THE APPLICATION TO MAN 227 



consisting in an analysis of experiments already per- 

 formed rather than in initiating new experiments. 



Such institutions as insane asylums, prisons, 

 sanitariums, 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 experiments in genetics 

 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 statisti- 

 cal method is that furnished by Dugdale in 1877 in 

 the case of "Max Jukes" and his descendants. It 

 includes over one thousand individuals, the origin of 

 all of whom has been traced back to a shiftless, illit- 

 erate, 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 together spent a total of 2300 years in alms- 

 houses, while 440 were physical wrecks. In addition 

 to this, over one half of the female descendants were 

 prostitutes, and 130 individuals were convicted crim- 

 inals, including 7 murderers. Not one of the entire 

 family had a common school education, although 



