A Civic Biology, Presented in ProblemsHunter, George W. (George William)
Science
A Civic Biology, Presented in Problems
Hunter, George W. (George William)
Biology; Sanitation
Improvement of Man.--If the stock of domesticated animals can be improved,
it is not unfair to ask if the health and vigor of the future generations
of men and women on the earth might not be improved by applying to them the
laws of selection. This improvement of the future race has a number of
factors in which we as individuals may play a part. These are personal
hygiene, selection of healthy mates, and the betterment of the environment.
Personal Hygiene.--In the first place, good health is the one greatest
asset in life. We may be born with a poor bodily machine, but if we learn
to recognize its defects and care for it properly, we may make it do its
required work effectively. If certain muscles are poorly developed, then by
proper exercise we may make them stronger. If our eyes have some defect, we
can have it remedied by wearing glasses. If certain drugs or alcohol lower
the efficiency of the machine, we can avoid their use. With proper _care_ a
poorly developed body may be improved and do effective work.
Eugenics.--When people marry there are certain things that the individual
as well as the race should demand. The most important of these is freedom
from germ diseases which might be handed down to the offspring.
Tuberculosis, syphilis, that dread disease which cripples and kills
hundreds of thousands of innocent children, epilepsy, and feeble-mindedness
are handicaps which it is not only unfair but criminal to hand down to
posterity. The science of being well born is called _eugenics_.
[Illustration: In this and the following diagrams the circle represents a
female, the square a male. N means normal; F means feeble-minded; A,
alcoholic; T, tubercular; _Sx_, sexually immoral; _Sy_, having syphilis.
This chart shows the record of a certain family for three generations. A
normal woman married an alcoholic and tubercular man. He must have been
feeble-minded also as two of his children were born feeble-minded. One of
these children married another feeble-minded woman, and of their five
children two died in infancy and three were feeble-minded. (After
Davenport.)]
[Illustration: This chart shows that feeble-mindedness is a characteristic
sure to be handed down in a family where it exists. The feeble-minded woman
at the top left of the chart married twice. The first children from a
normal father are all normal, but the other children from an alcoholic
father are all feeble-minded. The right-hand side of the chart shows a
terrible record of feeble-mindedness. Should feeble-minded people be
allowed to marry? (After Davenport.)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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