“The Hour of Eugenics”: race, gender, and nation in Latin America

Gerlach, who believed in a fusion among dendrites. Others, like Golgi, believed that the basic reticulum was made up of axon collaterals. According to Golgi, the nerve cell itself, like its dendrites, was not an essential element in neuronal organization, they had solely nutritive functions. The book is of interest and importance for anyone interested in the history of the nervous system. At only a few points the text might tax the understanding of the non-neuroscientist. For example the discussion of gap junctions towards the end of the book would be difficult for someone without some relevant background in anatomy or physiology. Shepherd's text emphasizes one of the pleasures of study of the nervous system; its international character. and above all the brilliant Spanish histologist Santiago Ram6n y Cajal contributed to this great series of discoveries upon which the neuron doctrine is based. The book is essential for every library which covers the history of biology or medicine, and a pleasure for those of us interested in the nervous system. In a thoughtful and carefully researched book, Nancy Stephan examines the political, cultural, and scientific roles of eugenics in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico from the 1910s through the 1940s. While Stepan employs European and North American examples for comparative purposes, her move to a new context greatly enriches our understanding of the social and ideological force of the theory of eugenics. By exploring the part played by eugenists in discussions on race, national identity, and the role of women, Stepan meticulously demonstrates that eugenics in Latin America was not merely an absorption of the theories and activities of European eugenists but an innovative adaptation of ideas on human breeding to a distinct setting. While eugenics was tied to the ideas of Mendelian inheritance in Anglo-Saxon countries, the neo-Lamarckian concept of the heritability of acquired characteristics continued to influence French and Latin American scientists well into the twentieth century. Thus, manipulation of the environment played a far larger role than concern about individuals' genes, and good sanitation and living conditions were believed essential to improving the human stock of Latin America. In most Latin American countries the potency of the Catholic Church precluded the use of sterilization techniques to outbreed persons with undesirable qualities. Instead, "matrimonial eugenics", with its emphasis on puericulture-the scientific improvement of the circumstances surrounding conception and childhood development-played a leading part. Stepan suggests that because Latin American …