ion. For one thing, elaborate statistical studies of eminent persons
have shown them to be less liable to insanity than the general
population. Of course, a considerable number of eminent men can be
listed who unquestionably suffered from various neuropathic traits. But
it was not those traits that made them eminent; on the contrary, these
were handicaps. Somewhere back in their ancestry a taint was introduced
into a sound superior strain, and produced this disharmonic combination
of qualities."

SECTION 2.--HEREDITY _V._ ENVIRONMENT.

The Committee feel bound to refer to the great strides made during the
last half-century towards establishing laws and theories of genetics and
heredity. Unfortunately, terms such as the "integrity of the germ plasm"
and "the Mendelian law," while marking great advances in biological
thought and science, have become too much associated in the public mind
with a depressing and fatalistic notion that heredity determines
everything and that environment can play but a very insignificant part
in human evolution, development, and progress--physical, mental, or
moral. Such, of course, is not the case.

In ultimate origin all evolution and all heredity are the outcome,
summation, and expression of the effects of environmental influences,
acting on the whole organism under certain laws of transmission. The
laws of heredity, though as yet only partially determined, are already
sufficiently ascertained to prove for practical purposes that, in order
to promote integration and further progress in human evolution--not
disintegration and degeneration--two things are essential and
complementary. On the one hand, we must do everything possible in the
direction of improving the nutrition, health, conditions of life, and
habits of the community; and, on the other hand, we must promote and
encourage parenthood on the part of the best and stablest stocks, and do
everything in our power to discourage, or in the extreme cases even to
prevent, proliferation of unfit and degenerate strains.

For the purpose of the present inquiry we need merely state as a
practical preliminary regarding heredity that it has been proved beyond
question that if two feeble-minded persons marry they will most probably
produce abundant offspring, of whom all may be subnormal, and a large
proportion will become a burden on the State; and that if one such
person is mated with a healthy individual an undue proportion of their
child