INSTINCTIVE CRIMINALITY. 289 



his three children. Where the criminal taint on the 

 paternal side came from we do not know, but that 

 it was strong and of some standing in the family 

 is evidenced by the fact that every single one of 

 the six sons of this unhappy couple proved to be 

 instinctive criminals. Such cases are, however, ex- 

 ceptional. 



Sometimes, in a decaying family, in which instinc- 

 tive criminality has hitherto been unknown, a genera- 

 tion of criminals will appear, just as a generation of 

 deaf-mutes or epileptics occasionally appears, in families 

 of the 'insane or scrofulous diathesis. But this, again, 

 is rare. In the majority of cases, criminality appears 

 in only one, two, or three members of a family, the 

 brothers and sisters showing the taint in various ways. 

 One will be scrofulous, or a deaf-mute, another insane, 

 idiotic, epileptic, a suicide, a prostitute, &c., as the 

 case may be. Here is the genealogical tree of such a 

 family : * 



Father. 

 Drunken. 



Mother. 



Insane. 



. .1 I '! 



M. M. M. F. F. 



Suicide. Criminal. Criminal. Insane. Imbecile. 



Here we have the combined drunkenness and in- 

 sanity of the parents appearing in their unfortunate 

 offspring as suicide, criminality, insanity, and idiocy. 

 In the following family we have the order of things 

 reversed. In it the criminality of the parent becomes 



* Journal of Mental Science, Oct. 1872. H. Maudsley, M.D. 



