There was, indeed, a
considerable amount of consanguineous marriage involved. When the amount
of inbreeding represented by these blind boys was measured, it proved to
be almost identical with the amount represented by the present Kaiser of
Germany.[93]
We are unable to see in such a history as that of Hopetown, Bahama
Islands, any evidence that consanguineous marriage necessarily results
in degeneracy. Dr. Penrose himself points to a potent factor when he
says of his chart in another connection: "It will be noticed that only a
few of the descendants of Widow Malone [the first settler at Hopetown]
are indicated as having married. By this it is not meant that the others
did not marry; many of them did, but they moved away and settled
elsewhere, and in no way affected the future history of the settlement
of Hopetown."
By moving away, it appears to us, they did very decidedly affect the
future history of Hopetown. Who are the emigrants? Might they not have
been the more enterprising and intelligent, the physically and mentally
superior of the population, who rebelled at the limited opportunities of
their little village, and went to seek a fortune in some broader field?
Did not the best go in general; the misfits, the defectives, stay behind
to propagate? Emigration in such a case would have the same effect as
war; it would drain off the best stock and leave the weaklings to stay
home and propagate their kind.
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