The Falls City tribune., 1910-08-05
Eugenic instruction Preparatory For

culosis is extremely inadyisable, such
a marriage being almost certain to
lead to consequences hat viii multi
ply the sorrows of the two persons
inst concerned and transmit disease
ana premature death to many of their
posterity. While the latest conelu-
sions of science indicate that this
white plague is moi directly inner
tied, the offspring of t%uberculous
parents seem To show a heightened
susceptibility to the disease. More
over, even if the factor of inheri-
lance be not considered, there is
still left to the child of the parent so
diseased the fatal possibilities of infe
ton.
>. Discourage in like the
thought of marriage of a person
born with any physical a%bnormality.
While some such marks may be mere
lifetime acquisitions, many of them
are outward expressions of deep seat
ed congenital defects. Such defects
constitute a more or less serious men
ace to success in life, and therefore
a degree of unfitness for marriage.
,. Call for the same careful con
sideration in reference to epileptics,
describing to children and youths just
what this disease is like, sighting as
an illustration the numbers who now
fill up the epileptic wards of asylums.
Ineulcate the most kindly and sympa-
thetic regard Tor any one who may be
a victim of this disease, but at the
same time make it plainthat those af-
flicted with it, especially in its in
durable forms, are not fit to have a
part in the continuance of the race.
4. There are many among us who
have inherited an uncertain degree
of the faint of insanity or imbecility,
or at least who are members of fam
lilies that have been transmitting these
diseases for many generations. Young
of such facts as these sothat they
will very naturally shrink, when ma
turity is reached, from life companions
ships with such persons. The rec
ords of many cases show no instances
of a mentally normal child born of
parents both weak minded. On the
other hand, there have been many
imbecile children born of parents
only one of which was so affected.
The children of the insane are not
necessarily doomed to such a fate,
but there is now a widely accepted
theory hat they inherit certain brain
structures that tend to give way I'M
der conditions inducing insanity more
readily than in cas- of normal per-
sons.
3. While it has not been proved
that inebriety is directly transmits
sible, two adverse conclusions con
corning drunkards have been definite
ly reached.
Once a young man becomes addict
ed to the habit of drinking intoxicants
he will contend very strongly to-
keep it up or go back to the habit
even after a period of abstenance
Teachers and parents of young girls
should have at hand a long list of in
stances of young who have
married young men addicted to the
drinking habit, misguided by the fond
halinf th1t tho lattar bod narmonnpt
ly discontinued the practice. The
records of the majority of such cases
will prove beyond a doubt that the
undertaking was fraught with terri
BILE consequence of sorrow and suf-
fering.
Although it is not apparent that
the appetite for drink is directly in
herited, there is a vast amount of
evidence to show that thechildren of
the inebriate have some tendencies
10 a weakened body, low vitality, and
probably an unusual inner craving for
something that will stimulate. A
thoughtful teacher or parent can
easily find concrete examples upon
which to base instruction that will
help to eliminate the inebriate as a
factor in the race.
6. In a delicate way and perhaps
by private instruction, growing boys
and girls can be forewarned against
the awful consequences of syphilis
and the other more common venereal
diseases. 1t can be explained to
them how these diseases are brought
about, how transmitted and what are
the most serious consequences they
entail upon innocent posterity. Such
instruction is at present almost who'll
neglected, and yet how awful the re-
suits of such racial poisons.
Medical authority seems to con-
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