This assumption is logically correct, but we must do more than breed "fit" children. We must take care of them after they are born. We must furnish them with a good environment (see page 3). Heredity without favorable environment counts for very little,--we must never forget that. Heredity and environment are the two important determining factors in the life of every child born. If eugenics furnishes the heredity by ensuring the [48] birth of the "fit" only, it depends upon the mothers of the race to provide the environment. Every mother must know how to take the best care of herself and of her child. This book is devoted to instructing her in the details of this duty. We cannot hope, however, to reach this high altruistic plane by simply taking the first step in the right direction. We who are alive to-day must begin the work, and leave it to posterity to carry forward. We must do our part. Every mother must become an enthusiastic eugenist. If she begins to teach, and preach, and practise its principles now, she will contribute to the heredity of unborn generations. To those of us who are alive to-day, environment is the vastly more important consideration, for our heredity is fixed and beyond the power of control. The question of eugenics for the present generation, therefore, is a question of environment. All our efforts must be directly in developing what heredity gives our children. We are wholly responsible for that. We must feed and clothe them properly; we must provide air spaces and playgrounds for exercise; we must educate them, and protect them from disease; and we must safeguard the birth of future generations by keeping our race stream pure. This is no small task, and the only way it will ever be satisfactorily accomplished is for each mother to realize her individual trust. The average individual does not realize the actual conditions that prevail. When recently the question of the public health was investigated by competent authorities, and the report furnished to the United States Senate, it caused a tremendous sensation. If that is possible in a body composed of men who are supposed to be intelligent and wide-awake to existing conditions, how much more significant and appalling it should be to the average mother whose interest is centered in her own home. According to the statistics and statements given in that document the annual financial loss from needless deaths and accidents alone amounted to $3,000,000,000. [Page 49] Acute diseases are held responsible for a large part of the loss. Chronic diseases are responsible for the greatest part of the waste of life, and they are believed to be increasing in their ravages. Minor ailments, believed to be nine-tenths preventable, are now costing the nation many dollars through incapacitation of persons and through leading to serious illness. Industrial accidents, largely preventable, are also exacting a heavy toll annually.