[A58]

Malthus on Population Bk. iii Ch 1 p 18

As the human race however cd not be improved in this way without condemning all the bad specimens to celibacy, it is not probable that an attention to breed shd ever become general; indeed I know of no well-directed attempts of this kind except in the ancient family of Bickerstaffs who are said to have been very successful in whitening the skins & increasing the height of their race by prudent marriages, particularly by that very [illeg] cross with Maud the milk-maid

[A59]

by which some capital defects in the constitutions of the family were corrected.

Malthus, Thomas. 1826. An essay on the principle of population; or, a view of its past and present effects on human happiness; with an inquiry into our prospects respecting the future removal or mitigation of the evils which it occassions. 6th ed. 2 vols. London: John Murray. [CUL-DAR240: 2 copies] [signed in vol. 1 "C. Darwin April 1841"] [another copy: vol. 2 Darwin Library-Down but uncut as noted by Francis Darwin in 1908] CUL-DAR.LIB.407 vol. 1 Text PDF vol. 2 Text PDF