286 THE ABNORMAL MAN. 



intense anger, attempted abortion or the crim- 

 inal desire to destroy the unwelcome child, in 

 short vicious maternal impressions, are the chief 

 causes of children being born with homicidal and 

 suicidal tendencies. 



Fully 40 per cent of our hereditary criminals 

 are born from parents in whom there was neither 

 Bad Maternal chronic alcoholism nor previous morbid hered- 

 Impressions. ur g e d 



against the doctrine of heredity, by those unac- 

 quainted with its laws, is that many of the most 

 vicious children are born of good, moral parents. 

 The law of maternal impressions explains why 

 this is so. There are thousands of cases in which 

 the mother wished she were dead, or attempted 

 the destruction of the unwelcome child with the 

 result that the child early manifested homicidal 

 or suicidal tendencies. 



A well known historical case is that of Car- 

 don, the criminal, whose mother was irascible 

 when pregnant with him and attempted to abort. 

 His criminal tendencies, resulting from this pre- 

 natal influence, were transmitted to the next 

 generation; his two sons were criminals, one of 

 great ability being condemned to death for pois- 

 oning, the other giving his life over to gaming, 

 drinking, thieving, etc. 



Another well known case is that of a Chicago 

 family. Two children born while the parents 

 were living in harmony were normal, well be- 



to CrimT 8 B m naved and rew U P to be respectable men. After 

 their birth a family quarrel turned the mother's 

 love into hate so that she bitterly protested 

 against maternity. When it was forced upon her 



