206 HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT 



lected by Galton show that genius runs in cer- 

 tain families ; while the work of certain recent 

 investigators, particularly Goddard, Daven- 

 port and Weeks, proves that feeble-mindedness 

 and epilepsy are also inherited ; and the careful 

 work of Mott and of Rosanoff leaves no room 

 for doubt that certain types of insanity are 

 hereditary. It frequently happens that fami- 

 lies in which hereditary insanity occurs also 

 have other members afflicted with epilepsy, 

 hysteria, alcoholism, etc., which would indicate 

 that the thing inherited is an unstable condi- 

 tion of the nervous system which may take 

 various forms under slightly different condi- 

 tions. Indeed there is a good deal of evidence 

 that extraordinary ability, or genius, is fre- 

 quently associated with an unstable nervous 

 organization which may sometimes take the 

 form of insanity or epilepsy or alcoholism. 

 There is perhaps more truth than poetry in 

 Dryden's lines: 



"Great wits are sure to madness near allied, 



And thin partitions do their bounds divide." 

 Woods has collected data concerning "Hered- 

 ity in Royalty" which seem to show that 



