412 SANITARY CONDITIONS 



locomotor-ataxia in the ataxic stage. Benjamin C. Malone, son of August 

 Malone and great-grandson of the original Ephraim Malone, was another con- 

 genital idiot (Plate LXXV, Figs. 1 and 2), of a somewhat lower type than the 

 little girl just described. In addition he showed flaccid paralysis of the left 

 arm and hydrocele of the scrotum. 



In the family of William Alonza Russell, we found three cases of congen- 

 ital blindness, in three robust young men, ages 32, 23, and 17 (Plate LXXIII, 

 Fig. 2). These boys were born blind and on examination showed the very 

 faintest light perception. As has been said, one of the boys came to Baltimore 

 the year following our visit, and we were able to make more thorough investiga- 

 tion into the condition of his eyes. He was taken to the office of Dr. J. J. Mills, 

 an eye specialist connected with the Johns Hopkins University, who kindly ex- 

 amined his eyes for me and diagnosed the condition as one of optic atrophy, 

 associated with a pigmentary retinitis, and choryditis. This condition is one 

 stated by the authorities to be due to the effects of consanguineous marriage. 



In another family, mentioned above, that of Mrs. Sawyer, we found that 

 out of eight children, five were idiots. Two of these, who were women fully 

 grown, ages 40 and 27 (Plate LXXIV, Fig. 7), were carefully studied and head 

 measurements taken. Their cephalic indices were normal, and with the excep- 

 tion of showing rather broad palates, and in one instance extreme protrusion of 

 the front teeth, nothing unusual anatomically was detected. They represented, 

 nevertheless, an extreme degree of idiocy, and were just able to articulate 

 slightly, say "yes" and "no," and express their wishes in a slight degree. 

 An interesting point in the history of these girls was the insanity of their 

 aunt, Mrs. Russell, who lived in the house with them and suffered from 

 chronic melancholia. The mother of these two girls (Plate LXXIV, Fig. 2), 

 seemed to be a fairly sensible individual, in spite of the harrowing fact that 

 so many of her children were born idiots. In regard to whether these children 

 showed mental defects when very young or somewhat later, I could not be 

 perfectly certain. The mother said that " all of them appeared stupid as 

 early as she could recollect." 



I was impressed with the information given me that child-birth is a great 

 danger to the women of Hopetown, and that many die as a result from some 

 abnormality taking place during confinement or labor. 



Cause of this Degeneracy. 



From a careful consideration of the facts just mentioned I am strongly 

 of the opinion that the deplorable state of degeneracy which we observed at 



