prognathic; hard palate sharply vaulted; dental arches narrowed or angular; 

 teeth defective or misplaced; ears disproportionate in size or malformed; 

 extremely refractive anomalies and strabismus; deviation of the nose; septal 

 deformities; harelip; cleft palate; remnants of branchial clefts; spina bifida; 

 sacral growths of hair; deep sternal furrows and concavities; disproportion 

 between thorax and abdomen ; upper and lower limbs disproportioned to each 

 other or to the trunk; abnormality in size of hands or feet; tendency to left sided 

 overdevelopment; deformities of the fingers; syndactyly; excessive length or 

 shortness of the fingers; undersize of the ring and little fingers; genitalia 

 undeveloped; hypospadias; epispadias; scrotal fissure; albinism; melanism; 

 multiple naevi; defective development of hair and nails. 



With reference to these alleged stigmata of degeneracy a supple- 

 mental ruling reads that "The degenerate physique as a whole is often 

 marked by diminished stature and inferior vigor; males may present 

 the general body conformation of the opposite sex, with sloping, narrow 

 shoulders, broad hips, excessive pectoral and pubic adipose deposits, 

 with lack of masculine hirsute and muscular marking." In addition 

 thereto, functional stigmata are defined as "defective mental qualities ; 

 moral delinquencies, such as wilfulness, deceitfulness, indecency, stam- 

 mering," etc., but it is properly said with reference to the practice of 

 estimating the value of the various marks of degeneracy that "the 

 occurrence of a very few in any individual case would not justify 

 classification of the case as that of a defective." The notable work 

 of Goring clearly brings out the danger of blind reliance upon so-called 

 physical stigmata of degeneracy, criminality or perversion. Referring 

 to the prevailing notion that "every individual criminal is an anomaly 

 among mankind by inheritance and can be detected by his physical 

 malformations and mental eccentricities," Goring concludes that "this 

 anthropological monster has no existence in fact," and, furthermore, 

 that the "physical and mental constitution of both criminal and law- 

 abiding persons of the same age, stature, class and intelligence are 

 identical." Inferior physique and defective intelligence unquestionably 

 differentiate the criminal from the average normal population; but 

 such "stigmata of degeneracy" as are referred to in the Rules for the 

 Examination of Recruits are of very doubtful validity, especially when 

 practically applied by those not thoroughly trained in psycopathy, 

 which, as a rule, may safely be assumed not to be the case. There is 

 therefore the serious danger that a considerable proportion of thorough- 

 ly eligible recruits may be rejected as unfit for military service for 

 reasons which cannot possibly have any practical relation whatsoever 

 to military efficiency. 



LIMITATION OF ARMY REJECTION EXPERIENCE ' 



The rejection statistics of the United States Army are quite difficult 

 of correct interpretation. The term rejection in army recruiting has 

 apparently quite a different significance from what it has in life insur- 

 ance practice or in the physical examination of applicants for official 



21 



