ormulae and geometrical curves, and proposed that every
young man should find a girl whose curve was congruent to his own, and
at once lead her to the altar, is not likely to gain many adherents. But
the psychologist declares without hesitation that it is possible to
influence the course of love in its earlier, though rarely in its later,
stages. Francis Galton pointed this out with his usual clearness,
showing that in the past the "incidence" of love, to borrow a technical
term, had been frequently and sometimes narrowly limited by custom--by
those unwritten laws which are sometimes as effective as the written
ones. Monogamy, endogamy, exogamy, Australian marriages, tabu,
prohibited degrees and sacerdotal celibacy all furnished him with
historical arguments to show that society could bring about almost any
restriction it chose; and a glance around at the present day will show
that the barriers set up by religion, race and social position are
frequently of almost prohibitive effect.

There is, therefore, from a psychological point of view, no reason why
the ideals of eugenics should not become a part of the mores or
unwritten laws of the race, and why the selection of life partners
should not be unconsciously influenced to a very large extent by them.
As a necessary preliminary to such a condition, intelligent people must
cultivate the attitude of conscious selection, and get away from the
crude, fatalistic viewpoint which is to-day so widespread, and which is
exploited _ad nauseam_ on the stage and in fiction. It must be
remembered that there are two well-marked stages preceding a betrothal:
the first is that of mere attraction, when reason is still operative,
and the second is that of actual love, when reason is relegated to the
background. During the later stage, it is notorious that good counsel is
of little avail, but during the preliminary period direction of the
affections is still possible, not only by active interference of friends
or relatives, but much more easily and usefully by the tremendous
influence of the mores.

Eugenic mores will exist only when many intelligent people become so
convinced of the ethical value of eugenics that that conviction sinks
into their subconscious minds. The general eugenics campaign can be
expected to bring that result about in due time. Care must be taken to
prevent highly conscientious people from being too critical, and letting
a trivial defect outweigh a large number of g