hygiene, that is, the proper care of the individual. Hygienic improvement is limited, however, to the attainment of the best of which an individual is capable. Eugenics deals with the even more vital subject of improving the inherent type and capacities of the individuals of the future. It has been but briefly touched upon in this volume.
Eugenic improvement is attainable through the control of heredity. By heredity is meant the action of elements which control the development of the individual, and determine his constitution or makeup. The laws of Nature governing this action are now known in part, so that advantage can be taken of them to bring about the hereditary improvement of the race, generation by generation.
What Eugenics is Not