Hrdlicka. 



PART I. 



General Observations on the Total of Characters of the 

 White and of the Colored Children. 



There were no systematic observations made on the inmates of 

 the Juvenile Asylum, but 1 took every occasion to come into a close 

 contact with the children and to learn as much as possible about 

 their moral status, their habits and their health. The observations 

 thus collected were confirmed by inquiries among the teachers and 

 attendants of the children; and I have received especially valuable 

 assistance in this respect from the Superintendent of the Institution, 

 Dr. Bruce. In a general way I can sum up the observations as 

 follows: 



When the children are admitted into the institution, they are 

 almost invariably in some way, both morally and physically, inferior 

 to healthy children from good social classes at large. A closer ob- 

 servation, however, reveals the fact that the inferiorities of the chil- 

 dren who are becoming inmates of the Juvenile Asylum, are in the 

 majority of cases only the results of neglect, or of improper nutri- 

 tion, or of both these causes combined. Many of the children are 

 more or less neglected, or spoiled, or less developed or strong, than 

 they should be; but a really inferior child, that is, an inherently 

 vicious, or an imbecile child, or a child who could not be much 

 improved by better food and better hygienic surroundings, is a very 

 rare exception. 



Within a month, at most, after the admission of the child into 

 the Asylum, and sometimes within a week, decided changes for the 

 better are observed in almost every instance. Among the first 

 improvements noticed in the children are better appetite and better 

 appearance; while from the moral standpoint it is noticeable that the 

 children stop using foul language, show more obedience, and mani- 

 fest much less disposition to lying and pilfering. 



What is a very important fact, and at the same time the best 

 evidence of the real character of these children, is that after their 

 admission, gradually, all of the individuals of the same sex and age 



