The Wilmingtonian., 1886-07-24

persons think that now. But 1t is still q
common notion that all persons are equally
good by nature, and might be equally good
actually, if they had the will to be SO that
il is not any ones misfortune, but the fault |
good creature which he could ard should |
be.
The notion of equal capacities cf goodness
in all persons is coutradcted positively by
the facts of heredty, which prove plainly
that men are born with all degIess of moral
capacities aud incapacities, and some of
them destitute in that respect just as they
are born with all degrees of intellectual cap.
acities, and some of them with none at all
Moral idiocy is no less certain fact than in
tellectual idiocy. As no one can by taking
thou ght add one cubit to his bodily stature,
so no one can by taking thought add one
cubit to his ma atural mental stature. Every.
body testifes Of his fUrefathers in the poten-
tialities and dispositions of his mind as GER
tainly as in his bodily potentalites and dis
positions and it is no more possible to OBJ
tain grapes from thorns OF figs from thistes
in the moral than in the vegetables world
An amiable belief in innate human goodness
ought not prevent prudent person from
marking with a black note of Interrogation
the most seemingly yirtuous person whose
breed was moItaliy bad i,r it is only too
probable that the strain of fit temptation
will reveal the fundamental flaw in his
nature
Although study Of the facts Of hei edity
in n scientific way is quite recent under
taking, and has not yet yielded much fruit
the inq lily affords fair promise of useful
gains in the future. gains not to the educator
alone, but to all those who would breed a
good race Of mn. All the world pcrcolvus
plainly that animals aie not bred well or i'll
by accident; breeders Of stock nutoriously
take the greatcs' prlns So to select parents
as to obtain the qualities wA,ci they wish
to have in the l-pring but human bcags
entirely fail to re Ilzc that similar laws inlt
in their bre, dngs, or If th,y acinowly dye
the theory in wurlS, hth tn tlly los, sight ui
| it in practice, beng content tn leave their
own bre"diugS to chance Su.h vastly SUP.
erior beings rs they A.r, lul WI IN the .oe
creation has gtUaued ia travail from Tho hr-
| ginning mt nov they hold natutc u e
charged with TIE responsible ny Of taking
care that they dln, degenerate. Ii wASan
exaggerated exempt icitintI only uf tli, IN
consistency which was presented by lhe Z, IL.
tlemen, mentioned by ore author Who was
$50 deeply interested in the doctrine OF cross
ing, that every hour of his life was devoted
to the improvement Of a race Of bantam
fowls and curious pigeons, and who yet mar
rled mad woman, whom he confined in a
garret, and by whom he had insane pro-
geny."
1t is certailly easier to breed a part cular
variety of pigeons than to breed a particular
variety of children. Pigeons run in more
simple grooves of heredity they do not put
forth SO manyval iatons as human beings do;
it is easier, therefore, with them to predict
and obtain results. In man, complex organ
ic being as he is, the law Of inheritance of
like qualities is largely modified by laws of
| variation. The son is not the image Of his
father, or of his mother, nor is he simple
mixture OF their qualities, as he would be
/
itance that is Of like begeIting its like. 1t
is not possible to predict what will be the
exact mental qualities and bodily features or
the child of two persons whose characters
are known very well, nor SO much as to tell
what it's sex will he. Again, twins, although
sometimes ludicrousy like in features and
characters, are very unlike in other cases :;
| w nj NNlli
in boldly features may not resemb it in
mental character. Nor have the halves Of
double monsters always similar dispositions
The Hungarian twin sisters that lived united
! BY the bottom of the back for twehty-two
years, had extremely different temperaments,
albeit after their death their blood vessels
were found to communicate, so that the
same blood served them. The so-called STA
mese twins, ag hin, who died a few years ago
did not live happily together to the end
OF their days one gave way to drinking,
| thereby disturbing much the others COM
fort and they quameled so much on that
account, and because they took opposite
views of tie American civil war, that they
were earnestly eager to have separation of
bodies and consulted eminent surgeons on
the subject
There is always then IL principle of varia-
tion ut work in breeding, contesting the
ground, as it We're, with principle of here
dity, the effects of which are so great some
times that resemblauces are hidden or over
borne entirely The union between two per
sons may be compared in that respect to
combinations in chemistry, when the pro
duets exhibit widely different properties from
those Of the combining clements Now as
the human body is the most complex organic
substance in the world-the most compound
ed mass in nature, as Bacon calls it-it
affords infinite scope for notifications neu.
tralizations, and variations of qualities and
the reasons are obvious why we cannot pre.
diet results. Countless variations nav occur
in each case. No TWO voices, no two faces
are exactly alike it is probable that no TWO
person cough or blow their noses in exactl !
the same way, and that a man miuht be
known by his sneeze ifminute enough atten-
tion We're given 10 its special character Most
OF these variations die with the individual.
but some Of them meeting with fit surround
ings and being fostered thereby, are propa-
gated from one generation to another. and
become fixed qualities of the family stock.
. | For thn e d,