THE INHERITANCE OF FAMILY TRAITS 83 



very distasteful he will probably not continue to drink; if it 

 wakens a strong desire for more he will probably become (or 

 is) a dipsomaniac.^ The result in these extreme cases is deter- 

 mined by innate tastes which are doubtless hereditary. But 

 in most cases the person who takes a first glass finds it indiffer- 

 ent. His subsequent relation to alcohol depends largely upon 

 his associates; but his selection of associates again depends on 

 innate tastes. Some like the steady, quiet, serious youth for 

 their companions; others select the reckless, jolly fellows, 

 careless of the proprieties and — "birds of a feather flock 

 together." The influence of precept is not to be overlooked; 

 this is, however, most important in determining the first 

 drink. No doubt a strong susceptibihty to social sentiment 

 restrains many of the border line cases. 



A strong hereditary bias toward alcohol runs through not a 

 few famihes of the United States. A pedigree of one such is 

 given in Fig. 49. The neighbors say: "It is a family of 

 drunkards," yet some of the individuals never touch hquor. 

 The bad environment has its result first and chiefly on those 

 individuals with an hereditary predisposition toward nar- 

 cotics and this hereditary bias is stronger in some famihes 

 than others, depending on the nature of the family trait, and 

 it occurs in a larger proportion of the cases in some families 

 than others, depending on the nature of the matings that 

 have occurred in that family. 



23. Criminality 



In connection with the subject of nervous defect and dis- 

 ease the topic of an hereditary tendency to crime must be 



^ Dr. L. D. Mason, head of the Inebriates' Home for Kings County (N. Y.) 

 tells this story from his experience. He knew of a young man of such ancestry 

 that a dipsomaniac was predicted. For years the youth refrained from drink, 

 and led an exemplary life. Finally, he was operated on for appendicitis and, 

 to hasten recovery, the surgeon gave him some brandy. An uncontrollable 

 appetite was awakened and the man soon died from alcoholism. 



