abnormalities. We need concern ourselves but little with the question whether these defects are rare or common; for all that has to be decided in each case is whether the ailment is sufficiently injurious to justify either the prevention or the discouragement of parenthood. All such hereditary defects could thus be stamped out in time, though the time needed might be very long. In the case of a multiple factor quality, where inheritance is said to be blended, we can only speak of the degree in which it is inherited, and we can never hope to see it at once eliminated. The height of the giant becomes widely dissipated amongst his descendants, the more distant the generation the less being his effect on their average height. To obtain a race of eminent men breeding true for many generations, it would be necessary to isolate as a caste apart from the rest of the community the descendants of those first selected; a proceeding probably impracticable and certainly open to serious objections on social and perhaps on racial grounds. Without isolation, no doubt, beneficial results could be produced in the next few generations by stimulating the fertility of a number of carefully selected couples; but the ultimate effect thus produced on the race would be extremely minute. The rarer the combination of qualities aimed at, the more difficult would be the creation of the caste. For example, it would be far easier to produce a good breed of pianotuners than of musical composers. Is it worth while attempting to create any such eugenic caste when the probability would be great of many of its members losing caste in every generation by marriage with those outside the forbidden circle? All steps not involving too much cost in time and money which would increase the multiplication of the superior types are to be encouraged; but in my opinion our main efforts should now be devoted to promoting an all-round improvement, actual or relative, of the qualities of the whole race, and little can be done in this direction by dealing with comparatively small numbers. The rarity of a type is apt to be falsely taken as a measure of its value; somewhat as we unthinkingly prize a rare plant seldom seen more than a mass of common

flowers of less beauty. Rarity cannot be said to be inherited, and the effects on posterity of the selection of individuals of exceptional ability would never nearly come up to any hastily made forecasts. With regard to single factor qualities, it is right to look to the individuals themselves; whereas in regard to multiple factor qualities, that is to the bulk of all human qualities, it is as a rule better to rely on social effort of wide application or on general legislation. Our aim should be to increase the rate of multiplication of the great mass of the community who are well above the average in inborn qualities, whilst decreasing it amongst all those who are definitely inferior. The contrast we should mainly have in view is that between such innate qualities as enable a man to become a skilled artisan and such as prevent him from doing better work than that performed by inefficient labourers; it is not that between the genius and the born fool. We should strive to raise the level of the whole people by widespread eugenic reform; for this is what is now needed in order to safeguard our nation in the future.

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CHAPTER XI

METHODS OF ELIMINATION

SELECTION FOR ELIMINATION

IN attempting to eliminate inferior types from future generations there are, as we shall see, two problems to be dealt with; namely (1) the lessening of the fertility of those marked out by the law or by nature as being amongst the less fit, this being the question mainly considered in this chapter; and (2) the selection of the less fit from the rest of the nation on account of their qualities when no definite line of demarcation exists. Then as to the hereditary qualities on which selections for eugenic purposes ought to be based, they are, as already pointed out, dependent on few or on many Mendelian factors; though for our purposes it will here be sufficient if we consider only the extreme types, namely those qualities which are dependent on one factor and those which are dependent on a great many.

Dealing in the first instance with the selection of persons distinguishable by single factor qualities, no one of these qualities is certainly beneficial, so it is now believed; whilst the numbers of persons suffering from harmful single factor defects form such a small percentage of the whole population that their occurrence, however grievous to the individuals concerned, cannot be regarded as giving rise to national racial problems of the first magnitude. The point here to be specially noted is, however, that a person either does or does not carry the seed of any particular single factor defect; and that when the seed is present, it as a rule produces symptoms which are either clearly visible or entirely invisible. It is only those persons in whom the seed, as it were, germinates who can be considered

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from the eugenic point of view, and these are singled out quite clearly by nature from the rest of the population, thus obviating any process of selection on the part of man.

As to the hereditary qualities of the other extreme type, that is as to such as are dependent on a large number of Mendelian factors, as a rule it can only be said that some persons possess them to a greater degree than do others. This is because a difference between any two individuals in the nature of only one of the many factors on which their multiple factor qualities depend nearly always only leads to a difference in visible characteristics too small to be noticeable, all well-defined differences between individuals being dependent on the existence of differences between several factors. On this account it is generally impossible to draw a clear line separating those who should be regarded as possessing a defect dependent on many factors from those who should be classed as free from it; yet when a defect makes an individual a danger to society, such a line often has to be drawn in order to decide who shall come within the arm of the law and who shall escape. For example, there is every grade of insanity, and yet it is necessary for legal authorities to declare one man to be insane whilst holding another man, nearly as abnormal, not to be so. Legal decisions have also to be made as to who is a criminal, a mentally defective person, a vagabond or a drunkard; though in all such cases the decisions are more or less arbitrary. Now whenever a line is drawn by the law markingoff individuals exhibiting harmful qualities, here the eugenist ought to consider whether advantage cannot be taken of this selective process in order to lessen the appearance of these harmful qualities in the coming generations. All these selections will have been made by observing the qualities or actions of each individual taken separately, and the numbers selected will have been arbitrarily fixed without any regard to eugenic reforms; and as in both these respects there is a certain similarity in regard to the selection by the law of persons possessing harmful multiple factor qualities and the selection by nature of persons possessing harmful single factor qualities, these two groups may conveniently be considered together

in regard to all eugenic questions concerning their racial elimination.

It has thus far been tacitly assumed that legal decisions in regard to personal defects are never influenced by racial considerations, and up till now this has undoubtedly been broadly true. It is to be hoped that inborn qualities will be taken into account in the future, both in legislative and legal decisions as to the type of person it is right to regard as being defective; but for the moment eugenists may perhaps do most good by endeavouring to ensure that, in, regard to the subsequent treatment of all those who are as a fact now legally selected as being defective, the hereditary character of their defects shall be fully considered. Here we are only dealing with problems concerning elimination and not with those concerning multiplication; for the law never arbitrarily selects individuals because of their good qualities. The award of scholarships out of government funds may perhaps be considered an exception to this rule; but if so all that need here be said is that the racial effects of public expenditure on education will be separately considered.

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Though the law takes notice of many harmful defects, there are many evil hereditary qualities which lie outside the scope of all legal action; and here the eugenic reformer, if he is to move at all, finds himself, like the lawyer, obliged to draw a line where no clear line exists; this being so because in all such cases we are in fact dealing with multiple factor qualities. In this chapter we shall mainly be considering persons who can be described as being definitely defective; whilst as to those who are merely less fit,' and who cannot be clearly marked off from the rest of the community, it will be seen in later chapters that enormous masses of persons exist who belong to stocks which could be eliminated from the race with advantage; that is if no other consideration but racial value had to be taken into account. Since any such wholesale elimination as here seems to be suggested is obviously quite out of the question, the chief difficulties in the way of racial progress will be found to depend upon other practical considerations, these being mainly due to the necessity of taking