Nevertheless, we are strongly of the opinion that beauty of face is now
too highly valued, as a standard of sexual selection.[101]
Good health in a mate is a qualification which any sensible man or woman
will require, and for which a "marriage certificate" is in most cases
quite unnecessary.[102] What other physical standard is there that
should be given weight?
Alexander Graham Bell has lately been emphasizing the importance of
longevity in this connection, and in our judgment he has thereby opened
up a very fruitful field for education. It goes without saying that
anyone would prefer to marry a partner with a good constitution. "How
can we find a test of a good, sound constitution?" Dr. Bell asked in a
recent lecture. "I think we could find it in the duration of life in a
family. Take a family in which a large proportion live to old age with
unimpaired faculties. There you know is a good constitution in an
inheritable form. On the other hand, you will find a family in which a
large proportion die at birth and in which there are relatively few
people who live to extreme old age. There has developed an hereditary
weakness of constitution. Longevity is a guide to constitution." Not
only does it show that one's vital organs are in good running order, but
it is probably the only means now available of indicating strains which
are resistant to zymotic disease.
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