Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15

IN
n port, the great American au-
thority on eugenics, it is quite
possible to breed types of people vino
will be fitted by birth for some
special line of work Indeed, this has
already been done in the case of
many families, although rather as a
result Of accident and circumstances
than from any deliberate eugenic in.
tention.
Our best actors, for instance, are
the result of marriages between
members of the same profession
which have been going on for a hun
dred years or more. 1t is evident
that actors who spend much time
travelling must marry persons of the
same calling in order to enjoy
any continuity of domestic compan-
ionship. In the earliest days of the
American stage this tendency was
very marked. The Booths, the Drews,
the Keans and other very well.
known stage families are examples
of this tendency.
Miss Ethel Barrymore, one of the
most popular of American actresses,
is striking illustration of the pos
sibility of creating a type of human
being of special aptitudes. Her
mother was a Drew. an actress be-
longing to family that had been on
the stage of four generations. Her
father was the well-known actor,
Maurice Barrymore. Both Miss Bar
rymores brothers are successful &C.
tors. 1t is said that the members of
this family never showed the stage
fright or nervousness that invariably
attacks people from ordinary life
when they first appear on the stage.
This creation of a special actor
type was only one Of many interest
ing facts brought out by DIR. Daven-
ports recent address before the
Anthropological Society of Washing
ton on Man from the Standpoint of
Modern Genetics." DR.. Davenport is
the director of the Carnegie Labora
tory at Cold Spring Harbor, Long
Island, which has been established
to study problems in human evolu-
tion.
The family or strain marked by
some special character or aptitude
is termed by DR.. Davenport "a bio.
type" The case Of the actors shows
that biotypes of special value to
humanity can be created, and there
are many other instances to prove
this. Dr. Davenport demonstrates in
most interesting manner how the
remarkable yacht-building ability OF
a well-known American family has
been handed down from generation to
generation, until to-day a girl OF
fourteen in the family shows boat
building ability Of marked order.
These people, in fact, are now born
boat-builders.
Along with this bodybuilding abil'
ity has gone a nervous instability
and tendency to certain physical de"
fects. The appearance of these de-
fects. though unfortunate, is addi-
tional proof that the ability that ac'
them is hereditary.
The world is full Of biotypes, and
the United States owes a great deal
10 them. The leading Colonial fam
lilies of Virginia showed a marked
aptitude for craftsmanship, which
they perpetuated by favorable inter
marriages. The class thus formed
was of great value in forming the
new government Of the United
States.
An interesting transmission of
family characteristic is shown In
Mrs. David Dows, formerly Miss
Gwendolyn Burden, noted beauty
of New York society She has very
striking aquiline, patrician nose,
that has been handed down for six
from her ancestress,
Evelyn Byrd, a noted belle OF Colo
NAL Virginia.
Hiram Percy Maxim, the inventor
Of the Maxim silenoer" that makes
a rlAeshot inaudible Is a son OF
Hiram S. Maxim, who invented the
Maxim rapid-hring gun. Hudson
Maxim. who invented smokeless
powder and other devices along the