Abstract
DR. R. RUGGLES GATES contributes to the latest number of the Eugenics Review a valuable essay on heredity and eugenics. “Probably in no other species of animal or plant does the number of differences between individuals approach the number to be observed in man.” “It has now become a commonplace of observation that the differences between organisms, as well as their resemblances, are often inherited.” Heredity includes both the entailment of parental variations and the possibility of new variations. A very interesting survey is taken of the inheritance of both physical and mental characters in man. Eugenic action should include, if only there were sufficient knowledge, (1) positive selection for desirable qualities, which are frequently dominant; (2) negative selection against undesirable recessive qualities which appear in collateral or ancestral lines, and may therefore be carried in the family germplasm; (3) isolation of individuals having undesirable dominant qualities; and (4) an effort to foster matmgs between individuals showing the same desirable recessive quality. Another interesting feature of Dr. Ruggles Gates's paper is the discussion of the question whether there are any details of structure so small or of such a nature as to be beyond the reach of hereditary entailment. Some good examples are given of the continuance of very minute structural idiosyncrasies. As regards the inbreeding and outbreeding of human races, the author concludes that intermixture of unrelated races is from every point of view undesirable. “The more advanced race is diluted and degraded by such intermixture.” “The blend is only a blend when considered en masse.” On the other hand, interbreeding of related races or strains gives increased vigour.
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Heredity and Eugenics. Nature 106, 264 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106264a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106264a0