80 HEREDITY IN RELATION TO EUGENICS 



the syphilitic poison in some, if not most cases, hkewise acts 

 most disastrously on the neuropathic constitution. Thus, 

 probably an hereditary predisposition lies at the basis of 

 most cases of insanity; and this predisposition behaves in 

 heredity like a defect. 



21. Pauperism 



Pauperism is a result of a complex of causes. On one side 

 it is mainly environmental in origin as, for instance, in the 

 case when a sudden accident, like death of the father, leaves a 

 widow and family of children mthout means of livelihood, 

 or a prolonged disease of the wage earner exhausts savings. 

 But it is easy to see that in these cases heredity also plays a 

 part; for the effective worker will be able to save enough 

 money to care for his family in case of accident ; and the man 

 of strong stock will not suffer from prolonged disease. Bar- 

 ring a few highly exceptional conditions poverty means rela- 

 tive inefficiency and this in turn usually means mental inferi- 

 ority. This is the conclusion that social workers in many 

 places have reached. Thus from Harrisburg, Pa., come these 

 cases: (a) Mr. and Mrs. R., applicants for relief and hving in 

 a slum district, are parents of 14 children of whom 10 are 

 hving. These parents are both epileptic and feeble-minded, 

 (b) Mother and father are both feeble-minded. There are 6 

 children, all of marriageable age, all unfit to earn in any case 

 more than $1.50 per week, and all recipients of pubhc alms. 

 Such cases might be multiplied indefinitely. 



In the larger pedigrees of the Jukes and Zero famihes more 

 definite data as to inheritance of some of the elements of 

 poverty can be gained. Let us take " shif tlessness " as an 

 important element in poverty. Then classifying all persons 

 in these two families as very shiftless, somewhat shiftless, and 

 industrious the follo\ving conclusions are reached. When 



