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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tified in the munificent gift lately made to the Royal Albert Asylum, 

 and by the opinion of its superintendent, Dr. T. Telford-Smith, thus 

 clearly expressed : 



" It is yearly more noticeable that the public mind is coming 

 gradually but surely to recognize the threefold value of the work of 

 such institutions as the Royal Albert Asylum. The educational 



and the custodial aspects early 

 aroused the sympathies of the 

 charitable; but the preventive as- 

 pect is another which must force 

 itself upon all who thoughtfully 

 consider the subject. The far- 

 reaching and inexorable law of 

 heredity is written large for those 

 who study the imbecile." 



The following paragraph, 

 from a daily paper, shows that, in 

 Amedica at least, public opinion 

 and the acts of the legislature 

 have become ripe for action: 



" The State of Connecticut is 

 about to try a curious experiment 

 in social legislation, having passed 

 a law forbidding any man or 

 woman, imbecile or feeble-mind- 

 ed, to marry under forty-five 

 years of age, the penalty being- 

 imprisonment for not less than 

 three years; and persons aiding 

 and abetting are also liable. The 

 hope of the legislature is to keep 

 down degenerate families." 



That this experiment is wise 

 and justifiable who can doubt? 



To glance at another and 

 sadder, but not less real, side of 

 the same question, can any one doubt but that the adolescent and adult 

 female imbecile needs lifelong care and protection ? Surely the noble 

 gift to the asylum by Sir Thomas Storey of a home for forty such cases 

 is a wise, far-seeing, and statesmanlike act. 



It is greatly to be hoped that this noble example may be speedily 

 emulated on both sides of the sea, and that each State may shortly 

 possess, in addition to its training school, its own colony farm with all 

 the industries of a village, drawing its workers from the well-directed 



Low-grade Imbeciles. No. 1, obstinate, 

 perverse, indolent ; No. 2, gentle and 

 obedient. 



