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9 THE SALT JjAJCE TRIBUNE, SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 5, 1013. jj I e Easiest Part of Our American gdl - J5L :" ! chess of Roxburghe's Interesting Ml . mfS.- Ms. ; ' : . I oeriment Over Here Are Her jgdmA "' ":'-v' - ' . I ILL the world naturally takes a sympathetic Interest In the long and remarkable efforts of the American Duchess of Roxburghe to produce a male heir to usband's dukedom, i Duchess planned In the first place to have a son. a the second to bring him up on modern, strictly ic principles, so that he might become as nearly :t as ipossible, physically and mentally, and a credit ancient title which he will inherit from his fnther he great fortune of $25,000,000 whloh he will In from his mother. Duchess, who was Miss May Goelet, daughter of te Ogden Goelet, of New York, was married to the In 1903. She has, therefore, spent ten years wait r ihe fulfilment of the first part of her plan. It Is tiat she consulted the celebrated Professor Schenk, mna, in order to secure the birth of a son. In ac uce with his well-known theories, she abstained Eugar and other articles of diet, the presence of In the mother's system he belleveB to aid in tbo ction of female children. ! most distinguished modorn biologists, however, lng Professor Jacques Loeb, declare that it Is lm ile to control the production of sex. The paternal nts, they say, always contain germs of both male 2male characters, and It is entirely a matter of snt which of the two nccomplishe- the final fortill- fitlon. In any case, the Duchess, In securing the birth of a Mn, must be regarded as having achieved only the easier rt of her great taBk. To bring up the son of a Duko ''R02cburshe and a Goelet to be eugenically perfect will 'g-as dIfClcult an undertaking in Its line as it is possible llVconcelve. I JjjgepfcB, or the scier of producing a fine liyfo nas recently been brought to something approaching an exact science, chiefly y$$jt rough the study of heredity. s0WM !IKJw. In order to have a perfect yiW-M' Sd the two parents must first of $0$'$00, .ha in perfect physical and men- p V Ml health. The Roxburghe baby tos02$P !(ly fulfils this condition, since 0m Duke la a good physical sped- fSSf? HT'dand tbe Duchess, though, slight Khees will meet with the greatest BbhBHB V WBluiiBh hopeless difficulties. JSP- "donee of heredity teaches the tof the alternation of genera . whereby the offspring re Ibb a more remote ancestor in direct line, the alteration be a regular or Irregular rhythm. mg to this law it Is necessary, tier to be eugenically perfeot, that a baby should perfect ancestors for many generations past, W the evil qualities of a long past generation may toy time crop out in full force in a new generation. 9 prospect of what may happen to a Roxburghe Sunder this law Is simply appalling. The Roxburghe Btry begins in the Middle Ages with red-handed free zers of the Scottish border, who delighted In nurprls- toelr neighbors by night and slaughtering thera in ' teds. All the most brutal elements of the Middle f are represented in these border families, such as ,Ker8 of Cessford, who wore the original ancestor Se Duke of Roxburghe. M the family rises In Importance, a more highly de P'Pefl sensuality Ia added to the earlier elements of Nlty. The first Earl of Roxburghe took an Import 'part in the drama of intrigue and assassination that jftoi the tragic reign of Mary Queen of Scots, and ' JK fortllne b" betraying her. VjBm that time the Roxburghes were in the highest FB of the British aristocracy. We find the Earl of IKDttrghe of the time of Charles II. a favorite compan HRiot that king. He revelled in the extraordinarily (PjttoUB court life of the Restoration, when the drama fled a pitch of shamelesBness that must make ouf fjKnt "white slave" plays seem modest by comparison. IRjJent hlB flaya ailQ nights in carousing with the IKJ king and hR faV01jLeB Nell Gwynn, Barbara Wmi! ' Rochester and the rest of them. Many alarming elements enter into tne '( lM,'t'' m1 Duke's ancestry besides those traceable to the Wm H direct line. Through his mother he is a de- if P iSj scendant of the famous Duke of Marlborough, MM agSWWW JfSj who founded his fortune by blackmailing a SMwMfM king's mistress, by profiting by his sister's dis 0M0h9 honor, -and by betraying all hlB employers. f0SwW ZSh Therefore, it seems that a Roxburghe baby, 'f0fWf even if reared with the utmost physical and U0$mj0$$ moral precautions, may unexpectedly develop IS'l the bloodthirsty temper of a mediaeval border baron, " ''?fJ"f'?J " the morals of a Restoration courtesan, the gross appe. . ? :'. a i& tites of a Falstaff, the capacity for duplicity and in- . ' , pr t' ' trigue of an Elizabethan statesman, and the bibulous ": M'MMW- tendencies of an eighteenth century "throe bottle yWM04Mf0iM sauire-" 0tsti foundings necessary for perfect development. He will live largely In the open air. He will run about with JS& bare feet, wearing clothing very loose at the Mm M when he Is very young, because that most closely corresponds to pre-natal mMM'' , m'MM ns. $fM M' The house in which he lives & WM W will be sterilized and per- 0mMMMl(MW'' . ? . fectly ventUated. He ml' 'm0t.j0 MlW:- &$WM The Ducheos of Roxburghe (May Goelet, of New York), the Mother i W MS. of the First Noble Eugenic Baby. 'fXMw' f " will live almost entirely on cereals and vegetables while he is a child, because they are the beat food for growing tissues. HlB mother took many precautions before his birth. He was born In a specially constructed hygienic apart- ment In Chesterfield House, London. The groat event did not take place at Floors Castle, the Roxburghe ances tral seat, because the surroundings might have tended to revive ancestral tendencies. Ills mother slept In the opon air as much as posslblo before his birth. The physical part of his training may be carried out' perfectly, and yet it may bo rendered entirely worthless by the outcropping of old evil ancestral characteristics. His first participation in a game of football may revive the brutal temper of the border baron. The sight of a pretty figure when ho Is a growing youth may bring forth all the sensual characteristics of the Restoration profligates. A glass of wlno may awake the old tippling habits of many generations. The young heir enjoys the Utlo of Marquis of Dow mont from birth. He must, of course, be taken before long to his ancestral home, Floors Castle. The sight of this magnificent house, with its family portraits and armor; the deference with which ho will bo treated; the adula tlon of the tenantry, and the general luxury of his sur roundings, must prove strong factors In reawakening the old, sinful, self-indulgent tendencies inherited froni twenty generations. Tho almost i.nevitablo pull toward luxurious living in Copyright, J 013 one who is W Mf$M " chnd of dukes m mMi and millionaires l will doubtleshe JMm$SZ one of the greatest felfep obstacles to the Duchess'3 ambition wra.---"- j to raise a eugenl- - ... cally perfect son. XPtM The young nobleman's NjfepS education will be directed so as to hold in check the 'KW ovil ancestrlal tendencies which are most likely to v4w$k recur. Some or his ances- 1 tors have hud good qualities, and his train ers will endeavor to bring these out. Many lntcrcstlsig 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 haB been found Mint high egg yield in hens and good milking yield in cows are qualities transmitted by the male parent only. It is arguod that analogous rules must "apply with regard to human beings. If the Duchess of Roxburghe knew which Important qualities are transmitted through one sex alone, she would have a bettor prospoct of de veloping those qualities in her son; but, unfortunately, Bcience has not yet established the necessary rules with sufficient clearness in the human race. The facts aud arguments glvon hero prove that a task supremely interesting, but of almost unparalleled diffi culty, lies before the Duchess of Roxburghe in trying to , by tho Btar Company, ryvt ..'ltiUa.BJEhis Eeaorved. (What will she do with these ghosts of the bad Roxburghes wicked! ijj old ancestors who claim their toll in the babe through his hereditary instincts? Can the mother protect him, even in his eugenic glass, against them?" How Potatoes Poison You J THE close investigation being made into the poisons to be found In various foods of common consumption has not loft the humble potato entirely scatheless. "The poisonous alkaloid and glucocold known as eolanlne," Is declared by the London Lancet to be a normal constituent of the healthy po tato, although In a small degree. When po tatoes are beginning to sprout, however, this alkaloid increases rapidly, and in the skin of tho toothsome tuber especially, It may bo found In quantities that are likely to prove dangerous. The poison of tho potato, like the poison of tho peanut is one to which comparatively few people aro susceptible, but to those, very small quatities set up a great deal of dis turbance. It not Infrequently happens that illnesses of unknown origin come from the eating of foods which aro healthful to the majority of people, but which havo a dlroct toxic effect on others. On the other hand, this particular alkaloid J I Is valuable as a sedative In cases of nervous pains and It Is also helpful In keeping down I fever. To any one suffering from neuralgia, Jfl a plentiful use of potatoes is helpful in sooth- 11(1 ing the nerves and quieting the pain, more ul so, frequently, than the same drug admin- istered in a concentrated form, because It Is jjjl more evenly absorbed by the body when taken as a part of the regular food supply. ft1 1 Aside from this one injurious factor, the p I potato passes the test of examination well. jl 1 No such accusation has been lodgod against Jj 2 It as has been directed upon the turnip and the justly suspected cereals, especially corn and rye, and it has "been declared to be even -1 more nutritious than was commonly sup- till posed. If, however, a pudding is to be tjS judged by tho eating of it, surely the potato ft I needs to do nothing in self-defence but point to tho race which dines on It most freely, and rest its case. ' ( W mW - Children 1 make a eugenically perfect child of her son. 1 111!! It is an Interesting fact that had the Duchess of Rox- llllifc Vltel BtUS burgh e never succeeded in producing an heir the title rT IbIm would still have descended to the child of an American j '. jJ!S girl. Her husband's next brother, Lord Alastalr Innes Ker married Miss Anne Breese. daughter of W. L. r'i.;; pM jiliil Breese of New York. She has two handsome sons who . Jpj . (JmI ' despite tho absence of tho latest eugenic precautions V. 'fes illlf seem well qualified to become exceptionally fine dukes. ' If III In spite of the prospective loss of a dukedom for her- tsSa y! : ; JjfM j solf and her children, Lady Alassair Innes Ker ex- Sgbs;';. ; aW - pressed a kindly hope that her sister-in-law might sue- ljli ! ceeded In producing a son, because she haB bo much lllir moro money to leayo to the little duke. The Duchess fmt Inhorltod the largest eectlon of New York real eBtato y p . Di - n-n iu liittL ! possessed by anyone outside the Astor family. . SdTmVGtS" J