Eugenics

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: ET 2026-07-22) a term introduced by Francis Galton in 1883 and defined by him as follows: "Eugenics is the study of agencies under social control which may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally." It is based upon genetics or the study of heredity, a science open to experimental methods, in which great advance in knowledge has been attained; eugenics seeks to apply this knowledge to the improvement of the human stock by selection in mating. The study of genetics has shown that the qualities which influence heredity are contained in the chromatin of the nucleus of the male and female germ cell; that in fertilization there is intermingling of the chromatin, and the ovum from which the development of the embryo proceeds contains the qualities of both parents. The substances contained in chromatin and which influence development are called determinants and in certain directions their influence is predictable. There are certain unit characters such as color and form of hair in animals, color in flowers, etc., which are transmitted to the offspring with certainty, appearing in the first generation, when they are termed dominant or in the second generation when they are termed recessive. White and black guinea pigs when mated produce black offspring, the black being dominant, and in the second generation one in every four of the offspring will be white, the white color being recessive. This is known as Mendelian inheritance, and was described by Mendel in 1865, whose work remained unknown until 1906, when the law and the former publication of Mendel were rediscovered. There are similar unit characters in man which are transmitted with equal certainty and if it were desirable to produce a race marked by excessive fingers (polydactylism) or webbed fingers (syndactylism) it would be possible by selective mating to do so. There are also certain unit characters which are linked with sex, appearing in males and transmitted by females who do not have the condition which is recessive. Thus hæmophilia.or the germ affect heredity and that qualities which are acquired and due to environment are not inherited. While this is true, environmental conditions are probably of equal importance for the improvement of a race, with the character of the germ plasm, for a good environment may render possible the development of qualities which in another environment might be suppressed. The most important qualities which affect man in his social relations are the mental, such as general mental ability, temperament, memory, musical, literary, artistic and mathematical ability, and these are undoubtedly subject subject to inheritance, but to an unknown extent. With regard to the inheritance of disease there is a surer foundation. There is no inheritance of the infectious diseases, though there may be infection of the male or female germ cell or infection of the fœtus by the mother before birth, resulting in congenital disease. Or disease of the parents may affect not the germinal material of the germ cell, but the general character of the cellular material, resulting in a general imperfection of offspring. Syphilis may affect the offspring in any of these ways and it should constitute a bar against mating. Great interest attaches to the inheritance of such conditions as insanity, epilepsy, and feeble-mindedness. These may be due to conditions which are acquired and are not inheritable, but when due to a congenital imperfection of the nervous material they are inheritable to a high degree. These diseases are of such enormous social importance in increasing the number of defectives which burden a state that mating among them should be forbidden. Certain states have passed laws requiring the sterilization of males and females so affected, but it is difficult to have such laws carried out, and they are opposed to the moral sense of the people. Segregation with separation of the seves is much more desirable but in 35° A B 30° 25° 20° C (C. North) Horn Isafjor Breidy Ed. Stykkishob Hunafloi Skaga Fl. C Faxa Fd. REYKJAVIK C.Reykjanes 60 Akurey CELAN Djupirogur PC.Langanes Mt.Hekla Sevdisfjord EUROPE 4 WESTERN PART SCALE OF STATUTE MILES STROMO 200 300 400 50 100 FAROE SCALE OF KILOMETERS ISLANDS (Den.) 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Marino Krajova OU Florence Kragushevacz Livorno Saralevo R Spalato Mostar Perugia Krusheva LGARIA Grosseto Bastia Novibazaro Nish ATICSE CORSICA Ascol Matkovitz SLAVIAY Aquila Civitavecch Chieti Ajace Ragusa 7 Detings Tiber R Velletri ROME Prisrend Strait of Bonifacio Campobasso Uakupo Skutar Sassari • Casertan Okhrida Foggia Claeta Naples M. Vesuulus Brindiste of Naples Salerno Potenza Taranto Terranova BA Barl Monastir Seres SARDINIA B. Bera Otranto/ TERR TYRRHENIAN Oristano (Libanoyoo Saloniki Lauriat Gulf of Otranto-2 Aviona Cagliari Konitza Miroly mpиз 40 Castrovillario Taranto SEA Janina Laricea CORFU C. Spartivento Trikkala Cosenza o TONIAN Rossano Arta IONIAN Palermo Catanzaro Palmi Trapani Messina it.ctra Str. of Messina SEA Reggio CEPHALONIA Patras SICILY LY Girgenti Caltanise ZAN A Catania Bizerta Pyrgos Argo 8 GEAN SE C.Bon Bone Syracuse Sparto Terranova Kalamata TUNIS PANTELLARIA I. C. Passero C. Gallo C. Matapan Susa Fairw CERIGO MALTA Br. Caneno N CRETE Sfax KERKENA IS. 35 Z SEA G. of Cabes Shott el Ferid Cabes A 9 TRIPOLI T Lebda Derna Gulf of Sidra TRIPOLI Tokra PARCA Benghaz from 10 ° Greenwich J 15° 20 L K cluding windings 2,400 miles. Into the Mediterranean flow the Ebro, the Rhône, and the Po; into the Black Sea, the Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, and Don (through the Sea of Azov); into the Atlantic, the Guadalquivir, the Guadiana, the Tagus, and Loire; into the English Channel, the Seine; into the North Sea, the I the Rhine, Elbe; into the Baltic, the Oder, the Vistula, and the Duna; into the Arctic Ocean, the Dwina. The lakes of Europe may be divided into two groups, the southern and northern. The former run along both sides of the Alps, and among them, on the N. side, are the lakes of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Thun, Lucerne, Zürich, and Constance; on the S. side, Lago Maggiore, and the lakes of Como, Lugano, Iseo, and Garda. The northern lakes extend across Sweden from W. to E., and on the E. side of the Baltic a number of lakes, stretching in the same direction across Finland on the borders of Russia, mark the continuation of the line of depression. It is in Russia that_the largest European lakes are found-Lakes Ladoga and Onega. Geology. The geological features of Europe are exceedingly varied. The older formations prevail in the northern the southern half part as compared with and the middle region. N. of the latitude of Edinburgh and Moscow there is very little of the surface of more recent origin than the strata of the Upper Jura belonging to the Mesozoic period, and there are vast tracts occupied either by eruptive rocks or one or other of the older sedimentary formations. Denmark and the portions of Germany adjoining belong to the Cretaceous period, as does also a large part of Russia between the Volga and the basin of the Dnieper. Middle and eastern Germany with Poland and the valley of the Dnieper present on the surface Eocene formations of the Tertiary period. Europe possesses abundant stores of those minerals which are of most importance to man, such as coal and iron, Great Britain being particularly favored in this respect. Coal and iron are also obtained in France, Belgium and Germany. The richest silver ores are in Norway, Spain, the Erzgebirge, and the Harz Mountains. Spain is also rich in quicksilv ilver. Copper Copper ores are abundant in the Ural Mo , Corn- Mountains, Thuringia wall, and Spain. Tin ores are found in Cornwall, the Erzgebirge, and Brittany. Climate. Several circumstances concur to give Europe a climate peculiarly genial, such as its position almost wholly within the temperate zone, and the great extent of its maritime boundaries. Much benefit is also derived from the fact that its shores are exposed to the warm marine currents and warm winds from the S. W., which prevent the formation of ice on most of its northern shores. The eastern portion has a less favorable climate than the western. The extremes of temperature are greater, the summer being hotter and the winter colder, while the lines of equal mean temperature decline S. as we go E. Vegetable Productions. With respect to the vegetable kingdom Europe may be divided into four zones. The first, or most northern, is that of fir and birch. The birch reaches almost to North Cape; the fir ceases a degree farther S. The cultivation of grain extends farther N. than might be supposed. Barley ripens even under the 70th parallel of N. latitude; wheat ceases at 64° in Norway, 62° in Sweden. Within this zone, the southern limit of which extends from lat. 64° in Norway to lat. 62° in Russia, agriculture has little importance, its inhabitants being chiefly occupied with the care of reindeer or cattle, and in fishing. The next zone, which may be called that of the oak and beech, and cereal produce, extends from the limit above mentioned to the 48th parallel. The Alps, though beyond the limit, limit, by by reason of their elemoister vation belong to this zone, in the parts of which cattle husbandry has been brought to perfection. Next we find the zone of the chestnut and vine, occupying the space between the 48th parallel and the mountain chains of southern Europe. Here the oak still flourishes, but the pine species become rarer. Rye, which characterizes the preceding zone on the Continent, gives way to wheat, and in the southern portion of it to maize also. The fourth zone, comprehending the southern peninsula, is that of the olive and evergreen woods. The orange flourishes in the southern portion of it, and rice is cultivated in a few spots in Italy and Spain. Animals. As regards animals the reindeer and polar bears are peculiar to the N. Bears and wolves still inhabit the forests and mountains; but, in general, cultivation and population have expelled wild animals. Inhabitants.- Europe is occupied by several different peoples or races, in many parts now greatly intermingled. The Celts once possessed the W. of Europe from the Alps to the British Islands. But the Celtic nationalities were broken by the wave of Roman conquest, and the succeeding invasions of the Germanic tribes con completed their political ruin. At the present day the Celtic the Scotch language is spoken only in in Highlands (Gaelic), in some parts of Ireland (Irish), in Wales (Cymric), and in Brittany (Armorican). Next to the "Suppliants," "Ion," Hercules Furens," 'Andromache," "Troades," "Electra," "Helena," "Iphigenia Among the Tauri," "Orestes," "Phœnissæ," "Bacche," "Iphigenia at Aulis," and "Cyclops."