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Evening Star, Issue 23055, 6 September 1938, Page 11

THE PHARAOH’S BRIDES

But the most extraordinary evidence as to the biologic effect of close matings is to be found in ancient Egypt. It was long the. custom for the Pharaoh to marry his sister, or at least his halfsister, in order to safeguard the royal descent.

The eighteenth dynasty, which ruled Egypt in the sixteenth, fifteenth, and fourteenth centuries before Christ, represents as high a point as the power of the country ever reached. Ahmose L, founder of his dynasty, liberated his country, made it secure from future invasion and began the restoration of the great architectural monuments of Upper Egypt. . He married his sister. Their son. Ameahotep 1., extended the empire. He, too, married his sister. Their daughter, Aahmes married her halfbrother Thutmose 1., a great builder. The daughter of these two, Queen Hatshepsut L, married her halfbrother Thutmose 11. She overshadowed her husband and was the actual sovereign, the greatest queen of Egypt. She was succeeded by her nephew and stepson, Thutmose lit. This monarch “ was a man of a tireless energy unknown in any Pharaoh before or since. ... He built the first real empire, and is thus the first character possessed of universal aspects, the first world hero.” And he was the product of five unbroken generations of brother-sister marriage. This great man married his halfsister. Their son, Anionhotcp il. was a man of extraordinary ■<'.-sicail strength, who claimed that none of his subjects could bend his bow.

Jn nine generations, characterised by close inbreeding, there was no diminution of physical or mental vigour. Biologically, cousin marriages differ from others only because the husband and wife have the same ancestry to the extent of 50 per cent. If this ancestry contains good traits, the offspring will benefit by getting a double dose of them : they may excel their parents. If this unccvstry contains bad traits, the offspring likewise get a double dose of these and are 'handicapped accordinglv. In a cousin marriage there is a greater likelihood than elsewhere that both parents will be carriers of the same conc'ea'led defect. Coming together, these delects produce a surprising result; and the wiseacres exclaim. “ There has been nothing like this in the family before. This is the result of cousin marriage.” The question of whether cousins should marry is merely a question of what kind of inheritable traits they carry. If the- come from sound ancestry manifesting good qualities and no defects the offspring of the marriage should be the gainers.

If there has been some important defect in the ancestry in the past, even though the man and woman in question do not show the defect themselyes, each may carry one of the genes which, brought together, will again give rise to that defect.

If one of the parties is actually affected or from an affected family, the chance of handicapping the offspring becomes serious, and should be investigated carefully before betrothal. One must know the traits with which one is dealing; it is entirely possible for two persons, each the offspring of a blind or deaf parent, to marry with perfect safety if the parent’s defect is not of an hereditary nature. CHARLES DARWIN’S WIFE. A decision, therefore, calls for an expert witness. Many of the ablest men of history have been the offspring of cousin marriages. An example often cited by biologists is that of Charles Darwin, who married his first cousin, Emma Wedgewood. Their seven children were all outstanding. Socially the individual usually has most to gain by going outside his own kindred. A cousin marriage does not bring about the union of two different family circles, with its added extensions of influence and friendship. Psychologically the man who wants to marry his cousin is sometimes recognised as handicapped by too narrow an outlook, perhaps by a mother fixation. Unduly sheltered, unsure of himself, afraid to face the wider world, he feels more secure if he marries a girl who is a member of his own family. With her he hopes he will have to make fewer new 'mental adjustments. She will understand and sympathise with his background. Correspondingly, such marriages are often very happy. In the opinion of most eugenists legal restrictions on cousin marriage should be removed. Such matings are scarcely to be encouraged, for the social and psychologic reasons already stated; but if two healthy cousins of sound ancestry want to marry, there is no good reason why society should forbid them to do so.