THE CAUSATION OF DISEASE. 245 



I have little doubt, however, that, even among the well-to- 

 do, continuous and uninterrupted residence in London would 

 sooner or later lead to family extiuction. Probably such ex- 

 tinction would not occur until several successive generations 

 had been so brought up — a thing that never happens with 

 these classes. In the case of the lower classes, however, there 

 can be no doubt that the family line practically never passes 

 beyond the third generation of the London-born and -bred. 



There can be no better place to observe the degenerating 

 effect of London life than a London Children's Hospital. 

 Here one has the opportunity of watching the mother 

 and her children till the latter reach the age of twelve or 

 thirteen. A very large number of the mothers, though living in 

 London, are country-born, and in such cases we can compare 

 the country-born mother with her London-born children, and 

 can thus discover how much deterioration may be wrought in 

 a single generation. The contrast is, in many instances, posi- 

 tively startling, and it is best observed in the bony conforma- 

 tion of the head ; but it is unnecessary to particularize the 

 points of change. 



I may here remark that a London out-patient room affords 

 an interesting place of study for the anthropologist, for he 

 can there observe people who have come from all parts of the 

 country. It has surprised me to find how distinctive is the 

 cranial conformation in various districts ; for instance, the head 

 of the Essexer is very different from that of the Devonshire 

 or Oxfordshire man or woman. I believe a careful study 

 would enable one to form a very shrewd opinion as to the 

 birth-place of different individuals. I was led to notice this 

 when inquiring into the ancestry of London-born children. I 

 ascertained the ancestry, as far as the grandparents, of over 

 two hundred London-born children while helping Dr. Aber- 

 crombie at the Great Ormond Street Hospital ; in only two 

 or three instances were the parents and grandparents born and 

 bred in London, and in each of these cases the children were 

 particularly delicate. 



In a London Children's Hospital, then, we read the naked 

 truth about degeneration, for we see the process going on 

 from week to week under our very eyes, and this leads one to 



s 



