40 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



labor involved in the embarkation and debarkation of 



men and materials, the building of the strategic railway 

 in France, the building of cantonments, the construction 

 of trenches and similar hard labor was performed by men 

 whose rating placed them in the group of the unfit. 



If it is true that ten per cent of our general population 

 falls in this classification it is a matter for serious con- 

 sideration, if we are to consider them because of that 

 mentally deficient and a menace to themselves and the 

 community. There is, however, evidence which will indi- 

 cate that there are not grounds for alarm. If we regard 

 this matter of intelligence distribution as a matter of 

 more or less a generally possessed faculty we must 

 look for something else in order to make the diagnosis of 

 pathology. This latter quality is not subject to the cate- 

 gory of more or less, but is a matter of all or nothing. 

 Like disease or deformity in the physical sphere an indi- 

 vidual either is or is not pathological. If he is pathologi- 

 cal then it may be a matter of more or less. This point 

 of view would therefore vitiate the common belief which 

 is often facetiously expressed in the statement that all 

 men are more or less insane. They may be more or less 

 intelligent, more or less mentally strong, more or less 

 alert, more or less well integrated, but in order to deter- 

 mine whether they are more or less disordered it is neces- 

 sary to ascertain first whether they are disordered at all 

 or not. Applied to this mental problem, therefore, a 

 person may be highly intelligent or he may be stupid, 

 and it is probable that this is an inherent quality and that 

 there is a maximum beyond which he cannot develop. 

 This maximum is predetermined in his individual make 

 up. 



But mere stupidity, however severe in itself, is not a 

 sign of pathology. It will be seen, therefore, that the re- 

 liance on the mental tests alone will not determine this 

 point. Positive evidence of some special disability, in- 

 herited or acquired, must be obtained in order to identify 

 an individual as feebleminded. This emphasis that I 

 have placed on the importance of the pathological factors 

 must indicate that medicine has a distinct function in re- 



