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_ CHARACTERISTICS, PHYSICAL DEFICIENCIES,
__ DEFORMITIES, Erc., Erc., Erc. |
H. W. PALMER,
LOCK-BUX 432, CHICAGO.
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_ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by
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2
INTRODUCTION.
In the study of Nature and natural phenomena,
from the humblest plant and tiniest infusoria to
the giants of the forest and man himself, we learn
what the unaided Bible and religion has never
been able to teach us, that whereas this world
has been in verity a ‘vale of tears,” its ultimate
design was for a very Paradise of joy.
We find, then, in our studies of this vast uni-
verse, that, from the highest to the lowest, all
things have a design of marvelous perfection, and
are governed by laws that admit of ‘no varia-
tion nor shadow of turning.” We find, also, that
what has been called “sin ” and “ evil” with their
concomitants, the sorrows, darkness and miseries
of life, have been born of want of conformity to
pre-existing laws, and cradled and nurtured in
perpetual disobedience. On the one hand, then,
plainly we have success, prosperity and happiness,
‘
801894
8 The Laws of feredity.
the result of obedience to law; upon the other,
failure, disappointment, sorrow and misery, the
result of disobedience of law.
We see around us every day, whirling on
through life, side by side, joy and sorrow, opulence
and poverty, power and weakness, knowledge
and ignorance, drunkenness and temperance, vice
and virtue, beauty and ugliness, love and hate; a
multitude of mortals so like and yet so unlike,
and have wondered what mysterious dispensation
overshadowed man’s genesis, and has pursued
him through life so partially.
For centuries upon centuries has the cry of the
suffering of all nations gone up to Baal, to Dagon,
to Jove, to Buddah, to Allah, and Mohammed,
his prophet—to Heaven, for relief; and still the
miseries of life abound, unchecked, and wrapped in
mystery, while generation after generation rush on
blindly and unwarned to meet the same fate that
myriads have met before, and thus make the sum
total of the world’s unhappiness. It would be
wholly unnatural for the thoughtful mind of to-day
to view the vast difference in human character ex-
7 »
>,
The Laws of Heredity. 9
hibited around in the world and not ask the ques-
tion, Why zs zt so? How does it happen that one per-
son from the very cradle is pure and noble and
good, while another under similar circumstances is
impure, ignoble and bad? How often have we
been amazed at seeing a child arise out of ahome
of ignorance and wretchedness, and often of vice,
who in after years became celebrated for its good
and virtuous life. Nor have we been less aston-
ished at seeing children of the most pious parents,
who had “trained them in the way they should
go,” descend step by step down to depths of the
most shocking depravity, although many and loving
arms were stretched out to save them, and many
prayers ascended to Heaven for Divine interfer-
ence in their behalf. The prayers ascended, and
tears were shed, still the human being was _ lost.
Is it not time, then, after centuries of fruitless en-
deavor to subdue appetites and passions in their
maturity, to cast about for some means to strangle
them in their incipiency? Prayers are useful and
tears are commendable, but they are not the
remedy for many of the evils that so sorely afflict
10 The Laws of Fleredity.
humanity, as two thousand years’ experience has
abundantly shown. Physical laws rule in the
material universe, and as long as our happiness
and well-being here depends upon their proper
administration, let us seek to understand their
operation, and harmonize ourselves to their work-
ings. Then will we be in a condition to worship
the Infinite with praise and thanksgiving that
there was a method to obtain happiness and joy
within our reach. I do not in the least wish to
disparage the use of prayer; by it, no doubt, the
soul is purified and made better. But what I wish
to urge is, that the laws governing material forces,
experience has taught us, it is zof designed to in-
fluence. A single anecdote will illustrate this.
Some years ago two ships set sail from Liverpool
in the same direction and bound for the same des-
tination, viz.,the South Sea Islands. The one
was secretly built fora pirate craft, and manned
by pirates; the other was filled with missionaries.
The one on a voyage of pillage and murder; the
other on a mission of mercy, with tidings from
Heaven. The pirates had constructed their ves-
The Laws of Heredity. il
sel in the best possible manner. The missionary
_ ship was an old merchantman, and in many points
~ unseaworthy. As they neared the equator a furi-
ous storm arose, in which the missionary ship
went to pieces with the loss of all on board. The
pirate vessel, however, proudly and bravely rode
through the storm, and came out wholly un-
harmed. Now, what lesson do these facts teach?
It is this: Whereas the pirates were punished, no
doubt, for laws which they afterward violated,
they were zo¢ punished for the one they obeyed,
viz., the law of safety; while the missionaries were
punished for the one they violated, also of safety,
although perhaps entirely ignorant of their ship’s
condition; so inflexible are nature’s laws.
The progress and advancement during the last
half century has been the wonder and admiration
of the entire civilized world. ‘Thoughtful men
pause to inquire why this great change. Why
have fifty years done more for the world than
thousands did before? ‘The answer is, Science is
born. By a comparison of those ages before the
birth of physical science with those since, a pretty
a
a2 The Laws of Feredity.
just estimate can be formed of the actual blessing
it has been and is becoming to the world. Dur-
ing those dark ages, before science began to be
studied and the true nature and cause of phe-
nomena understood, the people were at the mercy
of an ignorant and dishonest priesthood, who held
them in utter subjection by dire threats of fost.
mortem punishments, as senseless as they were un-
real. ‘The few avenues to knowledge were closed
by law. The people’s time was wholly occupied
in furnishing support to a multitude of lecherous
princes, nobles and priests, who fattened in indo-
lence upon the hard-earned substance of their help-
less subjects, who were allowed no time for culture,
but were kept in constant subjection by the super-
- stitions of the age, fostered by those who claimed
_to be the natural custodians of their present and
future welfare. Even physicians, who were re-
quired to treat their bodily infirmities, were pro-
hibited from investigating the causes upon which
these physical ills depended. Pope Boniface VIII.
issued a bull threatening extreme punishment to
any who dared to dismember the human body,
oe
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rey y abs
The Laws of Fleredtty. 13
and thus anatomical and physiological investiga-
tion was stopped, so far as the church, at least,
could stop them. For centuries did the Church
hold omnipotent control of the affairs of the world,
nor were its shackels broken which enslaved men,
both body and soul, until the period of the Ref-
ormation, when men began to feel, at least, as if
their intellects and bodies were their own; and, as
they had to suffer for their ills, they ought by
right to have a voice in their management. Dur-
ing these dark periods, vice, the result of perverted
physical law, had full sway, and the people groaned
in helpless misery beneath its heavy weight. For
centuries has the Church labored most assiduously
to pry into the secrets of eternity, and interpret
the character of Omnipotence, entirely unmindful
of the affairs of time, and apparently forgetful
that the evils it refers to the future for adjustment
are due alone (as we shall see) to the inharmo-
nious workings of physical laws here.
Had God’s revelation, as recorded in the great
book of Nature, been studied one-half as diligently
and long as that recorded in the Bible has, who can
2
14 The Laws of Heredity.
estimate the benefit the world would have received
to-day? The beautifully illustrated volume is being
studied by competent, eager students now, however,
and joy and gladness is experienced as each new
leaf of the earth’s rocky strata is turned, and its
lessons unfolded. No strife, nor bloodshed, nor
martyrdom, nor bigotry, nor superstition, nor in-
tolerance there, but instructive, useful lessons of
what the great Creative Energy has done in the
long eons of the past, besides rich promises for
humanity and all creatures in the future. It is
indeed inexplicable that those who study nature
and natural laws should be so persistently accused
by the religious teachers of the world of unbelief,
infidelity, irreligion. ‘How can there be a more
faithless kind of infidelity than to believe that God
has written a lie all over the folded leaves of the
earth’s rocky strata,—all across the starry glories
of the sky? Does the study which thus intro-
duces the creature into the very mind and plan of
the Creator tend to unbelief, infidelity, irreligion?”
“ Shall we believe that all the grand and harmoni-
ous devices of nature are the songs of a siren to
The Laws of Heredity. IS
lead us to the devil, or shall we believe that they
are the hymns of angels to lead us to God?”
The antagonism between religion and science is
a fact much tobe lamented. They have mutually
hated each other, and from the first have been
arrayed the one against the other; whereas, in
truth they should have been allies in accomplishing
the great work of man’s deliverance from the evils
that constantly beset his pathway, and the sorrows
_ that darken his life. When man can be made to
fully comprehend the fact that most, if not all, the
so-called “‘ sins” of life are due to the manner of
physical construction; that the various appetites
and passions which have been the cause of so
much sorrow in the world, are the result of inhar-
monious physical laws. ‘Then they will seek for
the remedy where it really is——in those same
governing laws. From whence comes the temp-
tation of the inebriate? A desire to gratify a phys-
ical appetite, and from its gratification often
springs murder, arson, and a long list of crimes.
Why does the appetite for strong drink differ in
different individuals, being but slight in one and
ie
Se eee
7
16 Lhe Laws of Fleredity.
overmastering in another? Is it due toa defective
spiritual or physical nature? Why is one individ-
ual a drunkard, another*a glutton, another licen-
tious, another a natural thief, another a natural
liar, another a fiend in human shape, etc., etc.,
while another is temperate, and another pure
minded, and another honest, honorable and worthy?
Is it not true that a man may be an inebriate and
still honest and honorable in his dealings with his
fellow men? Is it not also true that a man may
be grossly licentious, and yet temperate in all
things else? In fine, does not mankind present a_
great variety of characteristics, appetites and pas-
sions? And from these alone proceed, nine-tenths
of what is termed the wickedness and follies of
life. And are they not all purely physical, and
belong to the animal body alone? We shall see.
The question of moral accountability arises here,
but we have no controversy with theology. We
are trying to discover facts as they exist, and why
nature has dealt so partially with her intelligent
subjects. We are told that “no drunkard shall
enter the Kingdom of Heaven,’ and yet know as
Te. Car
Sina
Gola, Foeide tne 1 ele oS el ei |
pes Tee —
ra
The Laws of Fleredity. 17
I shall show in these pages, that every drunkard
is such because of an inherited appetite for strong
drink. Now who, for this cause, shall be kept out
of the kingdom of Heaven? ‘The man upon whom
the appetite has fallen without either his knowl-
edge or consent, and which wrecked his life here,
or the parent who, unintentionally and unknow-
ingly was the cause of the curse. What is true
of drunkenness is also true of licentiousness, klep-
tomania, avarice, and so on through the whole
long list.
The matter of personal responsibility, upon due
reflection, seems to resolve itself thus: If appe-
66
tite, passions and other “sin ’’-producing agen-
cies are the result of a physical conformation
whereby the spiritual part of man is manifested to
the external world in a distorted manner, resulting
in what we term wrong, then why make the
spirit, which of itself has done no wrong, the
eternal sufferer? Nature, it seems plain, if we
will pause and consider, has justly settled the
matter with her ever present, inflexible laws.
The body has “sinned” (that is, has been con-
18 The Laws of Heredity.
structed in a manner which cannot endure) and
must a@ze. Nature returns the imperfect back
again to its original elements, and tries again for a
better construction, which, if not obtained, will be
returned again, and so on. ‘ Dust thouart (body)
and unto dust shalt thou return,” and that ends
the matter so far as appetite, passion and all that
belongs to the body are concerned. In a word, a
perfect mental or spiritual nature can- only be
manifested through a perfect physical body; hence
the great importance of a thorough understanding
of the physical laws governing human construc-
tion. Before the light of physical science began
to illumine the pathway of man and render tang-
ible many objects heretofore almost obscured by
the fogs of ignorance and superstition, the wildest
ideas were entertained concerning the simplest
phenomena, and the most extravagant notions
promulgated as absolute and final truths. Science
is indeed the ‘tree of knowledge,” the fruit of
which is opening the eyes of man to behold the
secrets of the gods.
We need now no longer tremble at the rolling
ee A Sa ee ee ne PG ey en, re ee ete uM ea
Z ~] EN ee 8 - " © ¥ * 4 A
The Laws of Heredity. 1g
thunders, nor offer human sacrifices to propitiate
an angry God; nor need we witness the shocking
spectacle,at which a pagan would blush to-day, of
learned” judges and clergymen with the Bible
in their hands as authority, sitting in judgment
upon poor, helpless, deformed old women, and
condemning them as witches to the flames. Lord
Hale, one of England’s most celebrated judges for
long years, instructed the jury, ‘‘ That there are
such creatures as witches he made no doubt at
all. For, first, the Scriptures had affirmed so
much; secondly, the wisdom of all nations had
provided laws against such persons, which is an
argument of their confidence of such a crime.”’
The jury, accordingly, found a verdict of guilty,
and the poor unfortunate person was executed.
When Galileo, as the result of patient observa-
tion and experiment, affirmed the truth of the
-rotundity and revolution of the earth, the Pope of
Rome, the highest ecclesiastic in the world, issued
a proclamation declaring ‘‘ such a doctrine to be a
damnable heresy, calculated to overthrow Christi-
anity,”’ when at the same time he, together with
20 The Laws of Heredity.
all the faithful of the church, were being whirled
through space at the rate of over one thousand
miles an hour upon a round and revolving world.
But that is past, and the great book of Nature
is now spread out before us, and we are rapidly
learning z¢s pages, which teach us that henceforth
joy and gladness will reign in this beautiful world.
To rid the mind of superstitious folly is of the
first importance in the search after truth, and accept
only that which is proved or capable of being
proved to be true. We are not old enough in
knowledge to rid the mind of all its early super-
stitions; besides there seems to be in us all a desire
to turn with awe to anything approaching the
marvelous. Still if the truth sought is ever found
we must search for it honestly, and ‘ hew to the
line, let the chips fall where they will.”
The age of miracle is long past. The existence
of “‘wonders” terminates when the cause of phe-
nomena can be explained. We stand to-day upon
a broad platform of facts, many of them under-
stood, all capable of a rational solution. Enough
of the rubbish of superstition and error has been
Res Sa 5) 9,
Lhe Laws of Heredity. 21
cleared away already to see the path, and to con-
vince us that if we are to reap joys our own hand
must hold the sickle. ‘Time, patience and inde-
fatigable labor will do the rest—will usher in the
joyful millenium.
The facts, then, broadly stated as we see them,
are these: Mind and matter are co-extensive and
eternal; a circle having no beginning and no end-
ing. They are subject to and governed by cer-
tain invariable expressions arising out of the
necessities of substance, which we denominate
laws. Arising, as they do, from the necessities of
substance to obtain form or place, laws belonging
~ to natural bodies are of necessity immutable,
and cannot change or vary unless the substance
to which they belong be first destroyed. Sub-
stance we know to be indestructible, therefore the
laws that govern it are imperishable. The law of
gravitation had its origin in the time the first
atoms sought a common center, and will continue
to exist as long as there are atoms to gravitate.
All bodies are formed from atoms composing a
definite number of elements, their difference being
2 FIR ge Ry, is ty ae EE) A Cn, ae Sn a
22 The Laws of Heredity.
the result of the elements employed and their
arrangement. Sometimes a mere change in the
atomic arrangement will change the entire char-
acter of the body. ‘The conversion of water into
ice changes its form, but not its essential charac-
ter. Whereas exactly the same number of atoms
of carbon and hydrogen in one instance will pro-
duce the oil of turpentine, and in another the oil
of roses, and in another the oil of bergamot, etc.
This strange behavior of elements is termed.
Isomerism, and such bodies Isomeric. In archi-
tecture the same pile of bricks becomes a palace
or pavement according as they are arranged. So
in nature’s architecture the same elements become
in the one case a horse, in another a bird, in
another man. In nature the same causes pro-
duce the same effects every time. Change the
conditions, establish a new law, and behold a new
species. ‘The same general principle of construc-
tion runs through all the animal creation. a
24 The Laws of [eredity.
this peculiar matter have a certain independence
of movement they had not before. They no
longer cling to the rocks or lie helpless at the bot-
tom of the sea, receiving such sustenance as the
waves may chance to wash through their porous
bodies, but go now independently in search of
their food. As we ascend further in the scale we
observe the animal to be possessed of an organiza-
tion whereby it not only can go in search of food,
but is so constructed that it can store up more
than sufficient for the moment’s needs.
Finally, step by step, the grade of organization
becomes better and higher, until man is reached,
where we find the best and completest yet attained.
As we ascend the scale we see a larger and
larger amount of the peculiar gray and white
matter spoken of, and in proportion to the amount
of this kind of matter existing in the organization
do we discover a more independent animal, and
one possessed of greater resources. We also notice
that this gray and white matter forms a special
organ by themselves, which is the encephalon, or
brain. The study of this organ reveals it to be
ee ee
The Laws of Heredity. 25
of vast importance to the whole animal structure.
By a further study we also find that the gray
matter of the animal brain bears a constant rela-
tion to the degree of intelligence possessed by that
animal, and that man, the highest in the scale,
possesses the largest amount of all.
We learn, then, from comparative examina-
tions, that whereas man does not possess as large
a brain as some of the lower animals, for example,
the elephant and whale, his brain contains a much
larger amount of the gray matter than either; and
knowing him to be the highest in the order of in-
telligence, we most naturally associate the gray
matter of the brain with the intellectual vigor of
the animal. If further evidence were wanting to
show the dependence of intellect upon the gray
matter of the brain, it is found in the fact that in
old age, when the intellectual powers are noticed
to decline, the gray matter has become less in a
proportionate degree. From these facts, then,
we conclude that whatever mind may be in itself,
it is wholly dependent upon a peculiar form and
special arrangement of material substance for its
we ee GS nt Ey ee a ae Gk NN ae, Mott Sear ae eek Game ere a “elie ee me: Fe Q
a) , : ir pepellit Sh te), Se ne, A Se ie Sie ey oe
26 The Laws of fleredity.
slightest manifestation to the external world. That
the vast variety exhibited by the human race of
traits and characteristics, both good and bad, of
appetites, passions—in fact, of everything whatso-
ever manifested—owe their difference simply to
physical organization and construction. ‘The vast
importance of the brain in the human economy is
shown by the fact that a disturbance of its sub-
stance by accident or disease produces physical,
mental or moral manifestations, often of the most
startling and melancholy character.
In the following chapters, then, I shall endeavor
to show, 1st, That the physical world is governed
by fixed, invariable, unchangeable laws, which are
the best arrangement that possibly could be,
having arisen themselves out of the necessities of
matter in its ceaseless changes toward a higher
and better condition. Sometimes a law is inter-
‘fered with, as in the advancement of some species,
and nature restores harmony by the extinction of
the species. Only best conditions out of which
proceed best results can succeed. 2d. That ab-
solute. and unconditional conformity to existing
The Laws of Heredity. 24
laws is necessary in every department of the ma-
terial universe. As physical laws cannot conform
to man, man must conform to them; any failure
in this is followed by swift and certain punishment.
A full comprehension of this fact will tend to
make men careful, and save a multitude of sorrows
and useless regrets. 3d. A ‘‘good” life is the
result of a perfectly balanced physical, wherein all
parts work in harmony; while a “bad” life (one
of crime and evil) is the result of a defective
organization—that is, a different arrangement of
the material atoms through which the mind mani-
fests itself. For example, moulten metal run into
moulds of different shapes, will appear perma-
nently in the form of the mould it was run into.
4th. That the various appetites, passions, traits,
characteristics, etc., of an individual, proceed from
a similar condition of its progenitors, during the
process of pre-natal construction. In other words,
that the child at birth (barring disease and acci-
dent) represents exactly the maternal parent dur-
ing the period of its intra-uterine construction.
5th. That at the birth of a child all the possibili-
28 The Laws of Heredity.
ties of the future are there awaiting development.
Nothing can be created in it afterwards. Facul-
ties there may be developed or kept from devel-
oping, but cannot be there created nor destroyed,
All it possesses and is it drew from its maternal
parent, and represents her as she was at that per-
iod. 6th. External influences of sufficient power,
acting through the maternal mind, though of
themselves temporary, are capable of being repro-
duced as permanent in the organic constitution of
the offspring. That were it possible for a mother
to be kept in profound slumber during the period
of gestation, a child’s body would be born like
hers, but with no manifestation of a mental. Men-
tal traits, characteristics, appetites, passions, etc.,
are due to impressions received by the maternal
mind, and transmitted to the offspring, reappear-
ing in it in after life as permanent. 7th. That a
competent knowledge of the laws governing hu-
man genesis, and the descent of traits, character- ’
istics, appetites, passions, etc., will eventually rid
the world of evil, misfortune and sorrow, and fill
it with joy and gladness, by giving man a per-
The Laws of Heredity. 29
fectly constructed physical, from which arises a
perfect mental and moral being, such as shall fit
him for the companionship of the angels and of
God.
CHAPTER I.
MIND AND MATTER.
There are commonly reckoned in the universe
two forms of existence— Mind and Matter. And
although it may not at all times be a matter of
easy demonstration that they are entirely separate
and independent of each other, still, for all prac-
tical purposes as regards our present subject, they
may be so considered. Mind, then, taken sepa-
rately, may be said to be the intellectual or intel-
ligent power in man; hence, soul, spirit, etc., are
only other names for the same thing. Locke, and
many of the metaphysicians of his time, considered
mind, or soul, as a substance. Locke remarks,
‘Spirit is a substance in which thinking, knowing,
doubting, and a power of moving do subsist.”
30 The Laws of Fleredtty.
But later psychologists consider that view an
erroneous one, and prefer regarding mind as a
force which, like other forces, is capable of acting
upon matter. Among the ancients it was consid-
ered the breath, the life of man, which, when ab-
sent the body was dead. ‘“ Life,” says Spinosa,
‘is but an expression of a common ‘substance,’ and
this substance is the all—isGod.” ‘“ There are,”
says Descartes, ‘‘ three substances,—God, Thought,
Matter. In the first have the others their exist-
ence. Manis a compound of thought and matter,
man is not God, but is in and of God. ‘“ Man,”
says Socrates, ‘is the measure of all things; yet
he is an Ego within an Ego, a universal. A part
may not act in itself, but only asa whole.’’ Mind
has been defined as the immortal part of being,
that is capable of existing after its connection with
the body is severed. It is made up of certain
faculties, such as reason, memory, etc., by which it
is claimed we are distinguished from the brutes.
But late investigations of naturalists have shown
that most animals, especially of the higher types,
are possessed in a greater or less degree of the
~* ‘ N —< ae -_ Teas *- »] on Pe
a oe ee rs A Te es
PR Mere Ap ey Re ane
The Laws of Heredity. 31
power of both reason and memory; in fact, most
of the evidences of mind possessed by man, only
in a lesser degree. As we have seen, there are
considered but two forms of existence at all.
Then whatever is not matter must be mind,
wherever found; and mind, like matter, is known
to us by certain manifestations. Now, when we
see in the lower animals manifestations of what we
call mind in the human, is it not the exercise of
good sense, at least, to attribute such manifesta-
tions to the same cause? If memory, reason, love,
hate, fear, etc., in man springs from mind, how
are we to resist the conclusion that they also
spring from the same source in the brute? The
minutest examination and closest investigation into
the nature of the higher animals, at least in all
that is capable of an examination, fails to reveal
the slightest difference of kind, only of form and
degree. As we have heretofore seen, the same
effects are due to the same causes wherever found;
therefore when we see distinctive faculties in
brutes which belong alone to what is called mind
in man, we do violence to our better judgment to
Pe ET oh eg om Lae uae oe Wo emacr bs a) OR RAE Meee gle nlf Sa ROR ga | OO NA ss ga Cea ee
Waree ry ere Be De al ‘ { " pei See * PEM ah ae he Ts
32 The Laws of Heredity.
attribute them to anything other than mind in the
brute also. From whatever source, then, that
mind may proceed, it belongs to all animals alike,
and for the same evident purpose, differing in its
manifestations only as the degrees of bodily organ-
ization may differ. As the origin and destiny of
mind in our present state of knowledge can only
at best be conjectural, and if we might, in common
with others, be allowed a conjecture, we should
say that the source of all mind is the Great Infi-
nite Spirit itself, which enters suitably organized
matter and becomes its living, moving power, with
the ultimate design of so perfecting matter in the
ceaseless rounds of evolution from the lower to the
higher, until a point shall be attained in which
matter will reach a marvelous degree of beauty
and perfection, eminently suited for the permanent
dwelling place of its creator and life. Nor does
this view seem less reasonable than the one that
a personal, divine intelligence should have created
a spirit for man, pure and perfect, and then placed
it where it was certain to become ruined, and
forever lost.
The Laws of Heredity. ae
Matter, in contradistinction from mind, is body; °
substance extended. Or, in a more philosophic
sense, the substance of which all bodies are con-
stituted. We apply the term matter to every-
thing that occupies space, or is capable of ex-
tension, or has length, breadth and thickness.
When any portion of matter is divided until di-
vision is no longer possible, the result is what is
termed atoms. ‘The union of homogeneous or
homologous atoms produces molecules, out of
which are constructed all bodies. Molecules
grouped in acertain manner give organization;
and a peculiar arrangement of organized matter
acted upon by force and set in motion, is life.
‘“ Body,” says Empedocles, ‘is but a mingling, and
then a separation of the mingled.” Nature isa
clay—a plastic. ‘To-day it represents a man, to-
morrow a stone. The world of phenomena is a
flowing river, ever changing, yet the same.
Mind and matter, then, whether considered as
separate entities or as but different expressions of
a common substance, so far as relates to the func-
tions of this life, are one and inseparable. The
34 The Laws of Fleredity.
- human body, without mind, is nothing; and mind,
without just the kind and arrangement of material
substance to be found in the animal body, so far
as we know (speaking physically ), is also nothing.
When the animal body is young and immature,
we find the mental faculties immature also.. As
the body advances in strength, so does the mind
in a proportionate degree. Develop more than
common a portion of the brain, wherein resides a
certain faculty, say of memory, and behold the
mental faculty becomes in proportion developed.
So, then, in view of these facts, it is pertinent to in-
quire, Are minds, then, of different kinds and de-
grees, created to suit the kind of body they are
to inhabit? or, is mind of ome kind throughout,
but obliged to manifest itself in accordance with
the peculiarities of physical construction?
It is here deemed sufficient to consider mind as
a unit, capable of various manifestations. To
treat separately, in these pages, reason, will, the
emotions, etc., would serve to confuse the general
reader, without adding anything to the knowledge
we seek to impart. When mind is manifested
~
SO ER de det yy tare) NSC RUE WEN On Sc Re ME ge ee
. da Se 2 A Bet Pe Reine ew, MOPS eae ae es | ee ae tos a
ne ere La a eR Oe ee Cee A ee ON BT ‘See ide) eee oe oe ls
‘Ad et 4 ts oe oh oS en Shae ; a>* i ¥ ; eeu
a * . 4 Tt - a ‘ .
i . se , = : - > . 7
The Laws of feredtty. 35
through a certain arrangement and proportion of
brain matter, we observe the phenomenon of
memory; when manifested through a different ar-
rangement of brain molecules, we have reason,
will, etc. The fact we particularly desire to im-
press upon the start is, that mental or moral mani-
festations, of whatsoever kind they may be, are
not due to the kind of mind, but wholly to the
kind and arrangement of the materials constitut-
ing the substance through which the mind acts or
manifests itself.
With this hasty glance at mznd and matter in
their apparent relation to each other, we will pro-
ceed to consider the influence they have over each
other, and first shall consider the influence of mat-
ter as a separate entity upon mind.
. eet oy, Gad NY ag mp ae Oe, SA A ee ee oe Sl ee Pad POR ta
‘ Pi PLL ele ee ee ata « ‘ x t
% ae ye ae yee pM; ye ear hee es a pane Evie Sty a
aie 2 fi . ? mee i 3? iy Se ie (hay WL
. : i taba big * Pr oe et
v => = - = We
30 The Laws of Heredity.
CHAPTER II.
INFLUENCE OF MATTER ON MIND.
If mind and matter have a separate existence,
representing in their union certain products, as
steam and the locomotive engine represent power,
it is reasonable to suppose that while together
they must exert certain influences the one upon
the other, and such we shall find to be the case.
Man is said to be in possession of five physical
senses, and through them the mind is capable of
being influenced by external, as well as objects
within the body itself. A horrible accident, by
which a mutilated object is presented to the sight,
may affect the mind in the most startling manner.
Fright at the appearance of some dangerous ob-
ject, as poisonous serpents, wild beasts or savages,
although only seen, has so powerfully affected the
mind as to produce instant death.
The sight of an approaching storm fills the mind
with awe, and often with terror, as we remember
The Laws of Heredity. aM
our helplessness in the presence of the mighty
forces of nature; while to witness a gorgeous sun-
set, with its lines of many-colored fire standing
out in bold relief upon the darker background,
and changing even as we behold them, “as if some
radiant angel had thrown aside his robe of light
as he flew, or left his smile upon the cloud as he
passed through the golden gates of Hesperus,” de-
lights the soul and leaves an impress upon the
mind which lasts far into the night, filling our
dreams with images of the beautiful.
Through the sense of hearing, evil tiding
may be conveyed to the mind, that has more than
once dethroned reason. Harsh, unpleasant sounds
distract the mind, while sweet, tender music fills
the soul with joy. So with the senses of smell
and taste, the mind becomes cognizant of the
character of external objects. The roses of June
convey a fragrance of delight, while through the
same sense many a partially reformed inebriate, in
passing the rum shop, has conveyed to the mind
the fact of the near proximity to the seductive
liquors, and from that sense dates his permanent
38 The Laws of Heredity.
downfall. The thrilling kiss of love penetrates
the mind and is recorded upon memory’s tablets,
while the touch of death, as we wipe the cold
damps from the brow of those we love, is never
forgotten. Meteorological changes often affect
the mind and fill it with unaccountable gloom.
Diseases of the body, especially those that are in-
curable, many times subject the mind’ of both pa-
tient and friends to great despondency. Certain
specific diseases cause mental aberration, frenzy
and suicide. Prof. Gross (System of Surgery,
Vol. II.) records the case of a gentleman, who had
been all his life a paragon of propriety and moral
excellence, who suddenly became immoral, licen-
tious and morally corrupt. He seemed to be
changed, however, only in one particular, and that
was from a virtuous life to one of abominable
licentiousness. No one could account for it.
Friends sorrowed, lainented and expostulated, but
in vain; his libidinous passions increased in fury
until he was a physical, mental and moral wreck.
Death finally closed the unhappy life and the un-
™ fortunate scene was hid inthe grave. During the
The Laws of fleredity. 39
continuance of this man’s melancholy condition
Prof. Gross was called to attend him. No treat-
ment, however skillfully applied, was of the least
service, and the eminent professor was greatly
puzzled. After the sad demise, a fost-mortem
examination, was requested and granted, which
revealed as the only thing abnormal the presence
of a small tumor about the size of a split pea,
situated within the cranium and pressing upon
that portion of the brain where phrenologists tell
us is located the organ. of amativeness. How
many examples of a similar nature might be enu-
merated had the opportunity for physical ex-
amination been extended, and how much blame
might have been shifted from the shoulders of the
‘evil one,” and that scapegoat for all “ original
sin,” by the discovery of what was wrong within
the cranial walls of him or her morally depraved.
Since the time of Gall, Combe and other pioneer
explorers of the brain mass, with a view of study-
ing its functions, many others have arisen who
have given valuable aid in this wonderful study.
Until their successful experiments and observa-
40 The Laws of Fleredity.
tions, nothing was known of the localization of dis-
tinctive faculties, as, for example, memory, which
appears to be located in the front part of the
cerebrum or front brain, and above the eye. The
cerebrum, or part of the brain wherein resides the
intellectual faculties, like the lungs, eyes, testes,
ovaries, etc., is double; that is, there are two sepa-
rate and distinct brains—each occupying one-half
of the cranial cavity. This is known from the
fact that one hemisphere, after death, has been
found completely atrophied,—that is, dried up and
wasted away,—while the other hemisphere was
sound and performing every duty required per-
fectly; so well was this accomplished that during
the life-time of the individual nothing was suspec-
ted of being wrong. I remember some years
since of attending a lad sixteen or seventeen years
of age, who had been kicked upon the head and
face by a shod horse, crushing in the forehead and
upper part of the face. A portion of the brain
over the left eye, as large as asmall pullet egg,
was torn out and lost. The lad made a good re-
covery, with no apparent mental change from his
The Laws of Fleredity. AI
former condition, except after the accident for two
or three years his memory was deficient. This
deficiency, however, in time passed away, the
other side of the brain performing the function of
memory for both, as well as usual. Mr. Baxter,
that excellent man who wrote the “ Saints’ Rest,”’
never dreamed as he inflicted a cruel torture upon
the weak-nerved of the world that he was merely
expressing the sentiments of a confirmed dyspep-
tic instead of a deep religious feeling. He not
only persisted in seeing, but wished others to see,
also, this beautiful world as a ‘vale of tears,”
such as “ poor fallen humanity ”’ were doomed to
walk in during their natural lives, and all because
“our first parents’? broke a commandment so
long ago. The wise Aristotle, over 300 years be-
fore the Christian era, exclaimed: ‘“ Nature ab-
hors a vacuum,” which, although the best answer
then to be had, in no wise accounted for the
phenomena witnessed, and was afterwards known
to be due to the simple pressure of the air. So
the sin of Prof. Gross’ patient was not nearly so
well accounted for by laying it to ‘“‘ Adam’s trans-
42 The Laws of Fleredity.
gression,’ as to the pressure of a tumor upon a
certain portion of the brain, changing tis function,
which was discovered after the unfortunate man’s
demise. But for that Zost-mortem examination,
and subsequent finding of the small tumor as the
real cause of the great change in the man’s life, it
would have been set down without question by
the orthodoxy of the day, to the ‘‘ wiles and over-
whelming temptations of Satan.” A blow upon
the head has been known in more than one in-
stance to change a man’s whole character, and
alter permanently his course in after life. Now,
as we have seen, nature does the same thing in
the same way every time, and for the same pur-
pose. So when we see a good character changed
to a bad one by a simple disturbance or change
in the brain matter, how are we to avoid the con-
clusion that a certain condition of brain matter of
an individual causes the mind to be manifested to
us as a “good man,” while an alteration of this
same matter, by accident or in the process of
natural construction, causes the mind to appear to
the external world as a “‘bad man.” Special at.
Raa See, ee os aa ow Oe Pe ey! woe, Se ee. ee A hd eS “> 8 Redsleresurt 2) > AA ~
ah Seer, Ay hy Ty ore, PN cS MS te IS IG ed ap ne ates ane DC .
oi AA Re ey vio w : Sieh pe Ome stele Sa i aca oh Pk o.
5 a oe WP 3 + elt st ae: a eds
ew & ees ae ae eae
ee th
2. > po
The Laws of Heredity. 43
tention is directed to these matters because they
are irresistible facts whose evidence, depends not
upon myth or superstition, but upon actual dem.
onstration, Sincerely believing that the ¢ruth
alone can make us free, and make all the crooked
places straight, We ‘cast our bread upon the
waters ” of intelligent thought, in full confidence
of a return of from “sixty to a hundred fold.”
The “ Saints’ Rest’? might be considered an
excellent diagnosis of a severe, protracted, chronic
dyspepsia, and all who had much experience with
this disease will bear witness of the extreme
mental despondency attending it, together with a
desire for death and a rest in the grave. The
poor dyspeptic, who is in no immediate danger,
is constantly harrassed by the thought that death
is at his door, while the really doomed con-
sumptive, who at best has but a short time to live,
is cheerful and full of hope, and will often tell you
within a few days—yea, a few hours of death,
what he intends to do the next year. We cannot
blame Mr. Baxter for wishing a rest under the
circumstances, but cannot exculpate him so readily
ean La AM ine, le RSS ST Sy hee oa yc Soe ae eh eae ae ey
. J . 5 ie ol See 4
44 The Laws of Heredity.
for desiring to force his despondency, due to
physical suffering, upon his fellow beings. How
impossible would it be for a man like Henry
Ward Beecher to enter into Mr. Baxter’s feel-
ings, who can eat a good dinner like a Christian,
and not feel like one of Fox’s martyrs for twenty-
four hours afterwards.
Without a further multiplication of examples
here, it will easily be seen that the influence of
body on mind is only such as may produce an in-
terruption or suspension of function which, when
the interruption occurs in the brain matter itself,
the result is often of the most melancholy char-
acter. The importance of a thorough knowledge
of the laws governing our physical nature cannot
be too often impressed upon every mind, nor of
the necessity of a suitable equilibrium being sus-
tained between all the members, for without it no
mind can manifest itself to the external world
otherwise than in a disordered manner. The im-
portance of a just comprehension of the influence
of the body over the mind, especially during ab-
normal physical states, will be more fully ap-
Ue aed ae
The Laws of Heredity. 45
preciated when we come to consider pre-natal hu-
man existence.
CHAPTER III.
THE INFLUENCE OF MIND UPON MAT.
TER; OR, THE MENTAL OVER
PHYSICAL FORCES.
‘¢¢ We read in Hindoo fable that the Soors and
Assoors, a race of genii, sat day and night churn-
ing the ocean to bring forth the Amreeta, the
waters of life. ‘The Soors sat upon one shore,
hurling the huge churn staff, and the Assoors sat
upon the other, catching it and hurling it back
again. ‘They were churning for the water of life,
which never came.’ The fabulist wrote for our
own time. The Soors and Assoors are not genii,
but men; and they churn not the ocean, but the
great sea of thought. Sitting upon opposite
shores of the sea, they churn to bring forth the
Amreeta; and, while many things irrelevant are
churned out,—many a white elephant, and many
FES A ee er ale! ee a ee eer eye
< a a a ee = we ey eae
46 The Laws of Heredity.
theories struck of the moon,—still the churning
goes on and the Amreeta must come—it is com-
ing.”’
We now come to speak of a wonderful subject,
indeed, the most wonderful and important in the
whole physical universe,—the influence of mind
upon matter, or the mental over the physical
forces. The influence of the mental over the
physical forces seems to be direct, while the in-
fluence of physical over mental forces are only
such as we might expect from the interruption
of function. The case of Prof. Gross, already
mentioned, of a small tumor pressing upon a cer-
tain portion of the brain, producing in the patient
a violent and continued satyriasis, illustrates the
latter. |
We find, then, first, that the mind of the human
being is capable of an unmeasured influence upon
the body to which it belongs, and is capable of
producing organic changes therein of the greatest
importance. Second, that the mind is capable
of acting upon other minds and organizations, and
at times seemingly irrespective of distance; and,
The Laws of Heredity. 47
third, that the mind of an exczente female is capa-
ble of acting through her organism upon the un-
born offspring, and of producing the most extra-
ordinary results therein. Familiar examples of
the mind’s action upon the body are to be found
in those cases where the human hair, from fright,
has been turned from a jet black to a snowy white.
Mr. Allan Pinkerton, the celebrated detective,
relates a case of ““a young man of nineteen years,
a tramp, who, in 1877, boarded the celebrated fast
train from New York to San Francisco, sent by
Jarrett and Palmer, and climbed to the top of the
car and sat down to enjoy a swift and easy ride.
Soon the engineer caught a glimpse of him, and
he at once opened wide the throttle and increased
the speed of the engine to its utmost. He show-
ered him with hot cinders, like sharp hail stones,
which cut into his arms and legs and burned his
clothes. The poor tramp had to cling with all
his might to the stovepipe to keep from falling
off, so badly did the swift-going cars sway from
side to side. When we reached Green river,
and the poor fellow was taken down more dead
48 The Laws of Fleredity.
than alive, his black hair was turning completely
white, and from fright.”
Prof. Carpenter tells a story (Physiology, sec.
124) of a mother who was standing at a window;
suddenly she sees at another window the sash fall
upon the fingers of her own infant. Three little
pink fingers are mashed and severed from the
hand. Three bleeding, mangled stumps are be-
fore her horrified eyes. But she is powerless to
help the child. A surgeon is called in and
dresses the sickening wounds. When he had
finished, he turns to behold the mother rocking
back and forth, moaning and complaining of a
severe pain in her hand. Within twenty-four
hours three of her fingers, corresponding to
those off from the hand of the infant, begin to
swell, become inflamed, and have to be lanced.
They go through the process common to wounds
produced by direct injury, although wholly un-
hurt except by the action of the mental forces un-
consciously directed to that spot.
The following is from Von Ammon: A car-
penter in a peasant’s house is set upon by a
The Laws of Heredity. 49
drunken soldier. The mother’s babe lies in the
cradle during the fight. It laughs, crows, and
kicks its limbs in glee, while its father is in the
peril of death. It understands nothing of the
nature of the fracas. ‘The mother at first: stands
petrified with terror, but recovering herself, she
rushes in between the combatants, seizes the sword
of the soldier and breaks it in pieces across her
knee. The neighbors, hearing the disturbance,
come to the rescue and take the soldier into cus-
tody, and the mother, in her excitement, snatches
up her healthful child and gives it natural food.
In five minutes the child dies—of poison; although
previously perfectly well. Now, what originated
the poison? Science tells us that the secreted
food of an infant becomes poison under temporary
and purely mental forces. This is not imagina-
tion, but a cool statement of established science
of what may and does often happen to human
milk under the influence of powerful emotional
excitement on the part of the mother. Dr. Car-
penter says: “ The secretion of saliva may be
suspended by strong emotion, a fact of which ad-
Re a ee ae hyo
Ao ie paayne
-SRews Pd
50 The Laws of Fleredity.
vantage is taken in India for the discovery of a
thief among servants of a family—each of them
being required to hold a certain amount of rice in
his mouth during a few minutes, and the offender
generally being distinguished by the dryness of
his mouthful.” (Mental Physiology, p. 678.)
“That the gastric secretion may be entirely sus-
pended by powerful emotion, clearly appears from
the experiments made upon animals. Mental
shocks (whether painful or pleasurable ) suddenly
dissipate the appetite for food, and suspend the
digestive process when in active operation.” (Ibid.
p- 678). It has, perhaps, been noticed by most
observant persons, that some extremely bashful
people excrete a peculiar ammoniacal odor from
theskin. Either fear or bashfulness, when strongly
excited in certain persons, has such an effect.
“There is no secretion,” says Carpenter, ‘‘ how-
ever, on the quality as well as the quantity of
which emotional states have so obviously an ef-
fect as they have on that of the milk.” This fact
is so well known in almost every household as to
-carcely require a passing notice.
at amr ly WEE alae
Teal te ee ES
The Laws of Fleredity. 51
Sir Astley Cooper states, as the result of ex-
tended and careful inquiries, ‘That a fretful
temper lessens the quantity of milk, makes it thin
and serous, and causes it to disturb the child’s
bowels, producing internal fever and griping.
Fits of anger produce very irritating milk. Grief
has a great influence over lactation, and conse-
quently upon the child. Anxiety of mind dimin-
ishes the quantity and alters the quality of milk.
Fear has a powerful influence on the secretion of
milk; apprehension of the brutal conduct of a
drunken husband will put a stop for a time to the
secretion of milk. Terror which is sudden, and
great fear, instantly stop the secretion.” (Coop-
er’s Lectures.) Prof. Carpenter asserts (Mental
Physiology) “that the mammary secretion may
acquire an actually poisonous character under the
influence of violent mental excitement.”
How often the following scene is witnessed: A
poor, overworked, half-sick mother, rocking the
cradle with her foot, in which lies a helpless in-
fant screaming with colic, while another, still
younger, lies across her arm, crying from the same
U. OF ILL. LIB.
52 The Laws of Heredity.
cause; her bread burning in the oven, and dinner
to be prepared for.a number of hungry working
men, besides a multitude of other duties only
known to the housewife, without a servant or
even a nurse girl to render assistance. Can we
wonder at the distracted creature flying to the
laudanum bottle, “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing
Syrup,” ‘ Godfrey’s Cordial,” or some other
death-dealing opiate to quiet the little ones, and
give her amoment’s relief? How is she to know,
poor soul, that her heated milk, from care and
overwork, is making suffering martyrs of her
babes? And yet they are to fill a niche in this
great universe; are to live lives for weal or woe.
She must be taught the nature and action of phys-
ical laws governing material bodies, and how to
live in harmony with nature; when peace will
arise out of confusion, and joy out of sorrow.
Nor is a knowledge of nature’s methods of rul-
ing this world less incumbent upon the father.
He must be made to fully comprehend the fact
that it is a thousand times better, and cheaper in the
end, to spend fifty dollars in securing servant help
fo Pet eS
Se > Nera
The Laws of Hleredtty. 53
for the worn wife, than fifty cents for opiate cordials
to stupefy their brains for the moment, and bring
sorrow and shame into his household in the days
to come.
Mr. Wardrop mentions in the Lancet, No. 516,
“That having removed a small tumor from
behind the ear of a mother, all went well until she
fell into a violent passion; and the child being
suckled soon afterwards, died in convulsions. He
was informed by Sir Richard Croft, that he had
seen many similar instances.” ‘‘ A highly intelli-
gent lady, known to Dr. Tuke, related to him,
that one day in walking past a public institution
she observed a child, in whom she was much inter-
ested, coming through an iron gate. She saw
that he let go of the gate after opening it, and
that it seemed likely to close upon him, and con-
cluded if it did so it would crush his ankle; how-
ever, this did not happen. ‘It was impossible,’
says she, ‘by word or act, to be quick enough;
and, in fact, I found I could not move, for such
intense pain came on in my ankle, corresponding
to the one which I thought the boy would have
54 The Laws of Heredity.
injured, that I could only put my hand on it to
lessen its extreme painfulness. I am sure I did
not move so as to sprain it. After a laborious
walk home of some half a mile, in taking off my
stockings, I found a circle round the ankle as if it
had been painted with red currant juice, with a
large spot of the same on the outer part. By
morning the whole foot was inflamed, and I wasa
prisoner to my bed for many days.’ (Influence of
Mind on Body, p. 260.) It will be observed that
all that is necessary to produce the most startling
physical effects, is to have the mind directed
sufficiently strong to some particular location; this
fact the reader will please bear in mind when we
come to consider pre-natal influences, or the influ-
ence of the maternal upon the unborn child. The
numerous examples of so-called miraculous
cures of disease has been shown by late science to
be simply the powerful influence of the mind on
the body exerted in some particular direction,
called by Prof. Carpenter ‘Expectant Atten-
tion.” The Negroes of the British West In-
dies carried their “‘Obeah” practices to such
a Qe? oat ue *, i ee et ek ee Oe ce ee ae. Fe 24.4 a oe eS 8 ee eo » a ae
Se eas LOE ae he Oe TD ee RM et eT ge See em a
= “Ut ' - < ¢ . ef ¥ é a: * ; , 5 4,
bes “* + > a. hi 4
The Laws of Heredity. cis
an extent that they had to be suppressed by law.
A slow pining away, ending in death, being the
not uncommon result of the fixed belief on the
part of the victim that ‘‘Obi” had been put upon
them by some old man or woman reputed as pos:
sessing the injurious power. So great, indeed,
was the dread of these spells, that the mere
threat of one party to a quarrel to put ‘‘ Obi”
upon the other was often sufficient to terrify the
latter into submission. And there is adequate
ground for the assertion that even among our own
countrymen, and the better instructed class, a fixed
belief that a mortal disease had seized upon the
frame, or that a particular operation or system of
treatment would prove unsuccessful, has been in
numerous instances the real occasion of a fatal
result. On the other hand, the same mental state
may operate beneficially in checking a morbid
action, and restoring a healthy state.
The confidence in the cure has often more to
do in the favorable results than the medicine used.
(Carpenter, p. 684). The “Metallic Tractors”
of Perkins, mesmerism of ‘ Prince Hohenlohe,”
56 The Laws of Heredity.
or of “ Dr.” Newton’s laying on of hands, or Dr.
Vernon’s commands, or of the zouave Jacob’s
tricks, to which some miraculous influence was
formerly attributed, are only the capacity for fix-
ing the attention and belief on the cure, and by
faith in the efficacy of the means employed.
The influence of the mental over the physical
forces has been recognized in all ages, and has
been made to subserve both good and evil ends.
The ignorant and superstitious element among
men, which by far has embraced the larger por-
tion of humanity, ought to thank God most
heartily for the gift of science to the world, the
power that is knocking off the shackles that bound
them so long to a slavery worse than death, which
caused them to be the helpless victims of their
wiser brethren, whose often unscrupulous use of
a knowledge of certain forces in nature has filled
the earth with sorrow and tears.
That this knowledge bears an ancient date may
be seen from the 5th chapter of Numbers, 11th to
31st verses. Moses indeed seems to have used his
knowledge of science, for the most part, at least,
al ie a] he a |. te See
— “
The Laws of Heredsty. 54
for the benefit of his people, which has not always
been the case with those that succeeded him.
The “ Bitter Water” mentioned here is an excel-
lent example of the way Moses managed those
Israelites who were suspected of marital infidelity,
whose proof positive was not to be had, preparing
the ordeal with the usual ‘“Thus saith the Lord.”
The plan invented in this and similar cases by
that most fertile brain of the great law-giver, did
admirably for the age in which he lived, and for
the people by whom he was surrounded, especially
as they originated from Moses, and were used for
the real good of his people.
The ‘ordeal,’ as may be seen by reference to
the chapter indicated, consisted of a number of
imposing and impressive religious ceremonies,
which were well calculated to most profoundly
impress the mind and fix the attention of the ac-
cused upon the result which was soon to follow,
especially if guilty; for they were taught from
early youth to believe that the ‘“ Ordeals” were
sent by the Lord, who was even then there before
them, although unseen, in the “‘ Holy of Holies”
58 The Laws of Heredity.
superintending the proceedings in person. The
result of this ‘“ ordeal” is just what might be ex-
pected from what we now know of the powerful
and often destructive influence the human mind
has over the body under similar circumstances.
Among the ordeals practiced by Moses, there
was none, perhaps, more formal and absolute than
that of the “ Bitter Water,” by which conjugal
infidelity was convicted and punished. ‘It is held
by Aben Ezra, and other Jewish commentators,
that the ashes of the golden calf which Moses
burnt, and caused the Israelites to drink the water
in which they were cast, was an ordeal similar to
that of the “ Bitter Water,” which in some way
revealed those who had been guilty of idolatry,
so that the Levites could slay them.”
It is clear, upon a moment’s reflection, that an
ignorant, superstitious people (for ignorance and
superstition go hand in hand), who had been
slaves for generations, and in whom physical vices
alone had been cultivated, could not be ruled for
good in any other than a stern, uncompromising
manner. ‘Their traditions had kept alive a knowl-
The Laws of Fleredtty. 59
edge of a Supreme Being, a Jehovah, who sat in
majesty and power, who deigned to speak to them
only through Moses, and who knew their every
secret thought. Their Jehovah wasa god of war,
and delighted in sacrifices and blood offerings.
He was hard to please, full of anger, and visited
judgments upon the disobedient without. stint.
They knew nothing of a “ God of Love,” nor
would they have cared for such a one, or obeyed
him. The ‘God of Love” is a being of later
times, a creation of refined and cultivated taste.
Moses, with his great native ability and superior
education at the court of Pharaoh (for we read
“that he was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians”), was centuries ahead of the ‘people
to whom he was bound by consanguineous ties.
They were, in his sight, but brute beasts, with pos-
sibilities for better things, and his heart yearned
strangely for them in their wretched, helpless
condition. The laws which he laid down for the
government of the Israelites related mostly to their
present and future temporal affairs and condition.
Their intellectual and moral natures must be cul-
60 The Laws of Heredity.
tivated, and fear was the principal agent through
which this must be accomplished. Deception had
often to be practiced upon this people in order to
impress a lesson for good, nor did Moses consider
it unfair so long as they were benefited thereby.
Many of the death penalties laid down, and the
‘‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” so
vigorously carried out, may seem an unwise and
unfortunate administration of justice to us to-day;
but when we take into account that the Israelite
of that day, just emerging from Egyptian bondage,
was but little removed from the condition of the |
beasts, it will not appear so strange. It was the
wisest course that could have been pursued with
a people in their condition after the exodus. In
glancing over Leviticus, one is not surprised at
the vigor of the laws, when he considers the char-
acter of the offenses whichthose Levites were guilty
of, and the effect of such conduct upon the tribe.
There is nothing conceivable in the whole cata-
logue of bestial filthiness that those early He-
brews were not guilty of; hence the minute speci-
fications of Moses,.and the severe penalties in-
ae SNS eee
at a> Bit eee
“
ee
The Laws of Heredity. 61
flicted. The Levitical record is no doubt useful
as history, and to mark the upward progress of
man since those early ages; but to spread that his-
tory and those laws out in all their ghastliness
before the unpolluted youth of the nineteenth
century, as ‘‘ the word of God,” to be studied and
revered by ¢hem, is placing defilement before their
eyes; and making them acquainted with horrid
crimes which their youthful minds ought never to
have known. What is there in the lives of those
ancient Hebrews to be held in sacred memory by
us to-day more than the heathen nations around
them? Is not the same Lord and Father over
allP The name of David, king of Israel, with all
his lecherous, shameful acts, is as familiar to every
child in Christendom as its own father’s; while
the name of that blessed pagan, Marcus Aurelius,
together with his noble life, has never been heard
by one in a thousand, or perhaps ten thousand,
Christian children. But we are told that ‘‘ David
repented at last.” A sorry repentance, indeed;
_ after outraged nature could no longer stand up to
“sin, what else was left but repentance? Did that
62 The Laws of Fleredity,
repentance bring back the murdered Uriah, or
restore again to her natural family the wronged
wife? As the centuries advanced, and man began
to rise to a higher intellectual plain, the “ordeals”
which in former times had so marked an effect
ceased to be believed in and consequently to have
any further results. Moses was dead, and there
was no man to meet the emergency and stay the
backward progress of the Israelites, who were fast
drifting into unbelief, who still clung to their early
traditions, and obeyed so much of the law as they
found convenient. Their strict obedience to the
laws of life and health, laid down for them so long
ago, has been marked through all the ages by the
best of results. Their cleanly personal habits,
and the care with which they eschewed pork as
an article of diet, as well as the refusal of all flesh
upon which a suspicion of disease might rest, has
kept them free from scrofula and that other curse
of humanity — consumption, which, I am informed
by high authority, was not known among the
pure, unmixed Hebrews who strictly adhered to
the rules laid down in their law.
The Laws of Heredtty. 63
The Jehovah of the Pentateuch was eminently
fitted as a God for the Jews. They were his peo-
ple alone, and “a peculiar people,” too, which no
one will question ‘until this day.” He cared
nothing for the surrounding nations. He warned
the Jews not to eat of the scrofula and consump-
tion-producing food, but informed them that they
might raise it to sel to the heathen nations
around them.* But the world was advancing,
and a new religion was sorely needed by the sur-
rounding nations who were arising with claims not
to be longer despised. A second Moses now
appears in the person of the “‘ Carpenter’s Son.”
The Great Prophet of Nazarethis born. Himself
a Jew, he is nevertheless despised and rejected by
the Jews on account of his humble origin. But
he comes with a physical, and consequently a
mental and moral, nature of marvelous perfection,
that is soon felt by the world, and sowed the
seeds out of which has sprung all that is noblest
* Which characteristic fact points clearly to the nationality of
their Jehovah, as the Christian’s God would never have been guilty
of such an act,
64 The Laws of /Teredity,
and best since. He did not commence with the
learned and wise, who turned away from his
teachings, but with “the humble Galilean fisher-
men, who listened, and thus began a new life for
the world.” He studied diligently Moses’ laws,
and carefully compared them with the needs of
this present world. He then goes up into a
mountain, as Moses did, to be alone with nature,
and think over his course. He comes down as
Moses did, ‘‘ full of the spirit’ (of wisdom). He
sees clearly the need of a new regime, and steps
forward and proclaims his doctrine. He must
get hold of the minds of men, must fix their be-
lief. They no longer feared the old punishments,
still they must needs be ruled by fear.
The lapse of centuries had wrought a great
change in the lives of mankind. ‘The Israelites
of his day could not be governed by the same
forms Moses used to present to them with a
“Thus saith the Lord.” They did not believe
now in the efficacy of the ‘ Bitter Water,” and
other Mosaic ordeals, which had the desired ef
fect as long as they did believe in them. Some
The Laws of Heredity. 65
other course must be pursued now to accomplish
the same end, viz., to obtain a fixed belief. Up
to this time men were brought to obedience from
fear of punishment. Jesus now sees an element
of refinement among men that could be governed
by love. So he presents Azs God as one to be
both loved and feared, and thus reaches all classes.
The refined and lofty mind could worship and
obey from love; but not so the gross and ig-
norant, which formed the major part of mankind.
Fear of punishment alone could restrain them,
until they had time to grow into something better.
Jesus now displays his matchless wisdom. ‘ He_
spake as never man spake.” He told them of a
future, where men would spend an eternity in
happiness or misery, according as they had done
well or ill here. He told them he was the son of
the only true God, and that he had been in heaven
with the Father before the world was made. He
pictured to them a place of eternal punishment
beyond this life, whither they were all tending in
their sins, and that for love of them the Father had
sent him, His only son, to call them to repentance
ai
Oe ONT re ee POG ahs en ae ea. toe Ea ts
ie at 1 SRR ae Pe RS ee ty
¢ Meh a ae net
66 The Laws of [eredity.
and ‘save them from the wrath to come.” He
told them that He was the only way, and only by
fatth in Him could they be saved. He taught
them of a judgment day at the end of the world,
when their bodies would be again raised to life,
and judged according to the deeds done while
here. If unfaithful and disobedient to what he
was then teaching them, they would be cast, both
body and soul, into “a great lake of fire and
brimstone,” presided over by the devil and his
angels, there to burn, but never be consumed, for
ever and forever.
It had its effect. No answering that argument.
No man could prove that it would zot be so.
Moses, it is true, did not teach them thus, but
then it was a different age. No man could prove
that we might not burn forever in a “lake of fire
and brimstone” in the future, so many believed
because it was safer not to risk it.
The doctrine of an endless punishment beyond
this life had its origin where the “ordeals” of
Moses had theirs,—in the necessities of the times
for the moral government of the people. Jesus, un-
ats Ee
The Laws of Heredity, 67
like their other teachers, ‘‘ went about doing good,”
and mixed so much loving kindness with his stern
doctrines that he won the world to his side in
spite.of itself.
The age of ignorance of natural law was also
the age of superstition and miracle, and so re-
mained until science came to explain the cause of
phenomena and build a solid foundation upon
which intelligent men might stand.
Miracles, as simple wonders, used as Moses and
Jesus used them, for the purpose of fastening upon
the crude minds of the age a useful lesson, are
commendable; but when an effort is made to force
a belief in them as divine manifestations, setting
aside all law and order; they justly fall into con-
tempt. Bad men wrought miracles as well as
good ones; when wrought by the good, they were
of God; when by bad men, they received the
power from the devil. If, as has been asserted by
Christians, the proof of the divinity of Christ rests
upon his miracles, then Simon Magus of Samonia
was divine, for he wrought miracles, many of
which were much greater than those Jesus himself
68 The Laws of f[feredity.
wrought, and were thoroughly believed in by the
fathers at that time. ‘‘ He changed stones into
bread, and made a scythe mow without hands.
He did more; he caused statues to walk about the
streets, causing great consternation among the
people.”
Denmark became a part of the Christian world,
as the result of a miracle performed by the mis-
sionary Poppo. ‘At one time he (Poppo) was
dining with the King of Denmark, when, with
more zeal than discretion, he denounced the in-
digenous deities as lying devils. The king dared
him to prove his faith in God, and on assenting,
the king had heated to redness an iron gauntlet
which Poppo drew on his wrist; and not only this,
but the undaunted missionary entered a fiery fur-
nace clad only in a linen garment soaked in wax,
which was consumed by the flames without in-
jury to him. The miracle was sufficient, and
Denmark became a part of the Christian world.”
—(Hist. Danic Lib.).
Jesus, like Moses, wrought miracles for the evi-
dent purpose of impressing minds with the truth
The Laws of [leredity. G9
which could not be reached in any other manner.
To have explained to them the natural laws under
whichthe wonders he performed were produced,
would have destroyed their effect. Ifthe thauma-
turgist was to explain to his auditors that the sword
he apparently forces down his throat for a yard or
more is made with numerous joints which tele-
scope as they pass into his mouth, and really re-
duce its length to a mere nothing, although so
nicely adjusted as to defy detection, the wonder
would at once cease; just as miracles did after
science came forward and explained the laws gov.
erning wonderful phenomena. The mind is just
as susceptible to impressions as it ever was; its ,
essential character has not changed one whit, only
the means employed now must be different.
The powerful influence of the mental over the
physical forces was fully recognized by Jesus and
his apostles centuries after Moses; for when they
put forth their doctrines they demanded, as has
the church ever since, a positive, unquestioning
belief in them, knowing full well the value of such
belief. Being diligent students of Moses’ laws,
EL Fe on SS
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be eli dK NG alan Lats nar oe ae een os PO Sais re a
es :'
70 The Laws of Heredity.
they recognized the importance of securing a fixed
belief as much in their times as in the earlier ages,
only producing such modifications as would meet
the requirements of man’s advancement in intelli-
gence. When Jesus healed the two blind men
(Matt. [X., 28, 29 ver.), “‘ He said unto them: Le-
lieve ye that 1am able to dothis? They said,
Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, say-
ing, According to your FAITH (belief) be it
unto you.” Again, in Mark, fifth chapter, we read
of a woman coming to him to be healed of what
is known to medical science as a menorrhagia.
She seemed to have the right kind of faith or con-
fidence in his power, for she said, “If I may but
touch his clothes (there being a throng around
Jesus) I shall be whole.” Jesus, being attracted
to her, turned and said: ‘ Daughter, thy FAITH
(firm belief that it would do so) has made thee
whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
All medical men of much experience well know
the power of mental impressions over this and
similar complaints connected so closely with the
female sympathetic system.
Rertreacy Sa
Seay
a
The Laws of Fleredity. v1
It will be observed that in healing the sick per-
sonal contact of Jesus was necessary; for we read
that he touched the eyes of the blind; put his
finger on the ears of the deaf; laid his hands on
the sick—* And he then could do no mighty work,
save that he dazd his hand upon a few sick folk,
and healed them.” (Mark, VI., 5.) ‘Now
_ when the sun was setting, all they that had any
sick with divers diseases brought them unto him,
and he laid his hands on every one of them and
healedsthem./ 3 (lauke, [V.,40.). He. called
hernto:him'; 7128." )-and lad his hands onsher.
and immediately she was made straight.” (Luke,
XIII., 12-13.) The blind man of Bethsaida be-
sought him to fouch him. ‘“ And he took him by
the hand and led him out of the town; and when
he had spit upon his eyes and put his hands upon
him, he asked him if he could see aright. The
blind man answered that he could see men as trees
walking. So Jesus put his hands agazz upon his
eyes and made him look up, and he could see
clearly.” ‘He put forth his hand and touched the
leper, and his leprosy was cleansed,” etc., etc.
42 The Laws of*fTeredity.
The example of Jesus’ two friends, Mary and
Martha, whose brother was supposed to have been
dead, illustrates well a case of catalepsy, which
simulates real death so closely that the most acute
observers, even in modern times, are often com-
pletely deceived. Jesus, when he heard of his.
friend’s illness, said: ‘This sickness is not unto
death, but for the glory of God, that the son of
God might be glorified thereby.” (John, XI., 4.)
When the profound and protracted coma came
on, as Jesus knew it would from the symptoms,
he said to those around him. “ Our friend Laza-
rus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out
of sleep.” (Verse 11.) The complete simulation
of death had deceived the friends, and the brother
was placed in temporary sepulture, a cave with a
simple stone at its mouth, before Jesus arrived.
He tries to assure them at first that Lazarus is not
really dead, but being unable readily to convince
them, finally assents to their view, and uses the
case for a practical lesson. Now in a case of this
kind contact is useless, as the sense of touch is
completely deadened, but not so the hearing,
The Laws of Heredity. 72
which is often preternaturally acute; such subjects
hearing their funeral sermons preached and the
wailings of their afflicted friends without the
power to move or break the spell. Jesus, how-
ever, with his marvelous foresight and power was
master. ‘‘ He comes to the tomb and cries with
a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” ‘This was the
only method; the familiar and authoritative
voice of his friend, whom he supposed far away,
broke the spell, just as the first clods falling upon
the coffin lid has often done since. ‘The hearing,
it must be remembered, is still perfect, and the
mind capable of cognizance of surrounding objects
through that sense. How often has it been true
that in modern times the voice of some particular
person coming suddenly into the cataleptic’s
funeral chamber has aroused the mind to one last
effort in freeing the body from this deadly stupor.
The case of the ruler of the synagogue’s daughter
illustrates another such example. This ruler’s
family appears to have been believers in the great
prophet. They had met with a sad affliction in
the supposed death of their twelve-year-old
PT a AOL T der |
= é ba
7A The Laws of Heredity.
daughter, and naturally turned to the master for
help. He encourages the ruler. “ Be not afraid,
only delreve.” He now comes to the house of
mourning; where, on account of the ruler’s posi-
tion, there was much weeping and wailing. “ And
when he was come in he saith unto them, Why
make this ado, and weep? The damsel is zot
dead, but sleepeth.” So deceiving were appear-
ances that “they laughed him to scorn; ”’ that is,
the unbelieving Jews who were there. Jesus now
turns them all out except the father, mother, and
the three other believers who came with him, and
with them entered the chamber where the damsel
was lying. ‘And he took the damsel by the
band and said.-unto-her 4 444) sWamsele
* * arise.” Here again was the same method
pursued as in the former case. |
The girl was in that strange trance so akin to
real death, unable to move, and from her sense of
hearing knew by the weeping and wailing that she
was supposed to be dead. Nothing could save
her from interment except the wonderful prophet
she had heard so much about, and, O joy! he had
The Laws of Heredity. meaty =
been sent for. Hecomes. Her belief in his pow-
ers is at its utmost limit. He has raised others,
and she believes he will raise her also. He takes
her by the hand, as if doubt was impossible. She
hears the command, “ Damsel, arise!” and with
a great, last bound, the mind frees the body from
its chains.
These cases, when seen by the light of modern
science, seem perfectly natural, and are mentioned
here to attract the mind away from the marvel-
ous, where there is nothing marvelous at all; for,
as Prof. Carpenter justly says, ‘‘ Yet experience
has shown that when the common sense of the
public once allows itself to be led away by the
love of the marvelous, there is nothing too mon-
strous for its credulity.”” Moreover, it is better
for us to understand things as they really are; for
the human mind will ultimately be satisfied only
with the ¢ruth, of which there is an abundance
for every human need, leaving the mysterious and
incomprehensible behind to mark man’s upward
progress toward diviner light. These laws were
always here, even if but few during the earlie
1
2
76 The Laws of Heredity.
ages were able to operate them. What was truly
inexplicable to the average Israelite, was plain
enough to Moses; and to have attempted a phil-
osophical explanation to such a people, would
have been extreme folly. The lesson designed
by the miracle was what they needed; and what
was most wonderful to the common Jew 1800
years ago, was quite within the reach of
Nazareth’s great prophet.
In the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, a cer-
tain man brought to him his son, a lunatic, to be
healed, stating that he had previously consulted
his disciples, who could do nothing for him. Jesus
healed the son with apparent ease. His disciples
came to him afterwards, when he was alone, and
asked him why it was that they could not heal
the unfortunate lad. Jesus now informed them of
the cause of their failure: “ Because of your un-
belref, for verily I say unto you if you have faith
as a grain of mustard seed,” etc. (Matt. xvii. 14,
20th v.) |
That these works were not out of the usual
ourse of natural law,—that is, above and beyond
oe
ee ee TD A Pes fh ee eee PLS g pte ee
ee a ates Sh si SO a Pah Lien & et ae Ce orate ra te ‘ beth
ae OY ae! A a Ie F . ‘ 3
The Laws of Heredity. ru
nature,—seems clear from the fact that there were -
others who made no pretentions to having received
supernatural aid, performing the same or similar
works. Jesus informs his disciples, “ That it is
easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for
one tittle of the law to fail.” He assures his people
over and over again that he “ did not come to
destroy the law, but to fulfill it,” and how coulde
a law be fulfilled by performing acts wholly above
and beyond all law? What law, then, does he
referto? Evidently not that given by Moses, for
he claims precedence over Moses, inasmuch as
his own testimony shows, he dwelt with the
Father “before the foundation of the world.”
Moreover, he overthrew Moses’ laws wherever
they were not found applicable to the then exist-
ing state of things, and established others, which
have been accepted by a large portion of the
world ever since. He put forth his doctrines in
confidence; not as requests, but as absolute com-
mands, which to disobey meant imminent peril.
In regard to Moses’ laws, he teaches his disciples,
saying, ‘“Ye have heard it said by them of old
ee ee
78 The Laws of Heredity.
time, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek
turn to him the other also,” etc., etc.
Nay, there is but one law, and that will stand
forever; that invariable, immutable, irrevocable
law, the breathing of the Infinite mind through
all nature, which is ‘the same yesterday, to-day
and forever,” and in which “there is no variable-
ness nor shadow of turning.”
In all times, since human intelligence began to
assert itself, and recognized the great difference
among men, there have been individuals who pos-
sessed that strange power of healing the sick by
the “laying on of hands.”” They did not pretend
to heal all, but only a certain susceptible class,
who were capable of having the mind directed
sufficiently powerful to their cases. Jesus tells us
plainly that in certain places he himself “could
do no wonderful work because of their unbelief,”
which, had the work been supernatural, could
have made no difference. Those who came to
Jesus to be healed were evidently those who be-
nt Dae to ee ha SOR Se ty ee ce I a Oe CAPO Ve LO Ne MN, ENRON Oe RS Ne PEM teats FS ep ee eae RO he a a) ae
’ Poy Fa hoe. ie ‘ 7 by 3 c™ ‘s 5 “ + is - at Pare os” a
rie
The Laws of Heredity. 19
lieved in his power, and when he had any doubt of
this, he first carefully asked them if they delzeved
that he was able to do this, assuring them that the
success of the cure depended upon the amount of
faith or belief which they had. St. Paul discov-
ered in his time that all men were not fitted by
nature for prophets, teachers, or healers of the
sick; hence his advice to those who discovered
that they possessed such powers to cultivate them,
—a seasonable suggestion, which men would do
well now to follow.
Some years ago, I think it was in 1868 or 1869,
aman calling himself Professor Newton passed
through the country healing the sick and restor-
ing the crippled by “ laying on of hands.” Hun-
dreds with divers infirmities, which had resisted the
best medical skill, visited him, and were restored
ina moment, as it were, after the ‘“ Professor ”
had laid his hands upon them and pronounced
some cabalistic) words. It was really astonishing
to see men who had not walked a step for years
without the aid of crutches, hobble up to this man,
receive his occult “ blessing,’ then throw aside
80 The Laws of [eredity.
their crutches and leap down the street with all
the vigor of healthful youth. He wasa power-
fully built man, of commanding presence, who pos-
sessed in some way the requisite power of fixing
the minds of certain individuals sufficiently strong
upon their ‘‘cure” to accomplish the physical
change from the abnormal to the normal condition
of health. It is plain, then, when we remember
that the same effects are produced by the same
causes always, that the action of the mind on the
body in intense belief was what effected a cure
in these cases, and was evidently so regarded by
Jesus, inasmuch as he did not attempt to restore
those who did not believe he possessed the power
to do so.
The “ Faith” often spoken of in the New Tes-
tament as being so essential to the success of any |
work, is evidently but the earnest, fixed belief in
the success of any wish or desire. If the faith
was weak or wavering, nothing could be accom-
plished; but if sufficiently powerful, mountains of
difficulty could be removed. ‘ What things
soever ye desire, when ye pray, belreve that ye re-
——
The Laws of Heredity. 81
ceive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark xi.,
24.) “But let him ask in faith, xothing wavering;
for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea,
drawn with the wind and tossed. Let not that
man think that he shall receive (accomplish) any-
thing.” (Jamesi., 6, 7.) Certain physical con-
ditions seemed to be necessary for both the prophet
and the worker of miracles. Howbeit, Jesus
informs his disciples (Matt. xvii., 21,) that the
requiréd conditions are within’ the reach of almost
all men, some in one way, some in another, but
all capable of doing wonders in some direction.
As before remarked, mind must manifest itself in
accordance with the physical construction. If
constructed for a prophet, one might prophesy.
Upon a certain occasion, when the Lord wished
to speak to the children of Israel, he is represented
to have asked if there was a prophet among them,
so that through him he might speak to them.
Mr. Beecher says (Life of Christ), “A prophet
was born to his office. The call of God in all
ages has come to natures already prepared for the
office to which they were called. This was well
82 The Laws of Fleredity,
understood by the prophets. Jéremiah (i., 4, 5,)
explicitly declares that he was created to the
prophetic office.” But acertain physical prepara-
tion was necessary even to those who were nat-
urally constituted for special offices. Jesus, before
attempting any great work, prepared for it by
“fasting and prayer; that is, by physical fasting,
which gives free scope to mental action, and by
being alone, in the stillness of the night, in some
secluded spot, where he could concentrate the
mind undisturbed upon his theme.
Mohammed, also, before attempting any great
work or miracle, betook himself to the cave in
Mount Hora, where he remained for days fasting
and intensely thinking, when he descended and
delivered himself of his inspiration. ‘The prophet
Isaiah would go up into a mountain, and hide;
fasting often for so many days that his friends
would become alarmed; when all at once he would
rush down among them, bareheaded, and with
wild, staring eyes, would startle them with some
prophecy. If he had hidden and fasted longer
»-7 common, they expected a prophecy of
-» (st import than common, ete.
The Laws of Heredity. 83
Whatever may be the conditions requisite for
foretelling events, one thing is certain,—that they
all had to conform to the same physical rules be-
fore success would attend their efforts. We can
not aver what may not be done by man.
What has been done in the past could be done
to-day if the same conditions were understood
and complied with. The fasting and steady con-
centration of mind upon a certain topic of the
prophets, lends a strong suspicion that they passed
into the hypnotic or self-induced somnambulic
state, when the mind appears to have full scope.
Some idea may be formed of the mind’s vast
power from its operations during certain som-
nolent states. Ina dream, or in the presence of
some chilling disaster, a whole lifetime is often
reviewed in a moment.
A clergyman relates the following in Votes and
Queries, Jan. 14, 1860:
“While a student at Amsterdam, studying
mathematics, a question of the most puzzling
character was sent the professor (Von Swindon),
by a banking house, to solve. The professor,
84 The Laws of fleredity.
after several trials,—failing at each,—gave it to
ten of his students, with a request to solve if pos-
sible, and thus relieve him of the extra work. [,
being anxious to get a correct solution, com-
menced that very night, and worked for three
successive nights, the greater part, only to fail of
a correct result each time. Finally, I had to give
it up, and retire to my bed with my head full of
figures, and did not awaken until late the next
morning. I was much chagrined at my failure,
and the answer was required that day. Glancing ~
at my table, what was my surprise to see a cor-
- rect solution of the problem, all plainly given, and
in my own handwriting, too, which was accom-
plished during my sleep, and in the dark, as my
candle had burned out the previous night.”
Another example is recorded by Dr. Car-
penter (Mental Physiology, pp. 594-5), of a
student of divinity at Basle, who was required
to compose an essay, for public delivery, on
a certain text of Scripture, and who, after
various attempts, failed.to get any satisfactory
start on his discourse. One evening, before the
Lhe Laws of eredity. 85
uay of ordeal, having completed something, and
lain down, utterly disgusted with what he had
written, he fell asleep, dreamed of a novel method
of handling and illustrating the subject; awoke;
leaped out of bed to commit the ideas to paper,
and, on opening his desk, found that they were
so committed already, in his own handwriting,
the ink being hardly dry.”
A parallel of the above cases is found in a
miraculous picture of the Annunciation, formerly
held in such veneration by all Christendom. It
is found in one of the chapels of Florence, and is
kept from profane eyes even now, only being ex-
hibited on great occasions, and to the devout.
The artist was a certain Bartolomio, who, while
he sat meditating on the various excellencies of
our lady, and most especially on her divine beauty,
and thinking, with humility, how inadequate were
his own powers to represent her worthily, fell
asleep; and on awakening found the head of the
Virgin had been wondrously completed, either
by the hand of an angel or by that of St. Luke,
who had descended from heaven on purpose.”
(Legends of the Madonna, page 284.)
Fie ee UIP ey ee Ne aE SST ee ee Sy ee ee
= " é= SN - aa fia — t ‘ .-~ 7 2
Oe ae K
= ‘A a Bin I. be ig Sa ee Ne MON ee ia i on
a) < ye 7 ’ - a 7
~ 86 The Laws of Fleredity.
Truly, ‘distance lends enchantment to the
view of man.’’ We look back upon those ancients
and see in them marvels of everything. In bodily
size they were giants; in intellect, prodigies; in
wisdom, almost divine. And yet when viewed in
the light of true criticism they were as far inferior
to modern man as the light of the stars is to the
noonday sun. The armor of their giants, as seen
still preserved, is too small for an ordinary grena-
dier of to-day, while their wisdom and knowledge
is simplicity itself compared with the great minds
of the last century. Whatever powers they may
have possessed remain still, with as much greater
possibilities for their use as we are greater than
were they, and further advanced. If through
their superior powers of mind they could “stop
the mouths of lions,” “quench the violence of fire,”
etc., so can we to-day, if we would but endeavor to
understand and use the powers within us. It
must be plain that the same power that enabled
Daniel to foretell the destruction of the Baby-
lonian monarchy by the Medes and Persians, and
Jeremiah to foretell the destruction of Jerusalem
ond
The Laws of Heredity. 87
by the Babylonians, also enabled Josephus to fore-
tell the advancement of Vespasian and Titus to
the Roman empire. ~
Now, from what we know of the wonderful
power the mental is capable of exercising over
the physical in producing changes of the greatest
importance, are we not justified in believing that
that power might be used to almost any extent desir-
able if its modes were but properly understood, and
the requisite conditions perfectly comprehended?
Who has not seen the effects of united minds in
any one direction, as in the Paris Commune, in
mobs, etc., where mind acted upon mind, and thus
_ communicating with muscle until nothing could
stand before it? Nor is it the evil passions alone
that can thus be aroused by concerted mental
action to exhibit great~power, as is seen in the
familiar examples of a “protracted meeting,”
where certain persons are gradually wrought up
to the highest pitch of religious enthusiasm;
where hundreds profess a change of heart without
the slightest idea of what it consists in. So, also,
in temperance mass meetings I have seen hun-
eM eta gy EE GS eh Be PTT Tet Hh ae Dy = aka een ema One SS Oy Una a aT ae
Lae Saye pe or ie ack ¥ i ay . : es a aes, Ly +e
“ BP ya ee a eat te RE ee LC Mi Pe ee i ete ey ok a” Se RR We Ae, el Se SS ere es yee 4
oe. wis Sree R oo ras Seats OP, Pe Nee te a Te peers RE Re Le ee Ee Ee og Pe Ng nthe eg a a :
or: t 3 j < .
88 The Laws of Fleredity.
dreds sign the pledge without knowing why they
did it, and violated it within a week afterwards.
It is the power of the emotions without the re-
straining influence of reason. I do not wish to be
understood as arguing against such united efforts,
nor contend but that there is often great individ-
ual good accomplished in such assemblies; for
there are persons naturally honorable, although
not particularly religious, who, when they once
-make a public start of that character, even under
temporary excitement, are too proud spirited to
retreat again, and by a constant cultivation of a
right course in life receive thereby signal benefit.
Still, it must not be forgotten even here, that
there are others differently constituted, who, hav-
ing once backslidden under some strong temptation,
lose confidence in themselves thereafter, and never
try again, so ‘the last state of that man is worse
than the first.””, An old acquaintance and neigh-
bor of my father’s family, in Pennsylvania, an
Englishman by birth, who was both irreligious and
intemperate, “ reformed” under the pressure of
surrounding influences, united with the Congrega-
The Laws of Heredity. 89
tional church at Meadville, and tried to lead a
better life. After a successful battle with his
great enemy (drink) for nearly a year, he was
beginning to feel himself once more a man, and
full of hope for the future. Church “ duties” now
appeared. He must celebrate the death of the
Lord who had saved him. It was urged as an
imperative duty. Poorfellow; he had many mis-
givings concerning the mode of this celebration.
But did not Christ pass the wine cup to his fol-
lowers? Nature shuddered, however, as the full
Wine cup approached him, but he was assured that
the “ Lord was able to ‘save even to the utter-
most,’ if they conformed to his revealed will.”
He placed the full cup to his lips, and lacking the
power to check himself, drained the last drop of
wine, and ina moment felt instinctively that he
was again in the clutches of his old enemy. And
so he was; for he at once rushed from the house
of God down to his old haunt (Troop’sTavern),
where he spent the remainder of the Lord’s day
in a debauch, and finally filled a drunkard’s grave,
never after attempting another reform.
RS Coy ih, a 5 Ae ean ee. he Sa NS ec on ene oe
= ah Vaated ; i a F eon ap Be Bre, e ne Se
‘ ’ z Peds | hte 2555 sat .
go The Laws of Heredity.
A few more examples of the mind’s influence
on the body will sufficiently illustrate our subject,
when we will pass to a consideration of the mind’s
influence upon other bodies than the one it in-
habits.
A remarkable case in the nunnery of Port
Royal is quoted by Professor Carpenter, where
the gazing in full faith at the “Holy Thorn ” in
the chapel, as recommended by the nuns, served to
cure a young girl of an aggravated fistulz lachry-
malis, and to this day everyone in that section
firmly believes a miracle was wrought in her behalf,
Professor Maxon (Practice of Medicine, p.
333) says: “In one of the worst cases I ever saw
(of singultus ), in which all the usual remedies had
been judiciously applied in vain by the medical
attendants, I succeeded in arresting it by taking
the light from the sick room, and giving as my
reason to the patient and his attendants, that if
left in the dark he could not see to hiccough.
Ridiculous as was the idea of being unable to see
to hiccough, the impression it made upon the
nervous system, through the mind, so far affected
The Laws of Heredity. QI
the phrenic nerve as to suspend the spasms of the
diaphragm, and the patient speedily recovered.”
Who does not remember the singular efficacy of
the royal touch in the “ King’s Evil?” And not
until the good, honest sense of William the Third
made him refuse to exercise such power, was it
discontinued. The numerous cases of stomatiza-
tion recorded,—that is, the appearance of wounds
upon the hands and feet, on the forehead and on
the side, corresponding with those of the crucified
Jesus, appears at first thought as most inexplica-
ble; yet, as Professor Carpenter says, “‘ There is
nothing either incredible or miraculous in them.
From these wounds blood periodically flows.
These are subjects peculiarly fitted for such mani-
festations,—ecstatics they are called,—and are
usually nervous females, having their minds con-
stantly engaged in the contemplation of such
scenes, with an intense direction of their sympa-
thetic attention to the sacred wounds.”
In Macmillian’s Magazine for April, 1871, there
appears the most recent case of this kind, that of
Louise Lateau. This case has undergone a scru-
: ey < ate Sr ; ‘ = ee é
“7 Sate ‘ : ; Le De ee
92 The Laws of Heredity.
tiny so careful, on the part of medical men deter-
mined to find out the deceit, if such should exist,
that there seems no adequate reason for doubting
its genuineness. This young Belgian peasant had
been subject to an exhausting illness, from which she
recovered rapidly after receiving the sacrament;
a circumstance which obviously made a strong
impression on her mind. Soon afterwards blood
began to issue every Friday from a spot on her
left side. In the course of a few months similar
bleeding spots established themselves on the front
and back of each hand, and on the upper surface
of each foot, while a circle of small spots formed
on the forehead, and the hemmorrhage from them
recurred every Friday, sometimes to a considera-
ble amount. Prof. Carpenter adds: ‘That as it
is an established fact that blood under strong
emotion forces itself through the skin in certain
cases, he sees nothing in the foregoing which
physiologists cannot accept.”
As before intimated, the influence of mind over
matter is not confined alone to the body in which
the mind exists, as is evinced by the influence the
PE Pe a ee ee a oe ATE ey ee ee eee Le gud, SP a Se
FSS ae! SD eB OH y Wee, Pe ag ;
The Laws of Fleredity. 93
mesmerist holds over the subject upon whom he
operates. Prof. Carpenter states (Mental Phys-
iology, p. 566), ‘‘that he has seen a lady sent off
to sleep by the conviction that a handkerchief held
beneath her nose was charged with chloroform.
The same symptoms were observable as if she
had actually inhaled the narcotic vapor (which
she had really done on two or three occasions ), and
she gradually passed into a state of profound in-
sensibility, from which, however, she awoke spon-
taneously in the course of a few minutes, as she
would have done had she been really chloro-
formed. But this same lady, having been put
asleep by the assurance of the operator that she
could not remain awake for two minutes, and
having also received from him the injunction not
to awaken until called upon by him to do so, re-
sisted all the writer’s attempts to awaken her by
any ordinary means he could employ, and show-
ing no signs of consciousness when a large hand
bell was rung close to her ear, when she was
roughly shaken, or when a feather was passed
fully two inches up her nostril. Her slumber ap-
Es ee ee
* % ree
4 ees
Z igo
aM
94 The Laws of Heredity
peared likely to be of indefinite duration, but it
was instantly terminated by the operator’s voice
calling the lady by her name in a gentle tone.”
‘‘'The writer (Carpenter) was assured by Sir
‘James Simpson, that in one instance a patient of
his slept thus for thirty-five hours, with only two
short intervals of permitted awakening.”
I have seen a frail girl under similar circum-
stances, who, when told by the operator to extend
her arm, and that it could not be bent, resist the
effort of a strong man to bend the elbow, using
all the force he dare without endangering the
bone. Similar examples might be multiplied
indefinitely, but enough is given for practical pur-
poses. The study of the secret forces of nature
is only in its infancy as yet, and who is bold enough
to predicate what the future may not reveal?
Two parallel examples,—the one of ancient,
and the other of modern times,—may be given in
concluding what I have to say upon this most in-
teresting part of our present subject,—the influ-
ence of the mental over the physical forces. The
one is the case of the Prophet Daniel, who, it ap-
ee Te ae eee er Saye Me re, Oe ae Re ee er ad Nn ST gy MR RE oy Wee
a ey DLN Nee ete ; : . ‘
Meee ting &
The Laws of Heredity. 95
pears, was cast, by edict of Darius, into a den of
lions, which were kept, no doubt, as they were
afterwards in Rome, to pander to the amusement
of a people lost to all human feelings, by witnessing
for generations exhibitions of the most barbarous
cruelty. Now, this prophet was a courageous
man,as is exemplified by his flat refusal to obey
the king’s command, a demand which was in that
day law, and which to disobey meant death. ‘So
Daniel was cast into the den of lions,” but escaped
unharmed. Now, what was the plain philosophy
of this deliverance? Simply this: Daniel believed
that his conduct had been right, and felt justified,
and his firm belief in his God, who, he believed,
not only could, but would, deliver him, rendered,
to his mind, harm from the wild beasts impossible.
Thus, with a naturally courageous nature and in-
flexible will, he entered the lions’ den, and stood
without a tremor before the forest monarchs,
armed with a power which speedily subdued those
beasts, and proclaimed for the future man as ‘“ the
lord of creation.” That mighty, unseen some-
thing, which sent the lady into a slumber so pro-
BT ig tl, SEEe RO Nie Sey ny ee ae aOR eg
eho Sa: be a 5 eae ao ye
‘ bi My ‘
96 The Laws of Fleredity.
found as not to be awakened until it had given
consent, chained those lions’ mouths as securely
as though by cables of steel.
Within the last century, as many will remem-
ber, a bold and fearless spirit first conceived the
idea of entering unarmed and unprotected a den
of wild beasts.
98 The Laws of Heredity.
others in this direction are powers belonging to
man as a natural heritage; but through genera-
tions of wrong teaching, lack of culture and phys-
ical degeneracy, the medium through which the
mind, or mental forces, has become an imperfect
one in most individuals, and as a natural conse-
quence the higher, stronger powers of human
nature are restricted or perhaps completely pre-
vented from manifestation.
I do not present these examples. to shake any
one’s belief in the Bible, or faith in anything good
and true,—far be any such thought from me,—but
from an honest conviction that it is better to know
things as they really are, feeling sure that the
truth cannot suffer in any case, while error and
erroneous notions should be pressed to the wall
without the slightest compunction. Besides, ex-
perience has shown that so long as the mind be-
lieves that the works heretofore mentioned from
the sacred writings were by God through some
man especially prepared for them, and such per-
sons existing only in a certain period of the world’s
history, which is now long past, no real progress
The Laws of Hleredity. 99.
-can be made, as man will not endeavor to exercise
or cultivate powers which he does not believe he
possesses; but let him once fully understand that
the possibilities of the greatest reside in every one,
and he will exert himself to cultivate to the utmost
his best powers.
As we cannot change facts, it is better to accept
them, even if by so doing we should be obliged to
give up some pet theory, or former opinion, which
may have grown up with us almost as a part of ©
our. being. If the forty days’ fast, recorded by St.
Matthew, has been held up to the world as posi-
tive evidence of Christ’s divine nature, and Dr.
Tanner, aS a mere experiment, exceeds it by
several days, what are wetosay? Can intelligent
human beings be made to believe that it shows a
divine nature in one and notin the other? Just
such facts being still insisted upon by the church
are filling the world to-day with unbelief. The
whole book, with all its grand lessons for humanity,
is rejected because a few unimportant matters are
insisted upon. Does Christ himself assert that
his miracles prove him a God, or does some
enthusiast say it for him?
100 The Laws of Fleredity.
Trusting, then, that no misconstruction of mo-
tives or misacceptation of facts herein contained
will occur to the reader of these pages, we will
: proceed together in all kindness to a consideration
A of the further evidence of nature’s wonderful
: works, and endeavor to apply them for man’s
highest good.
CHAPTER IV.
WOMAN.
O, why did God,
Creator wise, that peopled highest heaven
With spirits masculine create at last
This novelty on earth, this fair defect
Of Nature, and not fill the world at once
With men, as angels, without feminine;
Or find some other way to generate Wankind ?
—Paradise Lost—Book X.
Earth’s noblest thing, a woman perfected.
—Lowell.
In the beautiful allegory of Creation, Moses
starts the record of history with the advent of a
single human being. Adam stands alone for a
The Laws of [Heredzty. 10]
long period—how long, no man can estimate—as
the original type of the genus homo which mo-
nceecian condition accords with that of most plants
and animals, perhaps all, when traced far enough
back towards their origin.
So far,-at least, as we have any record, there is
no evidence of a human female, as distinctively
such, before the period mentioned by Moses as
“In the beginning;” while the researches in
geology have shown, “and these facts which
science knows to be true,” says Canon Farrar,
‘which prove that man lived upon the earth
whole milleniums before the Eve of sacred his-
tory listened to the temptations of the snake.”
The original unit of humanity became divided
somewhere, resulting in what has been known
ever since as the male and female sex. That nat-
ure had a design in the separation of the sexes,
and an important one, too, will appear as we make
a brief inquiry into the constitution and character
of this wonderful creature—the product of man,
so like, and yet so unlike himself. As woman is
not mentioned or known as a distinctive being
ax Se Bi To ea ye ee Biabiely Jt v% mer et Pye ia Sef si 4 Paige EN : “a URE bas,
i. a : 5 a ; 4 et gl he lhe Pap
: 4 é 2 . <8
ee ly eg
Oa
¥
# :
102 The Laws of Feredity.
prior to the “‘ Adamic period,” and then not as a
separate creation, but an outgrowth of man
[ Adam ], and as we know from indisputable evi-
dence that human beings lived upon the earth
centuries before the advent of Eve; in the absence
of all testimony to the contrary, as well as much
inferential evidence in its favor, we may assume,
without doing violence to our better judgment, a
moncecian sexual condition of the early progenitors
of the human race. I have not space to enter into
an argument on the origin of sex, but merely to
call attention to a fact which looks plain, that the
period referred to above and commonly accepted
hertofore as that of the origin of mankind, was
not their origin by whole eons, but was evidently
intended by Moses to illustrate the beginning of
the present epoch when duality of sex was first
manifested, and human beings capable of extended
progress.
In his work on the “ Antiquity of Man,” Sir
Charles Lyell quotes the now well known saying
of Agassiz’s, ‘‘ That whenever a new and startling
fact is brought to light in science, people at first
The Laws of Heredity. 103
say ‘it is not true;’ then, ‘that it is contrary to
religion;’ and, lastly, ‘that everybody knew it
BELOTEN 67.
The doctrine of Hermaphroditism, or the exist-
ence of the essential elements of both sexes in one
individual, at first jars upon the mind, not because
there is anything unnatural or improper in it, but
because of our previously formed opinions, the re-
sult of our education; just as Moses’s account of
Adam’s creation seems unnatural to the Brahmin,
whose “Great Brahmah,” when he made the
world, created both a man and a woman at the
same time, and placed them on the beautiful
Island of Ceylon.
The few opportunities afforded in the past to in-
vestigate such cases has caused much skepticism,
and, as a consequence, ridicule also. But the
rapid and often startling developments in science,
made during the past few years, have made physi-
ologists more careful how they decide a matter
before it has been successfully proved. If it can
be shown that there ever has been in the human
being what is so frequent in the plants and lower “
104 The Laws of Heredity.
forms of animal life, viz., a double sex, then that
fact will establish the possibility of the existence
of such a condition. ‘That such cases have been
found, and in no inconsiderable number, is sufh-
ciently proved by authorities whose names are
sure guarantees of their genuineness.
Heretofore they have been lightly considered,
or passed over as monstrosities, “‘ freaks of nature,”
etc., rather than the effort of nature again toward
a former and perhaps very early condition.
They see nothing suspicious of the possibility of
such a fact in the sexual condition of all ‘ plants
which bear seed within themselves,” and of the
lower forms of animal life which bear such a con-
stant relation to the plant. We have heretofore
seen that nature is exact and positive in the design
and construction of all her works.
In support of this view of our early condition,
a potential argument is found in the outlines of
every human form. ‘Take an infant of each sex
and compare them; how striking the similarity of
physical construction. Between puberty and the
menopause the greatest difference is observable,
ba
yeeros aT pide sb ES SS ON ETS ha Sin a re “. ea, Rey sate = yi abe oe =e" - a i ure oe co ek,
ee oR gh it ¥I a * Gi + . . 3 ) v
The Laws of Feredtty. 105
while after the “grand climacteric,” and during
old age again are obliterated the important dis-
tinctions. For example, the mammary glands of
the adult female are represented by rudimentary
glands in the male, which, however, are capable
of being developed into veritable glands of useful-
ness under proper stimulus. All will remember
the case of the shipwrecked mariner, who sus-
tained for a long period his daughter’s life from
his own breasts, being able to secrete genuine
milk under the stimulus of constant sucking prac-
ticed by the starving girl; proving thereby the
original identity of office of these particular or-
gans. Other duplicates can be easily found, rudi-
mentary in the one sex, and fully developed in
the other, by any intelligent person, possessing a
moderate amount of anatomical knowledge.
Now, did nature place “sham ” organs in hu-
man beings merely because of some “freak,” or
are they the still unobliterated remains of a former
condition? and one that may furnish us with data
for knowledge which reaches ages beyond written
history? i
106 Lhe Laws of Heredity.
It would seem, then, from these and other evi-
dences shortly to be produced, extremely proba-
ble that the early condition of mankind was her-
maphroditic, and that, when a certain stage of
development was reached, duality of sex occurred.
Eminent pathologists have mentioned cases of
double sex among the mammalia, and some dis-
tinctively such among the human species.
According to Mr. Darwin and other naturalists,
all the higher animals, like the plants, were once
hermaphrodites, and that, in the course of time,
their sex was separated. |
‘The separation of sex in plants,” says Mr.
Darwin, ‘was accomplished by cross fertilliza-
tion, and as the animal closely follows the plant
in all its peculiarities of sexual habits, we may
fairly assume that a similar cross-fertillization
took place in animals as well, and, with but few
exceptions, have since become the general rule.
The mode was, no doubt, in accordance with
those physiological principles which determine
sex as such.” ‘As it isa plan of nature to im-
prove, and for the fittest to survive everywhere, ”
The Laws of Heredity. ea 1OM
so the plants, by cross-fertillization strengthened
and improved, while self-fertilization has been ob-
served to weaken and finally to render plant life
sterile.” ‘“ Now, with animals in the hermaphro-
ditic condition, associating together, and possess-
ing the natural sexual instincts peculiar to all
animals, they would most naturally cross, and in
accordance with physiological laws not fully un-
derstood at present, would give rise, not only to
a more hardy progeny, but to a separation of the
sexes also.” Mr. Darwin further says [ Cross and
Self-fertillization in the Vegetable Kingdom], “ It
is not rare to find hermaphrodite plants, and oth-
ers with separate sexes, within the same germs.”
Prof. Huxley, | Encyclopedia Brittanica, gth
edition |], says: “Throughout almost the whole
series of living. beings, we find agamogenesis, or
not sexual generation.” ‘When Castellel,” says
Alfred Russell Wallace, Darwin’s coadjutor, “ in-
formed Reameur that he had reared perfect silk-
worms from eggs laid by virgin moth, the fact
was disbelieved as contrary to one of the widest
and best established laws of nature; yet it is now
108 The Laws of Heredity.
universally admitted to be true, and the supposed
law ceases to be universal.” | Mir. of Mod. Spir. |
‘‘ Among our common honey bees,” says Haeckel,
| History of Creation, Vol. I, p. 197 | ‘‘a male indi-
vidual, a drone, arises out of the egg of the queen, if
the egg has not been fructified; a female, a queen,
or working bee, if the egg has been fructified.”
Thesame facts have been asserted by Mivart, Lyell,
Owen and others, besides Huxley, when he says,
“That the law of a perfect individual may be vir-
ginally born, extends to the highest form of life.”
Sir James Y. Simpson in the ‘Cyclopedia of
Anatomy and Physiology,” mentions several inter-
esting cases, as does also Steenstrups in his work
on the subject, 1876. Prof. Rokietansky pre-
sented a case in 1869 to the Medical Society of
Vienna, of a most complete human hermaphrodite,
and mentions others in his great work on Patho-
logical Anatomy. Heppner, in 1872, published a
case of a child which had been preserved in alco-
hol. The fost-mortem examination, as in the above
case, presented ovaries, fallopian tubes, a uterus,
and two bodies which, on microscopic examina-
é » 5
Lhe Laws of Fleredity. 10g
tion, were shown to be testicles, together with all the
organs common to both sexes. The case of Cath-
arine Hollan ( Your. Obstetzs), is of peculiar interest,
inasmuch as it gave an opportunity for a some-
what extended observation, and will serve to illus-
trate many examples of this kind now recorded.
This person was of German origin, and grew to
adult age without attracting, so far as we know,
any special attention. This being was first mar-
ried to a man, who, after a certain period of
wedded experiences, concluded that he preferred
his former single state, and accordingly dissolved
the existing partnership informally. Catharine,
from what inspiration we are not informed, now
donned male attire and passed thereafter as a
veritable man. Being seized for the second time
with the matrimonial fever, she sought this time
instead of being sought, and found a mate among
the rosy damsels of the faderland. Allwent on now
apparently well with this pair forseveral years,when
the wife, concluding that marriage was not what she
had been led to think it was, sought and obtained
a release. Poor Catharine, who was now, indeed,
110 The Laws of [leredity.
skeptical about being Catharine at all, in an agony
of despair cried out, ‘‘ Who am I, and what am IP
Am Iaman, oramIawoman? Am I either, or
am I both?” Nature, it would seem from such
cases, has merely reverted back to a former con-
dition; a condition in which I can see nothing
either inconsistent or inconceivable, and one
which might be productive of the best results
when mankind has arrived at a supreme height of
intellectual and moral greatness.
The philosophy of human generation, or rather
fructification, differs in no essential particular from
that of the simple plant. In both alike the union
of sexual elements under proper conditions of
heat and moisture are sufficient to reproduce their
kind. In the earlier years of physiological science it
was considered afact,that there was some vitalizing
aroma which arose fromthe prolific fuzd masculus,
and by admixture with a similar semi-spiritual
fluid in the matr¢x maternt, under circumstances
of complete reciprocity only, resulted in fecundation.
Modern physiological research, however, has dem-
onstrated beyond cavil, that the simple contact
The Laws of Heredity. III
of spermatozoa with a ripened ovum anywhere
in the body where it may gain a lodgment is sufh-
cient to fructify it, concupiscible desires having
nothing whatever to do with fecundity; a fact
well-proven from the numerous cases of impreg-
nation which have occurred when the female was
in a state of profound insensibility.
A considerable number of cases are recorded in
which one-half of the body was male, with its
rough, coarse exterior, while the other half was
female, being soft, delicate and pliable. Such
persons have been observed also to possess those
characteristics common to both sexes, which fact
can easily be accounted for by the conformation of
the brain, which is a double organ, as much as are
the eyes, ears, etc., each side capable of indepen-
dent action.
pe ote AN ote tf :
Le OS OTe TN as FA. oo
wri The Laws of Heredity.
antine laws to prevent the introduction of diseases
from foreign ports, but none to stay the hands
that are daily sowing broadcast as great or greater
curses at home. We have laws which make it a
crime to dispense medicines to the public that are
supposed to be capable of destroying ante-natal
offspring, but no law to regulate the marriages
by which such offspring become a burden. Vol-
umes might be written upon this important sub-
ject, but our space forbids, except a bare indication
here and there, and we must forbear.
But there is a better day dawning. The little
leaven still in the world in the shape of pure, noble
women will ere long “leaven the whole lump.”
The day is not now far distant when a knowledge
of and obedience to the laws governing human gen-
esis will be a positive necessity, and as soon as this
fact is seen, it will speedily win. Most mothers
desire, above all things, beautiful, intelligent, moral
children, and once convince them that they may
possess such, if they will, and no duty will become
too irksome to that tireless sex to gain the end.
For ‘“ When woman will she will, you may depend
The Laws of Fleredity. T4a
—on’t and when she wont she wont, and there’s
the end on’t.”
Women who have erred at all in these great
matters have erred innocently; for, I believe,
there is no true woman but what would sooner
part with her right hand than be the willing cause
of one unfortunate life. I have an exalted opinion,
a lasting faith in woman—pure, noble long-suffer-
ing woman. Even if sin through her did enter
the world, so also did the redemption; and
through her eventually will be ushered in the
morning of the millennial glory.
“¢ A spirit, pure as hers
Is always pure—e’en when it errs;
Like sunshine, broken through a rill,
Though turned aside, is sunshine still.”
144 The Laws of Heredity.
CHAPTER V.
HUMAN GENESIS.
«© Men at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
— Shakespeare.
«“ Death we can face, but knowing, as some of us do,
what is human life, which of us is it that, without shud-
dering, could (if consciously we were summoned ) face the
hour of birth.”—De Quincey.
In the preceding chapter I have directed special
attention to woman, inasmuch as she has been so
sadly neglected during the past periods, and as
she is the all important element in human genesis.
She is at once the architect and builder of our
frames. ‘Through her must come all the good
and evil, all that is fortunate or unfortunate in
human life. She is the conceiver and executor of
our creation, and in her hand lies the destinies of
the race.. Hitherto, man has been considered of
the first importance, and every effort has been
The Laws of Fleredity. I45
made to improve his condition; but experience in
observation is beginning to teach the world that
a great son can proceed alone froma great mother.
Mr. Combe states that “there is scarce an exam-
ple on record of a child of superior genius whose
mother did not possess also a superior order of
mind.” So, what is true of man, is also true of
the inferior animals; for, as we have seen, man is
but a high order of the animal creation.
Mr. Youatt, in his work on the horse, says
(page 34): “It may be laid down as a maxim
in breeding, however general may be the preju-
dice against it, that the value of the foal depends
a great deal more on the dam than on the sire.
The Arabs are convinced of this, for no price
will buy from them a likely mare of the highest
blood; and they trace back the pedigree of their
horses, not through the sire, but the dam. The.
Greek sporting men held the same opinion long
before the Arab horse was known. ‘ What
chance of winning have I?’ inquired a youth
whose horse was about to start on the Olympic
course. ‘Ask the dam of your horse,’ was the
ns)
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146 The Laws of Fleredity.
reply, founded on experience.” “Bishop Hall,
who wrote in the time of Queen Elizabeth, inti-
mates that such was the opinion of horsemen at
that period.” (Ibid. p. 34). a,
The Greeks, Romans, etc., during the ayes of
physical culture, as we have already seen, recog-
nized the value of reproducing through the mother
points of strength, beauty, and physical skill; and
it is strange that in modern times, with both ani-
mals and men, this essential feature has been lost
sight of. Without a further elaboration here of
this point, we will pass on to a consideration of
animal genesis, as relates to the human subject.
There is perhaps no subject connected with the
life of man in this world fraught with greater in-
terest, or in which the mind is filled with stranger
‘emotions, or more bewildering thoughts, than that
of the contemplation of our pre-natal existence.
I have directed attention to marriage as the
legitimate channel through which all generations
should proceed, and given the reasons for exer-
cising much prudent forethought in so important
<, matter, where genuine affection and sensual pas-
The Laws of Fleredity. 147
sion are offered side by side to natures as yet but
illy prepared to discriminate between the false and
the true. I have endeavored to persuade, as far as
possible, the intelligent mind from its worship of
the marvelous, where there was nothing marvelous
at all, except the stupidity of certain persons,
deeming such worship detrimental to further ad-
vancement, as well as a relic of past barbarism.
We then come to recognize a certain powerful
force in nature residing within each individual,
and which seems to be capable of marking out and
shaping the destiny of man.
We have also seen that this wonderful force
constitutes what is known as the mind, and is
capable of producing effects both fortunate and
unfortunate upon material bodies. Moreover,
when we have nated the power this silent force
possesses in changing organic substance into
channels whose results are for good and evil, it is
but natural to conclude that with a proper under-
standing of its nature and capabilities, it might,
like the other great forces of nature, be controlled
by man and so directed to his perpetual good.
“5 A ;
ag Bee Ok MEE OH ag = PO ER RR, nD ie ee ae Ce ee ee
3 Sia ee - \ -' by Progr Fees age) BGR a art 2 ,
148 The Laws of Fleredity.
We have further observed during our researches
in this department of nature, that the mind or
mental forces exhibit their power in accordance
with, and in obedience to, the laws of physical
construction; that is, if the organic matter called
the brain is in an imperfect state of construction,
either from congenital or accidental causes, we
see an imperfect manifestation of mental power;
and if better constructed, a higher manifestation,
all depending upon the quantity, quality and ar-
rangement of the physical brain. So, then, if
mental power is the measure of physical construc-
tion, and that being, to a great éxtent, within
man’s own control, it becomes at once our duty
to investigate fully those physiological laws gov-
erning our bodies, that in their future perfection
we may have mental perfection also. As we
have recognized but two forms of existence in the
universe,—mind and matter,—the reader will bear
in mind that what is termed spiritual, moral and
intellectual in mankind, are only diversions of one
subject,—mind. Now, while it is true that mind
is obliged to exhibit itself in accordance with
eee ae eet Pa. oe Oe ak, oy ea te oe ,
a tg OOO :
NS pe tag " ‘ ~
>
The Laws of Fleredity. 149
physical construction, it is also true that the phys-
ical construction itself depends originally upon
mental action, except where interrupted by acci-
dental causes. That psychic manifestations are
dependant upon physical construction, seems so
self-evident a fact as to require no further proof
to establish the truth.
St. Paul, who appears to have had so many
sound ideas, even if he was not much ofa scientist,
pleads his own defects thus: ‘ For I know that in
me (that is my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; for
to will is present with me, but how to perform
that which is good, I find not. I find, then, a law
that, when I would do good, evil is present with
me. But I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin whzch zs xn my
members. O, wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death.” * * * *
‘So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of
God, but with the flesh the law of sin (Romans, —
Mie Ott von ter at) AA oain,.he telisgius
that ‘the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
Be eS A wt BR Ni tae » oe ENP a en ee a sa ee ee ek a ree 5 a a hs lh > ¥
F , J ro] : . aa : . hs Sek. Se IP oI a ee
. 2 $ % 3 . . a Age See = 7 - +
150 The Laws of Heredity.
weak.” ‘ For that which I do, I know not; for
what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that
do I.” (Rom., vii., 15.) And why? Simply be-
cause the mind, starting right, in passing through
the medium of an imperfectly constructed brain,
manifests itself to the external world accordingly.
For example: If I pour molten gold into two
molds constructed for the purpose, as a result I
will have from the same metal in one case an
image of a saint, and in the other of a demon.
The same pure, unchanged metal is in each,
but the shape must ever be that of the molds
through which it passed. I cast the same steel
into a cannon ball of destruction and into a
plowshare of usefulness. The cannon ball can
never be used to till the ground, neither can the
plowshare be used as a projectile of destruction.
The steel need not be changed in the least, but
the cannon ball, to be of agricultural use, must be
melted and pass through the molds of the plow-
share. So is it with the mind. Mind is mind
under all circumstances, and depends for its mani-
festations upon the brain molds through which it
The Laws of Heredity.. I51
operates. ‘So, then, it is not mind, as mind, that
needs our careful inquiry, but the matter through
which the mind must manifest itself, if manifested
at all. The same mind furnished by the Creator
to Aurelius and Nero, appeared through the body
of one as a saint, while through the other it
shone as a demon. Now, Aurelius was no more
to be praised for his God-like nature than Nero
was to be cursed for his infernal one. Place the
mind of Aurelius in Nero’s cranium, and straight-
way Aurelius would become a devil; and place
Nero’s mind in Aurelius’ head, and we would
write Nero a saint,—that’s all.
As we know of no means at present by which
the human brain can be changed when once formed,
wisdom points to but two sources from which
we may expect good results; and these are to de-
velop carefully by a proper education the good in
man as now found, commencing early in life, and
keeping as far as possible unfortunate and evil
tendencies from developing; which is all human
power can do with our present race. But not so
with the generations to come. ‘They are not yet
—_
4 Ge The Laws of Fleredity.
formed, either for good or evil, and ¢thezr construc-
tion is, as I shall endeavor to demonstrate, within
their own reach, and under their own control.
It becomes, therefore, at once apparent that strict
attention to a proper organization of that portion
of matter which is designed for the mind to oper-
ate through, is of the most vital importance. The
experiences of every day among men teach us that
a weak intellect is the result of an imperfectly
formed, diseased, or injured brain. ‘The character
of the manifestations of mind, whether it be intel-
lectual or moral, depends entirely upon the por-
tion of the cerebral nerves lacking, or injured.
An excess of material, or even a nerve disturb-
ance of the brain mass has been known to change
a person’s whole moral nature. As all psycho-
variations in human beings are the result of
organization alone (barring disease and accident )
we have then but one point upon which to direct
our attention, and that is the all-important one of
pre-natal organization and growth. From the
moment of the fructification of the human ovum
until the completion of the future being, na-
The Laws of Heredity. 153
ture performs her work in exact obedience to
those laws which have ever governed animal gen-
esis. ‘That is, the requirements of genesis called
forth certain efforts of nature, which established
the law by which she has ever since performed
her work. It is evident that every organ,— yea,
every atom that enters into the formation of the
future being, must be placed in position in obedi-
ence to some vital force, and that force can reside
only in the organism of the maternal parent.
Every vital pulsation in the adult body prepares
and deposits formative materials where they are
most needed. So likewise is it plain that the
same vital force arranges and deposits, in obedi-
ence to the same law of organization, the materials
requisite to the formation and development of the
nascent embryo or fcetus. The developing fcetus
is the mother in miniature, and is building in ac-
cordance with the exact laws that she herself is
constantly being renewed. As there is a constant
“tearing down ” and “ building up ” of the animal
body during life, the same laws that operated in
the original construction must continue in opera-
154 Lhe Laws of Fleredity.
tion for constant repairs. Now it is evident that,
if the generative process is uninterrupted, the
product must be in all respects a perfect counter-
part of the maternal parent from whose system
every atom was extracted. But sometimes, un-
fortunately (and often most fortunately ), the pro-
cess is interrupted and changed through the
influence of external agencies affecting the mater-
nal mind, and through that acting upon the
nascent product through the emotions, producing
results often of the most startling character. Thus,
a knowledge of these facts becomes of the most
vital importance, for through it we shall be
able to take advantage of these forces of na-
ture, and turn them in the direction of perpetual
good.
The importance of a thorough knowledge of
human genesis will become apparent when we
remember that when a human being is once born all
is there that ever will be; not one atom thereafter
can be created, nor one destroyed. ‘ For which
of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto
his stature.”
eee a is ee pe a i Vie eae 1 a ee ee A roa Fa ae Ye
te age Ve ry at TR oni a eee i aroha oe ll ik WA 8 ie
‘ oe ni por e 7 Cee p, raul, 4S nol Oper, ty
Lhe Laws of Heredity. 155
Every faculty, appetite and passion is there
that ever will be, and all that can be done there-
after is to develop them, or hinder their develop-
ment. ‘The time to create a good faculty or trait,
or prevent a bad one from ever existing, is during
that mysterious process called human genesis;
for, if that golden opportunity is lost, the most
heroic endeavors subsequently will but too often
result in miserable failure. ‘Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” It
has been urged by the advocates of reform, that
men have been reformed, and changed in both
character and disposition. Yes; a blow upon the
head has changed a man’s character by changing
the arrangement of his brain molecules, but it is
not to be relied upon. ‘ Be not deceived; that
which a man sows, that shall he also reap;” a
man once formed can not be re-formed by any
process yet known. The old nature is still there,
no matter what may be done to extinguish it.
Those persons easily reformed were never natur-
ally bad; theirs were, in reality, good natures
growing up in bad soil. But try the hereditary
156 The Laws of Fleredity.
criminal, the man born such, and let us witness
the result of 4zs reformation.
The state prisons, perhaps, accumulate the
major portion of the real, natural criminals. What
do the records show of their reform? For every
reform, or even approach toward reform, a thou-
sand grow a hundred times worse.
The Commissioners of Lunacy, in Scotland,
in their report, after their large opportunities for
observation, during the three years from 1872 to
1875, say in regard to the real reform of a drunk-
ard: ‘It is possible that prolonged compulsory
abstinence from alcoholic liquors may restore to
habitual drunkards the power of self-control, and
enable them to resist the craving to which, when
at liberty, they succumbed. Our experience,
however, does not give much reason to expect
this result.”” ‘To this passage, in the first of these
reports, is added: “Indeed, it would not be easy
to point out oxe stngle case of permanent and sat-
isfactory reform.”
It is true the world is full of good institutions
for the reformation of men, which will continue
The Laws of Heredity. 157
to save many already largely right by nature, but
who have by force of circumstances been driven
into pathways leading into wrong. But there is
a large class whose natures are all wrong, who
~ were born so, who are certain candidates for evil
lives and dishonored graves, merely on account of
“the accident of birth.” Statistical science shows
that, of the generation to follow us here, a certain
number, and a large one too, are as surely doomed
as they are sure to be born. These facts, I be-
lieve, were what John Calvin saw, and knowing
nothing of science, came to the conclusion that
God must have so ordered it for his own pleasure,
as no other reason was apparent to him. MHence
arose the horrible doctrine of unconditional elec-
tion and reprobation. ‘That God should elect be-
fore the foundation of the world a certain small
number of his creatures to be saved, and abandon
all the rest to everlasting torment, and for no
reason except to show his power, is something so
repulsive to the generous mind that it makes
the blood run cold. Yet such a doctrine was
taught and enforced upon the pain of death, and
en a ee a ee eer ee! PRR, Be NWR at of ee ey ROT My ey Oe SE AE Sy IRD g gy ARN Gees OES Ue San aN PA PP
~ ‘hs . ‘ 7 : +n oe 4. Ot ie ron S| ‘ae. we an eae ise cnt ¥ Pani etn
¥ 7. a |. I # . ‘ ity Pe a 7s ~ ; . q.G Vee ‘A) Fs y ; :
158 The Laws of Heredity.
believed in by a large portion of the Christian
world for centuries, and even yet by a few.
Thank God for freedom! The blessed liberty of
research, of thought, of speech, to-day. No more
shackles to fetter progress; no more enforced
bigotry; no more intolerance.
We have, then, the most conclusive evidence
that upon the physical organization alone, through
which the mental forces act, depends all the pecu-
liarities, defects and deficiencies,—all the varia-
tions observed in the life and character of every
human being. As the same kind of material com-
poses the locomotive and the mittraleuse, the
palace and dungeon, so also do the same elements
unite to form the giant and the dwarf, the philos-
opher and the idiot. Now, as there must bea
cause for every phenomenon, the important ques-
tion for us is, why does the same kind of material
produce in one case a Solomon and in another a
fool? Or, for what reason does one person ap-
pear in this world a seeker after God, and another
a worshiper of BelialP Why, indeed, is one
nature that of an Aurelius or Howard, and another
_ ie +s a is easy acre: Wer eo ey omer: eet te Le ay et a x, LN aca gale tS sat at WOM ee eee eet
¢ a ~~ el . 7 ” ’ , 7 = ia ba “ Ad :
- “
The Laws of [leredity. 159
a Brazenbeard or a Nero? Or, why is one a Helen
‘at whose door all Greece is said to have slept,”
or a Cleopatra, whose wit, beauty, and vileness
astonished the world; and another that of the
vestal Virgin, to touch but the hem of whose gar-
ment was mortal sin? Ina word, why are a mul-
titude possessed of capacities for every degree
and character of evil, while there are others who
seem only capable of doing good? ‘The answer
lies in the one word— Organization. If organized
for good, they will be good; but if for evil, evil
they will be to the end of the chapter. The stamp
of heredity, when well marked, seems wholly
ineradicable. No matter whether it be for good
or evil, fortunate or unfortunate, it is a part of
the being, ready for development, and, if de-
veloped, must remain while life lasts. No prayers
nor tears can alter Nature’s awful flat when once
gone out.
I have among my notes a case of hereditary
appetite for strong drink, coupled with a moral
nature too weak to resist, yet which felt the influ-
ence of the terrible curse. ‘A gentleman at
160 The Laws of Fleredity.
Battle Hill, Kas.; resolved to reform or die. Put-
ting some deadly poison into a glass with whisky,
he locked himself in a room with the mixture.
His plan was to conquer his craving for alcohol,
if possible, and, if his appetite overpowered him,
to kill himself with the drink that satisfied it. He
was alone with the poison for six hours, and then
drank it.”
Now, what is true of hereditary inebriety, is
also true of licentiousness and other passions.
How many are the “ fallen angels” of the world,
and how few ever seek or desire to return to the
paths of virtue.
Oh! that the people might awake to the im-
portance of a healthy genesis of their kind.
Lhe Laws of Heredity. 161
CHAPTER VI.
HEREDITARY DESCENT.
DIRECT DESCENT—GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
«‘ By the fireside tragedies are acted,
In whose scenes appear two actors only,
Wife and husband,
And above them God, the sole spectator.”
—Long fellow.
‘Statistical science, that true yet remorseless
prophet, reports to us that out of the thousands
of babes resting their innocent heads upon their
mothers’ breasts to-day, there shall be numbered
so many thieves, so many murderers, so many
licentious and wanton ones, so many suicides, and
so many that shall die sudden and violent deaths,
Inspecting colleges, that stern-browed registrar
records, that this proportion of young men will
honor themselves in their daily walk and conver-
sation, and that shall wander by devious paths
and doubtful ends. Beholding the sweet school
girl with unmelting gaze, the seer foretells that
162 The Laws of Heredity.
these shall dwell in reputable peace, and these
make shipwreck of their lives.”
Man marks the highest point in the scale of
creative acts. From the unorganized to the
organized; fromthe organized tothevital; fromthe
vital to the intelligent, and from the intelligent to
the moraland truly spiritual, has the scale ascended.
As previously noted, from the lowest to the high-
est in animated nature, there seems to be only a
difference of degree, not of kind. Inthe plant and
lower forms of animal life, the degree of organiza-
tion is so low as to render them individually help-
less; that is, subject to the influence of their sur-
roundings without possessing the power in them-
selves of altering, or even modifying, their exist-
ing condition. But as we ascend the scale a
better organization gives more independence and
a higher individual control.
The sponge and jelly fish are practically help-
less; they cannot avoid enemies, nor seek better
conditions; while with those higher orders that
possess arms, legs, or wings, much may be done
by themselves to better their existence. Now,
: - ue @ ee ae Oe! ee at EP IR PR A eee ee ee eee
ES, Ce Ce. ee IF OR ON Na Se eh nS Seer Be ey a Oe a
‘ *e) i : ye re ve J a3 - ; f ’ “ ys ee =
The Laws of Heredity. 163
when we add to a physical condition capable of
changing place, that highly organized matter—
the brain—with all its perfection of function, as in
man, we see the animal placed in a position where
it can modify at will its state, by placing itself
under the most favorable conditions for advance-
ment and growth. Now, the same causes which
operated to form the first plants and animals, if
not modified or changed by surrounding forces,
will continue to produce all other plants and ani-
mals just like the first. But plants, and many of
the lower forms of animal life, are incapable of re-
sisting surrounding forces, and cannot change their
place, when unfavorable, for a more suitable one;
hence, they become modified, in all degrees, which
modification gives rise to others entirely dis-
similar in properties and appearance. The nu-
merous modifying causes also give rise to numer-
our species as the long periods roll on.
“Horses and dogs brought from England to the
Himalaya mountains soon became covered with a
kind of wool which grows among the hairs, while
the same animals, taken to the interior of Africa,
164 The Laws of Heredity.
soon lose their hair and become bald. Many
species of birds lose their feathers, except the
large ones of the wings and tail.””— (Reclus.)
Climate, soil, food,—a thousand causes, from the
poles to the equator, work marvelous changes
among all life exposed to their influence. Man
differs from all other animals by his capabilities
for rapid and high advancement.
His superior intelligence enables him not only
to seek out the best conditions, but, as we have
seen, by reason of his superior mental forces, he
can command the physical forces of his being and
produce results in accordance with the dictates of
his own will. It is evident, then, that in the pro-
cess of advancement from the lower to the higher,
the physical forces of nature govern the mental
until we arrive at man, when, in the lower races, ©
they seem to be nearly equally balanced, but in the
higher civilizations, as among the Europeans, the
mental becomes the master, and man holds the
key of the future in his own hands.
Now, there are certain principles of origin and
growthcommon toboth man andthelower animals;
The Laws of Fleredity. 165
like producing like for the same reason in all. But
in man, with all the advantages of his superior
construction, arises certain distinctive traits, char-
acteristics, appetites and passions, which descend
upon him either as a blessing or a curse, and
which he alone of all creatures possesses.
The natural faculties in the well-balanced brain
are all harmonious and subject to the government
of the will; but to suppose that during the orig-
inal construction of that brain a powerful impres-
sion is made upon the maternal mind, which
impression, being reflected upon the brain of the
embryo or foetus, inthe same faculty, say of acquisi-
tiveness,” causing it to be abnormally developed,
we have, as a consequence, in the offspring a nat-
ural kleptomaniac. So, then, what we term an
unnatural appetite, or passion, or faculty, is but the
natural one, intensified often to such a degree as
to be beyond the power of the will to govern.
Now, as nine-tenths of all the sins and sorrows of
life come from certain human appetites and pas-
* The assertion of Gall and Combe, that each faculty had a sepa-
rate place in the brain as its home, has since in numerous instances
been proven to be correct.
166 The Laws of Heredity.
sions in excess, and as these reside unalterably in
the brain, it becomes certainly of the highest im-
portance to understand them as they are, and
attempt our work of re-formation at the only
time it can be successfully done,—when the indi-
vidual is first formed.
_ The descent of diseases, such as consumption,
scrofula, syphilis, etc., is quite different from the
descent of personal traits or characteristics. The
morbid germs, producing certain diseases, find
their way to the system of the infant during its
nutrition, from the mother’s body, or from close
contact with the father during early infancy, as it
has been ascertained that the particles of dried
sputa of consumptive patients, floating in the air,
are capable of infecting certain susceptible per-
sons when inhaled. These disease germs may lie
dormant for years, but upon favorable opportunity
they spring into life and activity, while traits,
characteristics, etc., are the result of impressions
first made upon the maternal mind, and, through
her nervous system, reflected upon the brain of
the unborn offspring, where the effect has been to
The Laws of Heredity. 167
so arrange the growing brain as to make them
permanent and organic.
The manner of these changes is not clearly
understood in our present state of knowledge, nor
is it necessary as long as the fact is known to us.
We know that a violent fit of anger will render
poisonous, in a few minutes, previously healthful
mother’s milk, but Zow it does it, as yet does not
seem so clear.
A knowledge of these facts would save manya
tired mother from walking the floor all night with
her suffering infant in her arms, or indeed save
its life ofttimes. So, also, would a knowledge of
these great laws and forces of our being bring joy
and gladness to the world never known before.
Upon general principles, the prevailing tenden-
cies of an age seem to determine the character of
the coming generation; local and individual excep-
tions, however, modify to some extent the general
rule. The custom of a nation, or tribe, in different
periods ere long becomes a habit, which, though
often temporary in itself, becomes the fixed
character of the progeny. Thus does licentious-
168 The Laws of Fleredtty.
ness and other forms of vice, such as dishonesty,
cruelty, etc., from a habit of constant thought in
the present become the fixed organic constituent
in the subsequent offspring, @ g., in a part of
Greece, at one period, vice was the rule and
virtue the exception.
To be virtuous in Athens was to be ridiculed,
while to be pofligate in Sparta was to meet with
the just indignation of the entire populace. The
Greeks during their long and terrible wars devel-
oped arace of brave, hardy warriors, while during
the reigns of peace in a delicious climate and on
a fertile soil, with vivid imaginations turned to-
ward art, oratory, and things beautiful, they
brought forth philosophers, orators, and artists of
the highest type. So, also, with Rome during the
reign of the Cesars, those long periods of endemic
wickedness, whose unbridled licentiousness polluted
alike patrician and plebeian, and where murder,
rapine, and inhuman cruelty ruled the hour.
There was one class, however, in imperial Rome
—the nobility—that were ever free from the
degrading licentiousness and other vices; and
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1 See : id i . - ~~ be ae - ja ete os . NY
The Laws of Fleredity. 169
why? According to their strict laws, no woman
whose grandfather, father, or husband, had been a
noble knight, was allowed, under the severest
penalties, to be other than virtuous, which being a
life custom, each generation was born with only
virtuous ideas instilled into them, which became
a part of their organic structure; just as vice did.
to those whom the laws protected in vice.
According to Gibbon, the imperial age of Rome
was the one in which vice, especially that of
licentiousness, held supremest sway; and although
the empire degenerated fast enough, on account
of its vices, toward destruction, yet the day of
doom was protracted by the enactment of those
laws which preserved a portion of its people in
each generation, and of the best blood from the
degrading vices of the general populace.
Among the shocking crimes committed in the
different periods of the world’s history, licentious-
ness may be said to have been, as it still continues
to be, the great sin of the human race. So
familiar were all forms of licentiousness to the
early Greeks and Romans, that, with but few ex-
S 170 The Laws of Heredity.
a ceptions, it was not considered at all disgraceful
B2to engage in the most loathsome description of
= vice. ‘The most celebrated men and women of
Greece and Rome, beautiful of form, and pos-
sessed of splendid intellects, were vile. The most
famous of Greek courtesans descended from a
courtesan mother—Aspasia, of Miletus—who lec-
tured on eloquence at Athens, taught rhetoric to
Socrates, and composed the orations of Pericles.
Another was Leontium, the master of the philos-
ophy of Epicurus. Her daughter, who also
adopted the profession of her mother, was the
concubine of the Governor of Ephesus. Still more
famous was Lais, whom Plutarch states had an
army of admirers, and, according to Propertius,
all Greece were her slaves. History has pre-
served the beautiful anecdote of Leona, a courte-
san of Athens, who bit off her tongue rather than
betray the secret confided to her by Harmodius
and Aristogiton in their conspiracy against Hip-
parchus.
Both Greece and Rome gave free scope to their
sensual passions, which grew worse with each
The Laws of Fleredity. 171
succeeding generation, until the earth groaned
under the weight of the iniquity. Luxury, ef-
feminacy and sensuality pervaded all classes, and
libertinism and concubinage became the order of
the day. So thoroughly imbued were even those
in authority with vice, that the Roman Senate
ordered a festival in honor of Flora, which took
place every spring, at which time naked women
of loose character paraded the public streets, and
at the sound of the trumpets threw themselves
into the most lascivious attitudes. So were the
theaters and places of public amusement made
the scenes of the most demoralizing character.
Heliogabalus, a Roman emperor, famous for his
debaucheries, obliged actors to represent nature
in all its realities, and consummate their adulteries
upon the stage. In this age corruption of morals
became so general that even women of high rank
gave themselves up to the greatest licentiousness.
Who can forget the shocking crime of the |
Emperor Augustus and his sister Julia, or the
Emperor Tiberias, who preached morality during
the day, and who was so favorably impressed
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“tl Was ee: oT Bie PN ee ee he a » 4
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as
172 The Laws of Fleredtty.
with Pilate’s account of the crucified Jesus, that
he desired to have his name placed with the gods
of the Pantheon; yet spent every night in drink-
ing wine served by naked girls. Caligula, not con-
tent with violating one of his sisters, and living
openly with the others, took delight in dishonor-
ing not only his own wife, but the most distin-
guished women; also, in the presence of the hus-
bands. ‘This was the emperor that established an
apartment for prostitution in the very palace of
the Czsars. Domitian lived publicly with his
niece, the dughter of his brother Titus. Nero,
it will be remembered, after having repudiated
the unhappy Octava, and the infamous Poppea,
solemnly married the eunuch Sporas dressed as an
empress. Such pranks we would naturally as-
cribe to the influence of liquor in modern times,
but not so then. It was their natural bent, an
every-day life, a true but degenerated descent.
Julia, the only daughter of Augustus, famous for
her wit and beauty, rendered herself still more
famous by her licentiousness. During these ages
vice and sensuality was the rule, while virtue was
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4 es Te caer | ‘ yim eae 9 Oe pe Oe, PrsJ - ee epee ae "SASS
Lhe Laws of fleredity. 193
the exception. Female honor and virtue were
then scarcely known by name, and even if suffered
to exist were considered rather a reproach than
an ornament.
The Greeks and Romans were by no means the
only nations cursed by the sins of licentiousness.
Look at male impotence and female sterility
among native Americans to-day, and tell me how
long, at the present rate, can the natives of Free-
dom’s soil retain the control of its government. I
am not an alarmist, but facts are facts. History
repeats itself. Where now are the glorious king-
doms and empires of the past, and to what did
they owe their decline and fall? The temporary
sins commencing in custom and habit, became in
the generations to follow the organic nature of
the people, and wrought their ruin. What was
true of Sodom, Babylon, Egypt, Rome and Athens,
are no less true in modern times. Crime and
wrong-doing are wrong, and bear the same char-
acter in all ages. The debaucheries of Francis I.
survived that lecherous king, and were fostered by
his successor, Charles IX., and his mother, Cath-
174 The Laws of Feredity.
erine Medicis, and became organic in his grand-
son, Henry III. The reigns of Henry IV., Louis
VIII., Louis XIV., the Regency of Louis XV., were
marked by the same licentiousness and disregard
of public decency and morals, until the earth
shuddered at the crimes committed in defiance of
the principles of morality and justice, and washed
out this foul stain upon the name of man with the
blood of the revolution. The Romans, among
their other barbarous amusements, were especially
fond of combats; sometimes wild beasts were
pitted against each other; sometimes prisoners of
war were required to fight the beasts or each
other, and at other times gladiators were required
to fight ferocious beasts or other gladiators. |
After Julius Cesar returned to Rome from his
various conquests in Egypt, Syria, etc., he wished
to celebrate his victories before the Roman public
on a most magnificent scale. Accordingly, in
making preparations for the festivities attending
his triumph, he caused a large artificial lake to be
formed at a convenient place in the vicinity of
Rome, where it could be surrounded by the people,
The Laws of Heredtty. 175
and then he made arrangements for a naval battle.
A great number of galleys were introduced into
the lake; they were of the usual size employed in
war, and were manned by numerous soldiers.
Syrian captives were put upon one side, and
Egyptian on the other, and when all was ready
the two squadrons were ordered to approach and
fight a real naval battle for the amusement of the
enormous throngs of spectators that were assem-
bled around. Hundreds were slain, and the dead
bodies fell into the lake, whose waters were dyed
crimson with their blood. Cesar also had land
combats, where hundreds were employed on a side
to fight real battles merely for amusement.”—
(Abbott’s History, Cleopatra, page 194.)
At the time of the reign of Claudius, who suc-
ceeded the infamous Caligula, A. D. 52, it was
determined by that emperor to drain the Fucine
lake, at the foot of the Appenines, near the source
of the Tiber. When the canal was finished
which was to carry the waters of the lake to the
river, the opening of the sluice-gates was to be
celebrated in some becoming manner. The simple
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kK i Se ake Pe k - Sr Nee Rn ie ee eS oe “pt Ey et ae ay, ,
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-
176 The Laws of Heredity.
fact of draining the Fucine lake was not enough
enjoyment for the people, as Claudius well knew.
So a great naval battle, where thousands were tobe
engaged, was ordered, and accordingly ships were
built upon the lake and manned by convicts and pris-
oners of war, who were well armed for the occasion;
men whom it was considered in those days per-
fectly just and right to employ in killing one an-
other for the amusement of the emperor and his
guests. The spectators had a good view of the
battle, as there was neither smoke to obscure the
sight, nor stray missiles to endanger their lives.
The shores and neighboring heights were lined
with hundreds of thousands of people. A real
battle was regarded by the Romans as the most
sublime and imposing of spectacles; hence, a vast
multitude of both sexes flocked to witness the one
which Claudius arranged for them on the Fucine
lake. ‘The emperor himself presided, dressed ina
coat of mail, and Agrippina sat by his side,
clothed in a robe made entirely of gold thread.
The signal was then given, and the battle com-
menced. At first there was some difficulty, as
The Laws of Heredity. 1747
usual in such cases, in getting the men to engage,
but they became sufficienty ferocious at last to
satisfy all the spectators, and thousands were
slain.—(Abbott’s History of Nero, pp. 118, 119.)
It is not difficult to imagine what sort of a char-
acter a child would possess, who was born and
reared under such scenes, and in an atmosphere
such as surrounded the court of Claudius. Take
Nero, for instance, as one of the first examples,
and witness the effect of heredity to the very
end.
‘Everything connected with the amphitheatre
possessed at this period such a morbid fascination
for all classes of the Roman people, that even
ladies of rank esteemed it a desirable accomplish-
ment to understand the use of the sword; and it is
said that on more than one occasion women of
noble birth have been known to take part in the
deadly games themselves. ‘To thrust, stamp and
shout when a gladiator fell, pierced to death, was
esteemed a regular exercise of healthy excite-
ment” (Anteras, p. 296). “ At the sound of the
trumpet the gladiators arranged themselves for
178 The Laws of Heredity,
deadly combat—sometimes against some wild
beast let loose upon them, and sometimes against
each other—friends who have ate and slept to-
gether, and have learned their deadly trade from
the same fencing master. Yet it is their duty to
stand up and fight in dead earnest until one or the
other is struck down and gasping his last breath
at his fellow’s feet,—all to please the morbid fancy
for hideous pleasure of a degraded populace.
Sometimes there are ten or twelve pairs pitted
against each other at once, when the arena be-
comes a ghastly and forbidding sight.
They die hard, these men whose very trade is
slaughter; but mortal agony cannot always sup-
press a groan, and it is pitiful to see some pros-
trate giant supporting himself painfully on his
hands with drooping head, and fast closing eyes
fixed on the ground, while the life stream is pour-
ing from his chest into the thirsty sand.
It would be a disgusting task to detail the scene
of blood shed, to dwell upon the fierce courage
wasted, and the brutal, useless slaughter perpe-
t-ated in those Roman shambles; yet, sickening as
-_ = wn
Lhe Laws of Heredity. 179
was the sight, so inured were the people to such
exhibitions, so completely imbued with a taste for
the horrible, and so careless of human life, that
scarcely an eye was turned away; scarce a cheek
grew pale when a disabling gash was received or
a mortal blow drivenhome. Mothers with babes
in their arms would bid the child turn its head to
watch the death-pang on the pale, stern face of
some prostrate gladiator.” . (Ant. pp. 214, 215).
But good traits, as well as bad ones, descend
upon men and women in this curious world of ours.
Take for example the Dorians and the I[onians,
who settled, the one in northern Greece, and the
other in the western portion. ‘These two peoples
spoke the same language and were of the same
descent; but their characters differed as widely as
the cold, barren mountains from the soft, smiling
plains. ‘The Dorians were rude in their manners
and laconic in their speech, barbarous in their vir-
tues and morose in their joys. The Ionians lived
among holidays; they could do nothing without
dance and song. ‘The Dorians founded Sparta, a
republic which was in reality a camp, consisting of
180 The Laws of Heredity.
soldiers fed by slaves. The girls were educated to
be vigorous, the boys to bear torture, like the red
Indians, with a smile. A council of elders exam-
ined all new-born children, and selected only the
finer specimens, in order to keep up the good old
Spartan stock. They had no commerce, no art;
their whole study was to improve physically, and
to be a superior, warlike nation, Their bodies
grew strong and their minds weak. The Athen-
ians, however, were the true Greeks; intellectual,
vivacious, shrewd, patriotic, and dishonest. ‘The
age of vice and barbarous practices was succeeded
by the age of art and personal beauty. Thus we
see, that whatever direction the mind of a people
take, whether for good or bad, it becomes in the ©
succeeding generation an inherent part of their
nature. Aswith the Greeks and Romans, so with
the ancient Germans; early custom became habit,
and that became organic law. With them, when
a young man came of age he was solemnly invested
with shield and spear. The ceremony of knight-
hood at first was nothing more. Every man of
good birth became a Knight, and took the oath to
The Laws of Heredity. 181
be true to God and the ladies, and to his-word of
honor. His actions must be all honorable; he
must be a manly man. ‘Thus within those
castles of the dark ages was born a sentiment
which has ever been the admiration of the civil-
ized world. Within those castles arose a senti-
ment of honor, and the institution of chivalry,
which made, in the after generations, women chaste
and men brave. Women were worshiped as
goddesses; the men were revered as heroes. Each
sex aspired to possess those qualities which the
other approved. Women admired, above all
things, courage and truth; so the men became
courageous and true. Men admired modesty,
virtue and refinement; so the women became vir-
tuous, modest, and refined.” Turn from this
picture to another within the history of man, and
which still continues to be the custom among some
tribes. ‘“‘ Where women became the slaves of
their husbands, hewing the wood, drawing the
water, and working in the fields, decoration
among the females was not allowed. It was con-
sidered unwomanly to engage in any but muscular
182 The Laws of Heredity.
occupations. Wives were selected only for their
strength. They were coarse, hard, ill-favored
creatures, as inferior to the men in beauty as the
females throughout the whole animal kingdom.”
Thus, we see that what may be but the tem-
porary customs or habits of a people, whether
good or bad, humane or inhuman, becomes in
the generations to follow their permanent organic
character, and continues to be reproduced with.
growing intensity until some prominent obstacle
presents itself in the way to change the currents
of thought, and establish again a new basis for a
present custom.
“It rolls away and bears along,
A mingled mass of right and wrong.”
Now, what is true of the earlier nations, is no
less true of us to-day; the descent from parent to
offspring is in obedience to the same laws, and at
all times. As the Spartans produced a race of
hardy warriors, and the Germans a race of gal-
lant knights, by cultivating the best conditions
for descent, so the Puritans produced a class of
religious fanatics by passing stringent laws, en-
on RAST ee ee ane e +
<— east
The Laws of [leredity. 183
forcing foolish observances as divine commands.
Any belief, no matter how monstrous, can be
made an organic part of the constitution of a
people by a few generations of enforced obedience
to its tenets. It becomes natural, because it is a
part of their organization; its growth is often
slow, and it is also slow to be got rid of. It was
just as natural for an old Puritan to believe that
God would punish in an “ everlasting lake of fire
and brimstone’”—somebody else, as it was for a
man like Thomas Jefferson to believe it impossi-
ble for an all-wise and all-powerful Creator to be -
driven to such an alternative.
As we have seen, man differs from all other
creatures by possessing a brain of marvelous per-
fection, through which the mental forces of his
being manifest themselves; and that heredity,
while obeying the same laws in him as in the
lower animals, is modified, altered, and often
changed entirely by the operation of the mental
forces. Hence, it becomes clear, that if the mind
is capable of exercising so great an influence over
physical construction, and as all depends upon the
ee a Ny Be NG PR ROT ee ee OLED ag ne ENN TON Mey A ate Sa, Se AMES Re
184 The Laws of Heredity.
original construction of the individual, the descent
of appetites, passions and all things unfortunate or
hurtful to man, may be regulated, governed and
constructed for his good only. The measure of
mental power is in a direct ratio to the quality,
quantity, and arrangement of the material sub-
stance of the brain and nervous system. ‘There-
fore, people differ in this world as much mentally
and morally as they do physically, and for the
same reason,—viz., difference in original construc-
tion. The deposit of special brain matter in-
creases the facilities for mental power, as the de-
posit of fibrine does of muscular strength.
‘“‘T have no patience,” says Galton (Hereditary
Genius), “with the hypothesis occasionally ex-
pressed and often implied, especially in tales in-
tended to teach children to be good, that children
are born pretty much alike, and that the sole
agencies in creating differences between boy and
boy, and manand man, are study, application, and
moral effort. It is inthe most unqualified manner
that I object to pretentions of natural equality.
The experiences of the nursery, the school, the
The Laws of Heredity. _ 185
university, and of professional careers, are a chain
of proofs to the contrary. I acknowledge freely
the great power of education and social influences
in developing the active powers of the mind, just
as I acknowledge the effect of use in developing
the muscles of the blacksmith’s arm, and no
further. Let the blacksmith labor as he will, he
will find there are certain feats beyond his power
that are well within the strength of a man of her-
culean make, even though the latter may have
lead a sedentary life.”
I have thus been particular in this matter in
order to fasten in the mind the fact that, no mat-
ter what the mind of a human being may be in
itself, it has to manifest itself through the medium
of organic matter, and the manifestations appear
exactly in accordance with the construction of
that organic matter. Moreover, the arrangement
of the materials composing the brain and other
portions of the animal body, is capable of being
controlled largely, if not entirely, by the will,
therefore bringing all appetites, passions, physical
peculiarities,—everything that may affect for either
186 The Laws of Fleredity.
good or evil,—within the power and control of
human beings, leaving the shaping of their des-
tinies within their own hands. ‘The fact can not
be impressed too strongly, that the universe is
governed by fixed, necessary, irrevocable laws,
even in the minutest affairs, and that obedience to
those laws alone gives the best results. Nature’s
demands are simple, her commands imperative.
Obedience brings a blessing every time; disobe-
dience, whether consciously or unconsciously done,
brings a curse without fail, no matter to whom,—
saint or sinner, Jew or Greek; bond or free. Yet,
notwithstanding all this, we see men daily cring-
ing and humiliating themselves, and trying “ to
mortify ” their poor flesh, instead of endeavoring
to elevate it to a higher plane, and purify it.
And for what? Why, inorder to court the favor
of Providence, in the vain hope that He will come
to their relief, and change permanent laws, be-
cause they have wandered in forbidden paths.
When men once come to understand that the
prayer God answers is the one in perfect harmony
with his laws, and the only one, they will seek to
The Laws of Fleredity. 187
understand those laws, and conform to their re-
quirements, and thus save much useless endeavor
and valuable time. _
I hope I may not be understood to speak lightly
of prayer; that is, ¢-we prayer, for I believe there
is much power in faithful, earnest prayer. But
that power lies in the individual good to one’s
self; in the purifying, reforming influence it has
upon our own natures, and not in its power in
teaching God His duty to man, or in inducing Him
to grant things He would not have otherwise given.
I am aware that there are hundreds of examples
where it is asserted that, through petitions to God,
sick persons who would have otherwise died, have
been restored in a most remarkable manner. I
have before noted the powerful influence that the
mind has over the body in the restoration of the
sick. This is true with many of the reported miracu-
lous cures. Other cases are but mere coincidences.
In every place where the Creator is visible to man
in a single work, he is unchangeable, and cannot
work thus to-day and some other way to-morrow.
I do not wish to apply the cold douche of facts to
188 The Laws of Heredity.
dampen any one’s ardor in the right, but truth
cannot be eliminated until the mass of error is
cleared away. ‘The case of our late lamented
President illustrates well the case in hand. If
ever direct petitions to the Almighty could
accomplish anything, they should have served to
save President Garfield, for the whole nation was
pleading for his life; and not only our own nation
- but the civilized Christian world also. The ques-
tion resolves itself into this: Was the life of even
President Garfield of more consequence in the
universe than the changing of one of nature’s
fixed laws? ‘The result answers. Now, in his
case, a law of life was violated by that fatal shot,
and the only prayer that could have been heard
and answered was a mending of that broken law.
Could the ball have been extracted, and the lacer-
ated tissues replaced just as they were before the
shot was fired, by surgical skill, he would have
been saved, we all instinctively know, and that is
the only kind of successful prayer for such a case.
The law was waiting to be obeyed; man was un-
able to comply with its requirements, and inexor-
The Laws of Fleredity. 189
able nature removed the victim. “If the moun-
tain won’t go to Mohammed, then Mohammed
must go to the mountain.” So when God’s great
laws in nature won’t conform to man, man must
make up his mind to conform to them. ‘Those
reported cases of Providence interfering in a
special manner for certain individuals, taking
away at once and forever powerful and overmas-
tering appetites, as for strong drink, opium, etc.,
will not bear the light of careful scrutiny. As we
have seen, nature does the same thing the same
way every time, and for the same reason; and if
we can discover any examples when appetites
have been removed without prayer, equally well
with those they claim as the result of prayer,
we must conclude that prayer in one case, and no
prayer in another, could not accomplish the same
thing.
I give a few cases well authenticated here,
because so many, oh! so many, have been deceived
in this matter and depended upon the wrong help.
I don’t object to prayer, but only warn those who
have unfortunate appetites not to depend upon
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Igo The Laws of Fleredity.
prayer for what it was never calculated to do.
Would he be conceded a wise man who depended
upon prayer in the spring time to plant his ground
and put his’ crop in? or in the harvest time to
gather it into his garners? ‘The few cases where
appetites for stimulants, that had continued for
years, have disappeared permanently after an
earnest prayer, are equally balanced by the same
number and kind of appetites disappearing from
persons who never pray, neither were they prayed
for, to the utter astonishment of themselves and
friends.
I do not doubt the sincerity of belief in the in-
dividual thus so kindly dealt with, nor wonder that
he should ascribe it to the direct interposition, on
his behalf, of the Almighty in answer to prayer.
Still we must not lose sight of the fact that there .
are hundreds of as good, or perhaps better, persons
in every way, who are now, and have been for
years, struggling with all their might, and crying
in despairing agony to the same merciful Father
for help, and still have never received the slightest
aid or encouragement. I have seen more than
The Laws of Heredity. ‘IQI
one Christian mother with a faith, which if rightly
directed, could move mountains, pray unceas-
ingly during the remainder of their lives for their
wayward boy that God would save him from his
inebriety, and never falter in their belief (although
seeing no fruit from their prayers) until their
eyes closed in death; who still believed, as they
stepped intothe cold river, that their prayers would
be answered after they were gone. But I have
seen those same sons,—the children of so many
tears and petitions,—go on from bad to worse, and
finally go shrieking and cursing down to that door
which opens upon the eternal night. Those poor
mothers never once dreamed that there was but
one time and place where their prayer could have
been answered, and that was during the period of
-. their child’s pre-natal nascency. To believe that
God who, we are taught, is infinitely wise and
just, should select one here and there to bestow
special favors upon, and let hundreds upon hun-
dreds go down unaided, with prayers unanswered
through agonizing lives to die in hopeless gloom—
I cannot and will not. It is impossible for me to
Ene OE TAA oe So LSE SP SRO RRR TT Cae ge ene Dk See ORT nye a one a
4 " Net ~~ ty, a ‘ bs ° S 3. 5 = er Bes * ve phe a
192 The Laws of Heredity.
separate such an act from that of grossest in-
justice, unworthy a human tyrant, much less that
of a God and Father of all men. |
The examples I select are from the ranks of the
slaves of opium; as those of experience know that
of the two narcotics—alcohol and opium—opium
binds its victim with much the stronger chains.
De Quincy, whose confessions many are familiar
with, made many and long continued efforts to
break, but could not. Coleridge, after many and
repeated attempts to rid himself of the terrible
master, exclaimed in despair: “Allis lost! * *
Hope, now, there is none. I am but the wreck of
what you once knew me; rolling rudderless.”
scarcely less deep was the oppressive gloom of
Randolph, who exclaimed: ‘I live by opium, if
not upon it,” and died its victim, notwithstanding
his faithful laments, futile resolves, and earnest
efforts to break away. On the other hand, we
will present the late Emperor of China,—Taou
Kwang. ‘This emperor, after long years of slavery
to this fearful master, in his declining years, when
he saw his health giving way under its use, re-
-
The Laws of Heredity. 193
solved.to break away from it, and persevered in
his good resolve to the end, feeling no incon-
venience from the breaking off from the start.
Perhaps this was in answer to some prayer of this
worshiper and brother of the sun and moon, or
may be an exception was made in his case on
account of being anemperor. Ah! how we mor-
tals err from not understanding. Dr. Christison
relates the case of a woman who had led a loose
life, and who had long been a slave and a martyr,
too, secondarily to opium, who broke off, of her own
accord, suddenly, and without experiencing any
bad feelings or any revived disposition to return
to the habit. At Mount Hope Lunatic Asylum
there was a female patient under the charge of
Dr. Stokes, whose daily quantity was 156 grains,
who, from no remonstrance or outside influence,
but of her own prompting, simply, abandoned the
narcotic entirely, and at once, without personal
ill-feelings, or any recurrence of the habit. Alonzo
Calkins, M. D., relates a case sent by Dr. Quack-
enboss, of a young woman, a housemaid, who was
addicted to the habit for many years and would
ees eA oe
LE PORT IT CES eee COON SEE aN Ke ee
Peep? eT OOS ee, chee Pl ee Der DARE ae Ee) bon? Sr sa Sie Fad Se ae ON Se a ee ee Te eee ae “
ET TU aE ES Tighe Be aioie es OMEN tage Le! AN g gu bts Re nee a ee
ei aes Mit a Cin ak ain, ¢ na Deca wa alley eins Sin 62 A ae ee we oe. oe ee a 2 ee EC eee Bi Eee Ts
r na aah e. nm ~ RY 7 iar ; maf * : ie “3 5 * x
> ¢ - ot * : ‘ie f 1
The Laws of Fleredity. 209
behold the evil influences surrounding many
women, the ill-usage and brutality they are sub-
jected to by human monsters as husbands, at
times when only loving kindness, gentleness, and
extremest care should surround them, I am
amazed that the offspring of such have appeared
even as well as they have.
The general idea of the descent of traits, char-
acteristics, etc., expressed by writers on hereditary
descent, so far, at least, as my knowledge of their
writings extends, is, that the various traits, appe-
tites, passions, personal resemblances, and deform-
ities of offspring, descend in some mysterious
manner alike from father, mother, grandparent,
uncle or aunt, or some remote relative; and that
it was accomplished in some manner through the
blood, although incomprehensible.
But it will be observed that both physical and
mental resemblances descend also quite as readily
under the same circumstances from those who
bear no blood relationship whatever. Medical
jurists have recommended and considered family
likeness, not merely of form and features, but of
210 The Laws of Heredity.
gesture and other peculiarities, as of great value
in determining the paternity of a child when it
was in doubt. But it is evident to those compe-
tent to form intelligent opinions on such subjects,
that to attach much importance to the likeness
merely, no matter how striking, or to the gestures,
traits, etc., of individuals to one another, would
in many cases, at least, lead to most serious error;
as recent investigation in this field of thought, and
observation of facts have shown that a child may
resemble most perfectly, in both features and
character a person who could inno way whatever,
except by mental impress, have been concerned
in its nativity.
The two following cases out of many from my
_ note book, will verify this assertion:
Miss H., a charming girl, of Meadville, Penn.,
was engaged to be married to a most worthy
young man of the same city, but, on account of
his poverty, the union was forbidden‘by her
parents, who compelled their daughter, as is often
the case, to renounce the object of her choice, and
wed a wealthy old man whom she neither loved
i ¢ a gee a ew OE te
ee ae a Rant tt
+. ba ae | Pan
The Laws of feredtty. 254
nor honored. With a breaking heart she bowed
her neck to the hateful yoke, and buried at
Hymen’s altar her last and fondest hope.
In the course of time a son was born, who, as
he grew into early youth, so remarkably resem-
bled the former lover of the young wife, that the
old spouse became furious with jealousy, accused
his wife of infidelity to the marriage vows, and,
finally, sued and obtained a divorce from her, on
the allegation that the former lover was the father
of her child, basing his judgment upon the strik-
ing resemblance, both of form and features, as
well as the personal traits and characteristics, of
the boy to the young man before mentioned.
The court, in total ignorance of those physical
laws which govern pre-natal life, granted the un-
just decree, wholly upon the fact that the child
resembled, in a most remarkable degree, some
one else besides its real father, and one who was
not related even in the remotest degree by blood.
As before suggested for schools of theology, so
it would be well for schools of law, to establish a
chair of Natural Science in every one of them, so
May Oh dial Big! ere Pe Ge Rm CY Re elles oe” aca Rae oo
ojuleh 2 BE Co EO RAPE Er Ley. DRO ary ow EO
BT eee Ee Oe ee Ota ee Pee
eh) _ ¥ ‘ - : . 5
212 The Laws of Fleredity.
that by becoming perfectly familiar with natural
laws, they may be the better fitted to make and
administer laws involving natural phenomena.
The following additional case will be sufficient
to illustrate the point under discussion, and will
bear more directly upon it. The particulars of
this case were given me by Mr. W.,a Meth-
odist clergyman, of Dixon, IIl., and also by Dr.
A. K. Norton, an able practitioner of medicine
and surgery, and a cultured gentleman, formerly
of this city, but now of Detroit:
Miss K., of Dixon, a young. lady of pure char-
acter and good reputation, became the afhanced
of a young gentleman about her own age. The
case was one of mutual affection, and the young
lovers held the whole world a dreary waste with-
out the society of each other. Their Elysian
dreams, however, were doomed to perish. The
young lady’s father, it appears, had “ golden”
ambitions for his only daughter and choice treas-
ure. The youthful lover was poor.
* No foot of land do I possess,
Nor cottage in the wilderness.”
me ' < — . «. . * bon em a v
4
The Laws of Heredity. 213
But he had an honest, true, manly heart, and two
strong, willing hands, which, however, were not
sufficient inducement to gain the approval of the
more prosaic father and hard man of the world.
The young man was forbidden the house, and
also all communication with her whose life now
seemed a part of his own life. ‘The daughter was
compelled forthwith to marry a wealthy old gen-
tleman, who might serve as husband. and grand-
father at the same time, there being some fifty
years difference in their ages. |
The young man, stricken with grief, soon after
left for California, where he remained for between
two and three years. The daughter, compelled
by her father to wed the aged, wealthy friend,
yielded her hand only, as her heart was in Cali-
fornia with the one who had truly won it, and
who was dearer to her than life itself. About a
year after her marriage with the septuagenarian
a fine boy came to cheer her sorrowful life.
This lad, as he grew up, was carefully scrutin-
ized day by day by his anxious father for some
faint resemblance, at least, to his sire, but, alas! none
214 Lhe Laws of fleredity,
could be discovered. But he did resemble, in a
most remarkable degree, both of form and features,
and in every act and movement, some one, which
the most casual observer knew without hesitation
to be none other than the absent former lover of
the young wife and mother, now so far away.
‘For where the treasure is,” said Jesus, “ there
will the heart be also.” ‘The young man whose
image and personality had been thus so wonder-
fully transferred to his darling’s boy, had been
separated for more than a year before the mar-
riage took place by hundreds of miles from those
of whom I write, and was wholly unconscious and
innocent of the prominent part he had played in
this great natural drama. Now, what light does
science throw upon this apparent mystery? The
poor young woman, after the departure of her
lover, to her forever, and the consequent blasting
of her happiness for the future, found her only
consolation in gazing fondly upon a likeness of him
which she had begged as a last favor before his
departure, and kept concealed in her bosom next
her heart.
ee eee TR ee eee ee RN ae TL RAP POW SD eee On FeO ee ah CORE TS OR. Je See ital
os fa» eee pe et NS ee Ss ee bil =e ue! LN Oe e td Peta Nak aoe Rat oat oe * 4 4
~ . 6 "eae We : le 3 sf . 2
The Laws of feredity. 215
She spent hours daily alone with this picture,
and deemed it no sin, for was not his the heart to
whom she had the right by reason of the most
sacred vows? She wept over those beloved
features as only the breaking heart can weep, and
studied every line and lineament of that counte-
nance, recalled with pleasure every little action
and gesture, and loving word of the absent one,
until all unconsciously was burned, as it were, into
her very soul, and which were reproduced again
in the permanent organic constitution of her son.
‘It is all simple and plain enough when under-
stood. It is nature’s mode of operating, and if
we never know more, this much alone is sufficient
knowledge, if we will but utilize it for the millions
who are yet to people this beautiful earth, and for
whom we may with our present light be held ina
great measure responsible.
The cases of the two ladies just recorded are
precisely alike, only, unfortunately for the one at
Meadville, Pa., her former affianced chanced to
remain in the same city, and thereby was the un-
conscious cause of blasting an innocent and harm-
216 The Laws of Heredity.
less life. ‘O, Ignorance, what crimes have been
committed in thy name.” But it will not always
be so.
“© Tho’ the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience he stands waiting,
With exactness grinds he all.”
We therefore see that traits of character, per-
sonal resemblances, in fact all things that descend
upon offspring, and are liable to affect their after
lives for weal or woe, do not of necessity de-
scend through persons bearing a blood relation-
ship, but are equally liable if the circumstances
are the same, to proceed from any person, no
matter how far removed from consanguineous
relationship; in fact, whatever personal peculiari-
ties, characteristics, appetites, etc., do descend as
an inheritance, be they physical, mental or moral,
they are the result of mental impressions from the
maternal mind acting upon the nascent embryonic
mass during the pre-natal period; and as we have
endeavored to keep steadily in view the fact that
in nature the same effects must depend upon the
same causes for their antecedents, therefore it
Lhe Laws of Heredity. 217
follows that whatever may have been the cause
of the phenomena exhibited in the case of the
above mentioned ladies, must also be true in each
and every case of hereditary descent in the human
being, for the wonderful power of the mental
forces must ever possess a modifying influence.
For the sake of convenience and perspicuity, I
will divide these impressions so as to consider
them under the following heads:*
First. Powerful physical and mental impres-
sions on the mind of the mother (encden¢e woman )
are capable of being reproduced in the lives of the
offspring, their permanent strength in the off-
spring depending upon the strength of the impres-
sion on the maternal mind.
Second. Strong and persistent evil passions
yielded to by the mother reproduce themselves
in the organic, unchangeable tendencies of the
offspring. Certain influences which for good or
bad, fortunate or unfortunate, have affected the
mother as such, are exhibited in the good or bad
* In these headings I have followed SS those under a similar
head in Cook’s Heredity.
ee OP ee et i
218 The Laws of Heredity.
results of the greatest importance in the lives of
the offspring.
Third. Beautiful, pure and happy impressions
on the mind of the mother, if unmixed with oppo-
site ones, produce in the offspring creations of
symmetry and beauty.
Fourth. Hideous physical impressions on the
mind of a mother are capable of, and often do,
produce in the offspring, deformity and monstros-
ity. The keen sensibilities of the female mind
to such impressions is a teaching of very ancient
as well as of modern times.
First. Powerful physical and mental impres-
stons produced on the mind of the mother, are ca-
pable of being reproduced im the lives of the off-
spring. Their permanent strength in the off spring
depending on the strength of the impression upon
the maternal mind.
“Unspeakable thoughts rise here.” Who can
measure the height and depth, or weigh the im-
portance of this most wonderful subject?
‘ For of all creative acts none is so sovereign and
divine. Whoshall reveal the endless musings and
The Laws of Fleredity. 219
perpetual prophesies of the mother’s soul? Her
thoughts dwell upon the unknown child,—thoughts
more in number than the ripples of the sea upon
some undiscovered shore. To others, in such
hours, woman should seem more sacred than the
most solemn temple; and to herself she must
needs seem as if o’ershadowed by the Holy
Ghost.” — Beecher, im Life of Fesus, the Christ,
Vol. I.
Napoleon Bonaparte once said: ‘The future
destiny of a child may be learned from the
mother.”
I have heard that the mother of Kingsley so
loved the scenery of a part of “Green old England,”
that she made herself an artist, and transferred to
canvas the outlines of the hills and beautiful
meadows of her home, which had thus so fascin-
ated her; and I am told that Charles Kingsley
had throughout life, as an organic permanent pas-
sion, that which was a temporary passion with
his mother. Mr. Francis Galton says of Goethe,
the poet and philosopher, and one of the greatest
men of genius the world has ever produced: ‘“ His
po BTR RB tp © Sane 2 EA TR Rae ch eer ee aig Sh oe nD EN ga
* e > = 5 ary i Paes ye 8 ek “wt oe 4S. asa
cea p SS SO ; RE GNSS Boe EO AO BEE SRE ee eee eee
220 The Laws of Heredity.
mother was the delight of children, the favorite
of poets and princes. After a lengthened inter-
view an enthusiastic traveler exclaimed: “Now
do I understand how Goethe has become the man
hevishiis* * © She was married atethesaes
of seventeen to a man for whom she had no love,
and was only eighteen when the poet and philos-
opher was born. All her splendid talents and
characteristics were reproduced in her son. His
father was represented only in the generally fine ©
appearance of his physical frame, which the
young, susceptible mother, with an eye for the
beautiful and symmetrical, did admire very much,
and would have done so with any one, although
she had no answering throb, no real affection
for the man.”
Goethe says of himself: ‘“ From my father I in-
herit my frame; from dear little mother, my
happy disposition and love of story-telling.” A
glance at a few distinguished men, selected here
and there among the different professions and
trades, will suffice to show the close connection of
the mother to the distinguishing traits of the child.
The Laws of Heredity. 221
Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great,
was a woman ardent in her enthusiasms, ungov-
ernable in her passions; was scheming and in-
triguing in her nature. The son represented that
mother, how well, every student of history already
knows. Letitia Naenolini, or Madame la Mere,
as she was familiary known, the mother of Napo-
leon Bonaparte, was a heroine by nature, and one
of the most beautiful young women of her day.
Her husband, Carlo Bonaparte, a Corsican judge,
was an active partisan, and much abroad on the
island during the political excitement. She fol-
lowed him on horseback in all his journeyings
through the then dangerously disturbed section,
often being obliged to ride furiously to escape some
pursuing foe. She was a woman essentially of
moods; but mentall}: and physically sound. It
was during these trying periods that her greatest
and, subsequently, most distinguished child (Na-
poleon) was born. In the midst of wars, sur-
rounded by armies, the constant companion of the
great and brave, she became for the time being,
heart and soul, an actor upon that exciting stage.
TS TSS shee UY GOR! We, On ON a re eS nk ee tae Ae Ce Ne a es Oe a ere ole alt. faite dM
SSO SS ORNS Pe eat Re eee wa Tee Oa 2g er ea ag ee
= \ ae f : < Puce? yeas man “ae
222 The Laws of Heredity.
She seized, and devoured with avidity, it is said,
“‘ Plutarch’s Lives,” and other heroic literature,
and the temporary impressions made upon her
- mind were reproduced in the permanent organic
constitution of her son.
Is it as difficult now to see why Napoleon loved
the army and war as he did? So that even with
his last expiring breath, alone upon that desolate
island of banishment, when the soul was busy
with the unfolding problem of Eternity, as he
stood where life and death met, he could exclaim:
“Army, tete de army,” and expire.
In no family, perhaps, were the temporary
moods of a mother better represented than in the
different children of Madame la Mere; each re-
presenting distinctly the political and_ social
periods through which the mother passed during
their pre-natal existence. When listening to any-
thing particularly interesting, or of a startling
character, it is said she would sit with her great
eyes dilated, making a reality in her own soul of
every incident enacted.
Take, again, Julius Cesar, dictator of Rome.
Se Se EB a Oe AG a4 ee eR a Tee pO a el ee ee a Ce gee | , ree eS se es, we a ht oA & Rael? 5,
ye ae ee ee ON at ee eee nae Ds. PS Rs hea PNG bit gine! ape ; A 1 vies - % Rpt: hi ne . he, a its . - + ry
The Laws of Fleredity. 223
Aurelia, his mother, was most extraordinary;
wise, self-willed, and careful of the education of
her children. Atia, the mother of Augustus
Cesar, was a great and good woman, who is
classed along with Cornelia, the mother of the
Gracchi. Let us pass now to another class.
Take, for example, Charlotte Bronte, the great
novelist; her mother was refined, pure, modest,
and intelligent. Also the celebrated divine, Philip
Henry, who went by the name of “ Heavenly
Henry;” his mother was a very conscientious,
pure, and devotedly pious woman, attached
heart and soul to her children, and took great
pains with their training. Also, George Herbert,
whose mother was a lady of extraordinary piety,
and possessed of more than feminine understanding.
As the good and evil walk side by side in this
life, let us place them side by side in our study of
them.
By the persons just mentioned I will place Nero,
the Roman Emperor, whose acquaintance St.
Paul had the pleasure of forming at one time, and
Agrippina, his mother. Now, Agrippina’s first
Ne CRE PM Se AOR DP EMS eG, soma SUE aE CORO cea eee ee
; aa E c oe We = ere. rai a "ae eet xe oe Goel ee : "ecg
. 4 Pig ae « Lg 2 ae z >
d f ©
224 The Laws of Heredity.
marriage was to Brazenbeard, a weak wretch,
who amounted to almost nothing. Her second
marriage was to Claudius, her own uncle, whom
she afterward poisoned, and also caused to be
assassinated his son to make room for her son,
Nero, by her first marriage, upon the throne. ‘If
we search the pages of all history,”
says Canon
Farrar, ‘we will find no character the phenomena
of which was more terrible or darker than that of
Agrippina, the mother of Nero. Whatever virt-
ues Germanicus, her great father, possessed, she,
in common with the other children of this family,
had not one; from her very cradle she was
filled with wickedness and passion, which, as she
grew up, urged her into every form of crime.”
From such a mother did Nero, the tyrant, inherit
_his dreadful nature,—a nature that could in cold
blood murder the mother that bore him, and
could burn Rome. His history, one of the ex-
tremest cruelty and indecency, until his dreadful
end, is too well known to require further notice
here.
Turn, again, in the opposite direction, and view
The Laws of Fleredity. 225
the character of Marcus Aurelius, the most virt-
uous, perhaps, of all the emperors of Rome; as
surely as infernal traits went down upon Nero,
celestial ones went down upon Marcus Aurelius.
His mother, pagan though she was, was kind,
gentle, loving, patriotic and pure, caring more
for the honor of her son than for the wealth of an
empire, or the applause of Rome.
Two characters present themselves here whose
contrast could not be greater, and show how true
is the law of descent of character, from the mother
to the child; good and bad, alike, descending, and
with equal facility,—Marcus Aurelius, and his
adopted brother, Lucius Verus. Antoninus Pius,
by the express wish of Hadrian, adopted both
Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus; and so highly
did he esteem Aurelius, that, upon his death, he
recommended him to the chief men of Rome to
be theiremperor. Aurelius was therefore chosen,
and the adopted brother, although having no just
reason to complain, still showed his ungovernable
temper in various ways, and was loud in his com-
plaints at the injustice done him in the choice.
226 The Laws of Heredity.
The warm-hearted, generous Aurelius divided
the honors and favors with his brother. He
placed him in command of the armies of Rome,
while he attended to the affairs of state.
Now, both men were equally adopted by the
good Antoninus Pius; were under the same care,
example and advice, and differed only in the
character which descended upon them from their
mothers. Marcus Aurelius married Faustina, and
by her had a large family. ‘The first year of his
reign his wife bore twins, one of which died, and
the surviving one became the wicked and de-
tested Emperor Commodus. We have already
seen the character of Aurelius, and of his mother.
“History,” says Canon Farrar (‘‘Seekers after
God”), ‘or the collection of anecdotes which at
this period often passes as history, has assigned to
Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius, a character of
the darkest infamy.” Thus it is: Aurelius’
mother produced an Aurelius; the mother of
Philip Henry, a “‘ Heavenly Henry;” Agrippina, a
Nero, and Faustina, with one of the best and
most respected pagan fathers, a Commodus.
The Laws of Heredity. 224
It will then be observed, in examining the rec-
ords of great, or, indeed, any lives, that the
descent of traits, characteristics, etc., are directly
through the mother, and her alone, and not from
the father, uncle, grandparents, or others, only so
far as they may be capable of impressing the
mother, and through her affecting the offspring.
It has often been observed that children by a
second marriage, resemble, sometimes in a re-
markable degree, the former husband, who, per-
haps, has been in his sepulchre for many years,
and of course could exert no influence except
through the memory.
A curious case was related to me by a friend of
a lady who married a widower, and afterwards
became exceedingly jealous of his former wife,
whose portrait hung in her husband’s parlor, and
so fascinated her by its beauty that she could
scarce look or think of anything else. She kept
the knowledge, however, of these morbid fancies
from her husband; but nature could not be thus
deceived, for as the dial measured out the mo-
ments of that most eventful period of woman’s
8 SU ae ety et Pty ir nt tye ee aed laid CITY Te en pe es a, ae CE
= Ts es. test Shi are nse vy Se Ae f Behe op EN. Tb otek TES) ra baat
ssa hy Pe Ree ANT R tre cae A OS et Wa a. Seo i
228 The Laws of Fleredity.
life, the features of the fascinating yet hated rival
were being drawn, line by line, to reappear per-
manently in person of her own daughter, after-
ward born, who, I am informed, owes all her
wondrous beauty to the fact of a mother’s
extreme jealousy of a woman long since dead, and
whom she never saw. |
There is one fact, I believe, which admits of no
exception, and that is that an intellectual mother
produces intellectual offspring — barring accidents;
while an intellectual father may have as children
either fools or philosophers. ‘To illustrate — the
mother of Goethe was a woman of superior native
ability, and highly cultured, and Goethe was the
product of such a woman. Goethe, himself, how-
ever, married a most inferior woman intellectu-
ally, and had a son of no note whatever.
The mother of James Watt, the inventor of the
steam engine, and much else of great value, was
a woman of genius and of excellent understanding.
An old woman described her as a ‘“ braw, braw
woman; none now to be seen like her,”?’ The
mother of Lord Byron, the poet, was a strange,
mere
The Laws of Heredity. 229
proud creature, passionate, and half mad. If ever
there was a case in which heredity descent was
well exhibited, Byron’s was theone. His history,
passionate nature, and strange pranks are well
known. ‘There are, however, cases which seem
to be exceptions to the general rule of descent, as
witnessed in persons who have became poets, sci-
entists, painters, etc., where the mother showed
no particular talent in these directions as a rule,
in which the offspring excelled. These cases are
the result of temporary moods on the part of the
mother; some external influence having powerfully
affected her in acertain direction, was reproduced
asa strong gift in the child. It is thus often, as
we shall see, that the kleptomaniac, monomaniac,
pyromaniac, etc., are made, to be a curse to them-
selves and to the world. Insuch a family,— where
the mother’s moods are liable to change with
every exciting influence, or where the mother is
exceedingly impressionable,— if large and extend-
ing over a number of years, there will be exhibited
a diversity of talents, providing the mother has
a good natural intellect even if not cultivated.
ors ON Pa eg hee A OE ee Te, te PP ens el ee Oe
a | ab ~ fr 4 y Pelt
230 Lhe Laws of Heredity.
From what has been said, then, it is plain that
a child at the period of its first independent ex-
istence, represents exactly the condition of the
maternal parent during the months of nascency,
nor indeed can it be otherwise, for what power
other than the maternal is there to govern and
shape the new being. All history is replete with
examples which bear testimony to the correct-
ness of this view. No one can read the biog-
raphies of individuals of the early Greek and Ro-
man Empires, and not see the effect of maternal
impress in almost every line.
Turn to the page of sacred history, and it is
found everywhere. Who can read the account
in Genesis, xvi. chapter, of Ishmael’s genesis and
birth, and not see the effect of the disturbed mind
of Hagar, burning with intense hatred toward her
mistress for the great wrong done her, react-
ing upon her unborn child, and becoming his
permanent nature in after years. ‘ And he will
be a wild man; his hand will be against every
man, and every man’s hand against him, and he
shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
hogy Rape RE Sa 00 tl oe ee chp be tia iN Ae ete hia a teh A ead ie Ue ea ak Rul
x, ‘ m2) Py’. = ; ae) < » 5 “el 4 PA a
The Laws of Heredity. 231
(v.12). Whowill be surprised at Hagar having
just such feelings under the circumstances, and
yet nature, ever true to her laws, is sure to stamp
permanently upon the offspring the evil as well as
the good. This foretelling the kind of man
Ishmael was to be before his birth, looked indeed
like a prophesy such as only an angel or some
supernatural being could give, but in fact was by
no means so. As before mentioned, Napoleon
Bonaparte declared that “The future destiny of a
’ and any
child may be learned from the mother;’
person well acquainted with the laws governing
hereditary transmission, can tell with unerring
certainty what the future man or woman will be,
if he has a correct history of the mother during
the gestation of the child. It is not a miracle
or some great wonder, but is £nzowledge. If the
means to produce offspring at all is placed within
man’s own reach, is it unreasonable to suppose
that the means also to produce the very dest is
within his reach?
Nor is it alone that mental and moral peculiar-
ities are transmitted, but physical also, and with
EE ie ree RIMS Bae Ge DS Ske ct gle, ee eS cme 19] Qe ee AN Wet oder me a Ree Ge et Ee ET oR RES, ee Sep ee)
Sa ys ee A ESS oe a ae AN! Dag NRE eke Se ee a
~¥
22725 The Laws of Heredity.
equal facility. Much sport has been made from
time to time by so called scientists over the ac-
count given in Gen., xxx. chapter, where Jacob
made practical use of this knowledge on Laban’s
cattle, and produced the kind he wanted,—ob-
tained a result which has since been many times
obtained, and for the same reason. ‘The account
says that an angel observing the wrong Laban was
trying to do to honest, faithful Jacob, imparted
to him this piece of valuable information. ‘The
Christian world has ever regarded such things as
miracles, which only some angel or supernatural
person could understand, and this has ever been a
grievous error, inasmuch as men believing thus
would make no effort to understand things that
they ought to know and do. Now, however,
Jacob may have received this knowledge, it was
but a bit of scientific information which you or I,
reader, could give just as well, and which would
produce the same effect to-day as it did then, if
the circumstances were the same.
Prof. Huxley (Origin of Species, pp. 94, 95,)
relates a case of a farmer in Massachusetts, by
The Laws of Fteredity. 233
the name of Seth Wright, who had a flock of
some twelve ewes and oneram. One of the ewes,
at breeding time, had a lamb resembling in struc-
ture an otter. It had a long body, with short and
bowed legs. ‘This is termed by Prof. Huxley
“ Spontaneous Vartation,” which don’t explain
very clearly how it was produced. It seems
strange that “‘ spontaneous variation ” should pro-
duce, out of a large flock of sheep, but one differ-
ent from the rest, and that one resembling ina
remarkable degree a kind of animal which lived
in that section of country, and to which the timid,
impressible sheep were unaccustomed. Why
should it not have resembled a fox or a dog in-
stead of an otter? It seems to me that it needs
no argument to show that the startling effect the
presence of the otter produced on that ewe, left its
stamp upon her lamb, just as the “peeled rods ”
did upon the cattle of Laban. As we have seen,
human genesis and animal genesis differs in no
essential particular, all being subject to the same
laws. Dr. Naphey says: “It is often noticed
that the children of a woman in her second mar-
234 The Laws of fderedity.
riage bear a marked resemblance to her first hus-
band. In the inferior races, and lower animals,
this obscure metamorphosis is still more apparent.
A. negress, who has borne her first children to a
white man, will ever after have children of a
lighter color than her own.” Count Streselewski,
in his travels in Australia, narrates this curious
circumstance. ‘A native woman, who has once
had offspring by a white man, can never more
have children by a male of her own race.” Mr.
Darwin states that a male zebra was once brought
to England, and a hybrid race, marked by the
zebra’s stripes was produced from certain mares.
“Always after, the colts of these mares bore
the marks of the zebra upon their skins.”” Mr.
Lavater, the great German physiognomist, relates
in his work the following: “A girl, between six
and seven years of age, who was taken from town
to town as a show, and who was spotted with hair
like a deer, and particularly remarkable for the
spongy excrescence on her back, which was also
thickly overgrown with deer colored hair. Her
mother, during. pregnancy, had quarreled with a
The Laws of Fleredity. 235
neighbor concerning a stag. I will not speculate,”
says he, ‘on the cause. I will only say that the
color and growth of the hair were like that of a
stag. The hair also of the forehead, arms and
limbs differed from the hair of the head. The
former likewise had a resemblance to the hair of
a stag, which was very extraordinary. The in-
fluence of the imagination on this child appears to
me to be unquestionable. Many hundreds can
testify to the truth of these phenomena; therefore
the possibility of the effects of the mother’s
imagination in the child cannot be controverted.”
“T have no doubt,” says this author, “ but that in
the future we may discover a most fruitful source
of beautiful and better countenances, and conse-
quently of character.” (Essays on Physiognomy. )
It may be well, before closing this head, to
recur again to the early history of mankind and
see if we from that period can glean anything to
the point. Theology has ever taught that Adam
was the first human being placed upon the earth,
and that about six thousand years ago, which we
now know to be wholly incorrect, and are indebted
236 The Laws of Heredity.
to science for the correction; for people lived,
we have the most positive evidence, ages before
the period in which Adam is said to have ap:
peared. But something is evidently meant by the
story, some lesson is there for man. The /our
persons, Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, thus promi-
nently brought into view, have a meaning, which,
among other meanings already noticed, seems to
me to be thus: Adam, as I read the thought,
stands for the highest type of animal above the
beast; not that he was ever a beast and became
man from a higher advancement, but because of
an evolution through long eons peculiarly his own.
Eve represents further progress in an evolution
already far advanced, whereby distinctive charac-
teristics appeared to advantage; which alone
could appear through her impressible organiza-
tion.
From a literal meaning of the Mosaic account we
would infer that all the animals and man were
created perfect at once, which science and experi-
ence teaches was not nature’s plan at all. The
Arabian horse and the fossil horse of Nebraska
os Sane
Ret, are
a Re et ee al Ae ee, Cee ee gS he Pee ee ey en ee oe Se Pas eee Po ee” ee a
a ~ nh KA L 4 eer re ee Ae ot i! 4 OP ee ‘
» rs > - 7 =
The Laws of Heredity. 234
are both horses, it is true, but a vast improvement
was made by the lapse of ages. So we have
a right to infer it was with man; and must look
for the true meaning of the record, at least a
rational one. Man is an imperfect being, and has
been such in all ages, and Genesis points out the
beginning of human misfortunes from the time
that Eve made her appearance. We observe
man’s shortcomings around us every day, not be-
cause of Adam’s transgression, but because of his
separation. An important part of himself is ab-
sent, as we have already seen (woman), and Eve
clothes it with her beautiful clay. So, likewise,
the part of woman that Eve has not, is possessed
by Adam.
As Adam and Eve represent special conditions
of mankind, so Cain and Abel, the result of future
progress upon a common basis which has ever
since remained, and introduces us first to the influ-
ence and effects of heredity. Consider Eve now
as a veritable woman, instead of a representative
of woman in general. We see in her “fall” ex-
hibited that which could not by any possibility have
TT he irs ee |
SAL iS se
+ bk oe we “i
238 The Laws of Fleredity.
been otherwise than it was. In Cain we see an
inherited murderous disposition, which was mani-
fested upon the first provocation. It requires no
effort of the imagination to conceive of just such
a state of mind in Eve before Cain’s birth, after
having been so cruelly deceived by the wily
“serpent.” Most women, I believe, would feel
at least “murder in their hearts” toward the
cause of their ruin, especially if that ruin involved
others, and dragged them down also. What is
plainer than the evident pointing to the fact here,
that Cain inherited,—— not licentiousness or intem-
perance, but murder, just what Eve most naturally
felt after being deceived. In Abel we observe
an opposite disposition, such as Eve might have
felt after having had time to cool her wrath, and be-
come accustomed to the state brought about by
her mistake in iearning the first lesson of obedi-
ence. Thus is foreshadowed in the earliest his-
tory of man, a direct descent of characteristics,
passions, things evil and things good, which the
experience of the ages has only confirmed. It is
so plain ‘that he who runs may read.”
The Laws of Heredity. 239
Second. Strong and persistent evil passions
yielded to by the mother, reproduce themselves in
the organic, unchangeable tendencies of the off-
spring. Certain influences which, for good or
bad, fortunate or unfortunate, have affected the
mother as such are exhibited in the good or bad
results of the greatest importance in the lives of the
offspring.
There is, perhaps, no better example in all his-
tory of the descent of an evil nature, to be found,
than in Agrippina and her son Nero. Her his-
tory, as well as her marble statue in the Hall of
Busts of the Roman emperors, show her to have
been a woman coarse, cruel, and brutal. She
possessed ability, perfidy, ambition, and sagacity
for intrigue; was, in fact, altogether evil. Her
horrid, treacherous, tigress nature was transferred
to her son, as we have already seen, upon the
announcement of whose birth to her husband, he
replied, that “ Nothing good, but only evil and
wickedness, could be born of he and Agrippina.”
For that child, from the cradle to her own
death by its hands, she schemed, and toiled, and
240 The Laws of Heredity.
sinned. ‘The miserable end of this sister, and
wife and mother of emperors,” says Canon Farrar,
“had been for many years anticipated by Agrip-
pina, for when the Chaldeans assured her that her
son (born many years afterwards) would become
Emperor of Rome, and also murder her, she is
said to have exclaimed: ‘ Occtdat dum imperet,’
‘Let him slay me if he but reigns.’ The antiscii of
Nero, Marcus Aurelius, whose virtues were as
pronounced as were Nero’s vices, ‘‘ seems,” says
Joseph Cook, “to have been pushed from before
his birth, into the position of a philosopher and
saint of the pagan sort.” Now, was Providence
unkind to Nero? Was Providence partial to
Marcus Aurelius?
By this time it must be evident to all that
Providence makes the laws which govern every-
thing, and that it is man’s business to discover
and conform to them. Providence never discov-
ered for man a new continent, or told him that
there was gold, silver, copper, iron, or coal there;
or made for him a great discovery in geology,
chemistry, or the fine arts; or pointed out to him
ee ee The AO ee ee Pe ee Ne eee Ne hee Ne Ry OLIN Me PR ey Gah cag en
Sa o — v swap? 2 Fen are ue “e- 1 ‘ eas See IN ane Face ow apy ae oe dihs VeMe anes Ms eb tes oe LAN
oe oa Re sores Re wT eee ON La fees Ve Se ee rah a Woy oe wight: Waa ae |
oe ae wn GRRE Bee A” SEO Ue pear be de. day aN a oe Lats yee
* Bes Ea ets, iN iy Le ws ,
‘ Pus . ’
246 The Laws of Heredity.
< where is the advantage in inflaming those passions,
such as anger, hatred, etc., that go hand in hand
with inebriety?
An eastern writer cries, ‘Eureka! Prohibit
the manufacture of liquor entirely, and then you
will stop drunkenness.” Will youP On this
point also I remain skeptical, from the fact that I
have learned from the best class of authority, as
I shall show by and by, that not only where there
is the most liquor made, but the most drank per
capita, there are the fewest drunkards, paradox-
ical as it may seem.
Another says, ‘‘ Enforce the Maine law all over
the land,” e¢ cetera; and so we could if we had the
state of Maine all over the world. This reminds
me of the poor Chicago woman, reduced to the
lowest ebb of poverty, who took her sick and half
starved infant, a mere shadow of a child, to a fash-
ionable physician of note for treatment. After a
moment’s scrutiny of the vitalized specter, the
worthy disciple of Esculapius looked over his gold
rimmed spectacles and said: ‘Madame, this
child needs sea air and surf bathing, and plenty of
The Laws of Fleredity. 247
the very best nourishment. You must take it to
the seashore for the summer, and feed it on calves-
head jelly.” Ldonea et impossibille.
The temperance question, we are told, has been
so thoroughly canvassed that nothing new or of
benefit can be further proposed. If this is true,
God pity the multitude of innocents who are to
be ushered into this world, thousands of whom will
plunge, as the past ones have done, without hin-
drance, into that great tide whose resistless current
bears them swiftly on to join that innumerable
company who have passed before—passed on,
through Plutonian gates, into the endless night.
The lines of policy adopted too often toward
the unfortunate victims of appetite and passion—
for unfortunate they are—by those claiming to be
instructors and leaders in morals and virtue is such
as ought to bring the blush of shame to every
philanthropic cheek.
They display as little wisdom and tact in deal-
ing with the unfortunate as babes, and as much
cruel injustice, if not under the eye of the world,
as the red savages of the distant frontier. They
248 The Laws of Heredity.
proclaim roudly that “ any man can stop drinking,
if he will, just as easily as could they;” and sneer
at the inebriate’s fallen condition, and mock at his
misery, destitution, and wretchedness. Ah! what
heart is more fully alive to its sorrows than his, or
who more conscious of the great void, the blank
despair, than he? He does not need to be told
that he is an execrable wretch, and in his slavery
vile. He knows all that as well as you and I.
But what he does want to know, and what it is
your duty and mine, reader, to help him find out
is, why 4e sunk in the quicksands, while others
passed safely over the same spot, and why his
burden has been so heavy while yours and mine
has been so light. He, perhaps, never can be
saved from ultimate ruin, but he can be aided and
encouraged, which do, for the sake of those of his
household yet unborn, as their fate may depend
upon the influence upon the mother which the
treatment he receives from the world may have:
«¢ Give him a lift! don’t kneel in prayer,
Nor moralize with his despair,
The man is down, and his great need
Is ready help, not prayer and creed.
“| SZ i r, ry . te i earl i ae Te oe pee ee ee he ge Peery. pee nn ee Se A Pit ss A
Se ee Fe tan wr TE Pe ERR Speed eer ym ee Up i? Po em Siew ee aap Te ane ee
i e ee ee ae ying ba 8 PRI CP ONE Daa pe aa | ee = ee CY an in re ? aL eRe we eh Eee
The Laws of Heredity. 249
“© One grain of aid just now is more
To him than tomes of saintly lore;
Pray, if you must, within your heart,
But give him a lift, give him a start.
“© The world is full of good advice,
Of prayer, and praise and preaching nice;
But the generous souls who aid mankin*
Are scarce as gold, and hard to find.”
As we have seen inthe broad field of nature,
there is no chance, but inexorable, unswerving
law. John did not happen to be a temperate man,
and James a drunkard. Rachael did not happen
to bea virtuous girl, and Tiny a wanton. No, no.
Away back in that veiled period whose shadow
has overspread every being, when nature was en-
gaged in the mysterious work of clothing an im-
mortal spirit with mortal clay, a work of such
delicate import, balancing so nicely between weal
and woe, that the very angels pause with bated
breath and reverend mien in their triumphal songs
while the destiny of a soul is being shaped.
There are properly three classes into which
persons may be divided, as regards intemperance,
—those whom circumstances and habits prevent
250 The Laws of Heredity.
from ever having a desire to drink; those who,
although they frequently drink, have never felt
any ill-effects from it, and in whom the appetite
never sensibly increases; and those who are con-
firmed inebriates. ‘The first class never becomes
drunkards, simply because they cannot, and de-
serve no praise whatever for being teetotallers.
The moderate drinkers, if they have signed a
pledge, ere long cease from that total abstinence
which they found unnecessary to themselves.
While as to the third class, experience has proven
that sooner or later their pledges would be broken,
and their lives alternate in sinning and repenting
continually. We are often confronted by the
question: ‘ Why is it so easy for one man to be
temperate, although constantly exposed to tempt-
ation, and so hard for another who, as is often
the case, dares not trust himself at all?” ey SPAS | ae ae +o? a deh ra 7 : y
Lhe Laws of Heredity. 208
or passion, is true of all. Sometimes it is a pas-
sion for stimulants,—liquor, or some substance
that will be a substitute for it; sometimes an un-
governable desire for sensual pleasures; or both
may exist at the same time, and in the same indi-
vidual. In others, sudden and powerful impulses
appear at stated intervals, as satyriosis in the
male, and nymphomania in the female, condi-
tions pathologically the same, being manifested in
accordance with the difference of sex.
The unfortunate cases, in proportion to their
intensity, form the seducers from virtue, and the
seduced of society, the ravishers, and cyprians,
and libertines of all ages. ‘Thus, we perceive,
that inebriety is not the only evil in the world to
master, to cure which would be only one item
in the long list. As by a single lever the entire
and complicated machinery of the locomotive is
controlled, and the long train of cars managed,
so by the force of maternal thought and desire
during the pre-natal period may the construction
of the new being be guided, and the long train of
fortunate or unfortunate characteristics belonging
254 The Laws of Heredity.
to human life be brought under subjection to the
human will. There and there alone is the grand
starting point which must be observed if any good
is ever to be accomplished. ‘There is where gen-
-uine reforms may be had, and honest, virtuous and
temperate lives given to the world.
When I see a man who boasts of not being a
drunkard, simply because he cannot become one, I
say that man deserves no credit whatever for
being a teetotaler. He does not drink because he
cannot bear it; still, perhaps, that same man is a
glutton, or licentious, or avaricious. But when I
see the poor fellow using all the strength of his
will against an equally strong desire, even if he
fails, I say, from my heart, my friend, here is my
hand. When I see the worthy matron, whose
daughters sweep along the thoroughfares, visions
of loveliness and purity, gather up her silken
skirts in virtuous indignation lest they come in
contact with those of the fallen angel, yet in her
teens, which she passes, forgetful that the poor
girl is somebody’s child, who—
«Once was as pure as the snow, but fell,
Fell as the snow falls, from heaven to hell,”
The Laws of Heredity. 255
I say to myself, “Madam, thank your lucky
stars for the accident of birth, but for which,
there goes your own daughters.” I am often
asked the question, in this connection: ‘‘ Will not
education and early training change the character
of an individual?” to which I answer in all sin-
cerity, No. When a child is born, all is there
then that ever will be; you cannot add ought, or
take anything away. Which of you, by taking
thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? You
may place a person, having the organs of speech,
where by never hearing a human voice he may
never speak, but let him once hear a voice, and
have a little experience, and straightway he
speaks well; while no amount of training can
ever produce oze word from him in whom the
organs of speech never existed.
It is also true, that by early culture, certain
traits and characteristics present, though weak,
may be much improved—developed, while others,
naturally strong, may be held in check. But if
bad traits exist to start with, they are pretty cer-
tain to be the ones to be developed in this world
256 The Laws of Fleredity.
of myriad temptations. Sometimes we observe a
curious mixture of good and bad in the same
individual. Good and bad thoughts and desires
alternating during nascency, were the architects
of such a life.
It is highly commendable and moderately useful
to cultivate the young life all that is possible, but
never stake too much on the result. The Ford
boys, one of whom was three years robbing with
Jesse James, and the others, so much lionized since
by the hoodlums of America, who behind the
robber’s back assassinated him, were the sons of a
Sunday-school superingendent, and presumably
well brought up in early life, while the James boys
themselves were the sons, I am informed, of a
minister of the gospel. ‘These examples in which
the good and evil traits are nearly equally bal-
anced, the one or the other predominates, accord-
ing to the circumstances under which the individ-
ual is placed. As before remarked, we can form
lives in this world, but not ve-form them. He is
not reformed who chooses a good ‘course from
sufhiciently powerful motives, but recircumstanced.
The Laws of Heredity. 257
The will lies between his double nature and car-
ries the balance of power on whichever side that
motive directs. For such, a healthy example and
sufficient inducement in favor of temperance, vir-
tue and right, exerts a most salutary influence.
But it is the other great class—those whose
appetites and passions have no such balancing
restraint, who, if intemperate in the use of ardent
spirits, and are induced to refrain from their use
at all, straightway betake themselves to opium,
chloral, hashish, or some other narcotic, chang-
ing masters it is true, but wearing the same
chains.
For them I plead to-day — not in the hope that
the confirmed inebriate can be returned again asa
rule to a safe harbor, or the “soiled doves”
washed white; but that the future ones may be
secured for truth, virtue, and sobriety, and those
yet to come born free of life’s curses. It can be
done; must be done; and will be done in the near
future as generations are reckoned.
Attention has already been directed to the fact
that opium and other narcotics are being largely
a
i a
‘i
Ny ep nec, tim ves oS wo BI EERE” pee ele eae Me ae ark ea aL oe OR A wha ae
PMS cee RE OM RE Ne ee GR TEE OF YE ne Rd ieee Ra yee er
is rye es gen ie eat acd ek ape eye Te AEN Sgn a UNS Rha ed an ae
j x ;
258 The Laws of Fleredity.
consumed in lieu of alcoholic stimulants, by those
who possess hereditary appetites for stimulants,
and have had them developed in the past. Tem-
perance societies have noted from time to time
decided gains from the ranks of alcohol; and have
supposed great reforms accomplished; but a care-
ful estimate has shown that the additions to the vota-
ries of opium have fully, or more than balanced
them,— not that every one who has been induced
to abandon alcoholic stimulants takes to opium or
other narcotics, but that the ranks of opium, etc.,
are filling faster, partly from those quitting spirits,
and partly from new additions who first foun-
dered upon the narcotic rocks, than the ranks of
alcohol are being depleted. Such reforms, it will
easily be perceived, are no reforms at all; and it
is a great mistake in temperance workers over-
looking this fact.
I have known scores of persons who have been
persuaded, for various reasons, to abandon alco-
hol, turn to opium for solace, and remain its
slaves, undetected, for years. Among the votaries
to this seductive drug, may be mentioned lawyers,
The Laws of Feredity. 259
clergymen, physicians, merchants, indeed all
classes, besides a much larger proportion of the
“fair sex” than are found in the ranks of alcohol.
When the inebriate attempts to abandon spirit-
uous liquors his nervous system often suffers
greatly, and weak, trembling, and entirely demor-
alized, he seeks his medical attendant for relief;
who, at once comprehending his situation, straight-
way prescribes that sovereign balm in such cases
—opium. The relief is perfect, and the poor un-
fortunate creature repeats it again and again until
the “opium habit” is fastened upon him for life.
What has been gained in this reform? Using a
very homely phrase, ‘‘He has merely jumped
from the frying pan into the fire.”
The comparative physical effects of an exces-
sive use of these two substances, together with
their moral tendencies, are fully discussed in any
standard work on ‘“ Narcotics,” and need be only
referred to here. ‘The fact that they ave used and
why is alone within the province of ‘ The Laws of
Heredity.”
The quantity of opium consumed at the present
260 The Laws of Fleredity.
time in America, when reduced to figures, will
indeed surprise the uninformed and those who
have been accustomed to consider alcohol as the
only evilthat depletes the people’s treasury. Ac-
cording to Dr. H. H. Kane, 28,164 pounds of
opium was consumed by smoking alone in 1880,
to say nothing of the double or triple amount used
by the stomach and by hypodermic injections.
The increase since that time has been enormous.
According to the best prepared tables, this coun-
try now consumes over 500,000 pounds of opium
annually in all its forms, costing over $6,000,000,
while in 1870 only 12,603 pounds were imported,
costing $111,999.
The smoking preparations of this drug have in-
creased more rapidly than any other, being 5,000
pounds in excess during the last year.
Now, as there has been no increase in the Chi-
nese population in proportion to the increase of
opium smoking, the conclusion is that it is rapidly
spreading among the native population of this
country.
The customs dues on opium are reported as
a
or Wa” Bewet he = . CR ee: eae ao” See | ee te” Pee aig as Swe. i
aly os Rane. he 5 = ey ye Ns . eo <= Tatty ee ? + * >
t Se e ik . = :
te Nee
The Laws of Heredity. 261
over half a million dollars on foreign imports,
while a considerable quantity of an inferior article
is raised in this country. Most of the best opium
comes from China and India, while England and
other countries produce a considerable amount.
In India 560,000 acres are alone devoted to the
cultivation of the poppy. In 1868 the first white
man in America commenced smoking opium. In
1871 another was recorded, and in 18476 the prac-
tice became so prevalent as to attract the atten-
tion of the authorities in the western states; and
since that time the practice of smoking the drug
has so grown that, “‘ According to the testimony
of actors, commercial travelers, etc., there is
scarcely a town at the present time in the whole
country, of any size, that has not its ‘opium den’
somewhere in it. So certain are traveling and
theater men of this, that they often start out on
their tours without taking with them any of the
paraphernalia needed for the habit.” (Kane. )
Opium is not smoked, as is commonly supposed,
like tobacco, but by drawing the lungs full of the
vapor once, and rarely twice, and retaining it
Seach
262 The Laws of Heredity.
there for a few moments until it can be absorbed,
when they get the exhilarating effect, which lasts
a certain length of time, when the votary passes
into a deep slumber, which lasts for many hours.
He awakes then, languid and unrefreshed, to re-
peat at stated intervals the same operation.
When prepared for smoking, opium is worth
three or four times as much as the ordinary drug,
as it requires a special process, quite elaborate, of
simmering, evaporating, etc., before it can be
used in this manner.
It is estimated by Dr. Kane, of the De 6 Onin
Flome, that 10,000 persons in America are addicted
to opium smoking alone, which, upon a reasonable
calculation, amounts to about one-tenth of the
entire number of consumers of the narcotic by
every method.
The moral and physical effects are vividly set
forth by Mr. Bert Hale, who says: “It is the
road to speedy decay, and rapid dissolution,—an
idolatry that has slain more thousands than Jug-
gernaut. It is the curse of China; an impending
evil that, transplanted here, if not rooted out
The Laws of Fleredity.
would, before the dawn of another century, deci-
mate our youth, and emasculate the coming gen-
eration, if not completely destroy the white race
on our coasts.”
Among the many sins that England has yet to
answer for, is the crime of forcing this terrible
curse upon the people of China.
‘The picture of a nation, with a population es-
timated at four hundred millions, and whose coun-
try covers an area equivalent to nearly one-half of
all Europe; one whose people are but slowly re-
sponding to missionary effort, forced, under pro-
test, and at the point of the bayonet, by a Chris-
tian nation, to receive almost duty free, a drug
that is ruining its people physically, mentally,
morally and financially; that is emasculating its
men, rendering sterile its women, increasing its
paupers and criminals, decimating and corrupting
the ranks of its statesmen, officials and military,
and stultifying all efforts to advance the cause of
the Christian religion, is indeed saddening and
pitiable. This nation of Christians, deaf alike to
protest and appeal, maintaining their dictum by
264 The Laws of Fleredity.
force of arms, in the face of facts from which a
schoolboy could draw more just conclusions, when
asked to put an end to this disgraceful and in-
human traffic, replies: ‘How can we do without
the revenue? What will become of India?’ Bet-
ter do without the revenue, and India also, than
to support it upon the financial and moral ruin of
the Chinese. Must a nation of 400,000,000 be
ruined here and hereafter, to give employment to
and support the English rule over a nation of
200,000,000? Does it not look ridiculous to see
a nation fostering another nation’s vice, with a
yearly profit to itself of $50,000,000, and at the
same time endeavoring to convert the vicious to
the Christian religion at a yearly expense of about
‘half a million dollars?” (Dr. Kane: Opium
Smoking in America and China, page 106.)
The policy of America toward the Indians is
much the same in effect, showing a true descent
from the ‘Great Mother,” for she furnishes the
‘fire water’? to make poor ‘“ Lo” and his people
drunk, and then sends an army to kill him for
getting drunk. ‘O, consistency, thou arta jewel.”
The Laws of Fleredity. 265
In the words of Hugh Mason, M. P., of Eng-
land, ‘‘ That which is morally wrong can never
be politically right.”
The money drain upon the Chinese empire is
enormous. All their tea is spent for this dreadful
drug, which she well knows is ruining her people.
The financial drain is not, however, the greatest
curse that England has forced upon China. It is
the injury morally,—a gigantic theft of a nation’s
character and reputation, and none the less dis-
honorable because it is a great power which has
done it.
“‘ Who steals my purse steals trash,
% * * * * *
But he who filches from me my good name
Takes that which not enricheth him,
And makes me poor indeed.”
«¢ A little thieving is a dangerous part,
But stealing largely is a noble art;
*T was mean to rob a henroost of a hen,
But stealing thousands makes us gentlemen.”
I have thus dwelt at length upon intemperance,
for so few, comparatively, understand the facts;
and so few know of the alarming extent of other
% y
“ oo ae “
salsa Aira) at CMR NRT S| as, Soa Shana MIT thy 0 ance ee RS A 3 Se I So ae eB
eT ¢ sy: , LaF P ms a er OE atts cb ici a ¥ be ° er owe ‘ aad
266 The Laws of Heredity.
intoxicants besides alcohol in this country to-day.
If a man possesses an appetite for intoxicants, it
makes but little difference to him what substance
he uses to gratify it, so that it is gratified.
It may be asked why the people of China take
so readily to stimulants of the class of opium?
Why, also, do the lower class of Irish and the
North American Indians take so readily to
whisky? So much so that they are lost if they
can get enough whisky to destroy them. While
the French and Germans are very moderate, that
is, there are few absolute inebriates among them.
The answer is simple enough. The poverty and
exposure of a hard worked or active people,
makes of necessity illy nourished mothers, which
is true of ill nourishment anywhere, whether it be
from disease or absolute want. The needs of the
system during gestation are much greater than
usual, the demands more, and if not responded
to appropriately, those same demands will appear
permanently in the offspring; sometimes for cer-
tain kinds of food, and sometimes for stimulants,
as the appetite may have descended. ‘There are
The Laws of Heredity. 264
as many gluttons as there are drunkards in the
world, and always was. Jesus ever classed them
together when speaking of either; and they were
produced in just the same manner, merely differing
as the call through the maternal mind differed.
Those are melancholy cases where from poverty
and exposure the mother is unable to prevent if
she would a terrible appetite from descending
upon her child. But when the people are once
aroused and fully understand this subject, the rich
or well to do can prevent such descents upon
offspring at will, while with the poor who cannot
often help themselves, it will be the business of
temperance and benevolent societies to look up all
such and see that they are properly cared for,
until the danger of hereditary accidents shall be
passed.
Moreover, it will be seen to be greater economy
for a state or government to render such aid than
to afterwards take care of the paupers and crimi-
nals produced for want of it
As we have previously seen, a certain desire
proceeds from a certain convolution of the mature
Ete. aS is
268 The Laws of Heredity.
brain where it originates, so that desire if sufh-
ciently powerful and long continued, no matter
what may have been the original exciting cause
of it, must produce such an arrangement of the
atoms of the building embryonic brain mass as
will correspond with that of the same part in the
mother’s brain. It has been ascertained by physi-
ologists, that certain convolutions of the brain
preside over certain organs of the body, and are
the origin of certain faculties of the mind. Now,
to produce a powerful impression upon one of
these convolutions excites it to greater activity,
and as these convolutions in the mother’s brain
preside over corresponding ones in the developing
offspring’s brain, any excitement in the maternal
mind that affects a convolution will produce an
increased amount of brain-making deposit in a cor-
responding convolution of the foetal brain, which
increases its size in proportion to the exciting
cause, and thus produces the conditions for an
inherited appetite or passion permanently, which
is fixed for life as much as any other organ or part
of the body.
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MEM te RR nt Ne ee ee Mag FeO ser iy ee was se + of. c oe 7 :
: wale y cs “y a a] *.
a, Gee ae
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The Laws of Heredity. 269
For example: A strong desire for some stimu-
lant,— say wine or brandy,—overtakes the
enciente woman. Her system being, perhaps,
weak and poorly nourished, needs a stimulant,
especially as the demand upon its resources now is
much greater. The want of the stimulant by her
system produced the brain disturbance in that
particular convolution which gave rise to the de-
sire, and unless stopped will produce the same
condition in the child’s brain,—that is, like her’s
is during the presence of the desire, so that in
after life the child will always feel the same kind
of desire which the mother only felt temporarily.
Now, as the want of a thing produced the desire,
the way, it must be plain, to stop the desire is to
gratify and satisfy the want, whatever it may be,
and the sooner it is done the better for the off-
spring. Now, when the portion of the maternal
brain is impressed by a desire for stimulants,
unless the desire thus produced be stopped by re-
ceiving the stimulant thus called for, it will, as we
have seen, be transferred to the nascent foetus, and
become its permanent, organic passion through
270 The Laws of Heredity.
life, only requiring that the fires should be lit to
burn brightly. ‘Thus are produced the drunkards
of every degree, from the vinomaniac to the
‘moderate drinker.” So, also, what is true of
the appetite for strong drink, is true with every
other appetite and passion that has ever been the
sad heritage of man.
I think that much valuable time and labor
might be spared if temperance workers could be
made to comprehend the fact that only the hered-
itary drunkard, whose appetite has been awak-
ened by temptation, needs their aid, as absolute
and distinctive inebrity is not a habit which in-
creases the more it is yielded to, but an appetite
born in the individual, if possessed at all, and
which merely develops by use, becoming stronger
and stronger.
If inebriety is only a habit, then every person
who has been exposed to the temptation of drink
would alike become drunkards, but facts prove
that they do not. We all know that there are
thousands of people who could not be made
drunkards, even if obliged to taste liquors every
The Laws of Heredity. 24%
hour of the day, while there are thousands more,
who, if thus exposed for a single week, would be-
come hopeless inebriates.
I have been asked if the continued use of mor-
phine, or other preparation of opium, for a con-
siderable time, under the physician’s direction, in
cases of protracted pain, would not fix the habit
permanently upon the patient. Yes, sometimes,
and very often, too, it will, and unless it is posi-
tively known by the physician that there is no
hereditary predisposition toward stimulants or
narcotics, it would be an extremely hazardous
experiment.
I have known, however, scores of instances in
which the drug and also liquor have been given
for months at atime, and accepted by the patients
merely on account of the relief afforded by them
from pain, who, upon the cessation of the pain,
felt no craving for the stimulants, and dropped
them without inconvenience. Per contra, I have
known scores also of persons who, under similar
circumstances, have had fastened on them for life,
irrevocably, the vice of these dangerous yet useful
272 The Laws of Fleredtty.
substances. The explanation is simple enough.
The one class of cases was possessed of inborn
appetites to be developed, which the substances
given in good faith to suppress pain, accomplished;
the other, having no such appetites to be developed,
of course escaped unharmed. It is idle to say
that it is the ability to govern one’s self that
makes the difference.
Every person well knows that men like Daniel
Webster, Stephen A. Douglas, Richard Yates,
Daniel Brainard, and a multitude of others, had
much more will power, and were as much greater
as the mountain is greater than the mole-hill, than
a score of those self-conceited bipeds, who plume
themselves upon their ability at self-sovernment,
merely because they have nothing in that line to
govern.
However, I have -known many of these self-
same bigots, who sneered at the unfortunate ine-
briate’s inability to rise, who Were themselves as
weak as water, and as ready to fall under the
glance of a pair of bright eyes, and upon whom
the rustle of silken garments always brought a
se EO Ae eee Se RIT EtG IES, YT Se AO NY CT I te ay ee, Ue Fe :, ae
iS « £ } ' > ti ’ Aer ‘ _ Th ae. 4 ye ~~ - net! P + yr y ‘
3
The Laws of Heredity. 273 3
severe dyspnoea. No, it is an appetite born in —
men which destroys them, and that appetite is ‘is
found of every grade, from that which is easily if
controlled by the will to the vinomaniac whose
sudden and terrible outbursts defy the strongest
will ever created.
The generic cause of an appetite for stimulants .
is the same, whatever may be the specific 2
selection; and if the confirmed inebriate be in-
duced for any reason to abandon rum, he, in nine
cases out of ten, flies to opium, cannnabis, chloral,
or something else which may be used as a substi-
tute for it, but what has he gained? Simply
nothing, except to deceive those who believe in |
his reform. E
When temperance workers try in the proper :
way to prevent instead of reform men’s appetites :
for drink, then will success perch upon their ban.-
ners. ‘There are all degrees of hereditary appe-
tites for intoxicants, and with some bad cases
(not the worst) as long as they have sufficient in-
ducement held out to them to keep from drink,
and possess a firm will power and are constantly
274 The Laws of Fleredity.
watchful in the hour of temptation, they will suc-
ceed. But let their feet once slip, or some of the
props which are sustaining them be removed, and
down they go as sure as fate.
Practically, with intemperance, what is the
rational remedy? Education. A knowledge of
the physical laws governing human genesis, with
obedience to their behests, will work the cure, and
break the shackels which enslave men. The
physical frames of many mothers, from overwork,
care, and anxiety, become wholly unfit for
the duties of maternity. All such should be
exempt, but, alas! they are not. In the construc-
tion of a new being—as we have already called
attention to the fact—the maternal system is
unable to sustain the extra burden, and at last
cries out for aid, in the unformulated shape, oft-
times, but none the less understood, of a stimulant.
The cry of nature is repeated, day after day, and
they fear to obey it, on account of the erroneous
teaching of temperance reformers to-day, “ that if
they use wine or stimulants at such times, they
will produce a desire for them in their offspring.”
The Laws of Fleredity. 245
No more fatal error was ever made than this.
Every woman, who has ever been a mother, if
she will pause a moment and consider, knows it
” about
to be so. Ask any “old country woman
this, especially German, and she will tell you that
it has always been the custom there, to never
deny a pregnant woman anything she craves; and
why? because of the results of such a demand.
Nature calls for something needed in the con-
struction of a new being, and the experience of
those who have the most closely studied this mat-
ter is, that if not gratified in this demand, the
human being will be constructed upon such prin-
ciples as already explained, in which an appetite
for intoxicants has become a prominent part of
his organization, to be awakened upon the slight-
est provocation. I have called attention in these
pages to the fact that in those countries where
not only the most liquors were made, but the
most drank, there were the fewest drunkards.
Two examples in proof will suffice: Dr. Henry,
after a most careful gathering of statistics on this
point, affirms that in certain portions of the south
276 The Laws of Heredity.
of England, where the inhabitants had all the malt
they wanted with which to brew their ale, there
was not asingle drunkard among them; while in
certain counties of Ireland, where the inhabitants
were too poor to purchase malt or obtain the
means of procuring liquors, he found over one-
third inebriates.
The Rev. Dr. Prime, editor of the New York
Obdserver, spent some months on the continent of
Europe, and made special inquiry into the drink-
ing habits of the people. In ten months, during
which he visited the principal cities of France,
Germany and Italy, where they had an abundance
of wine, beer and other liquors, and drank them
as freely as Americans do tea and coffee, he
saw just one person drunk. In one city of fifty-
five thousand inhabitants, there was but a single
arrest for drunkenness in forty days. The rever-
erend doctor thereby reaches the conclusion
already arrived at by many others, that the pres-
ence of liquor in a country no more makes drunk-
ards, than the presence of gunpowder makes
murderers.
be - ree
5 ~
The Laws of Heredity. 244
I wish to enter no plea for the manufacture and
general use of liquors; on the contrary, I believe
that if all liquors could be suppressed as a bever-
age, except to enciente women, who should be al-
lowed as free use of them as their several natures
demand, intemperance could be suppressed in a
single generation, and then the coming generation
would use wine, ale, etc., as they ought to be
used, without excess.
It is not my object to deal with the question of
men’s reform, but with the mode of introduction
of those appetites and passions that in the first
place caused them to fall; together with the
proper means of preventing the introduction of
unmanageable appetites in the human being, and
thus ending all anxiety as regards man’s future in
this life. ‘When mothers once fully comprehend
_ the fact that a child at birth contains all the pos-
sibilities to make it, when developed, a correct and
exact representative of herself, during the period
of foetal nascency, then will she begin to carefully
study how best to place herself in harmony with
nature’s plans during genesis, and thereby pro-
LG ee ieee my Ye ay Se TP ge leet eae
: < c
< ie toe, os a v8 Mt
278 The Laws of Heredity.
duce in the future, as becomes her privilege, just
such children as she may wishe The plan to be
observed, concerning so important a matter as the
construction of a human life, is really quite sim-
ple, and ought to be an easy one. Instead of
wishing your offspring to be as you are, strzve to
make yourself just what you would wish your off-
spring to be, and if you are good and pure, and
noble minded, truly and genuinely so (for nature
cannot be deceived), my word for it, backed by
the established laws of science, your offspring will
be good and pure and noble also.
If any intelligent mother will pause a moment,
and think, she can recall a score at least of ex-
amples, within her own experience, where the re-
sults have been known to be suchas I have stated.
Can she recall a single case where the reverse is
truer
It has sometimes been asked, “If gratifying the
appetite of a mother when seized with a strong
desire, as they often are, for drink, will prevent
the vinomaniac from being born, then why are
the children of intemperate mothers sometimes
The Laws of Heredity. 249
also inebriates?”? They never are, unless the pre-
vious excesses of the mother have been so great
as to shatter her system to such an extent as to
render it liable to disease and physical degeneracy,
and where the functions of maternity cannot be
properly performed as a consequence, which will
leave a physical wreck of almost any kind in the
child. I have found, by careful inquiry, that those
inebriates who were the offspring of mothers who
indulged in drink short of doing permanent injury
to their constitutions, were the result, in every
instance, of enforced teetotalism on the part of
the mother when ezczente, she being under the
erroneous impression that, if she continued her
intemperate course then, the offspring would in-
herit the same appetite, which no mother surely
could desire. With inebriety, as with the other
appetites and passions, there is great variety and
width of degree.
There are certain half-ill and weakly women,
who, perhaps, are bearing children too rapidly,
who are illy nourished, and, as a consequence,
have a constant feeling of unsupplied want, which
Sg ROT ER LT Le OD PETES aM Sr Tea MM Kelp eet eon eee aT ae ne ee ee
Shy ai ih x hp Neath = tae ga i oe s. ve Se aiiled bak aes : e + in
280 The Laws of Heredity.
is transferred to the child, and which want in it
ever after makes the same mild appeal. I know
a prominent merchant, who has for the past
twenty-two years taken a small wineglassful of
whisky, three times a day without fail, never
during that long period having increased or dimin-
ished the quantity by a single drop. He is large,
healthy, and well-formed, and by no means re-
quires the liquor,—still, three times a day, the
desire comes and makes him uncomfortable until
it is gratified. .
There is another class of inebriates called vino-
mantacs, who, for a time, are free from intemper-
ance, who feel assured, and declare, that they will
never drink any more. But, without warning, a
sudden and furious impulse draws them irresistibly
to the bottle. ‘These poor unfortunates do not
drink, but gulp down glass after glass in quick
succession, and cannot cease until they are help-
lessly drunk. Says one: ‘ When this impulse |
seizes me, if a bottle of brandy stood at one end
of the table and a pit of hell yawned at the other,
and I were convinced that I would be pushed in as
Ce UnCut ee age FP Ok Petey Ne Ce Mee ens i tree rer del oo ag OY aE Pe AT ke ARN
> , 2 ~~ A »~ . uel age’ - 3 Ly q ete i ideal “tad S ye ner 4 bo end «
~ Be
. 7 +
. > eke:
The Laws of Heredity. 281
soon as I took one glass, I would not refrain.”
There is considerable variety among vinomaniacs.
They all, however, are thus suddenly seized, and
get drunk as rapidly as possible, but some only
remain sots for oze day, while others never be-
come conscious, if they can help it, for weeks.
Mr. B
Ills., was of this class. Upon getting ready for
, a hardware merchant of M
his last debauch, he purchased two gallons of pure
alcohol, and with a sufficient water to dilute it,
betook himself to the garret of his store, where he
only allowed himself to regain sufficient conscious-
ness to swallow more, until it was nearly gone,
when outraged nature could bear no more, and he
was one morning found dead by his jug. Thus
do such appetites, which are more powerful than
the body, destroy it. I need not relate further
examples of this class, as any close observer has
known enough already to fill a volume.
Reader, is it not a melancholy showing, where
such appetites are once allowed to be born in an
individual, and in the present state of society are
so easily developed? All these cases, from the
282 The Laws of Heredity.
mild to the most furious, are their misfortunes to
the same kind of inherited appetite, the most
unfortunate ones to a sudden impulse in the direc-
tion of stimulants, on the part of the maternal
parent, ungratified during the period of prenatal
nascency. Think you not that it would have
been better to have smothered that terrific impulse
when it seized the mother, if need be in a tempo-
rary debauch, than to have it repeated in the
organic permanent constitution of her child, to
curse his life and that of his friends, and then
perchance so melancholy a death?
How startling and solemn must be the thought
to every mother who realizes it, that the entire
life of her offspring is but the reflection of a few
short months of her life.
‘‘ Be sure your sin will find you out,” saith the
Divine Word, also, be equally sure that your
righteousness will be as a “spring of living
waters,” flowing forth from the lives of your chil-
dren. Thus do the vast differences in human
character occur. Old Doctor Mason used to say
that, “ As much grace as would make John a saint
The Laws of [Heredity. 283
would barely keep Peter from knocking a man
down.”
And what more shall I say upon this most mel-
ancholy subject. If by giving a multitude of
examples more from the highest authorities would
avail, 1 would gladly do it, but if those already
given are unheeded, neither would others be
heeded, ‘though one ’rose from the dead” and
presented the testimony of specters.
How far the eminent ancient as well as modern
writers have been from the real truth in regard to
human appetites, may be seen from what they
have written concerning them. Still, the truth
has ever been struggling toward the light.
Plutarch took the view that drunkards were
produced while the male parent was in a state of
intoxication,—mere guess work, and absolute
error, as we know of many of the worst inebriates
whose parents both were teetotallers; and Dioge-
nes said to a stripling, somewhat simple and
crack-brained, “ Surely, young man, thy father
begot thee when he was drunk.”
A melancholy case comes from Ohio, and shows
A ee: ew Ne a Pe. See Ny
PA artee; ees SEED a fincas Wigs Fak
ee OS Pye ae Ses ha Mpg as ii go> SN ise oS ake
284 The Laws of [eredity.
the great responsibility of the father in many cases
of hereditary descent. Now, whereas the father
cannot affect the offspring except by the impres-
sion he is able to make upon the mother’s mind,
still it is but natural to suppose that he, of all
others, in the majority of cases, at least, will be
able to produce a greater impression than any one
else; hence his responsibility becomes proportion-
ately greater, and his need of great caution against
evil or unfortunate influences becomes more ad-
vanced.
Judge W., of Ohio, a gentleman of high intel-
lectual culture and attainments, and a prominent
temperance man to-day, in early life yielded
to intemperate impulses, which, however, he did
not break away from for several years after his
marriage to a sensitive and beautiful young lady.
During his inebriated periods he seemed to lose
all sense, and for the time being became a veri-
table fool. His young wife used to look upon him
and wonder why in truth a man of his native
talents “should put such an enemy into his mouth
to steal away his brains.” Day after day would he
The Laws of Heredity. 285
come home bereft of reason, and filled with
foolishness; coming before his wife and bowing
with maudlin gravity he would repeat over and
over again, ‘‘Good morning, madam, I hope you
are well, madam,” etc. It was at this period that
his son, now a young man of some 21 or 22 years
of age, was born. The father has now, although
for years a sober man, the extreme mortification
daily of seeing his former inebriated state, which
he would so gladly forget, living on in his son, who
goes about with a foolish leer upon his counte-
nance, saying to all he meets, no matter at what
time of day or what sex: “Good morning, sir;
” continu-
good morning, sir; good morning, sir,’
ally. ‘The son is strictly temperate in all respects,
but, oh! how unfortunate. Surely the sins of the
father are visited upon the children; sometimes
for generations. Such examples show the inexor-
ability of Zaw. Think youthat the prayers of the
wisest saint could have caused that foolishness,
which was a part of that boy’s being, to depart
from him, or helped the matter with that father
one whit? Moreover, it becomes clearer now
ae
LOSS Wipit 3 Fao Pag one Se
ag EE NE SPA i oe ee ee
ag Ane AP en ee ON ee a eee Re oa pee
286 The Laws of Heredity.
why, in the earlier chapters, so much stress was
laid upon the necessity of understanding and obey-
ing the laws governing natural phenomena, particu-
larly those belonging to human genesis, as what-
ever changes are to be made they must be made
during the construction of the individual, or not at
all. In fine, that the prayers God answers, and
the only ones, are those which harmonize with
the laws governing all his works. It certainly
_ would be very convenient for many to disobey at
pleasure the Creator’s great laws in nature, which
are set with the nicest adjustment, and then kneel
down for a few seconds, and with a few idle words
have all readjusted again by Omnipotent coup de
grace. But as that is not the plan, nor of use,
let us, when we pray, pray for wisdom to fill our
hearts with truth, and hearts pure, and worthy
enough to receive it.
Lhe Laws of Fleredity. 284
CHAPTER VIII.
MATERNALIMPRESSIONS CONTINUED.
The descent of strong and persistent evil pas-
sions from the mother to her offspring is truly
marvelous; and, as the principles of descent are
the same throughout, if a knowledge of those
principles can once be well fixed in the mind, the
remedy for all will be in every mother’s hands.
We have been accustomed, for some reason,
perhaps a want of knowledge of the facts, to con-
sider intemperance in alcoholic stimulants as the
giant curse of the world. But we shall see, by
and by, that there are other evils equally liable
to descend upon offspring, of as great or greater
importance to know.
There is a case recorded of an Irish mother, who
had a malicious child and a kind child. She was
asked to account for the difference of disposition
between thetwo. ‘I know nothing of the cause,”
she said, “‘only this little Kate will strike her
knife into the shoulder of my little Mary. I know
Hh:
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296 The Laws of Heredity.
of purity, under the double weight of overmaster-
ing passion in themselves and the shameful tempt-
ations of man.
It is curious to note the extreme anxiety of a
mother concerning her boy’s safety from saloon
influences; and yet her seeming indifference as to
where her daughter is, ofttimes, ‘after the shades
of night have gathered around.” Still the daugh-
ter is in, by far, the greater danger, both from
; her natural inclinations, which, until assailed by
¥ temptation, she perhaps did not know existed,
as and from some crafty, unprincipled young man,
% who, behind the mantle of night, glides like a
serpent into the home of innocence and peace, and
steals their child’s honor away.
If you succeed in reforming an intemperate son,
his reformation, in the eyes of the world, washes
away the stain of his inebriety; but the daughter,
a “What words can sooth her melancholy? what
. tears can wash #ey stain away?” I need not say
more here in regard to licentiousness. The same
= rule holds good here, and the same principles are
fs to be observed as in intemperance.
The Laws of Heredity. 297
Next to the evils of intemperance and licen-
tiousness comes avarice, whose growth in this
country is now so rapid that, unless speedily
checked, it will ultimately become the monster
curse of the land. Jesus told the people, 1,800
years ago, that ‘‘the love of money was the root
of all evil,” and yet how few heed those wise
words which are so fast becoming true. Ameri-
cans to-day place wealth above all else, and wor-
ship it as their chief idol.
The power of wealth, and the means too often
sought to obtain it, are both questions for serious
meditation; and yet, who will stop in the mad
rush to meditate? Like the inhabitants of Sodom,
they want pleasure, not thought or reflection,—
the pleasures wealth can give. But some do stop |
and think. And as they pause, they see justice
thwarted by gold; they see crime go unpunished
‘ because of it, and the helpless and unfortunate
ground in the dust. By its power the sinner be-
comes in modern times a saint, and occupies a
“chief seat in the synagogue.” As in the old
slavery days, when it was promulgated through-
298 The Laws of Heredity.
out the land that the “black man had no rights
that the white man was bound to respect,” so to-
day, in Christian America, the poor or unfortunate
have no rights which the rich and fortunate are
bound to (or do) respect.
Christian ministers visit (in pastoral love and
care) their wealthy parishoners twice or thrice a
week, but the poor and lowly ones of their flock,
as I myself have seen scores of times, have not
their hearts gladdened by a pastoral visit once a
year, and then they were made to feel it a “great
bore,’”’—a duty.
Gold closes the mouth of the clergyman, so
that he cannot speak of truths that “‘come too
’ and as he is expected to preach
near home,’
about something, he stirs up the musty tomes of
the ancient Israelites, which are of so remote a
time that the modern conscience is not troubled
thereby.
The gold of the criminal employs the best legal
talent for his defense, and the man of wealth gets
the physician’s best care. It pervades all classes
alike,—yes, ‘“‘ Money is king.”
Lhe Laws of fleredity, 299
Now avarice, or the “‘ greed of gold,” descends
from parent to child, just as the other evils men-
tioned do. Let us examine, briefly, the facts. It
is plain to even the most ordinary observer, that
the tendencies of a vast number of modern women,
especially Americans, are toward idleness and
ease. They hate labor in every form, and per-
form it, if so obliged, under protest, and love ease
and the luxuries which money alone can give.
The question of to-day is not, have you honor,
or character, or attainments, but, have you money?
It is the God of modern worship. Whatever
business is entered into, whatever changes are
made, whatever plans concocted, they have all but
one aim,—will they bring wealth? ‘The sacrifice
of character and honor is nothing, if it brings but
gold.
It is true, that robbing a bank or an individual,
_ direct, or winning gold at the card table, are con-
sidered, in a manner, crimes; but it is not con-
sidered criminal or wrong to gamble in stocks or
grain, or for a great corporation to rob those in
their power to any extent. Once, what is now
iw
Pe. es he
300 The Laws of Fleredity.
a ‘sharp practice,” was esteemed a crime.
Gambling is gambling, and robbing is robbing,
and the more criminal class make no distinctions
in them.
All persons do not possess wealth or the ability
to obtain it. But they may all possess the long-
ing desire for it, which most persons now do,
which is being rapidly reproduced in their off-
spring. I will illustrate two great classes by two
individuals. ‘Two ladies, neighbors, are possessed,
the one of an abundance of this world’s goods, an
elegant home and luxurious surroundings; the
other lacks all these, but is beautiful, intelligent,
of good birth, and accomplished. Now, which
should win anywhere? We all know; but which
does win, socially, before the world—we all also
know.
There was an age in the world’s history, when
beauty and intellect and good behavior was
above all else, but not now. Avarice has seized
the people, ‘‘ money is king,” and a tyrant, and is
crushing all beneath its powerful weight. The
wealthy woman, with nought else besides, looks
The Laws of Heredtty. 301
down upon her neighbor, and causes her, in a
thousand ways, which women alone understand,
to feel her poverty, every day. Beauty of face
or character goes for nothing; she is poor, besides,
‘‘What right has a ‘ poor lady to be beautiful or
accomplished?” Thus, both are filled with envy.
The financially unfortunate lady is filled with
bitterness, and envy, and hatred, and is often
goaded almost to the contemplation of crime, to
remove the one barrier between her and the more
fortunate one. She has not the courage or oppor:
tunity, perhaps, to commit a crime; but she can
think of it, and take a sort of grim satisfaction in
the thought. Alas! alas! during this unhappy
and mentally perturbed period, a new being is
being prepared to be soon launched forth into the
world. He appears, by and bye, with not only all
the burning desire for wealth and malice im-
planted unconsciously within him by the mother,
but with the ability and courage, if need be, at all
hazards to gain wealth.
Could mothers comprehend these solemn facts,
and during those periods, especially when a new
302 The Laws of [Leredity.
soul is being constructed for ‘ weal or woe,” shun
as they would the deadly pestilence, all avaricious
thoughts and desires, and in their stead possess
high and noble ones,—ones that would plan the
best methods of gaining a competency by industry
and thrift,—they would then transmit to their off-
spring not only the ability to win gold, but to
also be virtuous, honorable and happy.
The same desire for ease, dress, display, and
comfort leads to the crime of infanticide.
’ mother, on the one hand, “can
Phe society.:
not bear to be shut up at home from the pleasure
of society ” while rearing a family, and the woman
in the humbler financial walks of life tries to
make herself believe that se cannot afford the
extra expense more children would bring; so, if
the little stranger is not destroyed before it ever
sees the light of day, it can only possess as a
heritage that which will ever brand it as a
criminal in the eyes of the world. The mothers
of both the rich and poor, to an alarming extent,
wish to destroy their unborn young; and when
they do not succeed, how are they to expect off-
The Laws of Fteredity. 303
spring that, in the day to come, will be incapable
of committing a crime? I have known many such
mothers, and if their offspring are not direct mur-
derers, or evil doers, they will at least possess a
nature strongly favoring crime, which in the next
generation will be stronger still.
A quarter of a century ago, there were com-
paratively few women, except among the low and
vile, who could have permitted the destruction of
their unborn offspring; while now, however, mul-
titudes of ladies, professing to be Christian women,
not only can endure such a crime, but earnestly
solicit aid in its consummation. At the same rate
of progress toward crime, in a quarter or half cen-
tury more, ‘“‘ What will the harvest be?” These
are fearful facts for contemplation, and certain
ones cry out, “You must not tell this to the
world?’ Why not? Why_ have we not the
right to spread abroad whatever God has made
important? Why should not the morning rise on
our suffering centuries? for, is it not a fact,
“that the sins of the parents are visited upon the
children, even to the third and fourth generation?”
304 The Laws of feredity.
Avarice, especially in weak natures, leads to a
partial, and sometimes entire, obliteration of the
moral sense. It is not what woman can do, but
what they would Ze to do if they could, that is
reproduced in the offspring as a permanent quality,
There is a class in this country, who, on ac-
count of the seeming incongruity of their natures,
deserve a passing notice, and will illustrate well
the ultimate effects of avarice in parents. ‘‘ For
these are the millions who struggle for gold and
barter their honor for gain.”
Subtracting all those who choose a wanton life
because of inborn passions, we have still a not in-
considerable number who, though engaged in
legitimate pursuits, combine the profits arising
therefrom with those of a wholly illicit character.
This class are mostly found in the ranks of the
shop and factory girls, whose wages are small in
comparison to their fondness for dress, and for ap-
pearing upon festive occasions what they really
are not. The honest girl in the same walks of
life is content with her legitimate wages, with
never a thought of selling that which a woman
The Laws of Heredity. 305
should regard as wholly sacred,—her purity,—
for a gaudy garment to cover a tarnished soul.
The other class, however, with no greater phys-
ical promptings toward vice, possess not the high
moral standard of their sisters, but succumb to
inherited avarice, whose overpowering weight
crushes out the last vestige of personal virtue.
Now, with these three classes—the naturally
wanton, the avariciously wanton, and the virtu-
ous—we see merely examples of the “ accident of
birth,” but for which these three classes of girls
might have changed places. Observe a child of
either sex, exposed to the influences of the world,
and you will see the personal character of its
mother during its ante-natal life. There is also a
large number of young women who come to our
cities in search of employment, from country
homes, who enter factories and shops without any
experience of the world. These have no society
in the beginning, and soon fall in with a class, of
both sexes, who perambulate the streets after
work hours, and are ripe in vice. The dangers
to these young women are exceeding great, and a
ay
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306 The Laws of Fleredity.
large percentage is sure to fall. Better, far better,
wrap a young girl in her winding sheet than send
her alone and inexperienced to a great city to try
its fortunes. Some, it is true, escape unsoiled;
but for every such escape you may count many a
fall.
Mr. Maudsley says (Responsibility in Mental
Disease, p. 58): ‘As there are persons who can-
not distinguish certain colors, having what is
called color blindness, and others who have no ear
for music, cannot distinguish one tune from
another, so there are some few who are congen-
itally deprived of the moral sense. Associated
with this defect, there is frequently more or less
intellectual deficiency, but not always. It some-
times happens that there is a remarkably acute
intellect, with no trace of moral feeling. Here,
then,” says he, “‘ we are brought back to the con-
nections between crime and insanity. A person
who has no moral sense is naturally well fitted
to become a criminal, and if his intellect is not
strong enough to convince him that crime will
not in the end succeed, and that it is, therefore, on
The Laws of Heredity. 307
the lowest ground, a folly, he is very likely to be-
come one.”
He still further continues: ‘Instances are met
with in which one member of a family becomes
insane, and another reckless, dissipated, depraved,
or perhaps even criminal. It has often been noted
that a certain member of an otherwise respectable
family has been through life a reckless and de-
praved reprobate, who occasioned the greatest
distress and vexation to his friends. If the secrets
of such natures were laid open, how many per-
verse and wrong-headed persons, whose lives have
been a calamity to themselves and to others; how
many of the depraved characters of history, whose
careers have been a cruel chastisement to man-
kind, would be found to have owed their fates to
some morbid predisposition.” We see, then, that
the independent inquiries of observers in different
| departments of nature bring us to the same con-
clusion with regard to_the essential dependence of
moral or intellectual sense upon physical organi-
zation. So, then, when we speak of a good or bad
person, we mean that one person has a properly
ae
308 The Laws of Heredity.
constituted physical organization and the other
has not.
Special mention here may not be amiss of those
peculiar phases of heredity known as kleptomania,
pyromania, etc., inasmuch as they have so often
proven the source of much anxiety and sorrow to
the friends of the unfortunates. These impulses,
no doubt, owe their origin to different modes of
excitation, but causes like the following would be
sufficient: A mother, naturally honest, but not
evenly balanced morally, has a large family, con-
taining, perhaps, many daughters. The father is
an austere man, and rules with “a rod of iron.”
They all respect, but fear him; and so unpleasant
a task is it for the mother of such a family to ob-
tain the means wherewith to provide for them,
especially in the matter of dress, as the require-
ments of the times demand, that she is willing to
resort to almost any stratagem, rather than meet
the usual rebuff awaiting her upon a direct appli.
cation to the “‘head of the family” and purse
holder. She reasons within herself that her rights
to the general funds are equal to his, and to es-
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The Laws of Heredity. 309
cape a polemic and subsequent ill feelings, secretly
abstracts from the pockets of the sleeping sire the
requisite amount. This act, however necessary
it may be, is nevertheless a deception, and a con-
sciousness of this deception gives the honest ma-
ternal mind many a secret twinge. But does it
end here? By no means; a new being may be in
progress of construction, while the poor mother is
racking her brains and stultifying her better in-
stincts in providing for the others. Four seasons
of the year, demands are made for a change of ap-
parel, and the interval is entirely consumed in the
endless worry and deception. From what we
have seen of the philosophy of pre-natal growth,
what kind of moral outlook is this for the mother’s
coming offspring? The mother will die; and the
poor tired hands, which tried to serve so well, will
be folded upon the cold breast, and God will re-
ward her intentions instead of her acts. But the
child; it will live on, and the curse fallen to it as
a heritage, nay, perhaps be repeated over and
over for generations. A kleptomaniac—a natural
thief—is thus made, and may, perhaps, appear in
310 The Laws of Heredity.
the person of a beautiful girl, who, no matter
what may be her circumstances in after life, will
steal, and often articles of no value whatever,
simply because it is natural for her—it is the way
in which she was constructed.
Homicidal and pyromaniac impulses may be
caused by disease, where a species of insanity is
induced. Some women are mentally deranged
only during pregnancy, the mental alienation gen-
erally taking the form of a monomania, but this
we have not room to discuss. Generally, the mel-
ancholy subjects who kill, burn buildings, etc.,
for the pure love..of “it, are the. offspring" or
mothers of ungovernable passions, who, when in a
fit of rage, become temporary maniacs. Such
women, during pregnancy, transmit the most vio-
lent evil passions to their offspring, and are the
kind whose sage is capable of poisoning their milk
during lactation.
Were the whole truth known in regard to many
who are now languishing in the state prisons for
larceny, setting buildings on fire, and often for
cold-blooded murder itself, the true, but uninten-
sages 7 r "Se Pe ee oe pede Le oe Ae Pe I ee ere eT eee ek Oe: ee oe ry Oe. .
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The Laws of Fleredity. 311
tional, criminals would be found in the preceding
generations. |
Third. Beautiful, pure, and happy impres-
stons on the mind of a mother.
Physical beauty, or beauty of person, has been
in all ages sought by mankind, especially by the
female portion of it; and where it has not been a
natural heritage, various ingenious devices have
been invented by the fertile feminine mind, and
divers artificial means resorted to, to enhance a
comeliness denied them by nature.
As the same kind of brain matter produces the
fortunate and unfortunate, the good and the evil
lives; so the same kind of atoms, precisely, pro-
duce the beautiful and the homely persons in this
world. Upon their arrangement alone depends :
every effect. As light, heat, sound, etc., are all -
forms of force,— modes of motion, the phenomena
observed in each is merely due to the manner the
motion is excited, viz.: If light is motion moving
in straight lines, then every time force produces
straight waves, light is the result. A different a
motion gives heat, sound, etc. a
312 The Laws of Fleredity.
Light, then, a motion moving in straight lines,
strikes the eye, and produces in the mind the sen-
sation of sight. ‘The same mode of motion strik-
ing the tympanum of the ear produces no effect
that we know of, while the motion excited by a
blow from the blacksmith’s hammer upon an
anvil, reaching the ear, produces in the mind the
sensation of sound, but upon the eye no effect dis-
cernible. Sometimes two or more modes are
excited at the same time, as light and heat from
the sun. Still, all are but forms of force, modes
of motion. Note how alike are nature’s modes. °
Carbon and hydrogen in one case becomes oil of
roses, in another (just the same amount of the
same materials), oil of turpentine, or oil of berga-
mot, etc. So motion excites, in one instance, the
sensation of sight; in another, sound; in another,
heat; in another, smell; forsmell, it seems, is a sim-
ilar sensation, and due to the manner in which
motion, excited by various substances, affects the
olfactory nerves. ‘A grain of musk has been
kept fully exposed to the air of a room of which
the doors and windows were kept constantly open
The Laws of Heredity. fe ic:
for a period of two years, during which time the
air, though constantly changed, was densely im-
pregnated with the odor of musk; and yet, at the
end of that time the particle was found not to
have sensibly diminished in weight.”—(Wells’s
Natural Philosophy, p. 11.)
Now, physical beauty, as well as ugliness, is due
to some special cause, and subject to a definite
law.
I trust my fair readers will not be astounded
when I assert that beauty of countenance and
fieure may be produced at will. ‘The ancient
Greeks did it centuries ago, and so can Americans
to-day, if they choose. The Spartans chose a
race of physical giants, and produced them; and
the Romans, as we have seen, a race of gladiators
and athletes, and gotthem. ‘There has ever been
periods in the history of man when the people
have striven to excel in certain directions. Thus,
ancient Greece had its period when beauty and
intellectual culture was the highest ambition of
every one. That was the period of the Venuses,
and Helens, and Julias; of Aspasia, and Leona, and
314 The Laws of Heredity.
Lais. It was also the period of Socrates, Pericles
and Lycurgus; of Demosthenes, Propertius and
Epicurus. A period when Greece was rich in
her climate and fine soil, great in her arts and
arms, wise and beautiful in her sons and daugh-
ters.
Mr. Reade, in his ‘‘ Martyrdom of Man,” says:
“The eyes of the Grecian sculptor rested on the
naked form,—not purchased, as in New York, at
so much an hour, but visible at all times in mar-
velous perfection, in every pose. Thus, ever pres-
ent to the eye of the artist, it was ever present to
his brain, and flowed forth from his fingers in
lovely forms.
““ As art was fed by nature, so nature was fed
by art; for the Greeks loved beauty to distraction,
and regarded ugliness as a sin. As the Greek
women placed statues of Apollo and Narcissus in
their chambers, that the beauty of the marble
form might enter into their offspring through the
windows of their eyes, so, by ever contemplating
perfection, and things beautiful, the mind is en-
nobled, and the actions born of it are divine.”
The Laws of Heredity. peas
A single illustration from Mrs. Kirby will
serve in place of many,-and show plainly how
true it is that both beauty of person and of char-
acter may be produced by the mother, if she so
wills: ‘I once knew,” says she, ‘a family of
coarse and thoroughly commonplace people, but
there was in it a single daughter, about nineteen
years old, who was so evidently and remarkably
superior, both in personal appearance and nature,
that it did not seem possible that she could be-
long to the same family. There was no explana-
tion of her difference from her brothers and sis-
ters, and I thought the mystery was one impossi-
ble to solve. Conversing with her mother, she
said: ‘No, this girl was not born in that low
dwelling under the shadow of the catalpas, but in
a poorer shed, in northern Tennessee. We were
very poor about those times, and there was no
lookout for anything better. Some of the boys
had come up here, to see if they could not get
better land, but we had no money to buy it with
if there was. ‘There was a book I must tell you
about,—a book that lifted me right out of my-
316 The Laws of Heredity.
self. There came along a peddler—’twas a won-
der how he ever got to such an out-of-the-way
place; well, he unpacked his traps, and among
them was a little book, with a lovely green and
gold cover; ’twas the sweetest little thing you
ever saw, and there was just the nicest picture in
the front. I saw it was poetry, and on the first
page it said, “ Zhe Lady of the Lake;” that was
all. I dd want that book, and I had a couple of
dollars in a stocking-foot on the chimney shelf;
but a dollar was a big thing then, and I did not
feel as if I ought to indulge myself, so I said
‘““No;” and I saw him pack up his things, and
travel. Then I could think of nothing but that
book the rest of the day, I wanted it so, and at
_ night I could not sleep for thinking of it; and, at
last, I got up, without making a bit of noise,
dressed myself, and walked four miles, to a village
where the peddler had told me he should stay
that night, at the Brown’s,—friends of ours, they
were,—and I got him up, bought the book, and
brought it back with me, just as contented and
satisfied as you can believe. I looked it over and
WPS aS > ree ,
J
The Laws of Fleredtty, 317
through, put it under my pillow, and slept soundly
till morning.
“«The next day I began to read the beautiful
story. Every page took that hold of me that I
forgot all about the pretty cover, and perhaps you
would not believe it, but before Nellie arrived in
the world, if you would but give me a word here
and there, I could begin at the beginning and say
it clear through to the end. It appeared to me
that I was there with those people, by the lakes
in the mountains, with Allan Bane and his harp,
Ellen Douglas, Malcolm, Graeme, Fitz-James, and
the others. I saw Ellen’s picture before me when
I was milking the cows, or cooking on the hearth,
or weeding in the little garden.
«Then she was stepping about so sweetly in the
rhyme, that I felt it all to be true as the day;
more true after I could repeat it to myself.
‘«¢And then when I found the baby grew into
such a pretty girl, and so smart, too, it seemed
as if Providence had been ever so good to me
again. But children are mysteries, anyway; I
have wondered a thousand times why Nellie was
sol
-
e
ms
:
ie
bes
318 The Laws of fleredity.
such a lady, and why she loved to learn so much
more than the other children.’ ””—( Transmission
or Variation of Character, by Mrs. Kirby. )
fourth. Lf1ideous physical tmpressions on the
mind of a mother are capable of producing de-
formity and monstrosity in the offspring. The
keen sensibilities of the maternal mind to such tn-
pressions 1s a teaching of ancient as well as of
nodern times.
We now enter upon a part of this subject where
the results are as melancholy as they are real. I
would fain persuade myself, if possible, that the
idea of hideous physical impressions on the mind
of a mother, producing deformity and monstrosity
in the offspring, was a vagary of the imagination,
but stubborn facts arise to meet us at every turn,
and force the unwelcome truth upon us, “whether
we will or no.”
It is not strange that any person may err in
judgment, or that even medical men may know
but little of heredity; but it is most remarkable,
and wholly inexplicable, that physicians, of all
others, who ought to know better, should deny, as
The Laws of Heredity. 319
some do, the possibility of hereditary transmissions
of any kind through the channels of the maternal
impress. It is, however, encouraging to find that
many of the more learned and scientific of the pro-
fession fully accept these facts, which can no
longer be controverted, as well as testimony which
they know to be above suspicion. ©
The objections found by those who opposed the
idea of maternal impressions producing physical
deformity in the offspring, may all be embodied,
I think, in one clause. That the maternal blood,
as such, not circulating in a direct manner through
the foetus, precludes the possibility of any impres-
sions from the mind being conveyed to it, assum-
ing that for which there is no evidence whatever,
that the blood is the medium through which im-
pressions are carried, if carried at all.
As Prof. Park, formerly of Chicago, has written
- somewhat extensively upon this subject, and as his
pamphlet (Maternal Impressions, etc.,) embod-
ies all the objections, I believe, raised against such
impressions producing serious, or, indeed, any re-
sults, a few quotations duly considered may not be
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th OR og vee ho we in CO a Ce nN oe Re eth ak afi * Smee 3 + : 2
ane
oa y
320 The Laws of Heredity
amiss here. Starting from wrong premises in any
case, it is not surprising at all that one should
grow wider the mark aimed at, the further he
travels on. ‘Let us see,’ says Prof. Park, ‘ what
anatomical investigations into this subject reveal.
We know that the circulatory system of the fcetus
is developed much like that of the chick in ovo.
That is, that it takes its origin, and its very first
molecules of blood corpuscle begin to circulate
by a power inherent in the embryonic mass, and
in no way transmitted from the mother. Its cir-
culation having begun independently, continues so
to this extent, that no particle of blood—as such—
passes from the foetal circulation to that of the
mother. It goes as far as the placenta, which
plays the part of the lungs, fro. ¢em., but is re-
turned, its sphere of action confined to this round.”
—( Maternal Impressions, p. 4.) Let us ex-
amine this matter, thus indiscriminately thrown
together, by first separating the oviperous part |
from the mammalia. In those animals developed
from eggs, the egg stands in the same relation to
the embryo that the maternal blood does in the
The Laws of Fleredity. By
mammal; that is, that all the elements for building
the entire chick reside in the egg, and were placed
in a condition to form the future Shanghi or
Brahma while in the mother’s body, and are sub-
ject to similar influences to that of the foetus in utero.
Attention has heretofore been called to the fact
that when uninterrupted, the elements composing
the body of a young animal will be so arranged as
to assume the form of the parent from which it
springs, but that in the higher order of animals,
especially where the brain has become an organ
of greater importance than any other, the in-
fluences proceeding from that organ are such as
may arrest the supply of material to any part of
the building embryo, or send an amount to any
part in excess, just as a mother may check the
secretion or flow of milk in the mammary glands,
and thereby reduce the supply to the infant de-
' pending on it for sustenance. Moreover, the sight
of a child “sucking” has the effect upon many
women of increasing the Secretion of milk at once.
Prof. Park further says (p. 5): ‘The mater-
nal blood current circulates freely around the
aan, Sage ay OSU oe ee ee tk BS re
PL Ms Peg ed BA ORS, cP MARNE
. 4 + rt as: Wes Oo" ae eas :
322 The Laws of Feredtty.
cecal terminations of the vessels from the feetus,
yielding up freely of its invigorating gases and
nutrient material and returning (to the lungs, etc.,
of the mother) for a fresh supply; but not one
corpuscle, it is probable, nor any particle of forma-
tive or germinal matter which could bear any
stamp or impress, or give any direction to future
development, passes across the membrane which
the vascular walls or placental structures inter-
pose.” “To be sure, the foetus must receive a
certain amount of nutritive material from the
mother’s blood, but this passes through like gases,
by osmosis,” (!) “and has no more power to
give special impetus to growth according to the
bent of thought of the mother, than milk at the
breast, or from the udder of the cow.”
I am not aware that any one, thoroughly under-
standing the nature of hereditary transmissions,
has put forth the assertion that the blood is the
medium by which such impressions are carried to
the foetus. JI do not understand that mental im-
pressions, emotions, etc., are material substances,
which may be loaded upon a blood corpuscle and
The Laws of Fleredity. 423
by it carried to any part of the body, but an exer-
cise of the mind—a force proceeding from the
brain through the nervous system, capable of
arresting, increasing, or changing the particles of
nutritive materials designed for the growth of the
body, whether it be the mother herself, or the
embryo, or the fcetus. The case already given
from Prof. Carpenter (Physiology, Sec. 724) of the
mother ‘“‘whose fingers began to swell, became
inflamed and had to be lanced,” from merely
seeing a window-sash fall upon the fingers of her
own infant, exhibits clearly the physical results
consequent upon strong emotion. Likewise the
case from Van Auman, where the mother, after
witnessing a fearful combat between her husband
and a drunken soldier, in her excitement, anger
and terror, snatched up her previously healthy
- child and gave it natural food, and who saw it die
‘in her arms within five minutes, from poison,
illustrates most forcibly the effect the maternal
mind has upon the milk in her breasts.
What changed the milk to poison, capable of
killing a child almost as quickly as prussic acid
ae aS BS ieee Ste Si eri) CN cen ie Be ta a Mey hai) tallow ee lel ge
mae) Ge, Pine ae PLATA og gt aye Fe A ede
The Laws of Fleredity. 365
hibitions of deformities and monstrosities, or other
places where the sight of them cannot be avoided,
should be promptly prohibited by law. Women, as
a rule, can ‘avoid such dangers; but when suddenly
and unavoidably brought into the presence of
hideous objects, she should neither let the eyes nor
mind dwell upon them for a moment. A power-
ful exercise of the will then will often produce a
most salutary effect.
What, then, is the rational remedy, and how
may evil and unfortunate lives be excluded, and
only good and fortunate ones born?
After what has been already said, a few practi-
cal suggestions will suffice. As _ licentiousness,
intemperance and avarice have been mentioned as
the chief curses of humanity, and the producers
of ninety-nine hundredths of all the miseries and
wretchedness of life, what may be said in regard
to the cause and remedy for these, will also apply
to all that do or can exist.
Let us first examine intemperance, either in
alcoholic stimulants or in narcotics, as both arise
from the same kind of inherited desire proceed-
a
3
he
‘
,
ta
a
Pe 4.
*
=
7a
“
voy
<
366 The Laws of Fleredity.
ing from the maternal parent, no matter what
may have been the originating cause of that de-
sire in her.
As all are aware, there is a class of women who
ought never to assume the duties of maternity,
but nevertheless do. This class are afflicted with
diseases which are known to be transmitted to off-
spring, such as consumption, scrofula, syphilis,
etc. Such mothers, or parents, commit a crime,
and one which I believe the wisdom and experi-
ence of the future will make a punishable offense.
Indeed, I can see no reason why helpless offspring
ought not to be protected by law against the
ignorance and cupidity of diseased parents.
There is also a large class of women whose
” insuffi-
physical frames afte merely ‘“ delicate,’
ciently nourished, who, while in this condition,
ought to be exempt from so important a duty as
that of maternity. The nutrition of their bodies
is not sufficient for their own proper support, how
much less to meet the demand of the pre-natal
offspring.
The consequences to offspring of such mothers
The Laws of Heredity. 367
are, a general feebleness too often, which lessens
their chances in the “struggle for existence,” all
other things being equal. But there is another
point, too often overlooked in this class, of great im-
portance; that is, that during the period of gesta-
tion, when the maternal system is suffering an
extra drain, there is engendered, from the lack of
support, a feeling of want and depression, a sen-
sation of debility, with a constant craving (al-
though not strong) for some vitalizing agent or
stimulant, failing to receive which to satiation, if
at all, the same kind of sensation of debility and
craving will be transmitted to the nascent off-
spring, and there becomes a permanent organic
constituent throughout life. The offspring of such
mothers most naturally commence early the use
of convenient stimulants, such as wine and beer,
which they soon find relieves them of the un-
pleasant sensation, the result of hereditary trans-
mission. Although physically well and ordinarily
strong in many instances, still the mental sensa-
tion is as powerful and annoying as if they were
actually debilitated. This class never become
368 The Laws of Heredity.
intoxicated, nor do they have any desire for more
stimulant than just sufficient to relieve the sensa-
tion spoken of. They look with considerable
dread upon the inebriate who has a passion for
drink, and consider themselves really temperate,
and inform the world that “liquor never hurts
them.”
The actual debility of the mother produces in
her mind a sensation of debility, which sensation
is transmitted to the offspring, and remains,
whether the offspring afterwards remains debili-
tated and weak, or becomes strong and well. As
often as the sensation of debility occurred in the
after life of the offspring, it was found expedient
to satisfy it with a stimulant, until, unconsciously,
a train of symptoms was set up which caused the
individual to seek medical advice, when it was
found that a fatty degeneration of the liver or-
kidneys has occurred, which has undermined the
entire structure. All victims of rum do not die
of delirium tremens,and go shrieking and cursing
down to death. Nay, a vast multitude perish by
disease, that insidious destroyer of our race,
The Laws of [Heredity. 369
which rum fastens on the vitals, and with a slow
but relentless grasp drags them down to the end.
Now, if debilitated women do bear children at
all, they should thoroughly understand this fact,
and during gestation use every means possible to
relieve those unfortunate sensations. Wine and
tonics should be freely used by them, which alone
will relieve the sensation, as well as invite an
appetite for food, which should consist of milk,
rich broths, meat, food containing plenty of the
phosphates, fish, game, fruit, etc., etc. By thus
sustaining the system by extra feeding and a judi-
cious stimulation, the sensation will be removed
from the mother, and, ceasing to exist, cannot be
transmitted to the offspring.
The other class of intemperate persons, techni-
cally called vzxomaniacs, or those who remain
free from the desire for drink for a variable
period, and then, all at once, are seized with a
furious passion which they have no power to re-
strain; it is a desire for drink, which can only be
relieved by a debauch, lasting from a day, in
some cases, to several weeks in others; when they
370 © The Laws of Heredity.
“sober up” again, and are free from the desire
for a certain length of time, when it again returns
as furious and irresistible as before, and must be
_ satisfied by another debauch.
These are truly pitiable cases, and need to be
carefully watched, as they do not always depend
upon debility in the mother, as do the class pre-
viously mentioned, but are the result of sudden
and powerful impulses, inexplicable moods, having
a physical basis not clearly understood at present,
for they occur, alike, in both strong and weakly
mothers; still, desire is desire, no matter under
what conditions it may be excited, and is to be —
treated upon the same principles wherever found.
As we have constantly seen, all these human
appetites, passions, etc., are a part of our phys-
ical natures, and cannot be altered or changed,
unless the physical construction upon which they
depend can be changed, which never can be, un-
less by the merest accident, in this life. The only
remedy is to prevent, in the first place, any such
appetites being born in the individual, which, hap-
pily, may be done,
The Laws of Heredity, Rip
Now, whatever may be the cause, the fact re-
mains the same, that, during the important period —
of gestation, some women are suddenly seized
with unaccountable, and often overmastering, de-
sires for certain things. ‘They long for them as
they long for nothing else, and they find it impos-
sible to rid the mind for scarcely a moment of this
burning want, whatever it may be.
Suppose this strong, longing desire be for some
stimulant, say wine, or brandy, as such calls
are frequently formulated,—if this desire is un-
heeded, it will be, perhaps, repeated at intervals
for a season, and then pass off for good, and the
mother thinks no more about it. Her child is
born. ‘The same desire as was present in the
mother, with all its force has been transferred to
it, and only awaits an opportunity to be fully de-
veloped, which is easily done in this world of
myriad temptations; and behold the wznomanzac.
It is too late now to apply a remedy. There is
none but the grave. But had that mother known,
and when the first powerful feelings for a stimu-
lant began to be experienced by her made haste
a
te
a
i wes
9. es Si Phos eae SE PRN ae
Bae ee NE ay Sal eh Cae RE > Le ee
hy See
3
ete
SAS Bis
SS ey.
‘; ay GA RCA ee be Fao eee ee a ies, OW away 3 > BD Ae Se ye a an co TF
Yh esha My Wem Marie Sates, oi eri Ra St REM eg ae faa nla oat Siena Go ik ig . o F
hi Se on ie ca is aaa Wash es toes a Men diy ARR Nahr DOR oR Be SPL RRR NL NC eae a
ae eg 5h Sig j a wet abe 2 +f \ ’ f r ry aaah Uae ; ‘; es?
Jat
372 The Laws of fleredity,
_ to obey nature’s demand by gratifying it without
- question, and continued to do so as often as the
call was repeated, it would have stopped at once
the desire, turned her thoughts away from the
subject, and, my word for it, backed by the es-
tablished laws of science, the child would have
been ever after a teetotaller.
I have read, time and again, in temperance
tracts scattered abroad throughout the country,
“that the poor sot who paid the penalty for his
crime on the gallows yesterday was made a
drunkard by having drunken parents;” or that he
fell into bad company, and ‘learned to drink,”
and “found an appetite? which proved his de-
struction. Now, it is just because of such er-
roneous teachings that there has been so little real
advancement made in the “ temperance question.”
It surely requires no effort to recall numerous
examples of men of the strongest temperance
principles, whose parents were, one, or even both,
drunkards; neither will it be difficult to find
many persons who are the most hopeless inebriates,
even sots, whose parents were teetotallers. Now,
. —_ = _ Pete Fy, ee eee Ce a eee ae Oe a Te OR A Ea eye Zl
aed ov 2 Tk eT fe ey Tee Paks Beal Cok Ro ae ee Siren dial Oey : ' , z
“iy? Mualy fe : , 7 j wr ~ «"% ’
w +" lef eee — ioe Sag s ’ 4 an
The Laws of Heredity. 373
nature does not do the same thing in two different
ways; that is, make an inebriate in one case
from temperate, and in another from drunken
parents. Besides, every woman who has ever
been a mother, and thought intelligently on this —
matter at all, knows full well that the views here
set forth are correct and true. What woman
does not know that if a mother longs for a cer-
tain kind of food prior to her child’s birth, the
child will also long inthe same manner ever after -_
for the same article, and if it can be obtained will
gorge themselves until the stomach refuses more. ~
Now, what is true of intemperance in spirituous
liquors is also true of intemperance in the sexual
desires; or, in fact, with any desires that a mother
can have, and all admit of the same remedy, viz.,
a full and sufficient gratification of the desire,
whatever it may be, while it isin the mother, so
as to prevent it from being reproduced in the off-
spring.
In view, then, of this knowledge concerning all
the evil passions, and especially licentiousness, let
no regrets ever darken a mother’s life when she
ey Re ee is Aes shi Wel ke ti Oe Tepe Rn eae: Oe eee
Pe Se ae RY pat oy brat aes : Beate ay j ~ wer
Dae oe ih
ei
~~
=
ae
:
~ 7 kia al
te + =-
374 The Laws of Heredity.
sees her son a libertine, or her daughter an
amorosa. She can prevent such disasters if she
will; and if she will not, great will be her respon-
sibility.
Are these facts worth knowing and heeding by
those upon whom the responsibility of the next
generation rests? Is the happiness or misery of a
people matters of small consequence? Reader,
this generation will soon pass away. Forty years,
at most, will be its limit, and another, and
numerically greater, will take its place to fill more
drunkards’ and wantons’ graves than this one will
do, unless zow prevented. To-day there are
thousands of God’s creatures who are filling such
unfortunate tombs. ‘To-morrow there will be
thousands more as surely doomed as were they
who have just opened their eyes for the first time
to God’s sunlight. The time to commence the
-education of a child for earth and eternity, is the
time when the corner-stone of life is laid.
But little reference has been made in these
pages to the ma/e parent, the father, and for the
very obvious reason that his share in the genesis
BS BCT R Ce Re Le Ee Cet EA Ar Be BORE eR PIS oh Meee Se ema
™ Ya hho oe Le WE? ps Ra ry eo Maia mS gare N oy Ms
J ‘ ; f ny 9 a a : ee
The Laws of Heredity } 375
of the human being is infinitely small when com-
pared with that of the mother. It has not been
from a desire to shift any responsibility from the
father, and make the mother bear it, but from
that justice in science which seeks only the truth.
This life is too short, and the question involved in
its span too serious, to admit of any other than
square, honest, truthful dealings.
It certainly is no detriment to woman to know
that upon her devolves almost the entire responsi-
bility for the future of her race; and even if,
through her, evil has entered the world, so, equally
through her, must it depart. If sorrow and mis-.
fortune has by her darkened one life, joy and
gladness has lightened many another.
It is clear that the being which bears the close ae
relationship to the wife the husband does, pos- :
sesses, or should possess, a greater influence over Re
her than any other, and the descent from him of Be
anything will be in an exact proportion to the im- — __ 5
pression he is able to make on her mind; but it |
must be borne in mind, that any one else possess-
ing an equal or greater influence, would transfer
B90; The Laws of fTeredity.
personal traits, characteristics, etc., as well; for
no matter how much might descend naturally
from the father, the great power of the maternal
mind is capable of altering or changing it entirely.
Hence, we often see members of the same fam-
ily, having the same father and mother, differ
greatly, both in their personal appearance and
character.
It may be frequently noticed that the first child,
or children, resemble the father more than subse-
quent ones do. Whena young couple are mar-
ried, if love has instigated the union, the husband
is an object of worship, a hero, to the wife, and
his personal appearance and characteristics will
be transmitted to the offspring. Later in life,
cares arise, and distractions, or the former idol
melts into common clay; the woman becomes
vain, and admires herself, and the children now
--resemble her. Sometimes, an uncle or aunt has
invited the woman to her house to visit a month
_or two; they are very kind, and for the time be-
ing their image alone is before her, and is repro-
duced in her next child; and so on, through every
The Laws oy Fleredity, = 347 :
shade or grade, no matter who it is, if the impres-
sion on the maternal mind be strong enough, it is
sure to be reproduced in the offspring. But I:
need not enlarge further, as it surely must be clear
to all.
Now, as it is wholly within every mother’s
power to produce just such children as she will,
and as it is just as easy to produce the good traits
and comely physiques as the opposite ones, why
need parents let the unfortunate characters and
lives appear at all?
It is evident, then, that there is a great responsi-
bility resting with every father, as he is more
constantly in the wife’s presence, as a rule, than
are others; besides, the sacred obligations of mar-
riage brings him more constantly into the mother’s
thoughts. Let both equally understand these
grave matters, and do their duty as becomes those
who have the honors and responsibilities of pa-
rents.
In regard to avarice, that curse which is grow-
ing so rapidly in this country at present, it de-
scends in the same manner as previously explained.
a aga? ee ‘a
° + »
378 . The Laws of Heredity.
Education alone can remedy it. ‘Women must
be taught, as well as men, the consequences of
yielding to avaricious and covetous thoughts and
desires, and that the end will be crime in a large
portion of the generations to come. Here is a
great field for clergymen to teach lessons of real
importance. If they fear God, they ought not to
fear speaking the truth, even if it does strike some
in tender places; and if there is an account to give
of their stewardship in the “great beyond,” as
they preach, will they themselves not have one,
and a large one, too, to render if they neglect this
their opportunity, and their duty? ;
There is a matter of vast importance to the
subject of heredity, which, in conclusion, deserves
a passing notice,—not so much for what is abso-
lutely known concerning it at present, as to stim-
ulate further research and investigation,—and that
is, the determination of sex in offspring at an early
period of foetal nascency.
Were the sex of a child from the period of con-
ception definitely known, it would prove of incal-
culable value in the pre-natal education of offspring.
Se Steer ee met ba’ Fe Soot * y s > Seo Git “iS re nt de tae bad a * roe} tea ; gd he Oe a ¥
hae Sa 2} << F erst 7 n ¥ 2 => y ae Wel ea vr aot est .
~ x 7 ¥ nie . oe .
™~ ir ; a
ad
The Laws of Heredity. 379
Now, there is some cause for sex in offspring,
some determining force which operates in ex-
actly the same manner each time either sex is
produced. As we, with our present knowledge,
do not understand the nature of this force, nor
how it operates to produce such results, let us see
what practical facts can be gleaned from the ex-
perience and observation of those who have given
the matter intelligent thought.
There have been various theories propounded
from time to time to account for sex, only to be ~
overthrown again for want of evidence; but the
theorists were not discouraged, as no true scien-
tist is discouraged at repeated failures. “Still the
churning goes on, and the Amreeta must come ”’
bye and bye.
Passing over the various theories advanced from
time to time by different authorities, and which
are irrelevant here, we come to notice two which
appear worthy of consideration. Certain large
breeders of stock, from a long and careful obser-
vation of effects, have found theories which they
claim are entitled to respect.
Tees ich We a We oe
¥ a P By eee ee
SO UE ae otic oe te eee
Kee csi,
380 The Laws of Heredity.
One of these theories is, that male and female
offspring occur alternately after each “ heat” or
menstrual period of the mother. ‘That is, if a male
is now born, the next menstrual period of the same
animal, if followed by conception, the result will
be a female. Hence, a careful watching and rec-
ord is all the information needed for practical
results.
The other theory advanced by many, nay, most
intelligent breeders of stock, and the one I believe
to be correct, is, that if the animal conceive at the
beginning of the “heat” or menses, a female is’
the result. But if conception don’t occur until the
close of the period, a male is the result. There is
_a law which governs such matters, if known; but
these theories are based entirely upon observation
and inquiry. |
_ After a most careful observation and inquiry
among intelligent human beings, I am convinced
of this fact: That if a human female conceives
within four or five days from the close of her cat-
amenia, her offspring will invariably be a female.
But if she don’t conceive until from six to ten
Spo is Sores SG sien ia lid e* Wty eee gist ig 9 nese Dos Nan fas sg OR fia 2 ryt nes eta. Ve
y s } a “I
The Laws of Heredity. 381
days thereafter, the offspring will be certainly a
male. I have verified this assertion in several
hundred instances, without one single failure,
where the facts have been known.
It has been strongly insisted upon by certain
authorities, that “the sex of a child depended
upon the vigor of the parent; that is, a vigorous
father and weakly mother produced sons, and vice
versa.” A moment’s thought will correct this
error, as every observer has seen strong, vigorous
men, with delicate, ‘‘ sickly ” wives, rear a family
of daughters almost exclusively. I have an opin-
ion of the real cause of sex, and the true law
underlying it. But it is not ripe enough as yet
for promulgation.
The hypothesis already mentioned is of easy
verification, and should become a matter of serious
inquiry, as the matter of sex is of the greatest im-
portance, because the real ground work of a
child’s education is accomplished before its birth,
when, if the sex be thus early known to the
mother, she can plan accordingly the child’s future, —
as regards its vocation, traits, characteristics,—in
BOD. The Laws of Heredity.
fact, everything she may wish it to possess in
after life. Suppose it were certainly known to a
mother that her future child was to be a girl,
what course would the intelligent mother map out
for her? She would want her daughter to be
virtuous, comely, intelligent,—in fine, a grand ~
woman, and would bend all the energies of her
nature to produce them, and, as we have seen,
s would produce them for her; and if a boy, she
would map out a course of honor and glory that
would crown her declining years with the laurels
of peace. |
The world, with all its needs and glories, is be-
fore us, and the great Book of Nature open for
every one’s perusal. The door of the Temple of
- Fame is opened by the golden key of knowledge,
and swings on easy hinges to the diligent student
of truth and right. Let ussee to it, then, that our
talent is not “ bound up in a napkin,” but that it
gain for us “ten other talents.” Let us go on,
fearlessly and honestly, with the study of nature
and natural laws; for in them there is not only
knowledge which is useful and discipline that is
2 ~ needful, but it is through them that we are. i,
4 _ brought into communion with the Infinite mind, a
the Creative agency of all things. It is through © -
these great and harmonious laws that earth is con-
—- nected with: heaven, and man made conscious of Daas
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