40 HEREDITY AND SOCIAL FITNESS 



stained with tobacco-juice; very hardworking and on the whole good- 

 natured and easily moved to mirth. He stays with his sister most of 

 the time, and works for neighboring farmers whom he occasionally 

 leaves in the lurch for childish unimportant reasons. Since he lacks 

 all sense of number and quantity, he can not be relied upon for many 

 kinds of work ; can not tell 2 from 4, or a quart from a peck ; knows he 

 earns a dollar a day, but has no idea how much he ought to earn in a 

 week or a month. People often cheat him, but if they do, he "just 

 lets it go." He has never married, but says he may do so yet. So 

 far as known he has not been guilty of sexual immorality. His con- 

 versation is usually limited to, "yes, mam," "you bet." His ideal of 

 happiness is realized when he has a pair of overalls, a straw hat, and a 

 quid of tobacco. 



The fourth child (IV-98) of this fraternity, born 1861, died about 

 1900; was the only one of this family capable of learning to read and 

 write, and thought to be illegitimate. She lived much of the time 

 with the family of a prosperous farmer, and from there married IV-99 

 and went to live in Ohio. She had one child which did not live, and 

 afterwards cared for the only surviving child of her sister until her 

 death. 



The fifth child (IV-100) of III-35 and 36 was born 1863, died 1897, 

 septic infection following labor. Nothing is asserted against her morals. 

 She was a large, heavy, inert girl with very coarse features. She had a 

 rather sweet voice, but was regarded by her associates as simple- 

 minded. Was never able to read or write, or keep house properly, and 

 showed the same number and quantity defects as her sister and brother. 



She married IV-101, a feeble-minded man who had been epileptic 

 in his youth. The marriage of these two was arranged as a practical 

 joke by a friend of IV-101, who, knowing of his desu'e to be married, 

 coaxed him away on a visit to the home of IV-100, and in three days 

 they were secretly married. He was the son of a decent mother and a 

 wandering, alcoholic father, whom whisky threw into violent convul- 

 sions, and who came from a strain showing much vagrancy, alcoholism, 

 epilepsy, low stature, and mental backwardness. This family led a 

 migratory existence, while the father made a slender livelihood at 

 coal-mining and charcoal-burning. The children numbered fourteen, 

 of whom ten lived to grow up. Of this number, only one, the eldest, is 

 known to be a woman of sterling quality; a devoted mother, and 

 active in temperance and church work during the half-century of her 

 married life. Her sisters have been somewhat changeful in their mar- 

 riage relations, moving about a great deal, assuming little responsi- 

 bility for their families. Her four brothers have marked vagrant ten- 

 dencies and are irresponsible in their work and family relations. Two 



