The Family and the Nation. By William C. D. Whetham
and Catherine D. Whetham. (Longmans and Co. 7s. 6d. net.)—Mr. and Mrs. Whetham discuss the question of heredity under various aspects. They deal also with the subject of the diminished birth- rate in the upper and upper middle class. We cannot follow their argument. Heredity is the most difficult and obscure of subjects. What could be more perplexing than the result of inquiries into the effect of alcoholism in parents on their offspring ? As to the fall in the birth-rate, can we indict a class any more than we can indict a nation ? One curious fact is the fluctuation of opinion on this matter. The writer of this notice remembers reading an article in one of the quarterlies in which this same result was looked forward to with hope. As culture increased the birth-rate would diminish, and we should be delivered from the danger of an overcrowded population. A more practical proposal is the segregation of the feeble-minded. We quite appreciate the disinterested zeal which has inspired the authors of this book and the industry with which they have done their work.
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