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TheRrstNoble Eugenic Baby- NowWhat !
The Easiest Part of Our American
Ufuchess of Roxburghe's Interesting
Experiment Over' Here Jlre Her
Unique
Future
aSSSSBBBBssr iHrA. Mr
AUL tha world naturally takes a sympathetic Interest
In the long and remarkable efforts of the American
Dtichcss of Rbxbnrgbe to produce a male heir to
her husband' duke&am. '
The Duchess planned in the first place ta have a son,
and In tlia, seaona ta bring Mm Hp on modern, strictly
eugenlo &rclpl, so that he might become as nearly,
perfect as (passible, physically and mentally, and a eredlt
to the ancient title which he will Inherit frost hk father
and the great-foriaae of tH,m,m -whUA.ke will in
herit from his aether.
The Duchess, who was Mia May Ooelet, laughter f
the late Ogdea, Scxlt, t New York, was married is the
pake la 18081 She' ha, tSeretore, speat tea years WaX
lag lor the fulfilment of she first part o her piaa. It is
ald that she eon mil ted cbs seleerated Professer flntiwik.
Jtf Yleaaa, ia order to seeere the birth &t a son. la as
Jerdanoe with his wsH-kaewa. theories, she ssstaiaad
from sugar aad other artktes ef diet, the prsseaee ef
which In the mower's sytfUm he believes to aid ia the
roducUo& of fessal ehrWcsa.
Ths moat distinguished modern biologists, however,
poinding Professor Jaeques Loeb, declare that it is Im
possible to control the production of sex. The paternal
elements, they say, always contain germs of both male
and female characters, and it Is eatbely a matter of
-accident which of the two oooapllsb: the final tertlll
'Mtlon. In aay aass, th Daefcess, !a ssoaria the birth a
son, mast he regarded ailMTiafaehleved aaly the easier
part of asr great task. T bring ap the sea of a Duke
ef Hoxkarafea aad a Oaelet U ha eagealeally perfect will
he as tfJeK aa aadertakteg ia H Use as it is poeeih!
to oaseiv. "
Zugeaies. or the scte?e t afsdatag fiaa
race, has re-caatly bsee brengat e sewsthlag "
approaehMg aa asaat seieaee, aaiefy
through the stady of heredity,
Now, la- order to lavs a perfeet
ehlld, the two parents mast first ef
all be In psrfeet physical and Ren
tal health. The Roxburgh baby
nearly fulfils this condition, slnoo
the Duke is a good physical speak
men, and the Duchess, though slight
and delicate, la apparently la good
health.
"It Is in 'dealing with earlier he
redltary characteristics that the
Duchess will meet with the greatest
and wellnfgh hopeless difficulties.
The science of heredity teaches the
law of th9 alternation of genera
tions, whereby the offspring re
sembles a mora remote ancestor ia
the direct line, the alteration be
tag In regular or Irregular rhythm;.
According to this law It Is necessary,
In order to be eugentcally perfect, that a baby should
havo perfect ancestors for many generations past,
ilnce the evil qualities ct a long past generation may
it any time crop out in full force In a new generation.
Tho prospect of what may happen to a Roxburghe
baby under this law is simply appalling. Tho Roxburghe
mcestry begins In the Middle Age wjth red-handed free
booters of the Scottish border, who delighted In surprls
lng their neighbors by night and slaughtering them In
their beds. All the most brutal elements ot the Middle
Ages are represented In these border families, such as
the Kers of Cessford, who-were the original ancestors
pf the Duke of Roxburgh.
As the family rises in Importance, a more highly da
reloped sensuality Is added to the earlier elements ot
brutality. The first Earl ot Roxburghe took an Import
' )nt part in the drama ot Intrigue and assassination that
jiarked tho tragic reign of Mary Qaeen ot Scots, and
made his fortune by betraying her,
"From that time the Rozburghes were in the highest
rank ot the British aristocracy. We find the Earl of
Roxburghe of the time, ot Charles II. a favorite compan
ion ot that king. He revelled In the extraordinarily
Itcentkras court IK of the Restoration, when the drama
eached a pKch ot ehamelessness that mast make our
present ''white Slavs" plays seem modest by comparison.
Re spent his days and nights in carousing with the
nwrry king and his favoi.es, Nell Qwynn, Barbara
YUUars, Seebettec aad. tha rest of th.
Many alarming elements enter into tae
Duke's ancestry besides . those traceable to the
direct line. Through his -mother he is a de
scendant of the famous. Duke of Marlborough,
who founded his fortune by blackmailing a
king's mistress, by profiting by his sister's dis
honor, and by betraying All his employers.
Therefore, It seems that a Roxbnrghe bah?,
evea If reared with the utmost physical aa&
moral precautions, may unexpectedly develop
the bloodthirsty temper, et a mediaeval border brar
the morals of a Restoration courtesan, the gross. apt
tit as ot a Falstaff, the capacity for duplicity aad la"
trlgue ot aa Elizabethan, statesman, and the bibulous
tendencies ot an eighteenth ceatury "three hot Us
squire." " ,
The Duchess may give her son all the physical sur-
roundlnga necessary for perfect development. He wll
live largely in the open air. He will run about wUa
sare reet, wearing clothing very loose at the
asek and waist Ho will sleep in a hammock
when he is very young, because that
most closely corresponds to pre-natal
conditions.
The house in which be lives
will be sterilised and per
fectly ventilated.. Ha
yBSiM&iiHaSBsl
"What will k.Vwka tkasa fktMl f h KsmsnirgK vtlmhiA
M aaeeitors wk e4lm Oiak teU in sW hsJsa thraJUOieriilHary WwXnessT
How Potatoes Poison You
TUB close Investigation being made Into
tho poisons to be found in various foods
of common consumption has not left
the humble potato entirely scatheless. "The
poisoaous alkaloid and glucocold known as
eolanlne," Is declared by tho London Lancet
to ttesa normal constituent of the healthy po
tato, although In a email .degree. When po
tatoes are beginning to sprout, however, this
alkaloid Increases rapidly, and In tho skiaof
the toothsome tuber especially, it may be
found In auant!tios that are likely to provo
dangerous.
The poison ot tho potato, like the poieoa
ot the peanut is one: to which comparatively
few people are susceptible, but to those, very
small QU&tltles set up a groat deal of dis
turbance. It not infrequently happens that
Illnesses of unknown origin come' from the
sating of foods which are healthful to ths
majority of people, but which have -a direct
toxic effect oa other?, ,
Oa the ffttkr hand, this particular, alkaloid
is valuable 8 a sedative In cases of nervous
P1bs and it is alto kslpfal in keeping dowa
fever. To any oae suffering from aeuralgta,
a plentiful use of potatoes is helpful In sooth
ing the nerves and quieting the pain, mora
bo; frequently, than the same drug admin
istered in a concentrated form, because It Is
more ,ovenly absorbed by the body whaa
taken as a part of the regular food sapply.
Asldo from this ons injurious factor, the
potato passes tho test of examination well
No such accusation has ba lodged against
it as has boon directed upoa the turnip and
the Justly suspected cereals, especially corn
aad rye, aad it haB been declared to be ovaa
more nutritious than was eommealy sup
posed. If, howover, a pudding is ' to be
Judged by tha eating s It, sursly the potato
- aeds to do svsthlsg la self-defence hut point
to ths race which dines
and rest Ms eass.
Tha Duchess of Roxburghe (May Goelet, of New York), tha Mother
' of ilie First Noble Eugenic Baby.
will live almost entirely on cereals and vegetables
while he is a child, because they are the b98t food
for growing tissues.
His mother took many precautions before his birth.
He was born in a specially constructed hyglenlo apart
ment In Chesterfield House, London. The great event
did not take place at Floors Castle, the Roxbnrghe ances
tral seat, because the surroundings might have tended
to revive ancestral tendencies. His mother slept in the
open air as much as possible before his birth.
The physical part ot his training may be carried out
perfectly, and yet It may be rendered entirely worthless
by the outcropping ot old ovil ancestral characteristic.
His first participation in a game of football may revive
tho brutal temper of tha border baron, The sight of a
pretty figure when he" 1$ a growing youth may bring
forth all the sensual characteristics ot the Restoration
profligates. A glass ot wine may awake the old tippling
habits of many generations.
The young heir enjoys the title of Marquis of Bow
mont from birth. He must, ot course, be taken before long
to his ancestral home, Floors Castle. The sight ot this
magnificent house, with its family portraits' and armor;
tho deference with which ho will be treated; the adula
tion of the tenantry, and the general luxury ot bls'sur
roundlngs, must prove strong factors in reawakening the
old,- sinful, self-indulgent tendencies Inherited from
twenty generations.
The ilmoat inevitable pull toward luxurious Hying in
IMBBSsstsssBBsgvAjtsttttM'Lv. ..-,., . f.,v, Htto.,,... .gVvi . .BPMBsFWsl,
meet freely
one who la a
child of dukes
and millionaires
will doubtless be
one of tho greatest
obstacles to tha
Duchess's ambition
to raise a eugenl
cally perfect eon.
The young noblomaa's
education will be directed
so as to hold In check tha
evil ancestrfal tendencies
which are most likely to
recur. Some ot bis ances
tors havo had good qualities, and his train
ers will endeavor to bring these out.
Many Interesting facts In heredity have recently been
deduced from the observation of animals. It has been
found that certain Important qualities are transmitted
to offspring by one sex alone. Thus it has been found
tbat high egg yield In hens and good milking yield In
cows are qualities transmitted by the male parent only.-
It Is argued that analogous rules must apply with
regard to human beings. If the Duchees ot Roxburghe
know which important qualities are transmitted through
one box alone, she would havo a better prospect ot de
veloping those qualities in her son; but, unfortunately,
ecjanco has not yet established the necessary rules with
sufficient clearness in the human rsoe.
The facta and arguments aivon here nrova that a tik
nspreaaely interesting, but of almost aaparalleled diffi
culty, lies bsfore the Duchess of Roxburghe la trying to
Copyright, 1913. by the btv einany. Clrfi&l TMtAla IUtrh.t KMorreA-
mske a eugenlcally perfect child of her son.
U is an Interesting tact that had the Duchess ot Rox
burghe never succeeded n producing an heir the title
would still have descended to the child of an American
girl. Her husband's next brother, Lord Alastalr Innos
Ker married Miss Anne Breese, daughter of W. L.
Breese of New York. She has two handsome eons who
despite the absence ot the litest eugenic precautions
seem well qu&llfled to become exceptionally fine dukos.
In aplto ot the prospective loss of a dukedom for her
self and hor children, Lady Alsasalr Inn'es Ker ex
pressed a kindly hope that her sister-in-law might suc
ceeded in producing a son, b&cause she has so much
more money to leave to the little duke. Tha Duchass
inherited the largest section ot New York real estate
possessed by anyone outside the As tor family.
