Rules of Eugenics
From the known laws governing the inheritability of unit-traits, it is apparently necessary, in the betterment of the race, to follow a few important rules:
- Learn to analyze individuals into their inheritable traits—physical, mental and moral.
- Differentiate between socially noble and ignoble traits, between social and educational veneer and sterling inherent capacity.
- Do not expect physical, mental and moral perfection in any one individual, but look for a majority of sterling traits.
- Observe the presence or absence of specific traits in individuals at all ages of successive generations and fraternities of a family line.
- Learn how to estimate the inheritability of such traits in a family line, upon specific mating with another family line.
- Join your family line to one which is strong in respect to the traits in which yours is weak.
- But remember also that injuries can be inflicted on offspring by unhygienic living.
Inheritable Traits
Some of the characteristics in Man’s complex known to act hereditarily and to be traceable to distinct sources on family lines are as follows:[58]
Physical Traits.—Character of the facial features, color of the eyes, hair and skin, stature, weight, energy, strength, endurance, quickness, commanding presence, vivacity of manner, general bodily soundness; also defects of many kinds, such as those of the nervous system, of the speech, eyes, ears, skin, also baldness, defects of the muscular system, blood, thyroid glands, vascular system, respiratory system, digestive system, reproductive organs; also defects and peculiarities of the skeleton, etc. This does not mean that all shortcomings are inherited. It does mean, however, that the type of organism is inheritable which lacks resistance to the germs and other precipitating factors in bringing about the disease.
Mental Traits.—Among the mental characteristics known to arise from traceable hereditary sources may be mentioned factors in musical ability, artistic composition, literary ability, mechanical skill, calculating ability, inventive ability, memory, ability to spell, fluency in conversation, aptness in languages, military talent, acquisitiveness, attention, story-telling, poetic ability; and, on the other hand, insanity, feeble-mindedness of many types, epilepsy. These are suggestive of the inheritability of many other mental traits not yet studied.
Moral Traits.—Among the moral traits known to possess inheritable elements are generosity, piousness, independence, industry, will-power, faithfulness, fairness, sociability, reliability, self-reliance, tendency to work hard, perseverance, carefulness, impulsiveness, temperance, high-spiritedness, joviality, benignity, quietness, cheerfulness, hospitality, sympathy, humorousness, love of fun, neighborliness, love of frontier life, love of travel and of adventure. The same may be said of immoral traits, such as criminality, pauperism, delinquency, irascibility, lying, truancy, superstition, clannishness, secretiveness, despondency, slyness, exclusiveness, vanity, cunning, cruelty, quickness to anger, revengefulness, etc.
Distribution of Traits
These physical, mental and moral peculiarities are not scattered evenly through the population, but exist on certain family lines only.