The Washington times., 1923-12-04
little office. looking innocent enough

little office, looking innocent enough
In its quiet environment.
| Below, at the foot of the hill, IN
the station for experimental evOlu
ton. flies, mice, pigeons and guinea
pigs yield up their secrets of birth
| life and death to the men who ex
pertinent on them in the interest
Of science.
Above, in the hilltop office, neatly
catalogued and lebeled, repose the
documents containing the human
secrets, which may be referred to by
| these same scientists whenever they
wish to transfer their experiments
from the realm Of the lower animals
to that Of the higher, commonly
known as man.
And here, because 'severy mar.
rage Is an experiment in heredity, :
Fate, in the person of DR.. Charles
=. Davenport, director of the office.
acts as the deus ex machina, the
divinity who shapes the lives of the
couples who write into the office
concerning the vital problem-tC
marry or not to marry. They re.
ceive his advice, and receive it free,
officials in charge Of the office state.
There is just one requirement,
namely, that each person concerned
fill out IN duplicate q leaflet called
the Record OF Family Traits
which gives the facts of his own life
and that OF his Tor her) immediate
relatives. and file one copy Of this
revealing document with the office,
to remain IN its permanent posses
sion.
Used as Laboratory Data.
From this record Davenport aud
his assistants draw their conclusions,
based on the latest scientific re-.
searches. as to whether, from q
eugenical standpoint. the pair Ia
question should marry. After which
the young people are informed u
the decision by mail.
The aim of the work, which has
grown out of an increasing demand
for such service, is, as stated in the
bulletin issued by the office, ito pre-
dict the probable traits of the off.
spring of the proposed mating" Civ
ing such conclusions as the prog
ress Of knowledge may warrant"
Single trail" sheets may also be
filled out by the inquirer, which do
scribe individual characteristics IN
detail. For instance, IL Mary Jones
has a violent temper, and wishes to
marry John Smith, who possesses a
hairlip, the two fill out and send lii
to the office single trait" leaflets,
to discover whether or not their chill.
dren are likely to inherit these un.
fortunate characteristics, b 3 &
whether or not it IS desirable for
them to marry.
If their interest in eugenics and
heredity goes still deeper, they may
wish to fill out the family tree
folder" which contains sample
pedigree chart with directions for lts
construction. For 1t is the aim OF
the office to have in its files, ulti.
mately, a good working pedigree.
index Of the characteristics OF d
large portion OF the families Of
America.
Every person." the office bulletin
explains, should be interested in the
actual biological results OF matinga
among his kin, and should look for.
ward to securing scientific analysis
or the heredity potentialities Of him.
self and all his descendants which
may result from matings with per.
sons with specific hereditary quail.
ties. When this desire becomes gen.
eral, the science OF eugenics will be.
come firmly established and viii be
able to contribute to the practical
conservation Of the better family
traits OF the American people,"
Skeletons" Are Safe.
In the meantime, the intimate &c.
crets Of some 5000 families, thou
sands OF family skeletons" among
them, are locked up in the little
building on Cold Spring Harbor hill.
top, and the only persons allowed To
read these secrets, outside the FAM.
lies or those who have written them.
are the scientists who may refer to
them in connection with their scien.
tific researches.
knowing this, is there In all the
United States one woman who. for
just little while, long enough. say.
to go through some of these rec.
~