THE APPLICATION TO MAN 299 



tariums, and homes for the unfortunate are excellent 

 foci for studying certain phases of human heredity, 

 because they are simply convenient places where the 

 results of similar dysgenic experiences have been 

 brought together. 



3. EXPERIMENTS IN HUMAN HEREDITY 

 A. THE JUKES 



A classic example of an experiment in human hered- 

 ity which has been partially analyzed by the statistical 

 method is that furnished by Dugdale in 1877 in the 

 case of "Max Jukes" and his descendants. At that 

 time it included over one thousand individuals, the 

 origin of all of whom has been traced back to a shift- 

 less, illiterate, and intemperate backwoodsman who 

 started his experiment in heredity in western New York 

 when it was yet an unsettled wilderness. 



In 1877 the histories of 540 of this man's progeny 

 were known, and that of most of the others was partly 

 known. About one third of this degenerate strain died 

 in infancy, 310 individuals were paupers who all to- 

 gether spent a total of 2300 years in almshouses, while 

 440 were physical wrecks. In addition to this, over 

 one half of the female descendants were prostitutes, 

 and 130 individuals were convicted criminals, including 

 7 murderers. Not one of the entire family had a com- 

 mon school education, although the children of other 

 families in the same region found a way to educational 

 advantages. Only 20 individuals learned a trade and 

 10 of these did so in state's prison. 



It is estimated that up to 1877 this experiment in 



