New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-10-25

be perpetuated, they we're allowed to marry
none but women Of corresponding size.
The practice of the ancient Greeks Of put
ting away their manned, dwsrfed and die.
eased children. that they might rot PEI No..
tuate their physical defects. ehov hpw
early this Law Of Inheritance W." rea1;,sa
Sire: Strength al. and reflection Of oody was the
ideal Of the Greeks reel A. tho present time
. ,n,,. has . osen Ies. sht Of in more tho
;.f r., " me development Of the
, mn;.a ,h. % most rapid progress mast
,h cav. :,n, who Ia. very thoroughly studied
oarsmen and athletes Of England have fol
lowed the same occupations for generations
in The same family. The sarno 10 true OF
rope walkers and ekillful dancers.
The individual characteristics Of each
parent are sometimes st!ikingly reproduced
in their children. This is shown in the in
termarriage Of races OF opposite color. q
child having one African and one Anglo
Saxon parent may partake wholly OF the
characteristics of either father or mothef:
Another fOrcible illustration is that OF Llslel
Godfrey. He was tho son of an ignorant
negrese, from whom he took hey color and
form. From his father, an intellectual
! white. his talent. which was go marked thai
he oyercame all obstacles thrown in his way
| in the requirement Of knowledge, and died
crowned with the highest honor that literary
| fame knows in France. that of being mem
| Der uf the French Academy OF Science.
| Idiosyncracies OF physical development!
| often run marked course through several
either parent and they may be shared
equally. in the children, by both sexes
This IS frequently seen in pOlydactia. a
| superabundance Of fingers and toes. or iE
some popularity Of form Of the same. An
organic arrest Of development of part VI
! the body. as in hare lip. lie not infrsguently
in the same family in successive genera
tons.
of hereditary anomalies, that pecuiia,
one of Edward Lambert ia the most re-
markable. His whole body. except the
face, the palms Of his bands and of his feet
was covered by horny eXcrescense. His
entire family, SIX sons, each when six
weeks old presented the same strange ap
pearance. They in turn transmitted it to
their sons, and This ran through five gener
atoms. recall the following cases: J;
That Of girl whose hair at twelve years
OF age was silyered with gray. Her fathers
had become gray at the same early age.
,. A boy who at seventeen retained not 9
trace Of his original black hair. His mother
and grandmother had this same marked pc
culiarity. If the theory respecting the
change Of color in the hair is correct, that
it is nervous influence, then again is Illus
trated the subtle force that nerves con
tribute to the law of heredity.
These illustrations are in accord with a
very generally accepted theory that pecu
liarities Of the father impress themselves
more frequently upon The daughters. and
those of the mother upon the sons. In
stances such as have been cited become
Gov <s,, 4 1u,o ro . baiv
deep significance. But when we come e
note the heredity of acquired notifications,
each individual cell of the body becomes
magnified in Importance.
Kirchow says that this anatomic element
p1ays the same role in the organism that
the individual does in the State: that il has
certain measure OF independence. and al
the same time makes an integral par: in
the social body.
The speaker secounted severa! well au.
thenticsted cases illustrating Kigchow' {
theory. She then went on to say:
Professor LaycOckt and Others cay tina!
the mind may exert an influence through
the circulation: shat mental states may
cause the dlation and contraction OF the
small vessels that convey nutriment to the
cells of the glands and tissues. luke says:
1.-The result Of impressions made upon the
senses from without cause sensation and
motion and, important changes in the or.
ganic functions Of the body" Carpenter
maintains that influences are transmitted,
not only through the vase moster nerves.
by virtue Of mere action on the calibre OF
the vessels. but by the direct action upon
entrition and secretion.
Having dwele somewhat at length upon
the physical man influenced by heredity,
we will now coneider his menta! condition.
for, as George Eliot says
.wbasl Shall the trick o; nostrils and lips
Descend through generations. and tho sOUs
That moves within our frame like God in worlds
Imprint no record. leave DO documents
finer great hs:oryF'
Ia bis intellectual status we End man
''heir of the ages" and as Maudsley sug.
ges.s.. inher;tancy as natural endowment,
the labOreG acquisitions of his forefatbers.
To illustrate this, we here but mention the
names Of Vernet, Bonheur. Teniers, Carac.
chi. Titan. to find that art. as talent,
manifested itself as an Inheritance. In the
family of the Titians there were nine dis.
tipguished artists.
The opportunities granted women from
the early ages down to quite recen: periods
tor the exercise of the talents they pos.
sessed have been SO few that il is impOssi-
BILE to tell how much Of latent power has
slumbered in them. We can not, 1 think.
exerted on their offspring. The very de.
sires and yearnings that they may have
had for more knowledge, and for the privi-
lege Of exercising in congenial ways that
which they did possess, may have mirrOred
itself upon the minds Of their offspring as
germ talents. In music there is the remark
able instance of he1edity in the Bach fami-
ly. which stamped itself as genius through
eight generations. Beethoven's musical
<o1n In ali oC <l,$ hol
distinguished his father and grandfather.
Literary talent as direct transmission has
been less frequently observed. Mental gifts IN
other directions have been noted among the
children of writers. Goethe recognizes share
of his talent as an inheritance of his mother,
who possessed clear brain, and remark
ably individual traits of character. Much
of Schiller's fine spirituality has been traced
for its origin to the beautiful nature of his
mother. Among the Herschels there is the
father, his brother, his son and daughter,
all distinguished as scientists. Parental
are only beginning to be OBJ
served nv scientists with care and intell.
gence. Each has been left to interpre.
them according to the dictates Of his fancy.
luke says: probably every sensous i'm.
preston once produced is registered in the
cerebral hemisphere, and may be repro.
duced at some subsequent time, and yet
there be no consciousness OF its existence"
These important and interesting phe.
may be accounted for by suppos-
ing them analogous to the photographers
impressions left upon the negative
which await only the proper conditions for
development: SO likewise, these subtle in
tuences which have unconsciouslv. but in
delibly, stamped themselves upon the hu.
man organism await development. They
then become a transmitted inheritance.
Nervous impressions made upon the mother
during the period of CESSATION may inter-
fere decidedly with the nutrition OF the
rh,II'c IND opA hoIv 7 oov hu< hal;a,,o