The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-09-24
TRACING PARENTkGE
 BY EUGENIC TESTS

OlSpIlnS ana the 6SLdDlSnQ1enC Ol percentage in cases of disputed legiti- macy, are among the new practical uses of the science of eugenics, which were discussed at the American Mu- critics on the study of eugen1cs from
 many parts of Europe and America were gathered in the Second Interna-
 uonal Congress of Eugenics.
 The transmission of special chara-
 teristics which develop into talent
 and genius, it was stated, is under
 study by 200 field workers connected
 with the eugenics laboratory at Cold
 with the Carnegie Institution of
 Washington. Much interesting light has been thrown by this research, it
 was said, on the manner in which musical, literary or artistic talent is
 handed down from generation to gen eration.
 There has been speculation as to the possibility of breeding geniuses by combining talent-transmitting strains, according to the recipes of eugenists, but the discussion did not 1 reach this point last night The ten dency was to discourage expectations
 of great achievements by eugenics in the near future and to stress the goal of the eugenic movement in improv- ing the human species in future gen. erationS and ages.
 Why red-headed people dislike one another and seldom marry persons of their own complexion, and why tall men frequently choose short mates and short men tall mates, were among 1 the curious topics touched upon. Darwin's Son Discusses Mating The first speaker was Major Leon ard Darwin of London. son of l Charles Darwin. He was introduced
 as the leader of the eugenic move ment in Lonon- He emphasized the 1 impossibility of attempting to regu- 1 late human mating by legislation and depIoring the popular misconception of xyhihh credited that sci ence with a design to abolish TO- l nance and to introduce cattle-breed- ing principles into the domestic af- fairs of the human families. NOn the contrary, love marriages were eNtol- led as natural eugenicS- Marriages for money and other advantages were denounced as dysgenic, which means l tending to the deterioration of the race, instead of it's improvement. The treating of heredity backward l from son to father, with the help of
 cussed by Dr. Charles B. Davenport, director of the Department of Gen.
 etics at Cold Spring Harbor. l.. l. Dr. Davenport was described as the lead | CT of eugenicS in America by Profess
 or Henry Fairfield Osborn, who pre- sided over the congress.
 "Our knowledge of the inheritance
 of physical traits," said Dr. Daven- port, 'tiS sufficiently precise to be ap-
 piled practically to case of doubtful percentage.
 eff the child, the known mother | and both of the putative fathers can be seen and some inquiry be made
 as to family stock of the three adults, | a decision can generally be rendered | with g. high degree of certainty, rang
 ing from 75 to 99 per cent For, usu- | ally, there will not be one critical trait
 merely, but several traits, whose com
 bined evidence will be overwhelm- | ing.
 | Eugenics in Training Percentage | ha E,uonnioS Off, | fee has been asked to answer certain l questions about the inheritance of | traits in case of a claimant who | maintained that he was the son af a
 wealthy man who died without known | heirs As lawyers get more used to
 the idea of utilizing the advances of
 knowledge for evidence, it is probable l that eugenical knowledge will be more
 and more called upon-'
 | Where parents are of opposite l types, he explained, brown eyes are
 more apt to be transmitted than blue, l and curly hair is more apt to be in
 herited than straight, for example. | When one parent is normal and l the other has abnormaltieS in the
 number and form of fingers and toes,
 for instance, the child will usually in | herit these abnormaGties, the speaker 1 continued. Children will also inner | it defects from one parent, such as l cataracts and other eye defects, cer- | tain types of congenital deafness and various peculiarities of skin, hair and | nails, instead of inheTIting the nor
 nal characterists of the other parent. | Many other traits," he continued, | ttare due to multiple factors-so often l this is true as to suggest the hypo- | thesis that in mammals, as contraSted
 with insects, traits are genetically | complex. Thus stature and build and | proportion and augmentation of hair
 and skin are dependent on multiple
 factors,
 Traits Associated With Sex 1 aSSOClatGd | sex in a remarkable fashion. That | is, they are usually found only in the i male sex and are inherited through | the mother, though she herself is not
 affected. Such are color blindness, | hemophilia and atrophy of the optic
 nerve. The facts of sex-hnl<ed heredN | the lesson that heredity is a matter
 of the gametes; and that bodily ap-
 pearance often gives no hint of the
 nature of the particular germ-cel1s
 carried and, in so far. of what the | inheritance shall be. The parents or | the afbino may have pigmented hair l and skin, but both carry gametes
 which lack the capacity of forming | pigment
 l The romances which eugenics has l already actually blighted or fostered, 1 in cases in which intended unions
 were submitted to the analysis of eu- | genie experts at Cold Spring Harbor, | were discussed as follows:
 There will come a realization of | the importance of heridiy in marriage | ma atingS. Young persons to whom l marriage is so serious a matter will be lsd to stop and consider when ! they feel they are falling in love, and | inquire concerning consequences to | offspring.
 | Already there is being developed | a we1l-defined conscience in the mat
 ters of cousin marriages and of mat l ings into families with grossly defec-
 tive members. This is shown by the | extensive cOrreSDOndence that the | Eugenics Office has been abliged to
 enter into with persons who are con | templating marriage.
 | Interest in Heredity Growing ''They are quite willing to submit
 an extensive account of their family | traits; and they write to learn what
 is known about the inheritance of
 some family weakness or defect. The people who make these inquiries are
 often unusually intelligent and not at | all radical; some of them stand high