328 THE ABNORMAL MAN. 



it. Rarely are the offspring of such men as strong 

 physically or mentally as the father; in hundreds 

 of observations made I have found not more than 

 one in ten. 



The bad effects of tobacco are often much more 

 apparent in the child than in the father. Even 

 very strong, robust men who are heavy users of 

 the weed frequently parent feeble, puny, nervous 

 children. 



Whatever excuse or apology may be offered for 

 the use of narcotics whether liquors, opiates or 

 tobacco it is plainly apparent to every unbiased 

 mind that they are highly injurious to the user, 

 and that their effects are fully transmitted to the 

 next generation. It has long been observed that 

 in epidemics of cholera, dysentery, smallpox, etc., 

 Epidemics. drinkers are attacked in much larger numbers 

 and with greater fatality than non-drinkers. It 

 is also well known that the offspring of alcoholics, 

 even though seemingly perfectly strong and 

 healthy, are more susceptible to disease and more 

 frequently die early than the offspring of non- 

 drinkers. So well established is this fact that 

 life insurance companies not only refuse to insure 

 alcoholics, but consider inebriate parentage a very 

 strong point against a risk even where the appli- 

 cant is otherwise eligible. 



If the inebriate was the only one who suffered 

 from his intemperance, we might be partly justi- 

 The Disgrace of fied in allowing him to pursue his course of self- 

 Intemperance, destruction unmolested; but he is not. Those 

 who are compelled to live with him often suffer 

 far more than he. The wife is disgraced, abused 

 or debased, and the children not infrequently are 



