quotes9 an anonymous correspondent from the island of Bermuda, which "shows the usual consequence of island life." He writes: "In some of the parishes (Somerset and Paget chiefly) there has been much intermarriage, not only with cousins but with double first cousins in several cases. Intermarriage has chiefly caused weakness of character leading to drink, not lack of brains or a certain amount of physical strength, but a very inert and lazy disposition."
It is difficult to believe that anyone who has lived in the tropics could have written this except as a practical joke. Those who have resided in the warmer parts of the world know, by observation if not by experience, that a "weakness of character leading to drink" and "an inert and lazy disposition" are by no means the prerogatives of the inbred.
If one is going to credit consanguineous marriage with these evil results, what can one say when evil results fail to follow?
What about Smith's Island, off the coast of Maryland, where all the inhabitants are said to be interrelated, and where a physician who lived in the community for three years failed to find among the 700 persons a single case of idiocy, insanity, epilepsy or congenital deafness?
What about the community of Batz, on the coast of France, where Voisin found five marriages of first cousins and thirty-one of second cousins, without a single case of mental defect, congenital deafness, albinism, retinitis pigmentosa or malformation? The population was 3,000, all of whom were said to be interrelated.
What about Cape Cod, whose natives are known throughout New England for their ability? "At a recent visit to the Congregational Sunday-School," says a student, "I noticed all officers, many teachers, organist, ex-superintendent, and pastor's wife all Dyers. A lady at Truro united in herself four quarters Dyer, father, mother and both grandmothers Dyers."