92 THE KALLIKAK FAMILY 



but who has yet thought of caring intelligently for the 

 vastly more pathetic child-man or child-woman, who 

 through matured sex powers, which they do not under- 

 stand, fill our land with its overflowing measure of mis- 

 ery and crime ? Such thoughts as these filled the mind 

 of the field worker on the ride home. 



Arrived at B , her first care was to obtain an in- 

 terview with the doctor who had attended Guss's wife 

 when she died. She found him ready to explain all he 

 could of the family which he had always known and 

 attended. "The mother, " he said, "was a kind-hearted, 

 simple-minded soul, who tended as best she could to the 

 needs of her family." The epileptic girl, he explained, 

 had always been a great care, and the doctor himself, 

 aided by several prominent citizens, had taken the 

 trouble to complete all necessary arrangements for hav- 

 ing her admitted to the epileptic colony at Skillman. 

 The father, however, could never be made to give his 

 consent. The mother was still quite young when she 

 was carrying her eleventh child. Some accident hap- 

 pened which threatened her with a miscarriage. The 

 doctor was summoned. He saw that it was a serious 

 case and sent for two other physicians in consultation. 

 It was decided that an immediate operation was neces- 

 sary, if the woman's life was to be saved. They sue- 



