Some ac We have opposing camps. cept the doctrine, others deny it. Some admit it as far as regards the physical, but repudiate it as to its moral relations. A rapid survey of our modern literature, and of the views of not only the leaders, but of some of the minor luminaries of modern thought, will clear up the ground and be a fitting introduction to my own views. I shall commence with a resume of the principles laid down by an intellectual giant, whose influence, next to Darwin's, has most impressed the thought of the present age. The following may be taken as a fair summary of his conclusions: [2] structural arrangement of the species they belong to....... Thus the phenomena of Heredity are seen to assimilate with other phenomena; and the assumption which these phenomena thrust on us appears to be equally thrust on us by the phenomena of Heredity. We must conclude that the likeness of any organism to either parent is conveyed by the special tendencies of the physiological units derived from that parent. In the fertilized germ we have two groups of physiological units slightly different in their structure. These slightly different units severally multiply at the expense of the nutri A. Each plant or animal produces ment supplied to the unfolding germ, F. Ancestral traits are handed down: this being known by the name of Ataivism. As a result of experience and observation Herbert Spencer formulated the above principles. He has attempted a solution or a possible explanation, of the cause which produces the above results; which has met with the approval of another scientific enquirer. [3] Herbert Spencer tells us that "The assumption to which we seem driven by the ensemble of the evidence is that sperm cells and germ cells are essentially nothing more than vehicles, in which are contained small groups of the physiological units in a fit state for obeying their proclivity towards the 1. Ribot, "Heredity" 1875. 2. Spencer, "Principles of Biology." each kind moulding this nutriment into. its own type. Throughout, the process of evolution the two kinds of units mainly agreeing in their polarities and in the form which they tend to build themselves into, but having minor differences work in unison to produce an organism of the species from which they were derived, but work in antagonism to produce copies of their respective parent organisms; and hence ultimately results an organism in which traits of the one are mixed with traits of the other." This explanation, so far from clearing up the problem, only intensifies it, and renders the power of the operating force the vis a tergo or the X. or unknown quantity, still more marvellous. What a wonderful reserve of energy and force there must be in "the physiological unit" to evolve so much from its innate tendencies! It may remind some of you of Bonnets' famous theory of reproduction which represents every living creature 3. Bastiau, "Beginnings of Life" Vol. II, pg 94. believes in Darwin necessarily Heredity and his aspect of the question is both a novel and startling one, for as Albert Lemoine[6] well observes "Scientific men believed in the fixity of the organic structure of species and in the fixity of instincts, but as soon as the immutability of type was disputed, and it was asserted that species was convertible, or at least was derived from a common and universal source, the immutability of instinct was similarly denied." Lamark looks upon instinct as only Hereditary habit, and Darwin, who has so closely followed Lamark, has recourse to Heredity, to explain the formation of instinct. SO that another question naturally arises as to the very existence of instinct. Darwin's views may be briefly sum4. Jevons. The Principle of Science pg 621, 5. Philosophical Transactions, 1840; Vol. XII. pg merized as follows: He considers that the appearance in offspring of parental and and sometimes of remote ancestral traits, with the occasional reproduction in individuals of supernumerary parts may be accounted for by his theory of Pangenesis. Each living organism is ultimately made up of an almost infinite number of minute particles or organic atoms, termed gemmules each of which has the power of reproducing its kind; moreover these particles circulate freely about the organism which is made up of them, and are derived from all the parts, of all the organs of the less remote ancestors of each organism during all the states and stages of such several ancestor's existence, and therefore of the several states of such ancestor's organs. A complete collection of gemmules is aggregated in each ovem and sperinatozoon in most animals, so tnat we may have congeries of ancestral gemmules, some of which may perish, others of which may develop, so that Heredity and Atavism are thus accounted for. says, Against the Darwinian hypothesis Professor St. George Mivart[8] "That while professing as it does to explain great difficulties, it seems to do so by presenting others not less great, and almost to be the explanation of "obscurum per obscurins." Leaving this school, by another easy descent, I am brought to a writer who represents materialistic philosophy. A short extract from one of his most popular books will show us another side of the question, of what almost indefinite expansion it is, and what a field of enquiry it opens out. Maudsley[9] asks, "What man can by taking thought 6. Lemoine L'Habitude et L'Instinct, page 105. 7. Darwin, The Origin of Species. Darwin, Animals, and Plants under Domestication, Vol. II. page 413. for all the phenomena, so he added to it a theory of his own inneity, by which he attempted to bridge over these difficulties. As a rep resentative of another schoo I select Quatrefages12 according to whom every organic species considered as a whole, appears to be subjected to add one cubit either to his mental or to his bodily stature?" Multitudes of human beings come into the world weighed with a destiny against which they have neither the will nor the power to contend; they are the step-children of nature and groan under the worst of all tyrannies the tyranny of a bad organization. Men differ, indeed, in the fundamental characters of their minds as they do in the features of their countenances or in the habits of their bodies; and between those who are born with the potentiality of a full and complete mental development under favor-logists from Aristotle and Hippocrates able circumstances, and those who are born with an innate incapacity of mental development under any circumstances there exists every gradation." Maudsley leads off into a new circle; questions of free will and responsibility will have to be discussed. Spencer, Darwin, Maudsley, have each secured numbers of ardent disciples. In concluding my survey of English writers I may allude to a well reasoned and thoughtful essay by Dr. Elam [10] in which he has brought together a number of very interesting facts and examined the questions from a Theistic side. His material was furnished mainly by the French school and he was particularly indebted to Prosper Lucas [11] whose exhaustive treatise has formed the basis from which a large number of modern writers have drawn their inspiration. Passing to French literature I must briefly notice what Lucas has done; his work is a mine of wealth, and is the result of immense labor and research. Believing in Heredity yet he considered it was not sufficient to account 8. Mivart, The Genesis of Species, page 22, 9. Maudsley, Body and Mind, page 43. the action of two forces, one of which tends to maintain and the other to modify its character. To what can this double action be referred? This is a question put by the greatest thinkers and the most eminent physio By to Burdach and J. Miller. It is the 10. Elam, A Physician's Problems. 11. Lucas, Traite Philosophique et Physiologique de l'Heredite Nalurelle, Etc., Etc., Paris 1850. 12. Quatrefages, The Human Species 1879, p. 245. 20 NEW ENGLAND MEDICAL MONTHLY. Ribot's work presents us with the latest state of the question, and I consider it one of the best modern works I have been able to consult. His indebtedness to Lucas is great. Heredity in its medical aspect has been observed from the most remote ages, and we find allusions to it in most medical works; it as one of the causes predisposing to disease. We have no English work dealing with the subject in detail, though we have in most of our works on medicine a chapter treating of its influence; opinion being divided as to its range. Some medical men deny absolutely the heredity of disease, some admit it in chronic affections, but repudiate it in acute, whilst others accept the doctrine in its fullest extent. The paucity of English medical works on Heredity is noticeable; we must admit that our Gallic neighbors surpass us in this respect and their medical literature is enriched by many excellent monographs on this problem. The problem is evolving and we see that it admits of much speculation, to exercise the philosophic as well as the medical mind. Can their tendencies be checked? Graver questions even still arise. Is man a mass of molecules, atoms or gemmules which are impelled by an innate driving force to good or evil, health or disease? Has he neither the will nor the power to contend against what Aeschylus calls the mysterious power of necessity or destiny, whose agency we are unable to explain, or is man a comparitively free agent, able to correct physical imperfections, and able to choose between good and evil, thus verifying the words of Eccliasticus. Deus ab initio constituit hominem et reliquit illum in manu consileisin. Adjecit mandata et praecepta sua: si volueris servare mandata conservabunt te-... Ante hominem vita et mors, bonum et malum; quod placuerit ei, dabitur illi; or again to deserve the application of the words Erit illi gloria æterna, qui potint transgredi et non est transgressus, facere mala et non fecit. Numerous subsidiary questions spring up as we proceed with the evolution of the problem, such as the influence exercised by male and female in the transmission of hereditary properties, and to what extent this power is possessed by either sex, whether greater in the male than in the female, whether the male exercises an influence on the Borrowing a word from Comte, the Sociological aspect presents us with many grave questions, and first I may consider it in relation to our criminal classes, for the Hereditary transmission of physical and moral attributes is pain-physical, and the female on the moral fully evident amongst them. It affects character. its general physique, its cranial development, and we have, as a result, perversion of the moral faculties. The criminal classes marry and repeat themselves in their descendents. They are a most important factor sociologically. Are they following out the law of nature or a perversion of it? Like ravitation must they follow crime? As regards the individual transmission of one special psychological power, viz., genius, we have some statistics furnished by the indefatiguible exertious of Mr. Galton13 who has applied the statistical method to solve the problem, whether Genius is hereditary, and to what extent? Given an illustrious or eminent man, what are the chances of his having had an illustrious or eminent father, grandfather, grandson, brother, etc.? Can we apply mathematical formula to the laws of heredity, or reduce it to an algebraic equation? If there were no other quantities to consider or to be taken into account, we might do so, and I agree with Ribot1 that Galton's method is unsatisfactory. Ribot observes: "When we are told that the statistical method en ables us to predict the number of murders, larcenies, suicides, marriages, etc., the meaning is, that they are fore seen in the gross, and approximatively; but in true quantitative knowledge nothing is determined in the gross or approximatively. Given a great man in a family, does any one imagine that by means of Galton's averages we can determine how many illustrious brothers, sons, or nephews he will have, with as much certainty as we can calculate the day and the hour of eclipse. Is it, therefore, a mistake to fancy that because mathematical processes are employed we can arrive at mathematical certainty. The real service rendered by figures is this: There is a multitude of scattered facts, which have no visible connection and an appear to be perfectly fortuitous. The Statistician compares them together and discovers in them uniformities, or in other words, laws." So impressed was Galton with the power of Heredity that he proposed15 by means of it to create a class or order of superior physical and mental attributes, and his argument may be briefly stated. Starting from the law of nature that like produces like, would it not be possible to secure a high class by 13. Galton, Hereditary Genuis. 14. Ribot, Heredity p. 192, 1875, well assorted marriages, by mating the wise to the wise, the healthy to the healthy and so on? The power of natural selection has been tried in this direction, notably by Frederick William I, father of Frederick the Great, who, anxious to breed a regiment of giants, selected colossal men and mated them with colossal wives, with a satisfactory result. But as we are told, omnia fatis in pejno ruere, the principle of selection was not carried on by succeeding generations, and the race of giants has not been perpetuated...! Our old aristocracies, in different. countries, offer instances of the evils of sélection: 15. Frazer's Magazine, Jany 1873. (To be Continued.) A great emergency arises a serious operation must be done immediately, and, at best, one can rarely obtain more than one professional assistant. Ofttimes the assistant will be a common laborer, the best light obtainable a pine-torch or a kerosene lamp minus a chimney, and with a paucity of instruments, because too poor to buy a complete outfit, the sergeon gropes his way through delicate tissues till the work is done and the life of his patient is seaved. I recall to mind now a case of success ful laparotomy done for gun shot wound of the abdomen, and reported at the last meeting of our medical society, in which I am reliably informed the operator had only the assistance of a negro field-hand, and worked solely by the light of a pine-torch. A Parisian physician confines himself to telephone practice. He furnishes his patients with prescription blanks, and when called by any one of them in case of emergency he telephones back his directions, which are witten out, read to the doctor and sent to the druggist. |