Page:Contraception; 1st ed. (IA in.ernet.dli.2015.94163).pdf/33

The medical practitioner, too long trained as a doctor of disease, is. beginning to realize that his prime function is the preserver of health. As so large a proportion of female ill-health can be directly traced to an excessive number of pregnancies in too rapid succession, and to pregnancies under unsuitable conditions, it is obvious that the proper use of contraception as a fundamental health measure is the practitioner's concern. Havelock Ellis tersely said:^[1] "We possess in birth control an invaluable instrument, not merely for immediate social betterment, but for the elevation of the race." Nevertheless, "as carried on at present, neo-malthusian methods may even be dysgenic rather than eugenic, for they tend to be adopted by the superior stocks, while the inferior stocks, ignorant and reckless, are left to propagate freely. This unfortunate result is encouraged by the notorious failure—still so conspicuous amongst us—to spread the knowledge of contraceptives among the classes which from the eugenic standpoint most urgently need them."

In the interest of the race "feeble-mindedness, hereditary insanity, and hereditary criminal tendencies (if such occur)