"The so-called scientific method of the eugenists is radically faulty, in spite of the rich display of colored plates, stained tables, glittering biological speculations, brilliant mathematical formulæ and complicated statistical calculations. The eugenists pile Ossa on Pelion of facts by the simple method of enumeration which Bacon and the thinkers coming after him have long ago condemned as puerile and futile. From the savage's belief in sympathetic, imitative magic with its consequent superstitions, omens, and taboos down to the articles of faith and dogmas of the eugenists we find the same faulty, primitive thought, guided by the puerile, imbecile method of simple enumeration, and controlled by the wisdom of the logical post hoc, ergo propter hoc."
Now if resemblance between parent and offspring were, as Dr. Sidis supposes, the only evidence of inheritance of mental traits which the eugenist can produce, his case would indeed be weak. And it is perfectly true that "evidence" of this kind has sometimes been advanced as sufficient by geneticists who should have known better. But this is not the real evidence which genetics offers. The evidence is of numerous kinds, and several lines might be destroyed without impairing the validity of the remainder. It is impossible to review the whole body of evidence here, but some of the various kinds may be indicated, and samples given, even though this involves the necessity of repeating some things we have said in earlier chapters. The reader will then be able to form his own opinion as to whether the geneticists' proofs or the mere assurances of those who have not studied the subject are the more weighty.
- The analogy from breeding experiments. Tame rats, for instance, are very docile; their offspring can be handled without a bit of trouble. The wild rat, on the other hand, is not at all docile.
W. E. Castle, of Harvard University, writes:3 "We have repeatedly mated tame female rats with wild males, the mothers being removed to isolated cages before the birth of the young. These young which had never seen