INHERITANCE OF TEMPERAMENT. 99 



arranged her hair, tore off her clothes, and was erotic. In April she 

 was more orderly; in May quieter. She married in 1876 a man who 

 states that she has a "very lively temperament." In December 1882 

 she appeared to overdrive; in March she went to the hospital; the 

 mania increased, she declaimed, made faces, and gesticulated. After 

 a fit of temper she was theatrical, tore her hair, threw furniture about, 

 threw food and china at attendants. In May the excitement dimin- 

 ished, and she was discharged in September. 8- 9 , died at 18 years 

 of heart trouble. 9-c?, born 1858, is somewhat inferior mentally, at 

 times very coarse and given to drink. The inferiority shows itself not 

 so much in intelligence as in insane, almost brutal, pranks. 10- o\ 

 born 1862, in 1888 became infected with syphilis; in 1894 showed 

 hyperkinesis ; placed in an institution in 1895 with melancholia; in 

 the hospital was sad, tearful, depressed, and died in 1896 with a diag- 

 nosis of circular insanity. 



In discussing this family Berze says : ' Thus we see that of the 8 

 psychiatric sibs, 7 are more or less certainly to be considered manic- 

 depressive." The exception (1) is discussed and the conclusion 

 reached (p. 287) that "certain accidental personal causes are able to 

 displace or rather to overshadow the influence of the inherited disposi- 

 tion to such an extent that psychoses arise which can not be regarded 

 members of the same hereditary group." 



Of the foregoing family the mother was repeatedly insane and also 

 repeatedly in a private sanitarium for the insane; she was sometimes 

 elated, sometimes sad ("circular insanity"). The mother's mother was 

 a maniac. The father and the father's father were mentally sound. 

 Note that, in this case, the insane tendency can be traced back for 

 three generations, as is typical of the ancestry of the hyperkinetic 



Nitsche (19 10) described 12 cases of chronic mania and gives the 

 parentage of some of them. Of No. 1 the mother has violent temper, 

 is very loquacious and vindictive. Of No. 2 the father liked to under- 

 take new enterprises, was dogmatic, stood no contradiction, frequently 

 threatened suicide, and finally lost all his property. Of No. 3 the 

 father was insane. No. 4 was of illegitimate origin, parents unknown; 

 so, too, No. 5. Of No. 6 the mother is insane. ( >f the family of No. 7 

 little is known. Of No. 8 the father is a neurasthenic and very excitable. 

 Of Nos. 9 and 10 the family is said to show no other insane memh 

 but no details are given. Of No. 11 the father is a well-known poet. 

 Of No. 12 the father has a very lively temperament, is very energetic, 

 etc. Thus of the 12, 7 have a hyperkinetic parent (if we may include 

 the poet!), and details are lacking about the other 5. Nitsche's study 

 thus supports the view of the dominance of hyperkinesis. 



Thus the studies of others confirm our conclusion that hyperkinesis 

 is dominant in heredity, while hypokinesia is recessive. 1 



'Confirmatory also are the result - of Verkes (1913) on hj i>ri<!s tx-t «. < n ■■■ and tame rats. 



