THE 
Laws of Heredity: 
BY 
GEO. WILLIAMSON, M. D. 
m «Nil 
SHOWING THE 
LAWS OF DESCENT OF APPETITES, PASSIONS, TRAITS, 
CHARACTERISTICS, PHYSICAL DEFICIENCIES, 
DEFORMITIES, Etc., Etc., Etc. 
h. v palmer, 
LOCKfBOX 532, CHICAGO. 
1887. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by 
H. W. PALMER, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington. 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, 
7 8 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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- The Laws of Heredity. 
9 
hibited around in the world and not ask the ques- 
tion, Why is it 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 a home 
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  The Laws of Heredity. 
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 not 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 for a 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. 
11 
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 not 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 12 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 post- 
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, The Laws of Heredity. 
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 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?” 
11 Shall we believe that all the grand and harmoni- 
ous devices of nature are the songs of a siren to The Laws of Heredity. 
15 
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 to be 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 16 
The Laws of Heredity. 
overmastering in another? Is it due to a 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 The Laws, of Heredity. 
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- 
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 11 (that is, has been con- 18 
The Laws of Heredity. 
structed in a manner which cannot endure) and 
must die. 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 thou art (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 The Laws of Heredity. 
19 
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,r> when at the same time he, together with  The Laws of Heredity. 
20 
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 its 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
21 
cleared away already fo 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 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 dif- 
ference of degree, not kind, is alone observed. 
The elements (rain, frost, wind, etc.) reduce in- 
organic matter and prepare it for organization. In The Laws of Heredity. 
23 
the inorganic reside all the elements of the or- 
ganic. When ground down and separated so as 
to have freedom of motion, harmonious parts nat- 
urally select each other by an affinity peculiarly 
their own, and the phenomenon of organization is 
presented. This action of elements is constant, 
and constitutes the law of organization. A cer- 
tain degree of organization acted upon by the 
forces, heat, light, electricity, etc., gives vitality. 
Organized matter in motion is life; at rest—death. 
A higher organization than the vegetable gives 
the animal. A graded organization to the highest 
yet attained gives us man. So the work goes on 
and on through the long eons, organizing and 
vitalizing, and returning again to original ele- 
ments to be organized and vitalized again under 
better conditions, so as to obtain better results. 
In following up the results of organization in the 
plant and animal, we soon begin to discover, after 
leaving the lowest animal forms, a peculiar gray 
and white substance arranged in a special manner, 
which the plant and lowest animals did not pos- 
sess. We also observe that animals possessing 24 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 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 26 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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, i st, 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. 
27 
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 11 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 Heredity. 
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. 44 Life,” says Spinosa, 
“ is but an expression of a common 4 substance,’ and 
this substance is the all — is God.” 44 There are,” 
says Descartes,44 three substances,—God, Thought, 
Matter. In the first have the others their exist- 
ence. Man is a compound of thought and matter, 
man is not God, but is in and of God. 44 Man,” 
says Socrates, 44 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 as a 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 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 wdiich belong alone to what is called mind 
in man, we do violence to our better judgment to 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. 
33 
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 a certain 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 is a 
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  The Laws of Heredity. 
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 one kind throughout, 
but obliged to manifest itself in accordance with 
the peculiarities of physical construction? 
34 
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 The Laws of Heredity. 
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. 
35 
With this hasty glance at mind 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. 36 
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. 
37 
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, lamented 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 in the grave. During the The Laws of Heredity. 
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 post-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 Heredity. 
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 a small pullet egg, 
was torn out and lost. The lad made a good re- 
covery, with no apparent mental change from his The Laws of Heredity. 
41 
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 u 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 Heredity. 
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 post-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 asa “ bad man.” Special at. 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 truth 
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 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- 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 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. 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 enciente 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 Heredity. 
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. 
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- 50 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 
the skin. Either fear or bashfulness, when strongly- 
excited in certain persons, has such an effect. 
u 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 
Lrarcely require a passing notice. The Laws of Heredity. 
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 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 a moment’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 The Laws of Heredity. 
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 was a 
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 The Laws of Heredity. 
55 
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, nth to 
31st verses. Moses indeed seems to have used his 
knowledge of science, for the most part, at least, The Laws of Heredity. 
57 
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 Heredity. 
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 was a 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 bv 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-  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 which those 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- The Laws of Heredity 
61 
dieted. 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 them, 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 
all? 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 Heredity. 
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 Heredity. 
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 sell 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 Nazareth is 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 Heredity. 
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 his 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 66 
The Laws of Heredity. 
and “ save them from the wrath to come.” He 
told them that He was the only way, and only by 
faith 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 not 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 u ordeals ” of 
Moses had theirs,—in the necessities of the times 
for the moral government of the people. Jesus, un- The Taws of Heredity. 
67 
like their other teachei s, “ 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 Heredity. 
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 Heredity. 
69 
which could not be reached in any other manner. 
To have explained to them the natural laws under 
which the wonders he performed were produced, 
would have destroyed their effect. If the 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,  The Laws of Heredity, 
70 
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. IX., 28, 29 ver.), “ He said unto them: Be- 
lieve ye that I am able to do this? 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. The Laws of Heredity. 
71 
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 laid 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 
healed them.” (Luke, IV., 40.) “He called 
her to him * * * and laid his hands on her; 
and immediately she was made straight.” (Luke, 
XIII., 12-13.) The blind man of Bethsaida be- 
sought him to touch 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 a gam 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. 72 
The Laws of"Heredity. 
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. 
73 
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. u 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 74 
The Laws of Heredity. 
daughter, and naturally turned to the master for 
help. He encourages the ruler. “ Be not afraid, 
only believe.” 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 not 
dead, but sleepethT 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 
hand and said unto her * * * Damsel, * 
* * 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. 
75 
been sent for. He comes. 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 truth, 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 earlier 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- 
belief, 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 
course of natural law,—that is, above and beyond The Laws of Heredity. 
77 
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 could 
a law be fulfilled by performing acts wholly above 
and beyond all law? What law, then, does he 
refer to ? 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 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- The Laws of Heredity. 
79 
lieved in his power, and when he had any doubt of 
this, he first carefully asked them if they believed 
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, 
a man 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 
in a 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 Heredity, 
their crutches and leap down the street with all 
the vigor of healthful youth. He was a 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, believe that ye re- The Laws of Heredity. 
81 
ceive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark xi., 
24.) “But let him ask in faith, nothing 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.” (James i., 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 
required 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 Heredity. 
understood by the prophets. Jeremiah (i., 4, 5,) 
explicitly declares that he was created to the 
prophetic office.” But a certain 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 
m common, they expected a prophecy of 
: • . er import than common, etc. 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. In a dream, or in the presence of 
some chilling disaster, a whole lifetime is often 
reviewed in a moment. 
A clergyman relates the following in Notes and 
Queries, Jan. 14, i860: 
“ 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 Heredity. 
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. I, 
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 The Laws of Heredity. 
85 
day 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.) 86 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 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- 88 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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. Poor fellow; 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 1 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 in a 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. 90 
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 fistulae 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. 
91 
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 stigmatiza- 
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* 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
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- 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- 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- 96 
The Laws of Heredity, 
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. A thrill of nervous apprehension 
ran through the modern public mind when the 
press announced the startling fact, which deep- 
ened into horror at the result which they believed 
was certain to follow “ such a flying in the face of 
Providence.” Many were the expostulations of 
anxious friends against “such a wanton sacrifice;” 
nay, appeals were even made to the authorities 
to prevent, if possible, so insane an act; but in 
vain. The intrepid director of mammoth men- 
ageries felt within himself a hidden, subtle power 
which the masses were unconscious of, and al- 
though reminded of the fate of both the giant bar- 
barian and skilled, well-armed gladiator in the 
Roman arena, yet, on the appointed day, amidst 
a vast concourse of people as trembling witnesses, 
did Van Amburg enter unarmed the “lions’ The Laws of Heredity. 
97 
den.” Thus stood, face to face, the “ lord of 
creation” and the “ king of beasts.” There was 
no polished helmet and gleaming sword to con- 
front the beasts, yet the monsters beheld a ter- 
rible weapon in that fearless countenance which 
rooted them to the spot, more powerful to con- 
quer than a “Damascus blade,”—the invincible 
human will. Steadily, says the narrator, did that 
fearless eye hold the wild beasts, which, trembling 
and completely cowed, shrank back to the 
farthest part of the den; henceforth to demonstrate 
the power over wild beasts of that incomprehen- 
sible mental force. How many brave lives have 
been saved in the jungles of Africa, when meeting 
a lion, by the power of the will through the eye in 
conquering the beast. 
Now, it is plain to any unprejudiced mind, that 
the weapon of success of both Daniel and Van 
Amburg were the same, in accordance with the 
invariable law that like effects must be due to 
like causes the world over, and in all ages. 
From these examples, then, we infer that the 
powers manifested by Daniel, Van Amburg and 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 Heredity. 
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 we to say ? 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? IOO 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 
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 Mankind? 
—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 Heredity. 
long period—how long, no man can estimate—as 
the original type of the genus homo which mo- 
ncecian 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  The Laws of Heredity. 
102 
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 4 it is not true; ’ then, 4 that it is contrary to 
religion;’ and, lastly, 4 that everybody knew it 
before. ’ ” 
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 suffi- 
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, The Laws of Heredity. 
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 ? 106 
The 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 fertiliza- 
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 is a plan of nature to im- 
prove, and for the fittest to survive everywhere, The Laws of Heredity. 
107 
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, [Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 9th 
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.” 
The same 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 “ Cyclopaedia 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'post-mortem examination, as in the above 
case, presented ovaries, fallopian tubes, a uterus, 
and two bodies which, on microscopic examina- The Laws of Heredity. 
109 
tion, were shown to be testicles, together with all the 
organs common to both sexes. The case of Cath- 
arine Hollan (Jour. Obstetis), 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 fader land. All went on now 
apparently well with this pair for several 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,  The Laws of Heredity. 
skeptical about being Catharine at all, in an agony 
of despair cried out, “ Who am I, and what am I? 
Am I a man, or am I a woman? 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 a fact,that there was some vitalizing 
aroma which arose from the prolific fluidmasculus, 
and by admixture with a similar semi-spiritual 
fluid in the matrix materni, 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. 
111 
of spermatozoa with a ripened ovum anywhere 
in the body where it may gain a lodgment is suffi- 
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. A post-mortem examination of such 
cases revealed a testi on the male side, and an 
ovary on the female side. In other cases both 
sides were double sex. Now, in examples such 
as we have mentioned, what is to prevent sper- 
matozoa from coming in contact with a ripened 
ovum, not being carried in the usual manner by 112 
The Laws of Heredity. 
the fallopian tube to the uterus? The theory, to 
say the least, is an extremely probable one, and 
might, if accepted as possible, account for some 
very mysterious cases in the world, as well as 
save the reputation of many innocent persons. As 
Professor Gross wrote me: “ It is surely worthy 
of a careful consideration at least.” 
Let us now recur to that period in the history 
of mankind when woman is represented as having 
first made her appearance, and see what lessons 
may be gleaned from the earliest known records. 
“ It has been with me,” says Mr. Froude, “ a mat- 
ter of curious inquiry why, notwithstanding the 
high reverence with which the English and 
American people regard the Bible, they have done 
so little, comparatively, toward arriving at a proper 
understanding of it. Now, whatever may be the 
nature or origin of the Bible, all are agreed in one 
thing, orthodox and unorthodox- that at least we 
should endeavor to understand it; and that no 
efforts can be too great, either of research or 
criticism, to discover the lessons taught to man- 
kind, and elucidate their meaning.” Adam [man- The Laws of Heredity. 
113 
kind], as Adam was a perfectly balanced being, 
even if not very far advanced in the scale of civil- 
ized culture; indeed it seemed as if no advance- 
ment except that of physical grossness could take 
place without a separation of sex. The grosser, 
impressionable, nature of man being so closely 
connected with the finer, more impressionable 
nature of woman [or the natures, male and fe- 
male], prevented the reception of all those higher 
intellectual and moral impressions upon the united 
sensorium which is now received so readily by the 
emancipated female, and transmitted to the off- 
spring. Thus in the upward progress of all things, 
a separation of sex became necessary, as after 
which, and not until then, did he begin to distin- 
guish himself from the higher animals, and to 
have a history of his own. It matters not whether 
this great advantageous change occurred 6,000 
or 6,000,000 years ago, or whether it was an im- 
mediate or gradual process, the facts recorded by 
Moses remain the same and serve well for illus- 
tration. Adam was of the earth, while Eve and 
her descendents took at once a higher grade, being II4 
The Laws of Heredity. 
the outgrowth, not of the earth but of Adam. 
“ And the Lord God formed man out of the dust 
v 
of the ground” (just as were formed the earth 
worm, plants, etc.). “And the Lord planted a 
garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the 
man (who seemed unable to choose or care for him- 
self as yet) whom he had formed.” (Gen. ii., 7, 8.) 
“ In the day that God created man, in the likeness 
of God made he him male and female; * * 
and called their name Adam, in the day when 
they were created.” (Gen. v., 1, 2.) “ And the 
Lord God said, it is not good that man (kind) 
should be alone” (that is, in that condition). 
“ And the rib which the Lord God had taken from 
man made he a woman (Heb., Isha.) and brought 
her unto the man” (Heb., Ish.) “And Adam 
said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my 
flesh. She shall be called woman, because she 
was taken out of man.” The separation is now 
represented as being complete. 
The distinctive qualities known ever since as 
male and female, are now in separate bodies. 
What are the advantages then of a separation of The Laws of Heredity. 
115 
sex? The female was destined to bear the off- 
spring. Her distinctive nature is fine and impres- 
sionable. Traits, characteristics, etc., as we shall 
presently see, must first be received within the 
maternal mind before they can be transferred to 
that of the offspring. A male mind is not so con- 
stituted as to receive in any great degree such 
impressions, while the female mind is eminently 
fitted for them. So the separation of sex into two 
bodies was necessary before any wonderful ad- 
vance could be made. 
The “ Sons of God,” mentioned in Genesis, and 
the “ daughters of men” have been variously con- 
sidered. As angels and human beings; as “Adam- 
ites” and “ Pre-Adamites,” etc., etc. The “ Sons 
of God” were, to my mind, pre-Adamite hermaph- 
rodites, while the “ daughters of men” were the 
distinctive female sex after the separation. Each 
sex is fitted to perform a specific labor of its own. 
Man cannot perform woman’s labor, neither can 
she his. A knowledge of this fact will save much 
useless endeavor. 
“ And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, be- 116 
The Laws of Heredity. 
cause she was the mother of all living (Gen. iii., 
20), which must have referred to her sex alone, 
for, according to the story, there was no one else 
living then except Adam; and she could scarcely 
have been his mother. Adam is called Adam, 
and no one else in the ‘Record,’ long before Eve 
was thought of, and commanded to ‘be fruitful 
and multiply,’ a fact that science has proved he 
did for ages before Eve as a distinctive being ap- 
peared. Mr. Dawson, in his appendix to “ Origin 
of the World,” page 378, says: “ The Bible rep- 
resents the woman as produced from man by a 
species of fission not known to us as a natural 
possibility, except in some of the lower forms of 
life. The birth of the Savior is represented as 
having been by parthenogenesis.” * * “To 
what extent,” says he, “ the Creator may have so 
acted on the constitution of organized beings as 
to produce changes of this kind, we have no 
means of knowing; but if he has done so, we may 
be sure that it has been in accordance with 
some definite plan or law. Whether we shall ever 
by scientific investigation discover the law of this The Laws of Heredity. 
117 
kind of divine intervention, it is impossible to say.’’ 
Mr. Dawson further remarks (appendix, page 
379): “We have a right to infer from Scripture 
that there must be some creative law which pro- 
vides for the introduction of species de novo from 
unorganized matter, and which has been, or is, 
called into action by conditions as yet altogether 
unknown to us, and as yet inimitable, and, there- 
fore, in some sense miraculous.” 
We observe, then, that woman, from first to last, 
is both physically, mentally and morally a totally 
different being from man, and was designed by 
nature for the eminent work of reproducing her 
species. As a sister, a daughter, or friend, she is 
charming; as a mother, she is divine. Those 
subtler instincts possessed by her are a perpetual 
puzzle to man, because so foreign to his own na- 
ture. Can he measure the stoical indifference 
with which she will meet trials from which he 
would shrink? Can he have the slightest con- 
ception of the fortitude by which she accepts the 
most agonizing torture for humanity’s sake, and 
forgets it again upon the first echo of an infant’s 118 
The Laws of Heredity. 
cry? “ Talk of woman’s rights.” Of course she 
has her rights, and some of the best in the world; 
but I would not urge those rights which some 
would fain teach us in modern times. Nature has 
given her alone the grandest, noblest right of pro- 
ducing for time and eternity the most noble men 
and women the world has ever seen. Is that no 
honor? Is that no exalted privilege? And yet, 
do not fanatics teach that all woman needs to ele- 
vate her sex, and regenerate the world, is the 
ballot-box,—the privilege of suffrage? With 
these, she is told, can intemperance and kindred 
evils be crushed. Oh, miserable delusion! Oh, 
false theory! Can a vote, cast even by a woman, 
blot out and remove human appetites and human 
passions? 
I have thus far insisted upon, and shall endeavor 
to make clear the fact that woman was not cre- 
ated like man, but was created and designed for a 
special mission of her own, which she only is 
capable of fulfilling. She can no more enter into 
and master the sterner duties of life in man’s place 
than man can enter the duties of maternity for her. The L aws of Heredity. 
119 
Man's superior muscular system, together with a 
much larger brainjmore eminently constructed for 
abstruse reasoning, judgment, etc., has a meaning, 
while woman’s finer and more sensitive organiza- 
tion, particularly the nervous, sympathetic system, 
has also its meaning, which nature plainly designed 
and which we cannot safely disobey and disregard. 
These differences between the two sexes will be- 
come more apparent in their ulterior designs as 
we proceed, and more as we still further investi- 
gate the Laws of Heredity. “ Man is the strong 
oak, woman the clinging vine.” Man goes forth 
to war, invents terrible engines of destruction by 
which he sheds innocent blood, for some imagin- 
ary principle, perhaps, while woman would have 
settled the same point de honneur by her ever 
ready finesse, without shedding one drop of gore. 
Man possesses reason and judgment as prime 
factors, to guide him in the grave responsibilities of 
life; while woman has an almost unerring instinct 
for truth and right, tempered by boundless sym- 
pathies for misfortune and woe. Man fights away 
the demons of his existence, woman charms them 120 
The Laws of Heredity. 
away. While Adam was Adam in the beautiful 
story of creation, he is represented to have been 
strong, well balanced and good. No temptation 
had then power to shake that nature, until the 
wonderful time arrived in which he was obliged, 
for the future glories of his race, by the process of 
that resistless evolution consequent upon the up- 
ward progress of all animal life, to part with those 
finer elements of his being, of which elements in 
part woman was constructed. 
It is a general idea, gained, perhaps from the 
difference in physical strength of the sexes, that 
women are the weaker sex in all things; have 
no real power or stability, and that men are the 
great engines who alone are capable of moving 
the world. O, foolish man! how hath ages of 
superior physical power filled thee with conceit! 
“ A statesman is great; a woman can make him a 
wittol. A chief is mighty; a woman can make 
him a by-word of shame and a reproach. A soldier 
has honor; a woman can make him break it like 
a stalk of green flax. A poet has genius to gain 
him immortality; a woman can make him curse The Laws of Heredity. 
121 
the world and its fame for her sake, and die like 
a dog, raving mad, for the loss of scarlet lips that 
were false, of eyes divine, that were lies. No 
power? Great God! They have the widest of 
all power.” Chain the lion’s whelp and feed it on 
pap all its life, and the next generation or two of 
lions will be as mild as lambs; but are not the 
possibilities of the great king of the forest slum- 
bering there nevertheless? Cage the young 
eaglet until its growth, and it cannot fly above 
your head; still are not the slumbering forces 
within those wings to soar to the distant eyrie 
beyond the clouds? So it is with woman, the 
formulator of all the world’s greatness. For 
thousands of years in many, if not most countries, 
has she been denied her rights as a woman, and 
been taught that she is inferior in all things, 
including those possessed by her alone as a nat- 
ural heritage; being obliged to submit to a domin- 
ion of purely physical power, as serfs submit, and 
hindered from developing those higher powers of 
human nature wherein her real strength lies. 
Now and again has she been permitted to arise 122 
The Laws of Heredity. 
and display for a season her rich intellectual gifts, 
as were the women of ancient Greece, but it was 
from selfish motives alone, whose object was in 
the gratification of the senses of man; as physical 
beauty came often with intellectual culture, so 
that a beauty of person in time, under cultivation, 
became divinely fair. Then it was that cultivated 
women displayed abilities in certain directions to 
ascend heights which man could never attain. If 
they were not poets and orators, they were the 
brains behind the poems and orations that gave 
them character, and the soul which filled them 
with inspiration. But licentiousness and the cul- 
tivation of the baser passions quenched the fair 
dawning light of her mental and moral nature, and 
left but a body confessedly inferior in strength to 
contend for life’s prizes, which were soon won by 
the intellect and muscle of man. 
Woman, with her sensitive, susceptible nature, 
can only successfully contend for the higher prizes, 
—those of the intellectual and moral being coupled 
with personal beauty. Let her once understand 
her great power over these, and cultivate them, The Laws of Heredity. 
123 
and the world must ere long come to her feet 
willing worshipers. In our own America, how- 
ever, thank God, woman is beginning to see and 
understand her place and power. Slowly, but 
surely, is the iron heel being lifted from off her 
waiting soul. The world of darkness is struggling 
into light, and America will be the starting point 
for the salvation of the nations. Each generation 
is approaching, no matter how faintly, the day of 
nobler laws—of better things; you and I may not 
see it, but it will come, and we can work for it. 
The whole creation groaneth and travaileth to- 
gether; but the end is deliverance, and a glorious 
new life for the people. We have glimpses of it 
now; every noble thought, every true life is a 
promise of better things to come. As by imper- 
fect woman sin and sorrow entered the world, so, 
by perfect woman, must joy and gladness come. 
O, reader, how shall I make you believe it? 
Let me present a picture of one of the most 
civilized and, in many respects, advanced nations 
of earth—Germany—and compare it to those seen 
in our own America in the nineteenth century. 124 
The Laws of Heredity. 
A lady correspondent of the New York 
Tribune, traveling in Germany, says: “Every- 
where on our way we saw women working with 
men, the women always doing the hardest part of 
the work. I have seen women with great baskets 
upon their backs, into which men were shoveling 
compost, and rested upon their shovels while the 
women, staggering under the terrible load, went a 
long way a dozen times an hour, and herself 
emptied her basket. The most remarkable sight 
I have seen lately was in Holland. A woman, 
bent nearly to the earth, walked the tow-path pull- 
ing, by means of a strap across her breast, a 
heavy canal boat on which sat two men, with folded 
arms, smoking. Women and dogs harnessed to- 
gether dragging a cart, in which is a man, is no 
uncommon sight, and sometimes the man lays the 
whip over both the woman and the dog. Being 
a woman, I say, every hour in Germany, 1 Thank 
God, I was born in America.’ ” 
A young Norseman and an English lady, upon 
whom he cast tender glances, were strolling out 
one day in Germany, when they met one of the The Laws of Heredity. 
125 
common sights in this chivalrous country,—a wo- 
man and a dog, drawing a cart loaded with hay, 
upon which sat a man, leisurely smoking. The 
Norseman watched them a moment, and then, 
stepping quickly to the side of the road, cut a 
smart switch, which he presented with the most 
imperturbable gravity to the man on the load, and 
rejoined his companion. The man got down off 
the load, muttering in a savage manner, but 
walked, however the rest of the way. Now, 
what has science to say about such cases? Just 
this: What kind of offspring can be produced 
from such mothers? What high thoughts, noble 
aspirations, or conceptions of the beautiful can 
a mother have under such circumstances to be 
transmitted to her offspring? She thinks of her- 
self what her “ lord and master ” evidently thinks 
of her, as a companion in work with the dog at 
her side. 
We often hear it remarked, that the lower 
class of Germans are a stolid people.” What 
wonder is it, when the mothers, whose every 
characteristic the offspring imbibes, are driven 126 
The Laws of Heredity 
along on an equality with dogs, performing the 
most degrading kind of service? 
There can be no exception to the rule, “ What- 
soever ye sow, that shall ye also reap.” And, in 
the matter of human offspring, if ye “ sow the 
wind,” you are pretty sure to “ reap the whirl- 
wind.” For example, how many mothers are 
there that know that because of a temporary de- 
sire for stimulants during gestation, ungratified, a 
son has been born with the inebriate’s appetite, 
which cursed his own life and that of his friends, 
and finally sent him, a raving maniac, down to 
death and the grave? Was not the harvest of 
that seed the whirlwind? 
There is one thing that has ever seemed inex- 
plicable to me, and that is, that while so much 
time labor and money has been expended to im- 
prove and perfect the lower animals, so as to pro- 
duce in them the best results, so little, compara- 
tively has been done in the same direction for hu- 
man beings. Selfishness is an inherent part of the 
nature of civilized man, and avarice is growing 
with the years to an alarming extent. Avarice, The Laws of Heredity. 
127 
unless restrained by a high moral sentiment, will 
ere long prove a bitter curse to the world. 
The more fortunately constituted element of 
mankind, who possess a genius for money getting, 
are rushing madly after the golden calf to set it 
up in their homes as an object of idolatrous wor- 
ship, entirely unmindful of the large class around 
them, who will outnumber the successful in busi- 
ness ten to one, and who are as anxious to get gold 
as are they, without the ability to secure it. 
This large class, as unbalanced in their moral 
natures as are the avaricious ones, and often with 
more brains and cunning, have cultivated a hate 
for those successful in obtaining what they could 
not, which, unless a change speedily comes, will 
one day burst upon the wealth of the nations, and 
wrest it by brute force from their hands. The same 
sefishness that has cultivated the cattle, sheep, and 
swine, so as to produce from them the greatest 
return in gold, has used its powers to invent 
machinery where a dozen or even a hundred men’s 
labor may be represented by the hands of a single 
man. 128 
The Laws of Heredity. 
While selfishness and avarice have been going 
ahead at a marvelous pace, the hundreds thrown 
out of employment by their ingenuity, not knowing 
whither to turn, but having to exist nevertheless, 
have wandered around in idleness (the parent of 
vice), and have kept on multiplying offspring (of 
idleness) which have arisen generation after genera- 
tion to be fed and clothed. Thus has the world 
long “ sown to the wind,” and the whirlwind can 
not be far distant. 
Who can view the social condition of Europe 
to-day and not see the storm-cloud at hand? The 
hitherto powerful monarchies of the old world are 
tottering upon their insecure foundations, and but 
for their vast armies could not endure for a day. 
But even with all their military power, a change 
must come or the day of doom can not be much 
longer averted; for the armies themselves are al- 
ready turbulent with the spirit of revolution. Nor 
will revolution be a cure for the existing evils of 
society? It is at best only palliative, and checks 
for a time, until the murdered and destroyed ele- 
ment has had time to fill up again, Now, during The Laws of Heredity. 
129 
great wars, or even the presence of standing 
armies, while men are engaged in conflict where 
multitudes are destroyed, or idling their time in 
camps or barracks, what is the condition of the 
women of the country, from whom everything 
good must come, if it comes at all ? We have seen 
that marriage is the only true and natural con- 
dition of the sexes; and how is this to occur, and 
what has experience shown to be the result? It 
has shown that under such circumstances both 
sexes have fallen into vices from which legitimate 
marriage would have protected them, and borne 
illegitimate fruit, to fill the aim-houses and jails of 
the succeeding generation. 
War is a curse at best; a mere choice between 
two evils; and poor economy; a destroying of 
full grown weeds, instead of clearing the wheat 
before sown of the seeds which produce them. 
Compare the number of illegitimate children born 
each year in those countries that have large stand- 
ing armies with those that have not. Figures do 
not lie; they outnumber them more than ten'to one. 
Now if, as we have seen, a proper attention  The Laws of Heredity. 
130 
paid to animal generation gives the best of re- 
sults, and as man is essentially an animal, is it not 
plain that a similar attention paid to his genera- 
tion would produce equally favorable results? 
During certain periods of the world’s history cer- 
tain qualities were cultivated in man and repro- 
duced. Witness the effects: In ancient Greece 
they cultivated physical beauty, and attained it in 
marvelous perfection. So also with oratory and 
philosophy. The Spartan chose to cultivate phys- 
ical strength and stern virtue, and attained them. 
The Roman chose to cultivate health and a purity 
of person, and won them. But selfishness, avarice 
and pride actuated all these efforts, which was 
speedily quenched by the barbarian nations 
around them; for what was a Grecian beauty’s 
charms when held captive by a lustful barbarian; 
or a Spartan’s fine muscular development when 
grinding at a heathen’s mill? Yet it demon- 
strated the fact that improvement in the human 
could be made by cultivation,—a lesson which the 
world has been slow indeed to learn. 
If we compare the animals in their wild state The Laws of Heredity. 
131 
with those under domestication, the effect of ob- 
taining best results by breeding will be apparent. 
Take the wild hog of the woods, and compare it 
with the “Chester White;” or the cattle of the 
plains with the “ Durham ” or “ Devon ” breeds 
of England. A comparison of the North Ameri- 
can Indian with his “ white brother,” except in 
education, will not show the same difference,— 
that is, naturally. The fundamental principles to 
be observed, then, are: “First, in mating; and, 
second, in rearing. From what has already been 
said, it must be clear that if we are ever to have 
a race of human beings, mentally and morally 
perfect, they must first be made physically so, for 
“who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean,” 
and how can a perfect mental and moral being be 
produced except there first be a perfect physical 
through which they may act. Therefore, the 
first step must be a proper mating of the male and 
female, out of which union will arise the repre- 
sentatives of the next generation. 
As we have seen, man and woman apart repre- 
sent for the future,—nothing; only by their union 132 
The Laws of Heredity. 
can perfection be approximated. Now, as we 
know of no means to again consolidate the sexes 
in one body, a union by marriage is the proper 
and only course. It is also apparent, without 
argument, that the union of one man and one wo- 
man was nature’s plain design.* We have also 
seen that man, as man, possesses certain distinct- 
ive qualities which alone belong to the male sex; 
while woman possesses others, distinctively be- 
longing to the female sex. So a perfect union 
may be obtained by a man selecting as his- mate 
(wife) a woman possessing qualities not possessed 
by himself. It is thus easy to perceive that in 
such a union nature is represented as perfectly as 
may be, and a well balanced couple, such as is 
sometimes seen, is the result; and, as the parent 
is represented in the offspring, well balanced off- 
spring is the inevitable result. First, then, what 
rules may be laid down upon this important sub- 
ject, that may serve as a guide for those who are 
not familiar with the laws governing the wonder- 
*The reason of this will appear more clearly when we come to 
consider the descent of traits, characteristics, etc. The Laws of Heredity. 
133 
ful mechanism of the human body? There is a 
law of nature which most persons are cognizant of, 
that “ likes repel, while unlikes attract.” Now, 
that law extends through all nature, and applies 
as well to man. The reason for the advice given 
in a former chapter now becomes apparent, as 
each person, being familiar with the laws govern- 
ing his being, understanding his own nature and 
temperament, is able to judge of the temperament 
of others, and in choosing a mate (which rule ap- 
plies, to either sex), will choose wisely, by select- 
ing the opposite. For example, two “ hot ” tem- 
pers will continually clash; a cool and a hot head 
would better mate. Two strongly nervous tem- 
peraments should not mate; they will chafe and 
irritate each other, and produce fretful, nervous 
offspring. Also two sanguine temperaments should 
not mate, as intellect and morality will be swal- 
lowed up by sensuality. I have here only space 
to indicate the proper course, which I trust may 
form the nucleus for an extended elaboration in 
the minds of others. 
Marriages within the bounds of consanguinity,— 134 
The Laws of Heredity. 
that is, among blood relatives,—have been con- 
demned wholesale as very pernicious. Such 
marriages, we are told, bear upon them the curse 
of heaven, and result in idiots, cripples, and 
monsters. Facts, however, do not sustain this 
view. There are thousands of examples on rec- 
ord, of as pretty, intelligent, and well-formed 
children, whose parents were brother and sister, 
as any other to be found; repulsive as the thought 
of such cases may be, nature is the same every- 
where, and reproduction does not differ in prin- 
ciple in the same species. Idiocy, deformities, and 
monstrosities, are due to certain causes which ope- 
rate alike within or without the bounds of con- 
sanguinity, The greater frequency of bad results 
to offspring whose parents are related by close 
blood ties, is due to the fact that near relations 
are more liable to be alike than are strangers, and 
to produce offspring that possess too much of cer- 
tain elements of construction and too little of other 
elements necessary to a perfect balance. 
A dark, nervous brother and a light, lymphatic 
or sanguine sister will produce, as I have seen, as The Laws of Heredity. 
135 
perfect offspring as is usually observed. The 
offspring of the patriarch Lot, by his two daugh- 
ters, received no curse from nature, but fig- 
ured among the great and powerful characters 
of Bible history. Mr. George Darwin, after a 
searching investigation, concludes that “ the 
widely different habits of life of men and women 
in civilized nations, especially among the upper 
classes, tend to counterbalance any evil from 
marriage between healthy closely related persons.” 
Mr. Darwin’s views are in a measure sustained by 
Dr. Vorni’s inquiry into the Commune of Batz. 
“ Batz is a rocky, secluded, ocean-washed penin- 
sula of the Loire Inferieure, France, containing 
over three thousand people of simple habits, who 
commit no crime. For generations they have 
intermarried, but no cases have occurred of deaf- 
mutism, albinoism, blindness, or malformation, 
and the number of children born is above the 
average.” It is evident from these facts that 
what nature requires is, the union by marriage of 
as nearly opposites in all things as is possible, so 
that the one parent may transmit to the offspring 136 
The Laws of Heredity. 
qualities not possessed by the other, and the sum 
total will be a well-balanced being. Woman, as 
we shall see by and by, transmits of herself direct 
to her offspring, while from others she transmits 
as the result of impress. The person who im- 
presses the maternal mind in the most powerful 
manner during the ante-natal period, will see his 
or her traits, or characteristics, or points of personal 
resemblance, appear in the offspring, whether they 
be related by blood ties or not. If the marriage 
has been a proper one, the husband possesses that 
power in a greater degree. But we will not antici- 
pate. 
It is indeed strange that people, in the face of 
direct knowledge, will run counter to their best 
interests; and yet it has always been so. I am 
not insensible of the difficulties in the way of any 
permanent reform in these matters; yet the world 
is seeking light, and I believe that there are many 
who, if they only knew the right course to pursue, 
would gladly follow it, and for those I now write. 
Licentiousness, passion and kindred evils, which 
the world in their present state love so well, have The Laws of Heredity. 
137 
ever proven their own executioners, so that truth 
and right have no need to fear. We know that, 
“ Since right is right and God is God, 
That right the day will win,” 
And that a pure moral and intellectual being, 
placed in a perfect physical body, is a heritage 
that angels might envy. 
The great error of the past has been in mistak- 
ing sensual passion for genuine affection. “ Love 
is ever blind,” says the poet, hence is Cupid 
painted thus. 
“ Such was his form as painters, where they show 
Their utmost art, on naked love bestow.” 
Yes, love is blind, and made so by passion, avar- 
ice, and selfishness. Passion is short lived, while 
love is eternal. Passion is the perverted, love the 
normal condition of man. Passion satiated leaves 
but ashes in its stead. Love, heaven’s choicest 
gift, burns brighter and brighter on the altar built 
by God. 
It seems to me in these days of multiform laws, 
that none could be wiser than those enacted for 138 
The Laws of Heredity. 
the physical, mental and moral welfare of the 
people. Laws are to restrain and punish those 
who will persist in doing wrong. If I injure my 
neighbor, or even a stranger, there are laws to 
punish me for it, and yet if I by marriage place 
myself in a position to bring lifelong misery and 
Wretchedness to my helpless offspring, there is no 
law to lift a finger in their defense. How strange! 
Look at the history of the “Jakes.” One crimi- 
nal mother, criminal by nature, was allowed to 
marry, and as a result brought criminal daughters 
into the world, who in turn married and brought 
more, until a multitude of criminals, paupers and 
harlots filled the alms-houses and jails. 
How true in this example is the prophet’s words, 
“As is the mother, so is her daughters.” (Eze. 
xvi., 44.) I protest against such, and all kindred 
marriages, and claim that they have no right to 
inflict upon a community their hereditary curses; 
and since the world knows the results of such 
marriages, why delay longer in enacting laws to 
make them criminal. The Spartans had a good 
law and a just one in regard to unfortunate births; The Laws of Heredity. 
139 
even if it does seem at first sight cruel. They 
laid no claims to being an intellectual people, but 
cultivated bodily strength until they became a 
nation of physical giants. Upon the birth of a 
child, a counsel of elders, who were elected for the 
purpose, examined with critical eye the little 
stranger, who, if found deformed or unfit to be a 
Spartan in the future, was at once strangled. 
Who can say that a similar course would not be a 
blessing to many unfortunates who are not fit to 
be Americans. The wisdom and justice of a law 
that would prohibit marriage to certain persons, 
would be apparent in a single generation. Sup- 
pose all persons with a taint of consumption, 
scrofula or syphilis, were prohibited under severe 
penalty from marriage. How long would it be 
before those curses of humanity would be wiped 
from the face of the earth? 
Intemperance, sensuality and kindred vices, 
cannot be regulated in their descent by law, as 
they are the result of impress. Education alone 
of the people can remedy them. 
A consumptive mother, ninety-nine times in a 140 
The Laws of Heredity. 
hundred, will produce consumptive offspring; 
while it does not follow that an intemperate one 
should produce an inebriate. Some of the worst 
of drunkards were offspring of the most temper- 
ate parents,—indeed, this is the rule. This ap- 
parent incongruity will be cleared up when we 
come to the descent of appetites, passions, etc. 
If at each county seat a competent medical prac- 
titioner appointed to examine each candidate for 
matrimony, with power by law to reject every 
one who may have a taint of those diseases or 
disorders which are known to descend upon off- 
spring, a single generation would convince the 
most skeptical of the wisdom and humanity of 
such a law. But we are told that “ such laws 
would be depriving persons of their liberty.” 
Suppose it did; do we not “ deprive them of their 
liberty” every day, and for less causes, too? The 
surgeon’s knife is a cruel yet often indispensable 
necessity. We sacrifice a limb for the future 
benefit of the rest of the body. 
Life insurance companies require a certain 
standard of health, or summarily reject the ap- The Laws of Heredity. 
141 
plicant. All societies for mutual benefit look first 
to the soundness of the candidate. He is deprived 
of the liberty of entering the society, for the pro- 
tection of others; and yet in marriage all eyes are 
shut and consciences stilled while the greatest 
tragedy (often) of life is being played. 
Churches are built at great expense, and clergy- 
men employed at large salaries to save souls that 
ought never to have been born. Christian 
ministers solemnly unite in u sacred bonds” phys- 
ical and moral rottenness, declaring that “ What 
God has joined together let no man put asunder,” 
and then invoke heaven’s blessings upon a union 
that is certain to meet a curse at every step. “ O! 
consistency, thou art a jewel.” If there is such a 
thing as responsibility in the universe, where is it 
to be located when these miserable unions shall 
have produced their blighting fruit. Shall we 
still multiply the injustice already done the 
less offspring? or shall we center the responsibility 
where it really belongs—upon those whose duty 
it was to have enforced obedience to nature’s plain 
laws, and prevented such unions? We have quar- 142 
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 Heredity. 
143 
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.” *44 
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 §)uincey. 
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 Heredity. 
145 
made to improve his condition; but experience in 
observation is beginning to teach the world that 
a great son can proceed alone from a 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 146 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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). 
The Greeks, Romans, etc., during the ages 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 
a matter, where genuine affection and sensual pas- The Laws of Heredity. 
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 noted 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. 148 
The Laws of Heredity. 
We have further observed during our researches 
in this department of nature, that the jnind 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 extent, 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
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 of a 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 which is in 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, 
vii., 18, 21, 23, 24, 25). Again, he tells us 
that “ the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is 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. 
151 
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 152 
The Laws of Heredity. 
formed, either for good or evil, and their 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 foetus 
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 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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.” The 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 reformed 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 Heredity. 
criminal, the man born such, and let us witness 
the result of his 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 one single 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. Hence 
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 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 be a 
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 Belial? Why, indeed, is one 
nature that of an Aurelius or Howard, and another The Laws of Heredity. 
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? In a 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 fiat 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 Heredity. 
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. The 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.” 
—Longfellow. 
“ 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 to the vital; from the 
vital to the intelligent, and from the intelligent to 
the moral and 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. In the 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, 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 
growth common to both man and the lower animals; The Laws of Heredity. 
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 fcetus, in the 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 how it does it, as yet does not 
seem so clear. 
A knowledge of these facts would save many a 
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-  The Laws of Heredity. 
168 
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, e. 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 a race 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 Caesars, 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
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- 170 
The Laws of Heredity. 
ceptions, it was not considered at all disgraceful 
to 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 Heredity. 
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 172 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 Caesars. 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
173 
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 Heredity. 
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 Caesar 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 Heredity. 
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. Caesar 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 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 to be 
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 in a 
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. 
177 
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). u 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- 
trated in those Roman shambles; yet, sickening as The Laws of Heredity. 
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 driven home. 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). 
179 
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 Ionians, 
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. As with 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- The Laws of Heredity. 
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 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. 
“ I 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 man and man, are study, application, and 
moral effort. It is in the 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 Heredity. 
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, in order 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 Heredity. 
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, true 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 Heredity. 
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 190 
The Laws of Heredity, 
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. 
191 
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 into the 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 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: “All is 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 an emperor. 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 194 
The Laws of Heredity. 
beg, lie, or steal to procure it, who, during her 
worst infatuation of opium, u made the acquaint- 
ance,” she said of a Methodist meeting, and “ took 
religion,” and was persuaded by her class-leader to 
abandon the habit,—which she at once did, without 
the slightest inconvenience or a desire for its re- 
turn. 
The influence of the mind upon the body, as 
before explained, under suitable conditions, fully 
accounts for all these curious cases. “ But who 
can explain the mystery of the loving Father, who 
has all power, and in whose image all men are 
said to have been created, looking down upon his 
creatures from Elysian fields, and beholding in the 
night of mid-winter in a great city, snow lying 
deep upon the ground; dead lying thick in the 
morgue; outcasts gnawing the bones the dogs 
had left, and shivering on church steps built by 
pious crowds, who glorified God, are starved, 
their brethren; aristocrats, skimming over the 
ice without care or thought, flashing theri dia- 
monds in the torchlight, warm in their swans- 
down and ermine; wretches, who dared be both The Laws of Heredity. 
195 
poor and honest, sleeping, famine-stricken, under 
bridge arches, as such a twin insult to a wide 
world deserved; philosophers, male and female, 
who were vile and got gold, and drank Rhine 
wines, and laughed at life from velvet couches. 
How came they so, and why are heaven’s gifts 
meted out so unequally?” 
“ The Declaration of Independence,” which we 
liberty-loving people so much revere, declares 
that “ all men are born free and equal,” and are 
endowed by their Creator with the rights of “ life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We wish 
it were so. It is a good sentiment, but errs in 
point of fact. Experience teaches us that all men 
are not created free or equal, neither are they en- 
dowed with equal chances for “ life, liberty, or 
the pursuit of happiness.” What mockery to speak 
of individual freedom when thousands are bound 
with chains they cannot break. What sarcasm 
upon man to assert an endowment of life when 
two-thirds pay its penalty before they reach ma- 
turity; or even of happiness when there are mul- 
titudes who are carrying burdens, which, like Job 196 
The Laws of Heredity. 
of old, make them curse the day in which they 
were born; and are often tempted, like the patri- 
arch, to “ curse God and die.” 
Reader, we cannot lay the blame on Providence 
for man’s own deficits. He has wandered from 
the proper paths, and is left to find his own way 
back again. Misfortune is the price man pays for 
liberty. And now, since we are conscious that 
we will have “ to work out our own salvation, let 
us set about to find the best method. Who of us 
have not often asked ourselves the question, why 
it was that joy and sorrow, vice and virtue, hap- 
piness and misery, health and sickness, war and 
peace, opulence and poverty, walk hand in hand 
along life’s pathway, leaving in their wake here 
and there a rose of pleasure among the thickly 
strewn thorns of degradation and woe. How 
often have we witnessed this curious medley of 
opposing yet commingling forces of human nature, 
beholding the evil ever neutralizing the good, and 
turned our gaze up to the heavens, endeavoring 
to pierce interminable space to catch a glimpse of 
that smiling face, whose power is unlimited, and The Laws of Heredity. 
197 
whose pity is without bounds; and stood amazed 
that the heavens were as brass above us, while 
the great tragedy of human life was being played, 
and by so many actors of no mean repute, all of 
whom were being borne by a resistless tide, far be- 
yond the reach of earthly vision. How often have 
we asked, why are these things so in this beauti- 
ful world of ours? Why must pleasure be ac- 
companied by pain ? Why must the cup of sweet- 
ness be mingled with gall ? For ages have the 
people stood with folded hands and idle brains, 
expecting some great miracle to be wrought in 
their behalf, and happiness, together with special 
blessings, poured down from celestial springs. 
Thus it is; thus it has been in times past, and will 
continue to be until man can be led to understand 
fully what he now only sees in part; that as by 
man himself sin and misfortune entered the world, 
so by man must they depart. Flow many hearts 
lie bleeding and broken to-day, and what numbers 
in the great past have sunk in despair from view, 
for want of that guidance to the open gateway of 
truth to which science is now directing our steps. 198 
The Laws of Heredity 
CHAPTER VII. 
MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS. 
We now come to a part of this wonderful sub- 
ject whose interest reaches to the depths of every 
human soul. Here we are to meet the extremes 
of life. Here are the joys and sorrows, the hopes 
and fears, the successes and failures; the fortunate 
and the unfortunate of this world brought into 
review as they march side by side, and 
“ Mingle together in sunshine and rain.” 
Surrounded by all the elements of wisdom, we 
behold a vast majority of the people steeped in 
folly. Environed by the luscious fruit of peace 
and joy, they pluck the poisoned weeds of passion. 
Beckoned earnestly, too, by the finger of success, 
they clasp hands knowingly with those of failure. 
Being pointed truly to the path of right, they turn 
their backs upon it and walk in the way of wrong. 
The inebriate knows that “ wine is a mocker,” 
still he yields himself up to its seductive influence The Laws of Heredity. 
199 
and is sacrificed. The libertine is aware that the 
steps of her he follows leads down to death, yet 
like the moth in the candle he hovers around the 
flame until he is destroyed. We have asked the 
question heretofore, “Why are these things so? ” 
but now we have arrived, I trust, at the place of 
a rational answer. It seems indeed strange, that 
men and women should voluntarily choose evil 
and the way that leads to sorrow, when good and 
the path of right lies by its side, and often of eas- 
ier access. But when we consider that all human 
acts, whether good or bad, are in accordance with 
the way the individual is constructed, they at once 
become natural and plain. What is good and 
evil? Doing certain things in one way we call 
good, in another, bad; the same act, but directed 
differently. So then it is just as natural for A. to 
be bad, as for B. to be good. 
The important question for us to determine is, 
are the good and evil, as we see them in life, 
within or beyond man’s control? If beyond, then 
man is not an accountable being in any sense; but 
if within his control, then he can produce or pre- The Laws of Heredity. 
vent either at will; that must be clear to all. 
Now, good and evil exists, and must be due to 
some cause which, when found, will give the key 
to the whole philosophy of fortunate and unfor- 
tunate lives. 
We have seen in general heredity, that healthy, 
robust parents are represented by healthy, robust 
offspring, unless some accident intervenes, and 
that there are certain national or tribal character- 
istics which are common to a whole people. ,But 
there are other peculiarities that are special and 
individual, as where members of the same family, 
having the same father and mother, differ, not 
only in their personal appearance, but in their 
character and disposition also. We have seen 
that the offspring of the higher animals, and man, 
would exactly represent the parents, as do the 
lower animals and plants, were it not for the 
modifying influence over genesis of the mental 
forces. It has been shown that the various facul- 
ties, appetites, passions, etc., in man, are repre- 
sented by a particular portion of the brain in each. 
That is, memory has a certain spot in the enceph- The Laws of Heredity. 
201 
alon for its home. Injure that portion of brain, 
or remove it, and you remove the memory of the 
individual, as I have myself seen in two instances. 
The sensual passions have their home in a portion 
of the brain mass, as Prof. Gross proved, by the 
discovery, after death, of a small tumor pressing 
upon a certain convolution of the brain of a pa- 
tient of his, already mentioned, producing so 
violent a sexual frenzy that the man died ere long 
from sexual exhaustion; and so on with the mul- 
titude of faculties, appetites, etc., each has a sep- 
arate home in the brain, where it presides, wholly 
independent of any other faculty. 
Physiologists, in their experiments with the 
lower animals, have found that if a certain por- 
tion of the brain was irritated, the animal would 
extend a leg, irritate another portion, and the ex- 
tended leg would be drawn up; another, and if a 
dog, it would bark; another, and it would growl 
and appear angry; another, and it would show 
great terror, etc. 
Experiments upon man have been made. In 
those who have met with accidents by which the The Laws of Heredity. 
skull cap has been torn off without injury to the 
brain, irritation of different convolutions gave 
different results. Anger, fear, hatred, joy, etc., 
were excited at the will of the operator. A finger 
placed upon a certain convolution while the sub- 
ject was in the act of speaking, instantly sup- 
pressed the speech. A long word, when partly 
pronounced, was stopped in the middle by pressure 
from the finger, to be finished when the pressure 
was removed. Now, the brain is connected with 
every portion of the body by a system of nerves, 
which receive and convey impressions to and 
from the great head center. The foot receives 
an injury, and the nerves convey the fact to the 
brain, which in turn sends a message back that 
materials for repair will at once be sent down by 
the blood vessels. In the construction of the 
embryo and the foetus, the building needs are re- 
sponded to in the same manner. The new-born 
babe is an exact representative of the mother 
during the period of its construction. How could 
it be otherwise ? It is bone of her bone, and flesh 
of her flesh to the smallest atom; even her various The Laws of Heredity. 
203 
moods are represented in it permanently. The 
surrounding influences which are capable of im- 
pressing a mother, are not the same at any two 
times, hence the difference, sometimes most 
marked, in different members of the same family. 
Every faculty of the mother is represented by a 
special arrangement of brain where it origin- 
ates, and from each of these runs a nerve to the 
spot where the same faculty of the future child is 
to be builded, and there the materials are depos- 
ited in the exact order they appear in the same 
portion or convolution in the maternal brain. 
Now, suppose from some external cause a pow- 
erful and long continued impression is made upon 
a certain part of the mother’s brain, creating in it 
great activity, the nerve connecting that part of 
the brain with the corresponding part in the 
building foetus will cause, as in the case of the 
injured foot, an increased supply of material for 
that especial organ or convolution to be sent there, 
thereby increasing its size and capacity for subse- 
quent functional activity. Eminent physiologists 
assert that the entire body is made up of units, 204 
The Laws of Heredity. 
each a separate center of its own, and in a meas- 
ure independent of all the others; hence it be- 
comes plain how one portion of a mother’s brain 
may become excited and transmit that excitement 
to a corresponding portion of the embryonic brain 
without affecting in the least contiguous portions. 
Thus it begins to appear how traits, characterist- 
ics, appetites, passions, etc., first have their origin, 
and how they may appear in after life in excess. A 
mother can not transmit to offspring what she her- 
self does not possess, but she may, from having a 
very small faculty strongly excited, produce in the 
future child a large, strong faculty of the same 
kind to exist in it for life. So depend upon it, 
that in whatever direction the twig is bent, the 
tree will ever after incline. 
Now can we begin to see clearer the importance 
of a mother especially understanding the princi- 
ples of the original construction of her child, as 
the strongest bents of her mind at the period of 
genesis will be surely represented in the perma- 
nent organic construction of the offspring she 
bears. We are now, I trust, prepared to under- The Laws of Heredity. 
205 
stand, that it is just as natural for one person to 
be born bad, as for another to be born good. It 
is just as natural for one to be born a drunkard, a 
thief or a liar, or to have a hot or vicious temper, 
—that is, to be born with capacities which will de- 
velop into these in after years,— as it is for another 
to be temperate, honest, truthful or amiable. It 
is likewise just as natural for some persons to have 
licentious, impure, or brutal desires, as it is for others 
to be possessed of pure and virtuous ones. “Be 
sure your sin will find youout,”saith the true record, 
and also, that every idle word and secret thought 
shall be exposed openly. How few parents are 
there who realize that those secret desires and 
evil thoughts which they had believed so securely 
concealed from the world, live on openly in the 
lives of their children, as a silent, perpetual 
reproach, and if there be a day of judgment in the 
future for men, what witnesses will not be fur- 
nished out of their own households. 
The pre-natal embryonic brain, then, is the 
plastic clay, which, if its atoms are arranged for 
evil and vicious thoughts and desires, will produce 206 
The Laws of Heredity. 
them, but if for high and holy lives will assuredly 
produce them. The good, or rather fortunate, 
element of society, has ever sought to subdue the 
evil and wrong-doing,by incarcerating and binding 
with chains the criminal, but have never suc- 
ceeded, or perhaps endeavored to succeed, in 
catching and binding the cause that impelled him 
to commit the crime. We lose sight of the fact, 
that the individual who commits the crime is only 
clay; is but dust. The cause of the crime lies 
back of the person, and is what we must first 
seek out and get control of. We imprison or 
hang the poor clay, through which some strong, 
fiery passion manifested itself, and consider our 
duty to society and the world done, while the 
real criminal—the cause of the crime committed— 
goes on and on to live-on the generations to come, 
there to enact, over and over again, unmolested, 
the tragedies of the past. The same clay, accord- 
ing to its construction, may become “ saint or 
sinner,” a vessel of honor or of dishonor. 
Through the same channels do good and bad 
lives appear in this world; that is. they are all orig- The Laws of Heredity 
207 
inally the result of one force; in a word are the 
result of impress. The whole great truth may be 
written with the one word, impression. Now, 
impressions, whether for good or bad, fortunate or 
unfortunate, are the result of mental action upon 
pre-natal growth. The pure mind and ennobling 
thoughts and desires of a Pagan mother produced 
by impress a Marcus Aurelius, while the evil 
thoughts and dark, treacherous schemes of an 
Agrippina were stamped indelibly upon the same 
kind of pre-natal matter, producing, as a result, a 
Nero. 
Nature takes a certain number of atoms of 
hydrogen, and a certain number of carbon, and 
from them produces sugar. She again takes 
exactly the same number of atoms of hydrogen 
and carbon as before and makes of them this time 
butter. “ Butter and sugar,” as every chemist 
knows, “ are composed exactly of the same amount 
of the same materials.”—(Liebig.) As before 
mentioned, from the same pile of bricks the builder 
makes the palace and the pavement; so from the 
same organic elements are produced the phil- 208 
The Laws of Heredity, 
osopher and idiot, the angel and demon. The 
manner of construction is where the great secret 
lies, and in the human being, the maternal mind is 
the architect. The tender, nascent embryonic 
brain is a mirror which most faithfully reflects in 
after life the thoughts and strong desires of the 
maternal mind during the nascent period. 
We have seen (Chapter on Woman) that the 
female mind is much more sensitive to external 
impressions than that of the male, and that her 
entire nervous system is proportionately sensitive, 
making it eminently qualified to convey external 
impressions received by the mind to any portion 
of her own body, or to that of the embryo or 
foetus. This sensitive being, who possesses the 
capabilities of transmitting so much good, alas! 
too often has them turned to the transmission of 
manifold evils. The mind of woman sees by in- 
tuition, and arrives at conclusions at a glance. 
Now, these things being true, it becomes apparent 
that all her surroundings, especially during the 
important period of human genesis, should be such 
as to most highly favor the best results. When I The Laws of Heredity. 
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 in no 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
211 
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 212 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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, 111., 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 affianced 
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.” 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 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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. The Laws of Heredity. 
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 in a 
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 The 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 pendente 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 somewhat those under a similar 
head in Cook’s Heredity. 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- 
sions produced on the mind of the mother, are ca- 
pable of being reproduced in the lives of the off- 
spring. Their permanent strength in the offspring 
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. Who shall reveal the endless musings and The Laws of Heredity. 
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, in Life of Jesus, the Christ, 
Vol. /. 
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 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 
he is!’ * * * She was married*at the age 
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.1’ 
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 mentally 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. 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 Caesar, dictator of Rome. The Laws of Heredity. 
223 
Aurelia, his mother, was most extraordinary; 
wise, self-willed, and careful of the education of 
her children. Atia, the mother of Augustus 
Csesar, 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  The Laws of Heredity. 
224 
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 Heredity. 
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 their emperor. 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: Aurelius1 
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. 
227 
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 228 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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, 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 the one. 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 a certain direction, was reproduced 
as a 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. In such 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. 230 
The 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.” The Laws of Heredity. 
231 
(v. 12). Who will 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 
child may be learned from the mother;” and any 
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 knowledge. 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 best is 
within his reach? 
Nor is it alone that mental and moral peculiar- 
ities are transmitted, but physical also, and with  The Laws of Heredity. 
232 
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 Heredity. 
233 
the name of Seth Wright, who had a flock of 
some twelve ewes and one ram. 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 Variation,” 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 in a 
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 
1 he Laws of Heredity. 
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 Heredity. 
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.” 
“ I 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 four 
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 The Laws of Heredity. 
237 
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 238 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 learning 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 u 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: ‘ Occidat dum imperetj 
‘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 The Laws of Heredity. 
241 
among the various medicinal herbs one which 
would relieve his torturing pain, cure his numerous 
fatal maladies, or save his life. No, no; Provi- 
dence throws man upon his own resources in this 
life, of which there are an abundance, but allows 
him to find them, and manipulate them for him- 
self, as becomes so intelligent a creature. 
The strong and persistent evil passions exer- 
cised by the mother in certain circumstances, 
which are capable of being reproduced in the after- 
lives of her offspring, are legion. But for practi- 
cal purposes allusion need be made to but a few, 
which are prominently before us daily, and which 
the more sensibly affect the interests of every 
community. At the head stand unquestionably 
these three: Licentiousness, intemperance and 
avarice. All other vices are but the branches of 
one or the other of these. 
Just what the greatest evil at present in the 
world is, I think would be difficult for any man to 
determine. Still, if I were asked to venture an 
opinion on the subject, in accordance with the 
best evidence obtained from what investigation I 242 
The Laws of Heredity. 
have given it, I would say that licentiousness in its 
various forms, as a cause of misery and unhappi- 
ness, at least, exceeds all others. We are accus- 
tomed, I know, to regard intemperance in alco- 
holic stimulants, and that, too, not without a show 
of good reason, as the very king of evils; yet we 
are aware that surface objects are sometimes very 
deceptive; whereas a deeper research often 
changes in a remarkable degree the most formid- 
able appearance. 
Without, then, pretending to decide a question 
whose abstruseness is so obvious, I shall be con- 
tent with presenting such facts as are apparent to 
all belonging to these monster curses of humanity. 
In weighing them in the balance together, I 
find that alcohol, because of its impetuous haste 
to destroy, is thereby the first to be discovered 
and condemned, while opium, cannabis, cura- 
coa, and other equally potent agents for harm, 
escape almost unnoticed, except by the criti- 
cal eye, because they stab in the dark, with no 
sound, and murder their victim while he sleeps. 
I have striven in the preceding chapters to keen The Laws of Heredity. 
243 
constantly in view the fact that human appetites 
and passions are the true sources of misery, and 
not those physical agents used to gratify them, 
and that it matters little to the world what agents 
of destruction it may contain, while it does make 
a very essential difference to all what the inclina- 
tions of men are to employ them. 
Fire is a powerful element, and outside certain 
limits becomes a fearful agent of destruction; yet 
who would think of abolishing it simply because 
it can and has destroyed whole cities, thousands 
of lives, and millions of treasure never yet re- 
corded? Strychnine, phosphorus, etc., are deadly 
poisons. Must we dispense with their good uses 
because of the bad ones they may be and are put 
to? So, also, with opium and alcohol,—those 
giants for weal or woe. Opium, that great curse 
and great blessing to humanity, a drug which has 
destroyed more lives, and also saved more, than 
any other,—shall we, for the harm it has done, dis- 
pense with the good it can do? Shall we, in fine, 
reject all those agents which heaven has sent us 
as blessings, merely because man, in his guild- 244 
The Laws of Heredity, 
serena, has turned them into curses? Surely, that 
would not be wisdom. 
The point sought to be impressed is, and one 
to which I would respectfully call the attention of 
those prohibition friends who seek to annihilate 
effects instead of causes of evil,—that it is the 
appetites which men possess that lead them to 
the abuse of intoxicants; and that it is the causes 
of the appetites, and not the means of their grati- 
fication, that must be sought out and controlled 
before we can stand upon any sure footing. Men 
have striven hard for generations to master this 
great enemy, intemperance, and if but a tithe of 
the time and labor expended in the past had been 
in the right direction, I am confident that to-day 
we should be rejoicing in a complete victory. 
Gough had labored hard for half a century, 
working upon the emotions, and has brought to 
perfection a mimicry worthy of better results. His 
delirium tremens scene becomes so real that one 
can scarcely dissuade the mind of the illusion; 
yet, has he succeeded in frightening the inebriate 
from his cups, or in preventing the introduction The Laws of Heredity. 
245 
of that appetite into the world by which drunk- 
ards are made? 
Ross tells us that the sale of liquor in each city 
and town must be prohibited by law, and cites a 
few small towns of minor importance in confirma- 
tion of his theory, entirely overlooking the fact 
that those whose desires and passions are in ex- 
cess, are a restless class, who seek cities and large 
towns for their abode, where excitement may be 
constant, and their natural inclinations gratified, 
and whose votes at municipal elections, where 
these questions might be decided so far as law is 
concerned, count for as much as a bishop’s. 
Murphy wants to get public sentiment on the 
side of temperance, and so do I. But how are we 
to get public sentiment to run counter to public 
inclination? An earnest lady advocate advises a 
general crusade upon the saloons. “ Pour out the 
vile stuff,” says she, “ for these saloons are traps 
set to catch our unwary citizens.” Softly! Oil 
is a good thing to pour on troubled waters, but 
not as good to pour on fire. Whatever is done, 
let it be with a prospect, at least, of gain, and 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 you? 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,” et 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 Heredity. 
247 
the very best nourishment. You must take it to 
the seashore for the summer, and feed it on calves- 
head jelly.” Idonea et imfossibille. 
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 he 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. The Laws of Heredity. 
2 49 
“ 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 ’ 
\re scarce as gold, and hard to find.” 
As we have seen in the 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 be a 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?11 A lady 
once asked Dr. Johnson to take a little wine. “I 
cannot take a little wine,11 he replied; “therefore, 
I never take any.11 
Dr. Ross, a celebrated temperance worker, once 
told the author that he did not even dare touch The Laws of Heredity. 
251 
wine at the communion table, although he had 
abstained for eleven years. He was an excellent 
example of a battle between a strong appetite and 
a strong will. The will had conquered thus far 
by reason of his constant surveillance over the 
appetite. He need not have felt alarm for so long 
a period, I think, as it is said that the system 
changes once completely in from seven to ten 
years, which, if true, would have left him, as re- 
gards his former appetite, just where he was be- 
fore he took the first drink, or before the in- 
herited appetite was first developed. Numerous 
persons have assured me, in regard to the appetite 
for tobacco, that after absolutely ceasing its use 
for from six months to three years, they lost all 
desire for it. A return to the narcotic, however, 
would once more develop the appetite. Most 
persons, it is well known, experience less difficulty 
in leaving off alcoholic stimulants than they do 
tobacco. It is encouraging to know that the 
extreme suffering passes off after a time, never 
to return unless the narcotic is resumed. These 
are by no means the worst cases, but those 252 
The Laws of Heredity. 
who conquer by reason of exceptionally strong 
wills. 
Dr. Day, superintendent of an inebriate asylum, 
has stated that, with a certain class, “ To-day they 
may be fullest of praise of teetotalism, and to-mor- 
row drunk and in the gutter.” Thus do the good 
and evil natures of some strive with each other. 
Ex-Governor Richard Yates, of Illinois, was an 
example of this class,—to-day signing a pledge of 
the most solemn character, and to-morrow drunk 
and in the gutter, repenting in the most abject 
sorrow. And these examples represent not a few, 
but thousands all over the land. On the other 
hand, there are those who have used intoxicants as 
long as these men have, who can stop drinking 
at any time, should the inducement for abstinence 
become greater than to continue, and to whom 
liquor is no especial temptation. 
The difference between the tippler, moderate 
drinker and confirmed drunkard, is only a differ- 
ence of degree, not of kind. The same original 
causes that produce the one, intensified, produce 
the other. So, also, what is true of one appetite The Laws of Heredity. 
253 
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 one 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  The Laws of Heredity. 
256 
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 superintendent, 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 re-form them. He is 
not reformed who chooses a good course from 
sufficiently 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 as a 
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 258 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 Heredity. 
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, u 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 are 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 Heredity. 
time in America, when reduced to figures, will 
indeed surprise the uninformed and those who 
have been accustomed to consider alcohol as the 
only evil that 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 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 1876 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 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 Quincey 
Home, 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 Heredity. 
263 
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. 
u 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 Heredity. 
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 106P) 
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 art a jewel.” The Laws of Heredity. 
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; 
’Twas 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 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. 
267 
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 268 
The Laws of Heredity. 
brain where it originates, so that desire if suffi- 
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. 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. 
271 
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 a time, 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  The Laws of Heredity. 
272 
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-government, 
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 The Laws of Heredity. 
273 
severe dyspnoea. No, it is an appetite born in 
men which destroys them, and that appetite is 
found of every grade, from that which is easily 
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 
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. 
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 Heredity. 
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 Heredity. 
275 
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 
to be so. Ask any u old country woman ” about 
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 a single 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 
Observer, 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. The Laws of Heredity. 
277 
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- 278 
The Laws of Heredity. 
duce in the future, as becomes her privilege, just 
such children as she may wish. 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, strive 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 such as I have stated. 
Can she recall a single case where the reverse is 
true ? 
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. 
279 
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 enciente, 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 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- 
maniacs, 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 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 one day, while others never be- 
come conscious, if they can help it, for weeks. 
Mr. B , a hardware merchant of M , 
Ills., was of this class. Upon getting ready for 
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, I 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 284 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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; 
good morning, sir; good morning, sir,” continu- 
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 law. Think you that 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 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. The Laws of Heredity. 
287 
CHAPTER VIII. 
MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS 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 the two. “ 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 288 
The Laws of Heredity. 
nothing of the cause. The good God gave me 
both of them. How should I know the source of 
her disposition? Look into her brown eyes; 
there is a leer of malice in them.” 
The poor Irish woman explained it uncon- 
sciously. She was asked the question: “Were 
you happy in the summer and winter and spring 
before this child’s first summer?” “Happy is it, 
you say, sir? An’ sure, whin me husband was 
tuk up wid another woman, how could I be happy? 
And he a spendin his money on her, too; and the 
wages got lower; an’ it’s not the money that 
riled me, neither; it’s me as was but a few months 
married, an’ in a strange counthrie, and he a 
ridin’ more than three times wid her in a chaise, 
it is. Och, but he’d been over, and larnt the 
wicked ways, before ever he brought me here. 
Me heart was broken; an’ I hated that woman so, 
I was longing all the time to lay me hands on her. 
I’d like to have murdered the old fiend, and I 
wanted to go to the factory and inform on her, but 
me husband cursed me, and threatened to kill me 
if I did.” The Laws of Heredity. 
289 
“ And was he still behaving so badly in the 
summer before Mary’s first summer?” she was 
asked. “The saints be praised, no! The wo- 
man moved away, bad cess to her, and Patrick 
gave up his bad ways after, and treated me rale 
well, too. The baste of a woman niver came 
back, and I tuk no more trouble consarning her.” 
(Cook’s Boston Monday Lectures.) Children are 
mysteries, it is said, but not to science any longer. 
A correspondent of the Scalpel gives the follow- 
ing: “A gentleman of Branton, Vermont, re- 
moved to New York, and while there, one day in 
company with his wife, a lady of a highly nervous 
temperament, went to visit the zoological gardens. 
The lady, while there, became greatly alarmed at 
the ferocity of a beautiful Bengal tiger, fainted, 
and was carried home. In a few months after, a 
child appeared in the world, which grew as other 
children grow, but when old enough to run about, 
exhibited the most violent of tempers; these par- 
oxysms of temper were brought on by the slight- 
est provocation. At such times his eyes would 
assume a fiery or green color, like those of an 290 
The Laws of Heredity. 
angry cat; during these uncontrollable fits of 
rage, he would rush at his playmates, scratching, 
biting, and tearing their clothes. As he advanced 
in years, older persons had to accompany him, to 
prevent him from injuring his young associates; 
at all other times he was of a most amiable dis- 
position. 
Temporary moods, sometimes of a most pecu- 
liar character, are liable to overshadow any life, 
and at any time, but the point I wish to impress 
here is, that when these moods seize enciente 
women they are liable to leave a permanent im- 
pression upon the offspring, sometimes for good 
and sometimes for evil. Marc relates the case of 
a peasant, age twenty-two, who had suffered from 
epilepsy since he was eight years old; but when 
he was twenty-five the character of his disease 
changed from epileptic seizures to an insatiable 
impulse to commit murder. 
He felt the approach of his out-breaks for 
several days beforehand, sometimes, and then 
begged to be restrained in order to prevent crime. 
‘When it seizes me,” he exclaimed, “ I must kill The Laws of Heredity. 
291 
someone, were it only a child.” The same 
authority relates a case of a servant girl in the 
family of the illustrious Baron Humboldt, against 
whom there had never been a complaint, who 
came to her mistress one day in a great state of 
excitement and begged to be discharged, for fear 
she would kill the lady’s infant child. She was so 
struck with the beauty of its flesh, that she had an 
irresistible desire to rip open its abdomen with a 
knife, and wanted to leave before carrying the 
horrible idea into execution. 
A gentleman of St. Louis writes as follows: 
“ One of the devil’s own is occupying a cell in the 
St. Louis jail. His crime is murder, cold-blooded, 
and unprovoked. His name is Hade Brown, a 
blonde in look and temperament, ready and gentle 
mannered in speech, barely thirty-one years old, 
and is the last man that should be picked out by 
the physiognomists for the terrible deeds that are 
charged against him. With him murder is a 
mania; he was born red-handed, the terrible stain 
is in his system, and when the time came he felt 
the maddening impulses to kill, kill, until it  The Laws of Heredity. 
292 
seemed that nothing but the extermination of 
all those nearest him would satisfy the thirst. 
“ It is not hard to find where young Brown got 
his taste for life-taking. His father was a desper- 
ado, and his mother was used to scenes of blood- 
shed. He drank, and when under the influence 
of intoxicating liquor would abuse his wife and 
terrify her. One day, coming home from the 
little town of Jacksonville, and being drunk, he 
began to abuse his wife in a most shocking man- 
ner. Her condition made it pitiable. One of the 
Haydens — her brother—was there, who could 
stand it no longer, so he drew a pistol from his 
breast pocket and shot Brown dead through the 
heart, who fell weltering in his blood, at the feet 
of his much abused wife.” 
Jesse Pomeroy, who was called the “ child 
fiend,1’ will be remembered by many as the lad 
who, before he was eleven years old, had cut the 
throats, ripped open the abdomens, etc., of some 
seven or eight children (his young playmates), for 
no other cause than to satisfy a fiendish desire to 
murder. One case in particular deserves especial The Laws of Heredity. 
293 
notice on account of its singularly atrocious char- 
acter, and for which nothing short of congenital 
madness can explain. One day this youthful 
monster, enticed by sweetmeats and kind words, 
one of his playmates, a little girl of three years of 
age, into a lonely wood, where he proceeded to 
strip her of all clothing and then tying her fast to 
a tree, commenced a butchery whose cruelty is 
unknown among the fiercest savages. He cut 
gashes in her quivering infant flesh, and then stood 
back and shouted with pleasure, as he saw her 
writhe in pain. He then cut off her ears and 
nose, unjointed as far as he could her arms and 
legs, and finally ripped open her abdomen. The 
mutilated child was found some days afterward, 
her remains were brought and placed before her 
young murderer, who pointed at the horrible 
spectacle and said, “You better believe she 
squirmed, and hollered, and kicked.” When 
asked why he did it, he replied, “Just to hear her 
holler, and see her squirm — it was such fun.” 
Ludwig Meyer relates several similar cases. 
Passing on to the further evil passions, we find 294 
The Laws of Heredity. 
that what is true of intemperance, is also true of 
licentiousness. Yea, an even greater army which 
has been smitten by this curse, is sailing on an 
under, quieter current, but no less sure, to the 
same fearful end. I have stood time and again 
by the bedside of “rum’s maniac,” when it seemed 
as if the contagion of the awful delusions which 
struck so much terror to his soul peopled the room 
with a thousand demons, who, with murderous 
claws were reaching out of the “ bottomless pit ” 
after their suffering victim, and the very air was 
full of devils, each echoing in mockery his despair- 
ing cries. I have also stood by the dying couch 
of the withered flower — of a once innocent girl- 
hood, and seen a thousand fiends of memory disturb 
a countenance once so fair, to expose the soul’s 
misery, which, “ but for the accident of birth,” 
would have rivaled the Madonna herself. Then, if 
ever, is the time when the climax of human sympa- 
thy will be reached. Then will be the time when 
doubts arise, if at all, as to the reality of an Arch 
Fiend pitiless enough to further torture this 
wronged and helpless being. The Laws of Heredity. 
295 
Would to God we could close the record here 
with Inebriety, and a few transient moods as 
the only curses; but, unfortunately, there are 
others, and even greater curses that affect the 
human family to-day. Whereas, it is true, drunk- 
eness has killed its thousands, licentiousness has 
destroyed its tens of thousands. And this being 
true, it is with no small degree of astonishment 
that I witness, continually, the apparent heedless- 
ness of the people to it, especially the feminine 
portion, upon whom the heaviest hand is always 
laid. We need not go to “ Mormondom ” or the 
Turkish harems, or to ancient Greece and Rome 
to find it, for the blighting curse is around us on 
every side, sapping the very foundations of strong 
manhood and fair womanhood. 
I have said that woman has ever been a riddle 
incapable of solution, and it is so. It has always 
been a mystery to man why she should be so 
ready to stoop down and lift “strong man” out of 
the mire and clay of intemperance and licentious- 
ness, but seem utterly heedless of her weaker sis- 
ters, who have fallen and soiled their white robes 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 
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, 
u What words can sooth her melancholy? what 
tears can wash her stain away?” I need not say 
more here in regard to licentiousness. The same 
rule holds good here, and the same principles are 
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 
near home,” and as he is expected to preach 
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.” The Laws of Heredity. 
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 f 
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  The Laws of Heredity. 
300 
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 Heredity. 
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 Heredity. 
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. 
The “ society ” mother, on the one hand, “ can 
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 she 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 Heredity. 
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 Heredity. 
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 like 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 306 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 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- 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 of 
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- The Laws of Heredity. 
311 
tional, criminals would be found in the preceding 
generations. 
Third. Beautiful, pure, and happy impres- 
sions 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 
motion gives heat, sound, etc. 312 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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; for smell, 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. 
313 
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. n.) 
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 
figure 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 got them. 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. 
315 
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, “ The Lady of the Lake;” that was 
all. I did 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
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 318 
The Laws of Heredity. 
such a lady, and why she loved to learn so much 
more than the other children.1 ”—( Transmission 
or Variation of Character, by Mrs. Kirby.) 
Fourth. Hideous physical impressions 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 im- 
pressions is a teaching of ancient as well as of 
modern 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 fcetus, 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  The Laws of Heredity 
320 
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 foetus 
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. tem., 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 Heredity. 
321 
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 fcetus 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 322 
The Laws of Heredity. 
caccal terminations of the vessels from the foetus, 
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. I do not understand that mental im- 
pressions, emotions, etc., are material substances, 
which may be loaded upon a blood corpuscle* and The Laws of Heredity. 
323 
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 foetus. 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 324 
The Laws of Heredity. 
would have done, which a few moments before 
was so sweet, and healthful, and harmless? No 
blood, as such, from the mother circulates 
through the milk to carry an atom of poison with 
it. Not one corpuscle ever passed the membrane 
of those milk ducts; and yet the milk already 
within the glands was acted upon in a most 
powerful manner, and not through the blood, we 
know, to produce in it so wonderful a change. 
Now, if powerful impressions upon the mater- 
nal mind are capable of producing such marked 
and serious changes in the milk, which is isolated 
from all direct connection with either the blood or 
the nerves of the mammary glands, why may not 
equally positive results obtain from the same 
source, when acting on the developing embryonic 
mass? The milk, when secreted, is held by the 
breasts much as the secretion of the kidneys is 
held by the bladder. But the milk is highly 
organized matter, and as such, appears to be 
peculiarly affected by influences sent by the brain 
through the nervous system. Through the sym- 
pathetic system of nerves these impressions are The Laws of Heredity. 
325 
carried, and the great sympathy shown to exist 
between the breasts and uterus, shows how 
equally well either may be impressed. 
During lactation, the sympathy is so great be- 
tween these organs that the one refuses to per- 
form its ordinary functions as long as the other is 
obliged to furnish nourishment to the new being. 
Whether the force, generated by the brain, and 
sent by the nerves to any part of the system the 
mind may direct, be electricity, magnetism, or 
something else, it is, nevertheless, a force of great 
power to cause the suppuration of a mother’s 
fingers, and change in a few moments to rank 
poison the healthful, natural baby food. 
As fact is more convincing than all theory, I 
will have the exceeding pleasure, bye and bye, of 
presenting certain cases from the highest author- 
ity, where this force proceeding from the mind 
(maternal impress), has produced in all ages of 
the world’s history, grievous deformities and the 
most melancholy monstrosities. At present, I 
wish simply to fix the fact in the mind that such 
things can occur. 326 
The Laws of Heredity. 
As we have seen, the milk can be, and has been, 
rendered poisonous solely by powerful emotions 
on the part of the mother; and yet, upon the most 
careful examinations, so subtle are some of na- 
ture’s processes, no change can be observed, no 
element not natural to the lacteal fluid detected. 
An inquiry into the workings of nature’s curious 
laws elsewhere, may help us here. We invoke 
the aid of chemistry. Here we find a number of 
substances termed isomeric; that is, compounds 
containing the same elements, and in the same 
proportions, but possessing different properties,— 
e. g.: the oils of turpentine, roses, bergamot, ole- 
fiant gas, etc., besides many others, are composed 
of precisely the same amount of the same mate- 
rials, and yet how widely different are the proper- 
ties of each. Who would think of those common 
esculents, butter and sugar, being composed of 
exactly the same amount of the same materials? 
yet it is true, as the science of chemistry has 
proven. 
Now, why do the same elements in the same 
proportions affect our senses so differently? The Laws of Heredity. 
327 
Reader, did you ever observe a porcupine, (porco 
spinoso, of Italy) lying quiet? Its back is as 
smooth as that of a duck; but stir him up, and in 
a moment that back will resemble one of the in- 
fernal machines of the Spanish Inquisition, and 
about as effectual, too, in proportion to its size. 
The creature has not added a quill,—he has only 
changed their arrangement. 
A company of soldiers standing at “ reverse 
arms” presents a harmless front, but let the order 
be given, “ Charge bayonet,” and the front, with- 
out the addition of a single man or gun, becomes 
a most formidable one. So it is with isomeric 
compounds; a change in the arrangement of the 
atoms composing them produces the difference 
observed in their properties. 
Now, whatever this force may be, which is 
generated in the brain of the mother and sent 
along the nerves with lightning speed, there is no 
doubt but what when it strikes that highly or- 
ganized substance, the human milk, it alters the 
arrangement of atoms so that they assume the 
same angle as those of some powerful poison, and 328 
The Laws of Heredity. 
of course would have the same physiological effect. 
Suppose, for example, that the angle of the 
atoms is 20°; that is milk. Now, apply this mys- 
terious force to them, and the atoms assume an 
angle of 450; that is poison. The hypothesis here 
given is presumably correct, at least so regarded 
by able chemists at the present time, and will be 
accepted here as true until some better explana- 
tion is offered. However, it matters little how 
nature’s forces accomplish certain purposes, as long 
as they are accomplished, while it matters much 
where those forces originate, and whether we can 
control or regulate them. 
As we have seen, the mental forces are capable 
of acting upon organized matter, and therein pro- 
ducing wonderful changes; and that these forces 
are directed to any particular locality in the 
organism upon which the attention may become 
for any cause fixed. The gravid uterus, there- 
fore, like the mammary glands during lactation, 
being in a state of unusual activity, would be the 
part of all others upon which impressions from 
the mind would concentrate. Mental impressions, The Laws of Heredity. 
329 
according to all physiologists, are capable, not only 
of arresting the secretion and flow of milk in the 
breasts, but of changing the character of the fluid 
already held independently in the glands. So, 
also, do the same influences, acting upon the non- 
gravid uterus, in many individuals arrest the men- 
strual flow. 
It is plain, then, from the construction of these 
organs, that the blood cannot be the medium 
through which mental impressions reach the con- 
tents of either. Still, the fact is indisputable, as 
we shall soon see, that they do reach them, and by 
some straight and definite law. The enciente 
organ, it will be remembered, increases in size 
and vascularity as its contents increase, and for 
the evident purpose of supplying abundant nour- 
ishment to the developing foetus, and this nourish- 
ment must come alone from the maternal blood. 
But the blood of the adult mother differs from 
that of the foetus, not only in size and number of 
corpuscles, but also in the plastic nutritive matter; 
e. g., the foetal liver and head, in the early months 
of development, are disproportionately large, and 330 
The Laws of Heredity. 
consequently require an amount in excess of their 
peculiar elements of growth, which the mother’s 
blood could not supply by direct circulation. 
Nor is it reasonable to suppose that the blood 
from the mother, containing adult corpuscles, 
together with the usual impurities gathered in its 
passage from her lungs, could pass direct into the 
system of an embryo or foetus, and subserve the 
same purposes required in the adult being; so 
nature has provided an organ, called first, I 
believe, by Fallopius, thz placenta, whose function, 
as I understand it, is to break up the corpuscles of 
the maternal blood and reduce it to original, 
simple elements of nutrition, depriving it of all 
substances unsuited for the new structure, and 
passing it as simple elements into the portal cir- 
culation of the foetus, where, during its passage 
through the liver, it again is converted into blood 
whose corpuscles and proportions of elements are 
suited to a developing foetus. 
Now, materials for building are one thing, and 
placing them so as to form a structure possessing 
a definite form, is quite another. The Laws of Heredity. 
331 
A thing builded implies a design. A design 
implies a designer. A designer, a thought. A 
thought a thinker. A thinker, an intelligent mind, 
— a mental force. Therefore, as matter cannot 
move, much less arrange itself in different forms, 
it follows that force must be the prime mover, and 
mind the grand architect. 
The foetus, wholly passive in itself, then, it is 
plain, is the clay, and the mind of the maternal 
parent the potter which can and does mould some 
vessels to honor and some to dishonor. Indeed, 
it seems unnecessary to prove that which human 
experience has daily shown, that the tender infant 
itself is the mirror which reflects most faithfully 
the maternal mind, with all its passions and 
desires, its blessings and misfortunes. 
From the numerous authentic examples in my 
possession, of hideous physical impressions on the 
mind of the mother producing deformity and 
monstrosity in the offspring, a few only need be 
given to more thoroughly establish the fact: 
*‘A lady of Rheinhardt had a desire to see the 
execution of a man who was sentenced to have  The Laws of Heredity. 
332 
his right hand cut off before he was beheaded. 
She saw the hand severed from the body, and 
instantly turned away and went home without 
waiting to see the death that was to follow. This 
lady bore a daughter who is still living, who had 
only one hand.” (Essay on Physiognomy, Lava- 
ter.) 
Mrs. H , of Geneva, a friend and former 
patient of the author, a lady of great intelligence 
and refinement, bore a congenital deformity—the 
loss of her right hand. Noting the deficiency one 
day, I asked her, “To what accident do you at- 
tribute your misfortune, Mrs. H. ? ” “ My hand ? ” 
she replied, “why, I never had a right hand. 
The absence of it at birth was considered by my 
mother to be due to the following circumstances: 
During gestation my mother said she used to sit 
by a certain window and sew. A neighbor’s yard 
joined ours, and the neighbor, a carpenter, had his 
bench, at which he worked daily, opposite her 
window. The man had his right hand cut off 
some years before by a circular saw, and with his 
sleeves rolled up displaying the stump, continued The Laws of Heredity. 
333 
his work as best he could. My mother felt sick 
every time she looked at this stump; still it seemed 
to possess a most singular attraction for her; her 
gaze was riveted upon it, and all her sympathies 
were aroused in his behalf. Well, when I came, 
my mother was horrified at discovering a deform- 
ity on me identical in all respects to that of our 
neighbor; which is the history, so far as I know, 
of this absent member.” 
A gentleman of Belvidere, Ills., has a congenital 
amputation of his left index and middle fingers. 
Upon inquiry, he said: “I was born so. Pre- 
vious to my birth, an accident occurred to one of 
my brothers, by which he lost just the same 
fingers I have absent. My two little brothers 
were playing one day, chopping sticks upon a 
block of wood. The one using the ax struck 
too quickly for the one holding the stick, and 
struck his hand, severing entirely the first and 
second fingers. The wounded little fellow, hold- 
ing up his mutilated hand, ran screaming to my 
mother, holding up the bleeding stumps before 
her horrified gaze. The shock she received she 334 
The Laws of Heredity. 
did not recover from for a long time, and when I 
arrived ” (holding up his hand) “ this was the re- 
sult.” 
Dr. Seguin says (Idiocy and Its Treatment): 
“ Impressions will sometimes reach the foetus in 
its recess, and cut off legs or arms, or inflict large 
flesh wounds, before birth; inexplicable as well as 
indisputable facts.” 
Profs. Hammond, Dalton, Tuke, and others no 
less prominent, make similar statements. 
Prof. Hammond, in Physiological Journal, Vol. 
II., 1868, reports the following cases: 
“ A lady, in the third month of pregnancy, was 
very much horrified by her husband being brought 
home one evening with a severe wound of the 
face, from which the blood was streaming. The 
shock was so great that she fainted, and subse- 
quently had an hysterical attack, during which 
she was under my care. She could never after- 
wards get rid of the horrid impression it had 
made upon her. In due time the child, a girl, 
was born. She had a dark red mark upon her 
face, corresponding in situation and extent with The Laws of Heredity. 
335 
that which had been upon her father’s face. She 
proved to be idiotic also.” 
Again, he says: “ The wife of the janitor of 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons, during 
her pregnancy, dreamed that she saw a man who 
had lost part of his external ear. The dream 
made a great impression upon her mind, and she 
mentioned it to her husband. When the child 
was born, a portion of one ear was deficient, and 
the organ was exactly like the defective one she 
had seen in her dream.” 
I mention these cases here from such high au- 
thority, because there has often been a tendency 
among certain medical gentlemen to “ pooh ” 
“ at such an idea.” But men, having given the 
subject attention and thought, find such cases by 
no means trifling ones. 
Dr. Tuke (Influence of the Mind Upon the 
Body) gives the following cases: “ A woman, 
aged twenty-four, and of good constitution, and 
the mother of two healthy children, went to a 
fair, and entered a show place, where were ex- 
hibited a collection of living and stuffed animals. 336 
The Laws of Heredity. 
and monsters preserved in spirits, among which 
was a hydrocephalic cat. From the moment she 
saw this she wanted to leave the place, crying 
out, ‘How horrible! it is just like a child.’ Her 
companions laughed at her fright, and insisted on 
remaining. Eight months afterward she had a 
child, still-born, and hydrocephalic.” 
“ Madam C., during her second month of preg- 
nancy, saw a cart pass, containing three men who 
were condemned to death; one in front had his 
head inclined to the right; his appearance indi- 
cating complete mental prostration. 
“ The lady gave birth to a child having the head 
turned to the right shoulder, a morbid contraction 
which was permanent.” 
Mr. Child, in the Lancet of Nov. ist, 1868, re- 
cords a mother attending a penny show, where a 
trained horse pulled the trigger of a pistol, pre- 
tending to shoot a rabbit. A dummy was thrown 
out; the back of its head was bleeding, having to 
all appearance been shot off. The child born had its 
hands resembling those of a rabbit, as also were 
the eyes, nose, and tongue; the head also, in its 
general contour, resembling that of a rabbit. The Laws of Heredity. 
337 
Dr. Tuke, in concluding, says: “ Such cases 
as these appear to countenance the conclusion that 
the imagination of the mother, united more or less 
with emotion, produces corresponding effects 
upon the unborn child. The number reported 
by various medical men is large, and undoubtedly 
deserves consideration.” 
A human monstrosity was exhibited not long 
since in this city, in the shape of a male being, forty 
years of age, whose father was taking him around, 
through the country and showing, to all who were 
curious, for any sum they might choose to give. 
He was shown here in a dingy basement, and was 
indeed a living wonder. The father displayed so 
little intelligence that I could gain from him noth- 
ing of the son’s history, further than what could 
be observed; but the fair presumption is, that it 
was one of those curious examples of impress 
from the maternal mind, as in the one already 
mentioned by Dr. Tuke. 
This creature had a perfect body throughout. 
The body was about the size of that of a child be- 
tween two and three years of age. The head 338 
The Laws of Heredity. 
was the remarkable part. It measured around 
the forehead, where a hat usually fits, forty-two 
inches. Passing a strap under the chin and over 
the top of the head, it measured almost sixty 
inches. Of course he could not raise such a head 
with such a body, and lay upon a couch, and was 
turned once or twice a day from one side to the 
other. He appeared asleep most of the time, 
seemed to realize but little, and suffered, it was 
said, but little. He was fed like a baby at stated 
intervals, and could be partially roused up by the 
father by calling his name. Thus for forty years 
had he existed; and to what end? Perhaps a 
living monument of what such monsters are 
capable of producing upon the sensitive maternal 
mind, when allowed to be exhibited. 
“A correspondent asks,” says the London 
Lancet, “ if there is any act of Parliament which 
prohibits the parade of monstrosities and deform- 
ities in the public streets. Unfortunately, there is 
not. Such an act is much needed. Great harm 
may be done by exhibiting such revolting spec- 
tacles to the general community. We can only The Laws of Heredity. 
339 
express our regret that there should be no law 
capable of being applied to the mitigation of the 
nuisance of which he complains. In certain cases, 
these hideous and sickening objects parade on the 
streets of London and other cities, and are 
brought before the people, involuntarily, and 
affect severely certain ones. The fact that mon- 
strosity or deformity, reflected on the sensorium, 
may be reproduced in another generation, passing 
from mother to the unborn child, is a matter of 
considerable importance, and should draw the 
attention of public authorities to the need of a 
prohibitory law.” 
In Peru and certain portions of Central America, 
the inhabitants once had a custom of flattening 
the forehead; this was done by tying a board so 
as to rest upon the forehead during early infancy. 
(Sir Robert Selemburg, on some of the affluents 
of the Orinoco, a tribe known as Frog Indians, 
whose heads were flattened by nature, as shown 
by newly born children.) 
Prof. Simpson relates the case of a Spanish 
officer, who adopted a young female gipsy child, 340 
The Laws of Heredity. 
whose parents had been executed, educated and 
married her. A son of this marriage, who rose 
to be a captain in the service of Donna Isabel, 
hated the white race so intensely, as, when a child, 
to tell his father that he wished he was dead. 
The mother had always been taught to hate the 
white race, which hatred descended to her son, to 
the extent of hating his own father. 
Prof. Lewis, of Bellevue Hospital, than whom 
there is no higher authority, makes the following 
astounding assertion: “A mother to see a 
watch, and a child arrives in the world with the 
figures that belong to the dial of a watch formed 
on the white of the eyeball.” * 
Prof. Dalton affirms (Human Physiology): 
“ That there can be no longer any serious doubt 
that the various deformities and deficiencies origi- 
nate in certain cases from nervous impressions, 
such as disgust, fear or anger experienced by the 
mother.” 
* I cannot resist the temptation to ask the skeptics on this sub- 
ject, if that was “ merely chance,” a “curious coincidence,” etc. The Laws of Heredity. 
341 
These men, it will be remembered, stand at the 
head of the medical profession. 
Major Brady assured me of the truth of the 
following, having been in the hospital and seen 
the marble bust: 
“ Madam Stevens, I think,” said he, “ was a 
lady of many excellent qualities of both head and 
heart. In 1722, I believe it was, she erected one 
of the largest hospitals in Europe, in the city of 
Dublin. She was very wealthy, highly cultured 
and refined, but was unfortunately a physical 
monstrosity, having been born with a swine’s in- 
stead of a human head, the deformity being quite 
complete and startlingly correct. She was in all 
other respects apparently a perfectly formed 
woman. Her statue in marble, with its horrible 
head, is in the hospital corrider, which I have seen 
more than once while in the city.” 
“ Some fifteen years ago a workman of Mar- 
seilles lost his only child. In despair at his loss, he 
cut off one hand of the child and preserved it as a 
precious souvenir in a jar of alcohol. One month 
ago the man’s wife was confined a second time, 342 
The Laws of Heredity. 
and gave birth to a healthy boy. Strange to say, 
the child had but one hand; the hand that was 
wanting corresponded to the amputated one in 
the jar.” (Medical Record, p. 312, March, 1879.) 
Dr. A. E. Goodwin, of this city, sends the fol- 
lowing: “Some twenty-six years ago, while 
practicing in the state of New York, a child was 
born under my professional care, with but one 
hand. The one wanting corresponded to that of 
a batchelor boarder in the same tenement house, 
who had a stump from amputation at the wrist. 
Strange to say, such is emotion on the part of the 
mother as to affect in so wonderful a manner 
organic functions.'” This case was reported in a 
medical journal at that time. 
Dr. Cox, of Williamsburg, Long Island, relates 
the following: *l A lady was in constant attend- 
ance upon her dying father, his disease being 
cancer of the forehead, and required repeat- 
ed daily dressings. This was done by the 
daughter. In a few months the father died. A 
little daughter came. A large tumor was also 
on its forehead; this tumor became an open sore, The Laws of Heredity. 
343 
in all respects similar to the one of which the 
child’s grandparent had died. It resisted every 
application, and soon terminated the child’s life.” 
Now, was this child’s tumor a cancer? What 
is a cancer? No man can tell. It is true, the 
microscopist discourses learnedly on the “peculiar 
cancer cells.” But what are they? and how do 
they come to be produced by the action produced 
from the mother’s mind upon her unborn child? 
What poisons the milk in the mother’s breast 
after a violent fit of anger? No one for certain 
knows. Yet it becomes poison, and under the care- 
fullest scrutiny yet given is apparently unchanged. 
Now, if the mind is capable of producing such 
a powerful influence, and of affecting the body, 
especially that of the unborn child, as we have 
seen, is it not true that its power is almost limit- 
less? And as we have also seen, its power may 
be directed so as to produce good as well as bad 
results, is it not abundantly clear that the key of 
the future generation’s welfare and happiness is in 
the hands of the women of to-day. The Laws of Heredity. 
344 
CHAPTER IX. 
RECAPITULATION — PRACTICAL 
OBSERVATIONS. 
« Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.” 
—Solomon. 
There is an eastern fable that tells how, when 
Paradise faded from earth, a single rose was saved 
and treasured by an angel, who gives to every 
mortal, sooner or later in life, one breath of fra- 
grance from the immortal flower—one alone. 
“ The proper study,” says Pope, “ of mankind, 
is man.” And of all the subjects for human con- 
templation, which is greater or of wider import 
than that which relates to the happiness and well 
being of mankind here, and perhaps hereafter. For 
ages have the world’s sages sought for the “ Elixir 
of Life” and the “ Philosopher’s Stone,” never 
dreaming that it would be easier to seek for the 
seeds of death, and destroy them, and the causes 
of folly and unhappiness in this life. The Laws of Heredity. 
345 
When we look out upon the broad field of 
thought, and contemplate the fact how small a por- 
tion has been under proper cultivation for the rich 
harvests it could yield, we feel as if no effort could 
be too great to induce laborers to enter who 
would be men of valor, as were the warriors of old. 
On entering into the vast subject of Hereditary 
Descent, I was not insensible of the difficulties in 
the way, both in gathering proof and evidence for 
the statements it would be necessary to make, 
and in presenting dry science in such a manner as 
to make it attractive and readable. There has 
been one encouraging hope throughout, and that 
is, that a person suffering with the pains of disease 
is generally quite willing to take the remedy, even 
if its taste is sometimes somewhat nauseous. The 
sufferings of the unfortunate class in the world 
will make them only too willing to grasp at any 
straw of hope, even if not so much for themselves, 
yet, like Dives of old, for those who are still to 
follow them. 
When the “ Laws of Heredity ” first appeared, 
it was at the urgent request of a number of friends^ 346 
The Laws of Heredity. 
who were greatly interested in the subject, and 
was given as a serial in a monthly magazine of 
fair circulation. 
There were, however, certain pessimists, who 
claimed “ that these laws were all right and true, 
no doubt, but that women would not pause, amidst 
their fashions and pleasures to study so grave a 
subject, nor make the effort to understand matters 
of scientific research.” I replied: “ That is just 
the trouble. Women have ever been considered, 
by a certain class of men, as but little better than 
fools and idiots, whereas they are, as a class, the 
very brightest of all God’s creatures, and just as 
capable of understanding what is of interest or 
use to them as are men; and if I understand wo- 
man’s nature at all, she is generally willing to 
labor, if need be, or suffer any inconvenience, if 
the reward for her sacrifices be that which will 
enhance her own or her children’s personal ap- 
pearance, or better their intellectual, moral or 
social natures. Moreover, these laws are true, 
and the facts related in these pages have been 
verified in multitudes of instances everywhere, The Laws of Heredity. 
347 
and as there is no other way by which human 
genesis can be accomplished, or character formed, 
it becomes no longer a question of what will be 
pleasant or entirely convenient for woman to do, 
but one of necessity in the time to come. Many 
women have studied and obeyed these laws to the 
letter, and with the most satisfactory results to 
the offspring; and many more will continue to 
obey them as soon as thoroughly understood, 
while the fruits resulting from this knowledge and 
obedience will be such that the skeptical or heed- 
less neighbor will be obliged to follow the same 
course, or be left behind as progress marches on- 
ward. 
If one woman, with a full knowledge of human 
genesis, can produce at will, as she assuredly may, 
beautiful, intelligent and moral children, is it 
reasonable to suppose that her neighbor will, for 
a want of such knowledge, run the risk of off- 
spring of an opposite character? 
Moreover, the good effect of “ serial ” teaching 
is already manifest, and the above reply being 
verified, the proof of which is seen in the numer- 348 
The Laws of Heredity. 
ous letters received from ladies all over the states, 
expressing their unbounded interest in the subject 
as presented, as well as their fixed determination 
to study these laws carefully, and put them in 
actual practice. 
It seems proper, now, to devote our remaining 
space to a brief resume of the subject already pre- 
sented, giving the reader a “ bird’s eye ” view of 
the principal points sought to be fixed within the 
mind, together with a few practical observations, 
such as may be necessary to a clear elucidation 
of those points not so easily comprehended. 
It certainly must greatly simplify a complex 
subject like this, to consider but two forms of ex- 
istence in the universe,—mind and matter; or, if 
we choose, force and matter. These were first 
introduced, to be followed by the influence in the 
human being the one had over the other. The 
mental forces, being dependent upon material sub- 
stance for their manifestation, it followed that 
peculiar conditions of matter must exert an influ- 
ence over mind; that is, by exalting or restraining 
the action of mind. The Laws of Heredity. 
349 
Mental force, as we examined it, seemed in itself 
almost limitless: for when there was a large 
amount of organized matter, through which it 
might be manifested, as in the human brain, the 
phenomenon of mind was exhibited in a corres- 
pondingly powerful manner, and if the physical 
medium was small, or deranged, the mental mani- 
festation was correspondingly weak, etc. 
It was not surprising, then, to find that when 
this peculiar force, known as mind, was concen- 
trated in so complete an arrangement of matter 
as the human brain possessed, it could exercise a 
powerful influence over other portions of the body 
that were dependent and less perfectly organized. 
Hence we observed, in the following chapter, that 
the mental forces did possess, in an almost unlim- 
ited degree, the power over the physical body. 
A chapter was then devoted to the distinctive 
female organization, and an effort made to show 
why just such an organization was necessary in 
the reproduction of our species. With man the 
construction was such that impressions could not 
be received or transmitted to any considerable 350 
The Laws of Heredity. 
extent, while with woman, possessing a fine, sensi- 
tive brain and nervous system, impressions could be 
received and conveyed, not only to her own body 
proper, but to that of her offspring also in the 
highest degree. Hence, with that fine adaptation 
displayed by nature everywhere, woman was the 
chosen vessel for the performance of the most 
wonderful of all functions — that of reproduction. 
Having thus gained an insight into the designs 
of nature in human construction, and the capabili- 
ties of the being thus constructed, we were brought 
to consider certain irregularities among most 
persons, certain differences in physical construction 
and mental manifestation, although all apparently 
organized upon precisely the same plan. A 
further inquiry revealed the fact, that if the mate- 
rial atoms constituting the muscles, nerves and 
brain of an individual were changed from any 
cause, be the change great or small, the individual 
was in just that proportion made to vary from 
some other individual of his kind, and that the 
mental forces would manifest themselves through 
one kind of an organization just as well as through The Laws of Heredity. 
351 
another, be it one constructed for good or bad. So 
the inevitable conclusions reached were, that if 
from any cause there was an interruption of the 
usual method of construction when a being was 
organizing, we would have a different manifesta- 
tion of mind in that individual if in the brain, or a 
difference in appearance if in the muscles and of 
the body. We also observed that certain convo- 
lutions of the brain presided over certain faculties 
of the mind and organs of the body, and if a dis- 
turbance was made among the atoms composing 
those convolutions so as to change their structure, 
it produced also a change of function in the part 
it governed, so that a good man could be changed 
into a bad one by a change in the atoms compos- 
ing certain portions of his brain. Then, con- 
templating these facts, we were led to inquire 
what force or power is capable of thus producing 
such wonderful changes as is often observed, and 
is there any method by which this power may be 
regulated? Pushing the investigation still fur- 
ther, we discovered that the mind, or mental 
forces, was the grand architect, and matter the 352 
The Laws of Heredity. 
building material for every human being; and but 
for the great force acting on organized matter 
during its formation into a being, every individual 
since the time of Adam would have been mentally 
and morally just alike. For we know that nature 
does the same thing in the same manner, always, 
unless some opposing force intervenes to prevent 
it. We have also seen, that when an individ- 
ual is once formed and born, all the possibil- 
ities of the future are those within him, and 
that nothing therefore can be added to the indi- 
vidual or taken away from him. That what is 
already there may be developed by proper and 
persistent training, or hindered from developing; 
but what is created is the result of original con- 
struction and must be completed then if at all. In 
view of the facts, then, it becomes of the most 
vital importance to have the individual constructed 
aright in the first place. It is a fatal error to talk 
of “changing men’s hearts; ” it cannot be done, 
and the sooner men become convinced of the fact, 
the sooner will they begin to search for the truth 
and light in the right direction. The Laws of Heredity. 
353 
The conversion of St. Paul is cited as an exam- 
ple of such a radical change in an adult. Let us 
examine it impartially by the light of science and 
common sense. Now, St. Paul had an immense 
brain, and a weak, deformed body. His brain 
was originally so constructed that the mind, in 
manifesting itself through it, appeared as that of a 
fiery fanatic. He was greatly excited because of his 
mission to Damascus, and under the burning Syr- 
ian sun was stricken to the earth with what any 
modern physician of intelligence, had he been con- 
sulted, would have considered a severe coup de 
soleil, or sunstroke. Or it might have been a 
thunder bolt—literally “struck by lightning.” Sci- 
entific writers are found in abundance to argue 
both theories; the weight, however, seems to be 
in favor of the “ strike of the sun.” Practically it 
matters little which it was, or whether God took 
that method for his conversion, or did not. In 
either case the effects would have been the same 
— viz., to produce such a change in the arrange- 
ment of his brain atoms that the mind thereafter 
manifested itself in many respects in an exactly 354 
The Laws of Heredity. 
opposite manner, as both accidents have done 
since more than once. 
Prof. Syme, of Edinburgh, in his excellent work 
on “Surgery,” speaking of injuries to the brain, 
says, “ Sometimes the character or disposition of the 
individual is observed to be changed.” Prof. Gross, 
already referred to, in his work on “ Surgery ”( Vol. 
II.) makes a similar statement, and gives a case in 
point. Thus showing clearly that the character, 
disposition, etc., is due to the manner in which the 
brain is constructed, and in order to change the 
character, etc., sufficient power from some source 
must be brought to bear upon the brain mass 
itself, which by no means could be done at will. 
It is true, that we frequently see men possessing 
a strong disposition toward wrong doing disuaded 
from such a course, and persuaded to follow one 
of right; but such persons have a will-power 
stronger than the passion that impelled them to- 
ward the wrong, or they don’t succeed. Now, 
when the will is stronger than the tendency to do 
wrong, if sufficient inducement be held out, while 
it lasts the individual will stand guard over The Laws of Heredity. 
355 
the appetite or passion, and keep it in subjection; 
but if the inducement be removed from any cause, 
the will ceases its vigilance, and the man straight- 
way loses his grip and “ backslides.” The will 
exercises its power under inducements, while 
appetite, the result of natural construction, re- 
quires no such stimulant. 
This fact is apparent in the cases of many so- 
called reformed men, who, as an inducement to 
abandon some vice,— say, strong drink,— are 
offered some lucrative public office. Here the 
inducement is strong enough to keep the will con- 
stantly on guard, and being fortunately stronger 
than the appetite, will succeed. 
But a vast number do not, and cannot, succeed; 
they will fall, sooner or later, let the inducement 
be what it may, and in the end miserably perish. 
Of the three classes into which I divided men 
in a former chapter, only one requires our watch- 
ful care. Those who were born absolutely free 
from appetites or passions are positively safe, 
come what may. They cannot be made drunkards 
any more than they can be made lovers of carbon 356 
The Laws of Heredity. 
oil as a drink. The class styled moderate 
drinkers will remain so until the end; so the last 
class, or those whose appetites exceed their wills, 
can only be helped to rise as often as they fall. 
But for the future generations there is no excuse, 
as they need not be born with appetites that cannot 
be controlled. Let the doomed ones of to-day be 
held up as a warning to the coming ones of to- 
morrow. 
We have been taught, from our youth up, a 
doctrine which surely has been a hindrance to 
any true or permanent advancement in the eleva- 
tion and salvation of man from his sins. We 
have been taught that sin and evil, and all the 
misfortunes of life, were due to the fact that some 
six thousand years ago the father of the human 
race was created a perfect being from the Al- 
mighty’s hand, but being sorely tempted, fell, and 
thereby brought upon all who have since followed 
him, all the evils and misfortunes of life. In the 
name of science and common sense we can repu- 
diate such a doctrine to day, and exonerate 
“ Father Adam ” from such cruel injustice. The Laws of Heredity. 
357 
As before mentioned, the doctrine of Calvinism 
no doubt had its origin in the observation of he- 
reditary descent, as seen by that keen observer, 
John Calvin. Knowing nothing of science, or of 
the laws governing natural phenomena, he still 
saw a vast multitude bom into the world who, 
from their very cradles, were full of all manner of 
wickedness, which was a part of their very being, 
while a few apparently came as angels, so natu- 
rally good did they appear. Now, there was ob- 
served by him to be those who were sinners and 
saints before they had arrived at an age when 
such might have been learned from contact with 
the world; and knowing no other reason, still 
wishing as a religious teacher to account for it in 
some way, came to the conclusion that God had 
chosen or elected them before they were conceived; 
yea, “before the foundation of the world,’1—some 
to life and happiness, and some to death and misery. 
Or who (according to the “Westminster Confes- 
sion of Faith”) has, for the manifestation of His 
glory, predestined some men and angels unto 
everlasting life, and foreordained others to ever- 358 
The Laws of Heredity. 
lasting death, to the praise of his glorious justice.” 
That such a doctrine, bearing upon its face the 
manifest stamp of cruel injustice, unworthy a 
human tyrant, much less that of a God and father 
of all men, should lead to egotism and self-right- 
eousness on the one hand, or fatalism or despair 
on the other, need surprise no one; for the person 
who felt no inclination to do serious wrong 
was assured of his “election to everlasting life,” 
come what would, while the poor unfortunate to 
whom it was easier to do evil than good, was 
equally assured that he was “ elected to everlast- 
ing damnation,” “ according to the unchangeable 
decrees of God.” This perplexing question has 
ever been a mystery until science came forward 
with a rational explanation. 
Still, long before, it was recognized as a horrible 
libel upon the “Father of Mercies,” and was 
rejected by every generous heart, except those 
hopelessly ensnared in the meshes of creed and 
dogmas. 
We have seen the opinion the church entertains 
concerning this great matter of evil in the world. The Laws of Heredity. 
359 
Let us look for a moment at the opinion science 
has formed. 
Science, standing on the tower of observation, 
looks for the causes of effects witnessed, declares 
that there is a certain arrangement of material 
atoms constituting the human brain, which, when 
the mind manifests itself through this arrange- 
ment, appears to the external world in various 
ways. This wonderful arrangement, the encepha- 
lon or brain, has been found to be divided into a 
number of great compartments, and these subdi- 
vided again into numerous waves or convolutions. 
Now, in one convolution or brain wave the 
arrangement is such that when the atoms are 
made to vibrate by this force called the mind, the 
result of the vibration, or mental manifestation, 
through this special convolution is — say, reason. 
Through another convolution the arrangement of 
atoms is such that a similar vibration, or mental 
manifestation, appears as memory; through an- 
other, fear is excited; another, anger; another, 
mirth is provoked; another, sorrow is displayed; 
another, sensual thoughts and desires are pro-  The Laws of Heredity. 
360 
duced; another, desire for food, or drink, etc., 
etc.; and so on, through the entire list, every fac- 
ulty, organ, etc., having a convolution or brain 
wave so arranged that when the mental forces act 
upon it the effects witnessed are such as above 
indicated. 
A wave of light falling upon the tympanum, or 
ear drum, has no effect upon the sense of hearing, 
or a second wave upon the eye, no effect upon the 
sense of sight. So, the force that would act upon 
the convolution where memory resides, excites it 
alone to produce the phenomena of memory, with- 
out affecting at all the arrangement for reason, 
will, or any other. 
As before noted, there is no doubt whatever, 
that every trait, faculty, characteristic, appetite or 
passion, whether for good or bad, but has a special 
arrangement of its own, and resides in one of the 
brain convolutions. It is unnecessary here to re- 
peat the proof of this fact, already enlarged upon in 
a former chapter. So, then, as science sees it, the 
different convolutions of the brain represent what 
has been known as the good and evil man, and The Laws of Heredity. 
361 
according to their arrangement is he fortunate or 
unfortunate in this life. It is clear, then, that evil is 
as natural an element as good, as the one can be 
changed into the other by simply altering the ar- 
rangement of the portion of the brain from which 
the propensity arises. For example: St. Paul’s 
bad nature was changed by the accident, perhaps, 
of a sunstroke into a good one; while in the case 
mentioned by Prof. Gross a tumor changed a 
good and virtuous man into a licentious one. 
We have also seen that the strength of a given 
faculty bears a constant relation to the size of the 
brain convolution from which it arises, and also 
that the relative size of the convolutions are de- 
termined at birth, when the die for the future is 
cast. 
Now, as there is a cause for everything, there 
must be a cause for these convolutions appearing 
as they do in the first place, as well as some ap- 
pearing small and weak, while others are power- 
ful and large. We have seen, also, that in the 
original construction of a child, the material atoms 
are deposited in their proper places to form each 362 
The Laws of Heredity. 
organ of the body, just as the same matter exists 
already in the maternal body, and that when any 
deviation occurs, it is the result of the action of 
that powerful force,—the maternal mind. For 
example: In the case of Charles Kingsley, already 
mentioned, the mother of this gifted man, during 
the period of his foetal nascency, for some reason 
became a perfect enthusiast about the scenery 
surrounding her home, and constituted herself an 
artist, in order to reproduce it upon canvas. 
Now, the excitement from that particular portion 
or convolution of her brain, through the nerve 
communicating with the corresponding one in the 
forming fcetus, caused an increased amount of 
matter to be deposited there, which produced, as 
a permanent, organic faculty in the child, what 
was only a temporary one with the mother. And 
thus it is with any other faculty, appetite or pas- 
sion, either good or bad. 
The body is now pretty generally regarded by 
physiologists as being made up of units, each sep- 
arate, distinct, and, in a measure, independent of 
the other, which accounts for the large develop- The Laws of Heredity. 
363 
ment of some portions of it to the exclusion of 
others, and, also, for certain convolutions of the 
brain, in which reside certain faculties, etc. 
It has been shown, beyond a reasonable doubt, 
that if a powerful impression be made upon the 
maternal mind, in any special direction, during 
the period of original construction of an infant, 
and that impression retained sufficiently long, the 
same kind of impression, precisely, would be made 
upon the child (in the manner already described), 
which would be permanent, and last throughout 
its life. 
Suppose a mother, at this period, seeks low, 
base, unworthy society, reads sensual literature, 
and delights in voluptuous scenes and licentious 
practices; the child she bears will as surely be a 
libertine, if a male, or a wanton, if a female, as it 
is sure to be born. But suppose the thoughts and 
aspirations are pure, holy, and altogether good, 
then will be born, as surely, a Philip Henry,—a 
saint. 
There are all kinds of maternal minds. Minds 
that can have produced upon them every kind of 364 
The Laws of Heredity. 
impression, from the most criminal to the most 
heavenly; and thus it is that we observe so wide 
a range of characters in this world. 
It is now clear, that every variation or change 
in the human being, be it mental, moral or phys- 
ical, is due simply to the kind and arrangement 
of the material substance out of which the body is 
constructed. If the deviation from the normal 
standard be in the brain, we see a mental or 
moral difference produced, but if in the body else- 
where, a physical defect, deficiency or monstrosity 
is the result. 
Attention was also directed to the liability to 
transmission of hideous physical impressions upon 
the mind of a mother, resulting in deformity and 
monstrosity in the offspring. 
If enciente women, knowing the danger to their 
offspring which may arise from the sight of re- 
pulsive objects, such as are so often placed on ex- 
hibition in various shows, etc., will willingly invite 
such danger by visiting at such periods museums 
and kindred places, then the blame can only rest 
with themselves for their folly. But all street ex- The Laws of Heredity. 
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- 366 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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 
physical frames are merely “ delicate,” insuffi- 
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 vinomoniacs, 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 ph}rsical 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. 
371 
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 vinomaniac. 
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 372 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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, 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 in the 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 is in 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  The Laws of Heredity. 
374 
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 now 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 male parent, the father, and for the 
very obvious reason that his share in the genesis 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 
relationship to the wife the husband does, pos- 
sesses, or should possess, a greater influence over 
her than any other, and the descent from him of 
anything will be in an exact proportion to the im- 
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 376 
The Laws of Heredity. 
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. When a 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 oj Heredity. 
377 
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. 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. 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. 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 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 382 
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, 
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 us see 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 The Laws of Heredity. 
383 
needful, but it is through them that we are 
brought into communion with the Infinite mind, 
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 
that essence of divinity possessed by every soul. 
THE END.