The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1914-02-05
THE TEACHER AND THE TEMPER
ANCE QUESTION.

prof. smith concludes series Of al

thcr. We know something Of the
changes that take place when one
tiny cell begins TO divide and multi
ply and take shape as a life germ
grows into q snail. a cat or human
being. The force that controls the
process of growth we call life: hut
just what life is we do not know
We can forecast with a certain de-
gree Of accuracy the particular kind
Of animal or plant into which q
group Of cells will develop provided
we know the origin of the cells. We
know that the egg of an English
sparrow will under proper condi-
ions develop into sparrow: we
know that grain of corn when
placed in the proper environment
will produce a stalk of corn; we
know that lion always gives birth
to lion whelps, "A squirrel always
brings forth squirrels, human be-
ing always gives birth TO other hui
man beings. Like produces like.
We also know that the character
islics Of ancestors are transmitted
to oilsprings. There is just now a
considerable difference Of opinion
as 10 whether or not father can
transmit his characteristics to his
child, but whether he can or can
not We shall not discuss here. This
we do know: The flercencss Of the
lion is inherited from its ancestors
through its parents: the cunning OF
the fox is inherited from its ances-
tors through the parent foxes; the
good qualities or bad qualities of a
child are in a large measure deter
mined by the qualities Of its fore
fathers including its immediate par
enls Not only are the characters
ties of mind, disposition. etc, trans
mitted, but the strength and weak
ness Of the body also. Strong.
healthy animals usually produce a
strong, healthy progeny; good sound
seed corn will produce healthy, Wig
orous stalks and abundant grain:
strong. healthy people usually have
strong. healthy children. The in
telligenl, the weak minded, the mo-
rose, the light hearted. the morally
strong and the morally weak all
have "a tendency to transmit their
al "A t..s 20 al.
This tendency in plants and ami
mails To transmit their character
istics Of body and disposition to
their offspring We call heredity.
There is much discussion as to Just
how far the laws of heredity prevail
in determining the characteris-
ties of an offspring, but | shall not
enter into that discussion here. We
know that the offspring Of man or
of other animals is influenced by
certain forces that operate before
birth, and we know that bodily
strength or bodily weakness in the
father or mother often manifests it.
self in the child. Strength begets
strength and weakness begets weak
ness is law that is pretty gener-
ally true.
II a man Injuries his body in
some way how Will that injury
manifest itself in his child? If he
poisons his body by the use of some
drug what effect will this have on
his offspring? If the cells that pro-
duce the life germ are in some way
disturbed so that they cannot func-
ton properly and only abnormal or
poorly developed germ cells are pro-
duced, what effect will this have
upon the life that grows from this
life germ? These are questions that
every man and woman ought to con-
slider. The primary function of men
and women is to perpetuate the
race. Every man who expects to be
a father and every woman who
hopes some day to be mother owes
10 the unborn child n duty that none
should ever forget. What do the
father and mot her want the child
to be? This question ought to be
thought over by every young man
and young WOMAN even before they
think of entering into the marriage
relation.
Whenever ! see a mental defec-
tive look back generation or two
in that child's family for the cause
and | usually find it. When | see
a child that is blind or diseased in
some other way | usually do not
have to look back beyond one or two
general ions to discover the cause of
its sorrow. For a long, long time
people believed that when "A weak
minded child was born into the
family il was just the will of the
Lord that ii should be so. But we
know now that in almost every case
there is some cause to be found |
either in one or both parents or in |
one or more of the near ancestors. |
fIhAn. ana a.,,.A fnn,tI..a ltals,,