14 Anthropological Investigations. 



■quences. On the other hand, a large number of abnormalities, and 

 especially those of congenital nature, have very little or no traceable 

 subjective effect on their bearer. 



What has just been said is principally for the purpose of affording 

 indications as to how to properly view the abnormalities we may 

 meet in the inmates of the New York Juvenile Asylum. 



It should be kept in mind, first of all, that many of the abnormali- 

 ties of which we shall speak are simply the results of states of mal- 

 nutrition, or of certain pathological conditions, and do not indicate 

 inferiority any more than would a pale skin after a hemorrhage or 

 so many scars after wounds. 



In the second nlace, a great many of those abnormalities in our 

 children, which are really due to some defects or peculiarities of 

 either of the parental principles from which the being springs, are, 

 so far as we know, without any practical significance, either objec- 

 tive or subjective. 



Third, it is a fact, although we have no real statistics on this 

 point, that any of the abnormalities met with in this institution can 

 also be met with occasionally in the children of any class or social 

 position. 



And fourth, the real object of the exposure of the abnormalities 

 of these children is not only to show their physical standing, but 

 also to show the way to repair or compensate for the inborn defects, 

 or the consequences of previous afflictions of these individuals. 



We will now approach the data obtained by the examinations. In 

 this place only the total figures will be given; the details will be 

 found in the various sections of the study. 



A.mong the 634 white males examined, 58, or a little over 9 per 

 cent., show no abnormality whatever on any part of their body. 

 Among the 274 white girls examined, there were 35, or almost 13 

 per cent., on whose body there was nothing atypical. From among 

 the 66 negro boys, 5, or 7.6 per cent., were entirely normal, while 

 out of the 26 colored girls there were 7, or almost 27 per cent., who 

 showed no irregularities. 



Thus about one-seventh of all the inmates of the New York Juve- 

 nile Asylum are without a blemish on their bodies. This proportion 

 may perhaps seem somewhat small to those who are not accus- 



