" No more can we hold
fast to the ideal, which we believe to be utopian, that "Strength should
only marry strength." There are cases where such glittering generalities
are futile; where the race and the individual would both be gainers by a
marriage which produced children that had the family taint, but either
latent or not to a degree serious enough to counteract their value. The
individual must decide for himself with especial reference to the trait
in question and his other compensating qualities; but he should at least
have the benefit of whatever light genetics can offer him, before he
makes his decision.
For the sake of a concrete example, let us suppose that a man, in whose
ancestry tuberculosis has appeared for several generations, is
contemplating marriage. The first thing to be remembered is that if he
marries a woman with a similar family history, their children will have
a double inheritance of the taint, and are almost certain to be affected
unless living in an especially favorable region. It would _in most
cases_ be best that no children result from such a marriage.
On the other hand, the man may marry a woman in whose family consumption
is unknown. The chance of their children being tuberculous will not be
great; nevertheless the taint, the diathesis, will be passed on just the
same, although concealed, possibly to appear at some future time.
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