Newspaper Page Text
Why Scientists Are Eager to Breed* Eugenic Baby,
Remarkable Facts Already Discovered That Have Prompted
Them to Offer Prizes to the Man and Woman
Who Will Marry Each Other and Make a
Practical Test of Eugenics
SINCE the announcement in this news
paper of the scientific project to bring
about a perfect eugenic marriage, very
widespread interest in the subject has' been
shown. For instance, the Mount Morris Bap
tist Church, of Harlem, has started regular
classes in eugenics, and similar evidences of
interest are reported in many quarters.
The Sociological Fund Committee of the
Medical Review of Reviews, of New York, in
cluding many well-known scientists and so
cial workers, has offered prizes to the eu
genical'ly ideal man and woman who will
marry. A prize of SSOO will be given when
the pair of successful candidates marry, and
a further prize of SSOO when the first baby
is born.
This newspaper invites its readers who
wish to enter this contest to send in their
photographs, together with their physical
measurements, weight, state of their health,
health of their parents, grandparents and
ancestors, and such other information as
they wish to give. The photographs and in
formation will be turned over to the com
mittee.
Eugenics, the science of breeding a fine
race, is receiving practical'attention in Eng
land as well as America. London is greatly
concerned over the announcement that Mr.
and Mrs. Harold Boice have produced a
eugenic baby. Mr. Boice is a well-known
writer.
It does not seem that in this case the par
ents could have satisfied the requirements of
the American committee. The mother in par
ticular is not an unusually fine physical speci
men. Before the baby’s birth the advice of
Professor Metchnikoff and Dr. C. W. Saleeby,
two distinguished scientists, was obtained
concerning the best surroundings for mother
and child. This, of course, was a wise
measure.
Mr. Jerome K. Jerome, the well
kno ■ n humorist and author of
“Three in a Boat,” and Mr. H. G.
V’ i' , th:' fantastic scientific novel
arc induced to talk with the
■■ ■ recucntly in order that the
b :i- torn might have a strong
cf humor, imagination and a
predilection for science. This was
. J-.;5.-nt conceit, but quite unsci
. • , for there is no justification
.or t.'.e popular belief that a mental
in. pcession received by the mother
will produce a corresponding mental
development in the child. For in
stance, it is a mistake to suppose
that because the mother listens to
music the child will have a love for
music.
The London eugenic baby proved to be a
girl, and has been happily named Eugenette.
She is a very fair physical specimen, well
above the average of English babies.
One of the most interesting facts in the
science of eugenics, as taught by Dr. Charles
B. Davenport, the leading American author
ity, is that we inherit each of the traits in
our mental and physical make up from one
ancestor. If we have curly hair, it comes
entire from some original ancestor, and is
not a mixture of the hair of all our an
cestors. The many facts discovered proving
that traits valuable to society may be trans
mitted through eugenic marriages have led
the New York committee to offer these prizes.
Dr. Davenport has shown how the traits
of a very remarkable woman named Eliza
beth Tuttle, married over 200 years ago,
have reappeared in scores of her descend
ants, making them the most distinguished
figures in American life. She was of “great
beauty, commanding appearance, strong
will, extreme intellectual vigor, of mental
grasp akin to rapacity.”
On November 19, 1667, she married Rich
ard Edwards, of Hartford, Conn., a very
handsome man and an able lawyer. In 1691
Edwards divorced her for infidelity and other
misconduct. Evil traits were in her blood,
for one of her sisters murdered her own
son and a brother murdered his sister, but
o iag to a favorable marriage only the bril
liani mental gifts of Elizabeth Tuttle were
tzar emitted to her descendants.
.01' Elizabeth Tuttle and Richard Edwards
ti.r only son was Timothy Edwards, who
took the degrees of bachelor and master of
:.rt:> simultaneously at Harvard. Os his
c’cvan children the only son was Jonathan
Edwards, the theologian, one of the worldts
pre. t intellects and presidefit of Princeton
College. Among the descendants of Jonathan
Edwards have been Jonathan Edwards, Jr.,
president of Union College; Timothy Dwight,
president of Yale; Sereno Edwards Dwight,
president of Hamilton College; General
Daniel Tyler, of the Civil War; Timothy
Dwight the second, president of Yale; Theo
dore William Dwight, founder of the Colum
bia University Law School; Henrietta Whit
ney, who assisted her husband, Eli Whitney,
to invent the cotton gin; Merrill Edwards
Gates, president of Amherst College; Cath-*
erine Maria Sedgwick, the well-known writer;
Charles Sedgwick Minot, the biologist, and
Winston Churchill, the author. •
Dr. Davenport mentions two descendants
of Elizabeth Tuttle—Pierrepont Edwards
and Vice-President Aaron Burr—as having
inherited some of her evil traits as well as
her good ones.
The four daughters of Elizabeth Tuttle —
Abigail Stoughton, Elisabeth Deming, Ann
Richardson and Mabel Bigelow’—were alt
women of character and great influence, but
women of those dttys are rarely credited by
history with all they did. They have left,
many distinguished descendants. Among them
have been- Robert Treat Paine, signer of the
Declaration of Independence; the Fairbanks
brothers, makers of scales; Morrison R.
Waite, Chief Justice of the United States;
Melville M. Bigelow, the law author; Profes
sor Marvin R. Vincent, a distinguished theo
logian of Columbia University; General
Ulysses S. Grant, and President Grover
Cleveland.
Two women of this descent married noble
men and became the Marchioness of Donegal
and the Marchioness Apezteguia.
“Thus,” says Dr. Davenport, “two Presi
dents, the wife of a third and a Vice-Presi
dent trace back their origin to the germ
plasm from which (in part) Elizabeth Tuttle
was also derived, but of which it must never
be forgotten she was not the author. Never-
An Example of How Worthy and Desirable Human
Characteristics Can _ X.7A'? '/A fA'F' <~. r»
Be Transmitted to ''' '/ >
Future Generations. s s's'' 'r / / jij&Ll , v''\ ' '
, - / /Ts \ \\\<
_ " -' - .'S ' s / / I I IKT \ > x\ '
.< ' s'-',' / '' / > 1 \ \\' xx v
z'/ / / / ;i\ \\.
" ~ 1 ' \ \ \ \ ''s ' s F''*- '*,
A Remarkable Mother of Colonial Days. Mrs. Elizabeth Tuttle Edwards, Who Was Married at Hart
ford. Conn., in 1667, Transmitted Her Fine Qualities to over Thirty-One Distinguished in
Every Walk of Life, Including Jonathan Edwards, the Theologian, President Dwight of Yale, General
U. S. Grant, President Cleveland and Winston Churchill, the Novelist.
theless, bad Elizabeth Tuttle not been this
nation would not occupy the position in cul
ture and learning it now does.”
As evidence that the brilliant qualities were
derived from Elizabeth Tuttle and not from
her husband, Dr. Davenport says that of the
latter’s descendants by his second marriage
none of them ever rose above mediocrity.
Dr. Davenport has pointed out that in
order that the good qualities of Elizabeth
Tuttle might be preserved it was necessary
that her descendants should marry persons
physically and mentally sound. If they had
married defective persons the good qualities
might have been swamped. Dr. Davenport
argues that in order to preserve the un
doubtedly fine mental qualities of many of the
old New Englanders it is desirable that their
present descendants should make eugenic
marriages. As it is, the old qualities are
liable to be lost through the intermarriage of
closely related persons of feeble physique.
It would be well for the New Englanders of
old stock to marry the vigorous immigrants
recently arrived from Europe. Instead of
complaining that these immigrants are
swamping the old American stock, science
teaches us that they are the best hope of
saving it from extinction.
One of the most striking and peculiar cases
of the inheritance of a physical trait is “the
Bourbon nose.” For over four hundred years
this remarkable type of nose has been among
the most cherished heritages. of the royal
house of Bourbon. To-day the Duke of Orleans
and his family, who represent the French
branch of the house of Bourbon, regard this
peculiar nose as among the most price’ess
of their possessions.
The Bourbon nose is strongly curved at the
bridge, very prominent and very long. The
curve is somewhat Semitic, but the nose is
larger and more prominent than is usual in
that type.
The nose originated, as far as we can
trace it, with King Henry IV., the famous
Henry of Navarre, the most popular king in
French history. The extraordinary long and
prominent nose of this monarch is largely
responsible for the expression of mingled
shrewdness and sensuality that marks his
face.
Every occupant of the French throne, from
Henry IV. down to the unfortunate Louis
XVI., had this pose. The nose came back to
the throne with Louis XVIII., in 1815, and
left it again when Louis Philippe, of the
branch of Bourbon-Orleans was driven out
of France in 1848.
The Duke of Orleans, who represents this
branch, is naturally proud of his nose, for it
appears to be all that is left of the make-up
of his famous ancestor. Most of the duke’s
relatives had it, and one of his uncles, the
Duke de Chartres, was almost a reproduction
of Henry IV.
Here it is interesting to note that a family
well known in New York society has a dis
tinctive nose that has been handed down for
many generations. Mrs. I. Townsend Bur
den’s rather prominent but distinguished
nose is an exact reproduction of that of her
ancestress, Evelyn Byrd, a noted Virginia
belle of Colonial days. All the women of
the family have had this nose, and it has
descended to Mrs. Burden’s two handsome
daughters.
Such little facts as these suggest the pos
sibilities of eugenic science. It is not, of
course, proposed by serious eugenists to per
petuate a particularly distinguished nose or
chin, but that they may be transmitted shows
that more important traits, such as great bod
ily energy or a brilliant mental quality, may
be transmitted.
Those who feel that they have beauty, tal
ent and other fine qualities, are now urged to
transmit them to posterity and save them to
the world. They are asked to do so under
the vigilant eyes of science and under con
ditions that will be extremely instructive to
the whole world.
\
All readers of this page—any man or any
woman—who would like to be selected as the
husband or the wife in the eugenic marriage
may send in a photograph, with name and
address and brief description of their condi
tion of health and such other facts as they
may desire to state. This should be mailed to
EUGENIC MARRIAGE,
P. O. BOX 208,
NEW YORK CITY.
How They Made Noses Out of Arms Four Hundred Years Ago
THE art of grafting a new nose on a human face
is by no means a new marvel of surgery. There
lived in Italy, four hundred years ago, a family
of skilful surgeons who made a specialty of perform
ing this operation for those who had been so un
fortunate as to lose their noses in duels or in some
other way. And ancient medical writings recently
brought to light refer to similar operations having
been performed several centuries earlier than this.
The first Italian sugeons to win fame for their
restoration of noses were named Viqneo, and were
natives of Calabria. They are supposed to have
learned the art from the East Indians, although some
think the Arabs may have been the source of their
knowledge.
Their method was to detach a flap of skin from the
arm, cut it in the form of a nose and apply it to the
stump of the missing or damaged nose. When the
two parts at last grew together they cut off with ad
mirable skill just enough of the skin of the arm to
fashion a new nose, resembling in size and shape the
one their patient had originally possessed.
Although the Vianeos won a wide reputation for
their skill in supplying new noses that were as good
in every way as the ones Nature had originally fur
nished, there were many of their fellow surgeons who
found fault with their methods and charged that their
noses were seriously lacking in durability.
Alexander Benedetti, the anatomist, was one of
these critics, according to Professor John Bethune
Stein, who writes of these early efforts at transplant
ing noses and other parts of the human body, in the
Medical Record. "These artificial noses,” said Bene
detti, "endure with difficulty a hard Winter, and when
first put on it is very necessary to guard against hav
ing them pulled, because they are liable to be pulled
completely off.” Another writer was of the opinion
Copyright, 1913, by the Star Company. Great Britain Right
? I
- ■ II
./• * jBlf w* Tilßt ; a< ■<
t /a, - v J
a| X
■K? I
x ' \ ' * -s.’ 'T* '"'■C**'' fww <Q Hr U*M**t9o & ■ r<r.
// A Irww %
Illi fifth' A 111 All/ -?■ 11l
111 4- •'Jni ! <. w< 4 : ml i 111
II! .JjCz. Jf..,. * w M
\\v //f V’ //
II z /// 11l
Wk ■
A Striking Illustration of How Physical Traits Are Perpetuated.
These Pictures Show the Hereditary "Bourbon Nose,” which Originated with King Henry IV of
France, Born in 1553, and Has Appeared in Every King of France Since Then. I—Henry TV. 2—His
Descendant, Louis XVI. Born Two Hundred Years Later.. 3—The Duke of Orleans, Present Head of
the Family, and Pretender to the Throne. |
that it was better to go without ‘a nose or do with a
mutilated one rather than submit to an operation like
this, which lasted twelve months.
The art of restoring noses attained a high degree
[SV
W - ]
1-4 '4; /* ‘ »
I u i
" ./ft
kjfr k
3 $7 »
•luuJet ...wfcXWjciiiijj lat
jkTFk- VI
» fcuk— ijl-. 7;-
An Illustration from Tagliacozzi’s Curious Old
Book, Showing His Method of Grafting a
Nose from the Skin of the Patient’s Arm.
i Reserved.
A British
“Eugenic
Baby.”
r.ugenette Boice, Daughter of .
and Mrs. Harold Boice, the
Baby Who Is Greatly Interestin,
London Just Now Because She Was
Born and Is Being Raised upon
Eugenic Principles.
of perfection at the hands of Tagliacozzi, another
Italian, who practised during the latter half of the
sixteenth century. This man was really a very skilful
surgeon, but the way he advertised and boasted of
his skill would nowadays hardly be considered eth
ical. In a letter to one of his prospective patients he
gives a long list of persons who, he says, are "almost
more satisfied with their new noses than with those
which they carried before.” And in one of his books
he devotes many pages to citations not only from the
prose writers and the poets, but also from the lives
of the saints to show the importance of having a per
fectly good, serviceable nose.
The method TagliacoZki employed was much th:
same as that used by the Vianeos. He usually loo 1
the skin to form the new nose from the patient's ov.
arm, for he found it extremely difficult to keep . >
persons fastened together for the long time net <
for their skins to grow together. Another ■ ■; <
to the latter method was the curious superst’
which held that if the person from whom tin
was borrowed chanced to die first, the new n
would promptly shrivel up and drop off.
Tagliacozzi was very proud of his ability ami quick
to resent any hint that the noses he supplied >■
not every bit as good as the original one :. tno
nobleman who had lost his nose in a duel had : .
one made by Tagliacozzi, but he could not get up tiia
courage to blow it for fear of tearing it off. To pi'.v
liis patient's fears groundless, the surgeon seized him
by the new nose and pulleh him all around the house.
The novel methods used by Tagliacozzi are de
scribed in a book which he published at Venice in
1597. In order to give the new nose a natural color
he advised the application of very hot water and ex
posure to the sun's rays for several days. He thought
the bile of a turtle the best thing to apply to remove'
all traces of scars after the operation. As for missing
ears and lips this mediaeval surgeon claimed to bet
able to replace them just as well as noses.