INHERITANCE OF TEMPERAMENT. 



IOI 



The following account (from Fflintoff, 1883) of imbecile and excitable 

 male twins, aged 40, is given in parallel columns. There was a great 

 mental resemblance between them. Their father was insane, but no 

 insanity was learned of on the other side of the house. 



A. D. 



Very childish in manner, is easily led and 

 induced by others to do wrong; is very cun- 

 ning, mischievous, and takes a great delight in 

 committing petty acts of theft. His memory 

 and judgment are very defective, and he can 

 not form an opinion on any subject with which 

 he is not familiar, nor has he any idea of his 

 age; but he converses a little and knows the 

 people with whom he associates daily. When 

 not allowed to do as he wishes he frequently 

 becomes very passionate and can scarcely con- 

 trol himself; usually he is quiet and fairly well 

 behaved. 



W. D. 



Not so childish as his brother, but often 

 sulks, is very depraved and vicious, and more 

 cunning than the other. He frequently com- 

 mits petty acts of theft. His memory is weak 

 and his judgment defective, and he can not 

 give an opinion on a subject with which he is 

 not familiar, nor does he know his age, but he 

 can converse in a simple way and knows the 

 people with whom he associates. He is irri- 

 table and very passionate and occasionally, 

 when thwarted, gives way to fits of ungovern- 

 able rage, amounting nearly to short maniacal 

 attacks, but he is usually fairly well behaved. 



In 1884, Fflintoff described a case of similar twins who showed a 

 similar melancholic attack. 



Moreau (quoted by Euphrat, 1888) described twin brothers who are 

 outwardly so alike that they are easily taken for each other. Their 

 characters are no less alike. Both are persecuted by the same fiends 

 who are planning to work their ruin by the same means. Both have 

 the same hallucinations of hearing. They sit in the same corner of a 

 room, melancholy and silent, and respond only with difficulty to ques- 

 tions which are put to them. They never communicate with each 

 other. At irregular intervals of 2 to 3 months both rouse up at the 

 same time, often on the same day, from their stupor, make the same 

 complaints, and beg the doctor for their discharge. This is all the 

 more noteworthy, as they are many kilometers apart, the one at St. 

 Anne, the other at Bicetre. 



Savage (1883) describes two sisters who are very much alike in 

 personal appearance. Both patients are typical cases of melancholia 

 with stupor. They stand about unoccupied, and without care or 

 attention to appearance or to necessities. There has been no case of 

 insanity in the family as far as can be ascertained, and the causation of 

 the taint is unknown. Since admission the cases have been placed in 

 separate wards, but still the progress has been very similar in both; at 

 present both are beginning to look about them and to say a word now 

 and then. The two women had left their parental home, and had 

 homes of their own. Details of these sisters are as follows: 



"Case I. A. S. U., 28. Admitted August 14, 1882. A farmer's wife. 

 Three children; youngest, 10 months. First attack; duration, two weeks. 

 The supposed inciting cause is the shock of seeing her sister suffering from 

 melancholia. Stated to be suicidal, but not dangerous. Sober and well- 

 educated. Temperament, quiet. Earliest symptoms : excitement and talka- 

 tiveness, crying out that God has taken her heart, and that she has sinned 

 very grievously against Him. Present condition: Is never found sitting; 



