A. Marro.Biology and Eugenics.
io%, 43%, and 45%, whilst amongst the septuagenarians the respective pro
portions are 8%, 46%, and 45%. Apart from the small difference of the septua
genarians of the second class, vve find that amongst almost all the aged, septua
genarians or octogenarians, there is a high proportion of parents who were
themselves notable for longevity, which proves the transmission of this capa
city for resistance to the struggle of life from fathers to sons. It must
be noted, however, that in this very energy there is found a risk for the
integrity of the descendants, because the vigour of the individual per
mitting the prolongation of the generative faculty exposes the late off
spring to the risk of degeneration, which can manifest itself by madness or
criminality. Lastly, I have directed my attention to other biological qualities of
children relative to the age of their parents, but the insufficient number of
my observations does not permit me to arrive at present at decisive con
clusions. As regards physical qualities, I have endeavoured to study the relations
which exist between the anomalous characteristics relating specially to
physiognomy and the exterior conformation of the skull of the persons
examined by me with the age of their parents.
I have divided these degenerative characters into two classes, according
as they were congenital or acquired, subdividing the former into atavic
when they reproduced forms of inferior human or bestial type, such as the
exaggeration of the frontal sinuses, the torus occipitalis, ears with the
projecting tubercles of Darwin, the receding forehead, or else atypical forms
due to morbid influences of different kinds, and the results of errors of
development of the foetus, such as the cretinoid type, congenital goitre,
deviations of the nose and congenital strabismus, plagiocephaly, hydro
cephalus, bad formation of the teeth. A study which I have made in this
matter has shown me that those who show a majority of abnormal congenital
atavic characters are descended from alcoholic or aged parents, whilst the
ancestors of those who presented rather abnormal atypical characters
reckoned a greater number of alcoholics, of insane and epileptics.
It now remains for us to examine the age of the mother. In adopting the
same criterion as that adopted for the men, I reduce the limit of maturity to
21 years, the limit fixed by the laws when the consent of the parents is not
necessary for marriage, the earlier development of the woman as compared
to the man being a physiological fact. The age of decline is also marked
by a corresponding precocity. Now, in noting the proportion given by the
mothers of persons examined by me, according to their respective age, in the
three periods of immaturity, perfect development (which I have perhaps
exaggerated in supposing it equal to the duration of that of the man), and
of the decline (which with them must commence at 37 years), we find the
following result:—k 2
