WHAT IT MEANS 63 



better brought out than in the grandparents of Debo- 

 rah. The grandfather belonging to the Kallikak family 

 had the temperament and characteristics of that family, 

 which, while they did not lead him into positive crim- 

 inality of high degree, nevertheless did make him a 

 bad man of a positive type, a drunkard, a sex pervert, 

 and all that goes to make up a bad character. 



On the other hand, his wife and her family were 

 simply stupid, with none of the pronounced tendencies 

 to evil that were shown in the Kallikak family. They 

 were not vicious, nor given over to bad practices of any 

 sort. But they were inefficient, without power to get 

 on in the world, and they transmitted these qualities 

 to their descendants. 



Thus, of the children of this pair, the grandparents of 

 Deborah, the sons have been active and positive in their 

 lives, the one being a horse thief, the other a sexual 

 pervert, having the alcoholic tendency of his father, 

 while the daughters are quieter and more passive. 

 Their dullness, however, does not amount to imbecility. 

 Deborah's mother herself was of a high type of moron, 

 with a certain quality which carried with it an element 

 of refinement. Her sister was the passive victim of her 

 father's incestuous practice and later married a normal 

 man. Another sister was twice married, the first time 



