DEGENERACY TREDGOLD. 559 



Apart from the fact that there are so many anatomical variations 

 within the normal range that the abnormal becomes exceedingly dif- 

 ficult to define, many of those which are undoubtedly errors of de- 

 velopment appear to me to be more a result of adverse conditions af- 

 fecting the growth of the embryo than of a real germ variation ; and 

 a single so-called stigma of degeneracy is not infrequently found in 

 persons who present no other physiological or psychological ab- 

 normality. This is particularly the case with the external ear, also 

 with the deformities known as harelip and cleft palate. At the 

 same time there is no doubt that developmental errors are far com- 

 moner in victims of the neuropathic diathesis than in the healthy 

 members of the community ; and the presence of numerous " stig- 

 mata " is so commonly associated with other signs of germinal im- 

 pairment which is transmissible — of true degeneracy, in fact — as to 

 be extremely suggestive of that condition. 



We see, then, that the chief expression of degeneracy occurs in that 

 part of the organism which is at once the most elaborate, the most 

 recent in phylogenetic development, and the most important — 

 namely, the higher portions of the brain. But it is not usual to find 

 such a person possessed of full or even average bodily vigor ; and the 

 majority of degenerates evince in addition a lessened power of re- 

 sistance to disease and a proneness to early death. Whilst a few 

 persons suffering from the milder degrees may do good work, some 

 even taking rank with genius, there can be no question that the great 

 majority are distinctly inferior, in moral, mental, and physical fiber, 

 to the untainted members of the community. It follows that the 

 presence of any considerable number of such persons in the State 

 must entail a serious diminution in the aggregate of vigor and great 

 economic disadvantages. 



What effect have these degenerates upon posterity? Individuals 

 suffering from the more pronounced degrees of degeneracy — idiots 

 and low-grade imbeciles — are usually sterile. Further, there is 

 every probability that, if even the milder grades mated solely among 

 themselves, there would gradually be produced such an accentuation 

 of the morbid process that the disease would work out its own salva- 

 tion by causing the extinction of the stock. But, as has already been 

 pointed out, the initial impairment does not involve the whole com- 

 munity, and the mating is not thus restricted. Persons suffering 

 from the initial and milder forms of degeneracy mate with the unim- 

 paired, so that the question of the laws governing the transmission 

 of the defect becomes one of great practical social importance. 



Our knowledge regarding these laws is still very inadequate, but 

 it may be said that, in the main, most, if not all, modes of inheritance 

 may be referred to one of two groups. In the one the inheritance 



