408 i/r. W. C. D. Whetham [May 3, 



so closely inbred, the chief stocks being Montmorency, Coligny, 

 Brunswick, and especially Orange. This is emphasized in the next 

 slide. No. 8, where of the eight great-grandparental strains, com- 

 prised in six individuals, four are shown to bring in the great Orange 

 blood by way of William the Silent. 



In this case, where the abilities and character are good, a certain 

 amount of inl)reeding does l)ut accentuate them. Similarly, where 

 both are bad, inbreeding serves to visit them in doul)le measure on 

 the unfortunate descendants. Shde No. 9 shows a tal)le from the 

 " Cambridge Modern History," giving the descent of the Houses of 

 Castile and Arragon, and the next slide, No. 10, shows the inbred 

 ancestry of Don Carlos, the son of Philip II. Owing to this inbreeding, 

 Don Carlos had only four great-grandparents, instead of the normal 

 eight ; two of the four are described as of weak character, and one as 

 insane. In the preceeding generation Isabella of Castile appears 

 three times, and thus, able though she herself was, brings in three 

 times the blood of her weak-minded father and her insane mother, 

 who have an equal or lietter chance of influencing her descendants 

 than those other abler ancestors from whom she herself chanced to 

 pick her ability. 



It is impossiljle to explain such phenomena as these on the theory 

 of environment. Inl)orn qualities force their way to the front, 

 though they may be modified or developed by training and other 

 circumstances. 



Bad qualities are not confined 'to royal houses, nor, whatever 

 the " spirit of the age " may say, to the upper classes. The next 

 two slides show pedigrees collected from the poorhouses of a great 

 republic. Here we have definitely feeble-minded families that 

 generation after generation show their characteristic mental defects. 

 Both pedigrees illustrate the estal)lished fact that two feeble-minded 

 parents of this type never produce a single normal child ; all their 

 offspring are mentally defective. Yet, in this country at least, 

 nothing is done, either by the law or the Church, to prevent their 

 union. 



Now the social importance of these results can hardly be exagge- 

 rated. A large proportion of our paupers, probably at least a quarter, 

 are themselves mentally defective, while many others come from 

 families of this kind. A typical group of pauper families is shown 

 in Slide No. 1 ?>. A large proportion of petty crime, and a consider- 

 able proportion of that which is more serious, is due to the same 

 cause. The direct cost to the country of these people in poor-rates, 

 police, and prisons is enormous, while the indirect cost in the lowering 

 of average efficiency is incalculable It is to be hoped that the long 

 promised Bill to carry into effect the recommendations of the Royal 

 Commission of 1904-1908 will find its way through our distracted 

 Parliament this session, and place these unfortunates under life-long 

 care and control. Each year's delay probably brings into the world 



