Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-04-28
The Marriage of First Cousin

LAO n1dA AcbBC vi Il IL ob OOuOlns
The lower House OF the Kentucky
Legislature has declared against the mar
ria9e of cousins on the ground that chill
drsn of snch marriages are frequently
weak minded.
IL is true that the children of Cousins
that have intermarried are sometimes
weak minded, and 1t is also true that
they sometimes have certain coDgenial de-
fects such as extra tees, defective senses,
&c II is also true that children having
similar defects are often born of parents
not at all related. The majority of mar
rlages of persons related, however, do
not result in such defective offspring.
To what extent the law should inter
yene in matters of this kind has always
been q mooted question. Generally, it
has been content to prohibit marriages
between persons nearer akin than first
cousins. A number of States have gone
further than this, and have forbidden first
COUSINS to marry. These laws are large
ly evaded by going beyond the borders Of
the State to contract marriages not lawful
at home. The general principle of law
that marriages awful where celebrated
are lawful everywhere, aids this evasion.
The notion that defective offspring is
a judgment of heaven upon marriages of
cousins is treated by the medical profession
az a superstition. 1t is admitted, how
ever, that the children of such marriages
that are weak minded or of defective
physical developments are somewhat more
numerous than in the case of marriages
between persOns not related. But the
physicians tell us that the same thing is
true of other classes Of marriages An
extract from Maudsley, who is considered
high authority on such questions, threws
some light upon the suhjrct:
"When some of the evil influences
which notably give Use te disease
whether the poisoned atmosphere of a
miasmatic district, or the unknown en-
demc causes OF cretinism, or persistent
intemperence of any kind, or frequent
ntermarriage in families, or any other Of
the sources OF human degeneracy, have en-
gendered a morbid variety, the EVIL will,
unless counteracteG by better Influence
brought to bear increase through genera
tions, until degeneration has gone so far
that the continuance OF the species is i'm
possible. Indeed, insanity Of whatever
form sOeVer, mania, melanchOlia, moral
insanity or dementia. is but stage in the
descent toward sterile idocy, as may be
experimentally proved by the intermar-
rage Of mentally unsound persons for a
generation or two, and is sometimes
demonstrated by the disastrous conse-
quences of frequent intermarriage in
foolish families"
The principle seems to be that when
there are hereditary defects IN a family
these defects are intensified in the Off
spring by the marriage of two members
Of the family having the same defects in
the blood. Precisely the same result fol-
lows the intermarrisge OF two persons
not related who have inherited similar de-
fscts or prsdisposition to the sams defect
or disease The marriage of two mates
increases the probability that the chill
dren will be mute; the marriage Of tive
persons Of feeble minds multiplies The
chances of feeble-mlnded offspring.
No legislative body. so far as we arc
advised, has taken the responsibility Of
the marriage Of persons living
10 a misasmatic district, OF of those who
live IN the crowded teRements OF great
cities, OF of those who inherit predispo-
sitiUn to consumption, insanity, or de-
fective senses. Yet it can hardly be dis
puted that the results Of such marriages
are, in the main, more lnjurious than
those between cOusias not subject to such
1t has never been shown that the en-
actment OF laws to prohibit the marriage
of cousins has resulted in the diminution
OF the number of weak-minded or physical |
~ defective children. Logically such |
result ought to follow if the law could be |
enforced ; but, as already noted, so long
as there are States where such laws do
not prevail, there strict enforcement Is
impossible,
1t is doubtful policy to select one of
the least fruitful causes of defective Off
spring for prohibition while leaving all
The others untouched. Al the same time,
% attempt to carry such legislation to its
ogical consequences would be a task of
iuch stupendOus difficulty as to be prac
icslly impossible.-LOui.uHe Courier
Journal