erior horses, cows, dogs, and pigeons; but an application of the
same principles to the improvement of the human race is rarely thought
of. Human beings are generated in as haphazard and reckless a manner
as weeds are sown by the wind. No account is taken of the possible
influence which may be exerted upon the future destiny of the new being
by the physical or mental condition of parents at the moment when the
germ of life is planted, or by the mental and physical conditions and
surroundings of the mother while the young life is developing. Indeed,
the assertion of a modern writer that the poor of our great cities
virtually "spawn children," with as little thought of influences and
consequences as the fish that sow their eggs broadcast upon the waters,
is not so great an exaggeration as it might at first sight appear to
be.

Law Universal.--Men and women are constantly prone to forget that the
domain of law is universal. Nothing comes by chance. The revolutions
of the planets, studied by the aid of the telescope, and the gyrations
of the atoms, seen only by the eye of science, are alike examples of
the controlling influence of law. Notwithstanding this sad ignorance
and disregard of this vitally important subject, the effects of law
are only too clearly manifested in the crowds of wretched human beings
with which the world is thronged. An old writer sagely remarks, "It
is the greatest part of our felicity to be well born;" nevertheless,
it is the sad misfortune of by far the greater portion of humanity to
be deprived of this inestimable "felicity."

A Source of Crime.--Who can tell how many of the liars, thieves,
drunkards, murderers, and prostitutes of our day are less responsible
for their crimes against themselves, against society, and against
Heaven, than those who were instrumental in bringing them into the
world? Almost every village has its boy "who was born drunk," a
staggering, simpering, idiotic representative of a drunken father,
beastly intoxicated at the very moment when he should have been most
sober.

An interesting study of this question has recently been made by Mr.
Dugdale, a member of the Prison Association of the State of New York.
When visiting the various jails of the State, he found in one six persons
detained for crimes of various character, between all of whom there
was a family relation. Upon further inquiry, he found that of the same
family there were twenty-nine relatives in the vicinity,