A FAMILY OF DEGENERATES 119 



homicidal impulses, always directed against babies 

 or quite young children ; she was kleptomaniac, had 

 extraordinary outbursts of destriictiveness, and at 

 the age of twenty-eight became epileptic. None of 

 these many negative advantages, singly or combined, 

 was sufficient to prevent her obtaining a husband ; 

 and on his death she married again ; but fate has 

 been kind, and she has had no children. 



The second daughter deserves special considera- 

 tion, and I shall deal with her later. 



The third had the good fortune to die in fits in 

 infancy. Of number four there is little to record, 

 except that, coming of such a stock, he did not 

 refrain from either marriage or parenthood. The 

 fifth child was an epileptic, and died of apoplexy at 

 the quite abnormally early age of twenty-four. 

 Number six died of fits in infancy. The seventh 

 had fits in infancy, has been neurasthenic for years, 

 is married, and has three children. The next child 

 died of fits at the age of three. The ninth child was 

 prematurely born, and only lived for three days. 

 The tenth is subject to some sort of fainting 

 seizures ; she is married ; her first child was still- 

 born, and the only other child died in convulsions 

 when but three days old. The last child in this 

 family, i.e., the eleventh, was prematurely born, 

 became early convulsed, and died probably in 

 consequence of the fits when nine hours old. He 

 was polydactylous, having an accessory little finger 

 on each hand. 



The second child of this family (vide ut supra) 



