Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-19
WHAT EUGENIsTs SET
BY HERBERT COREY.
No. /.

"Eussnics'' has become a catchword
lately. Ministers have preached about it
and editors have written about 1t. Out
Of the flood Of words the public seems to
have caught the idea that the science is a
new way of biindfolding Cupid
I'VE do not make freak experiments IN
mating. Society does enough OF that We
only keep a record Of the experiments
that others make"
That statement by DR.. c. B. Daven.
port, head Of the eugenics record once Al
Cold Spring Harbor. L. l.. defines no
attitude of the scientific eugenists. The
record office is a clearing house of eugen-
ic information 1t has received support
from the Carnegie. Rockefeller and Har-
rira, millions, and Is animated with the
eusenic section of the American Breed
ers' Association. From 1t field workers
are sent out to institutions in twelve
American states, in which an intelligent
interest Is being taken in the problems OF
human evolution. 1t has aided in the es-
Establishment OF a course in eugenics In ten
American universities. and is in CORE
spondence with the official bodies which
are studying the new science IN various
European countries. Although the SCI
ence is admittedly in its infancy, this
Spring authorities.
Nature of Offspring Predicted.
"For most OF the traits specifically and
extensively studied, the student Of Gu
sentcs can confidently predict the nature
Of the offspring of two parents OF known
ancestry"
tn be more specific If two epileptics
marry all their children will be epileptic
II two imbeciles mate their children Will
al, he feebleminded If an imbecile or
eptleptic marry a normal person one
fourth to one-half Of the offspring VIII IN
herit abnorma!ity. ACCORDING TO Ut.
RosanofT one-third of our popniatlon no"
carries a faint of insanity.
As a means toward bettermen the seem
fife eugenists-as distinguished from
those good-hearted folk who are caiied
eugenjsts because they strive to make the
world better by everyday means-are try
ing to card-ndex humanity. AT the pc.
ginning they investigated the strains OF
had blood. such as the hill folk In Jersey,
the so-called Nam and Jukes ana NALL
kak families, and the degenerated IN
habitants OF certain islands on the Maine
coast and in isolated mountain valleys.
Now they are trying to gather record or
the Inherited characteristics OF families
of good stock.
NO data, according to II. ri. Laugh
lin. "are indexed at the eugenics record
ONCE that do not at least appear to be
descriptive of an innate human quality
mr. a force modifying such a quality. And
all such observations, whether fragmen-
tary or extensive. that so appear are
highly priced and duly filed and indexed
for study"
Traits Are Tabulated.
The first edition Of the Trait Book. based
unon the mass Of information gathered
at the record Office, contains a tabulation
of $500 traits. Mr.. Laughlin hopefully
says that the work has just begun. The
study must be continued until the be-
havior in inheritance of many of these
traits becomes practicable" Information
is not only gathered by corps of field
workers but the record Office maintains
an index of persons and institutions en-
gagged in studies of heredity, from scien-
lists down to the purveyors of county his
tories 1t furnishes cards to those in
| teres,ed, on which may be placed va
riety of family and personal data The
| hope is that in time a heredity record
| will be kept OF every citizen. DR.. Met
| calf states it in these words:
II can IN Imagination sce the day when