contribution to the
subject of Eugenics. It is not a complete statement of the facts and
foundations of Eugenics in any particular. It is rather an attempt to
state briefly and suggestively, in simple, matter-of-fact terms the
present status of this science. While Eugenics is a social topic in
practice, in its fundamentals, in its theory, it is biological. It is
therefore necessary that the subject be approached primarily from the
biological point of view and with some familiarity with biological
methods and results. The control of human evolution--physical, mental,
moral--is a serious subject of supremest importance and gravest
consequents. It must be considered without excitement--thoughtfully,
not emotionally.

It is hardly necessary to add that no one can speak of the subject of
Eugenics without feeling the immensity of his debt to Sir Francis
Galton and to Professor Karl Pearson. From the writings of these
pioneers I have drawn heavily in this essay. The recent summary of the
Whethams, and Davenport's valuable essay on Eugenics have also served
as the sources of quotation.

W. E. K.
Baltimore, Md., November, 1910.

CONTENTS

PAGE
I.--THE SOURCES AND AIMS OF THE SCIENCE OF EUGENICS 3
II.--THE BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EUGENICS 49
III.--HUMAN HEREDITY AND THE EUGENIC PROGRAM 133

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. PAGE
1.--Increase of population in the United States and the
principal countries of Europe from 1800 to 1900 26
2.--Relative and absolute numbers of prisoners in the
United States from 1850 to 1904 30
3.--Recorded measurements of the stature of 1052 mothers 57
4.--Model to illustrate the law of probability or "chance" 59
5.--Plinth to illustrate the difference between variability
(fluctuation) and variation (mutation) 64
6.--Curves illustrating the relation between the pure
line and the species or other large group 67
7.--Diagram showing the course of color heredity in
the Andalusian fowl 83
8.--Diagram showing the co