61 
THE PROBLEM OF FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS. 
G. S. BLIss. 
The first recorded attempt to do something for feeble-mindedness 
occurred in the year 1800, when Dr. Itard, a Wrench physician, tried to 
educate a so-called “wild boy” found in the woods. The attempt failed 
because the boy was feeble-minded, and was followed in France by several 
abortive attempts to educate feeble-minded persons. 
The first successful attempt in this direction was made by the Sehoo! 
for the Deaf and Dumb at Hartford, Conn, in 1836. They took several 
feeble-minded children and succeeded in training them a little in school 
work and in forming better habits of life. 
In 1846 Dr. Seguin, a pupil of Dr. Itard, opened a successful school 
for mental defectives in France. This attempt succeeded so well that other 
schools were soon founded for this most unfortunate class. In 1848 Mas- 
sachusetts started the first state school in the United States. This was 
followed by other States, and in 1879 Indiana established her present 
school. 
All these schools were started with the idea that mental defect was 
curable, and that the idiot or imbecile could be educated to become a self- 
supporting and dependable citizen. This we now know to be an impos- 
sibility, and the fact is coming to be more generally recognized that there 
is ho cure for mental defect. It is a condition, not a disease. 
Insanity is a disease attacking a developed brain and is often cured; 
feeble-mindedness is never cured, but may be greatly relieved by proper 
training and care. 
There are between 5,000 and 6,000 feeble-minded persons in Indiana 
1eeding institutional care today, and only about one-fourth of these are 
receiving it. These people are at large, reproducing defectives in an ever- 
increasing amount, like the waves from a pebble thrown into a lake. If 
we are to protect the coming generations of our sons and daughters, grand- 
sons and granddaughters from this growing burden, we must wake up {ao 
the condition and do something about it. 
