What is eugenics? / by Leonard Darwin.

  • Leonard Darwin
Date:
1928
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: What is eugenics? / by Leonard Darwin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    99/104 page 87
    I SELECTION IN MARRIAGE 87 ultimate efíects may be good. Probably it is best to say that they should be discouraged, but not condemned. More knowledge will throw more light on this difficult question. One general rule can, however, now be laid down; and this is that, if a person seems likely to transmit any evil quality to his descendants, the first question to decide is whether he or she ought to refrain from marriage. In coming to a decision, no thought ought to be given as to who is to be the other party to the marriage. This is because, as we have seen, the race will in the long run be injured rather than benefited by mating good stock to bad. To give up marriage out of a sense of duty may require great moral courage and may involve a great sacrifice. Before deciding that such a sacrifice ought to be made, a few other points should be considered. Good qualities as well as bad should always be given full weight in the balance—a point often forgotten. Then, again, a childless marriage is sometimes justifiable. Lastly, when there is much doubt as to the probability of the harmful qualities of the ancestors reappearing in the children, marriage with a very small family may be the right course to take. The question whether a medical certificate should always be obtained before marriage has often been raised, generally in connection with venereal diseases. These terrible maladies are not now under consideration, and no opinion bearing on them will here be expressed. It would, however, in any circumstances be objectionable if doctors were to be placed in such a position that they could abso¬ lutely prohibit a marriage. On the other hand, it would be advantageous if before marriage each party had to certify that he or she was free from certain diseases, and had never either been certified as a lunatic or mentally defective, or had been in prison, or previously married, or divorced. ГиД particulars should be given when such a certificate could not be signed, and severe punishment enforced for false statements. Such certificates would be to some extent a safeguard, but would be even more useful in calling atten¬ tion to these subjects.
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image