48 



The Journal of Heredity 



length by Miss Lundberg. She points 

 to the necessity for a central institution, 

 for more mental examinations, for 

 special classes in the public schools and 

 paroles and supcr\'ision in homes. But 

 it is remarkable that she nowhere 

 specifically refers to the need for strik- 

 ing at the root of the difliculty by les- 

 sening the production of these innate 

 defectives. 



Proper segregation of the feeble- 

 minded, the two sexes being kept separ- 

 ate, would of course cut oH those partic- 

 ular lines of descent. But Professor East 

 and Professor Punnett have recently 

 pointed out* that if no other measures 

 are adopted than to segregate the pat- 

 ently feebleminded, it will require 

 thousands of N'cars to eliminate even the 

 greater part- of this defective germ- 

 plasm from the American population. 



A much more effective wa>' of reduc- 

 ing the burden is opened by the central 

 fact of Miss Lundberg's report, that 

 "study of individual cases of mental 

 defectives reveals in a striking way the 

 coincidence of mental defect and pov- 

 erty, abnormal home conditions, neglect 

 and dependency." It is not at present 

 possible to tell what individuals carry 

 feeblemindedness latent in their germ- 

 plasm, so that action may be taken to 

 prevent them from reproducing. But it 

 is very easy to tell what indi\-iduals are 

 characterized by poverty, abnormal 

 home conditions, neglpct and depend- 

 ency. Any eugenic measures that tend 

 to lower the birth rate among such 

 people will thereby tend to reduce the 

 number of feebleminded children born 

 every year. 



More Remarkable Button-Balls 



In the December issue of the Jour- 

 nal, an article from the pen of Dr. R. W. 

 Shufeldt of Washington, D. C, appeared 

 under the title of " Multiple Button- 

 balls," wherein were summarized his 

 observations on the number of flower 

 heads borne by the common Sycamore 

 or Buttonwood tree {Platanus orien- 

 talis). Dr. Shufeldt had supposed that 

 the balls were always borne singly, but 

 later decided from the results of further 

 research that double or triple button- 

 balls were also found, while some con- 

 taining seve)i balls also was brought to 

 his notice. 



These were only found as exceptions. 

 however, and the general rule seemed to 

 hold true that the balls were borne 

 singly. Now, however, even more sur- 

 prising statements are made in regard 

 to multiple flower-heads. J. C Blumer, 

 writing from Max, MacClean County, 

 N. D., writes in ])art as follows: 



"... Reading your note in the 

 Journal of Herkditv, I might say 

 that fours in button-balls are not un- 

 common in the native southwestern 

 sycamore {Platanus wri^htii). I . . . 

 am under the impression that three 

 balls is the normal number in that spe- 

 cies. Sometimes two occur and some- 

 times four, but usually three, never 

 one, so far as I remember. . . . 



"In my opinion, the variation in 

 number of balls, other than that which 

 goes with different species, is due to 

 immediate habitat conditions. In gen- 

 eral, trees having an abundant supply 

 of moving water, with fertilizing ele- 

 ments from stock or human habitations 

 added, will have the largest number of 

 fours. It is just as with many other 

 trees, particularly fruit and nut trees, 

 similar factors producing extra fruit- 

 fulness " 



» East, Edward M. Hidden Feeblemindedness. JorRNAi, of Hkrf.dity, viii, pp. 215-217. 



Punnett, R. C. Latent Feeblemindedness. Journal of Heredity, viii, pp. 464-465. 

 The argument of Professors East and Punnett is based on the assumption that feeblemindedness 

 is a Mendelian unit-character, an assumption that the reviewer, for one, does not a<lmit. But 

 whatever the exact manner of inheritance may be, it is certain that the subterranean stream of 

 feeblemindedness can not be dried up merely by drying up the surface .seepage. 



