50 The Age of Parents 



came from the late lives of their parents. Let us 

 look at the other side of the picture. 



During the Revolutionary War a twenty-year- 

 old boy, now known under the fictitious name 

 of Martin Kallikak, Sr., came into contact with 

 a young girl of unstated age. The result was 

 an illegitimate son, now known as Martin Kalli- 

 kak, Jr. As Martin, Sr., and the girl were both 

 much below what is normal-mindedness for the 

 standard parent, it will be seen that Martin, Jr., 

 was by two feeble-minded parents. As we get 

 only feeble-minded children from feeble-minded 

 parents, Martin, Jr., was born feeble-minded and 

 became the founded of a feeble-minded family. 

 Martin, Jr., started life with some degree of 

 feeble-minded handicap, but even a feeble- 

 minded person can develop to some extent as the 

 years go by. We may suppose that Martin, Jr., 

 could reach or nearly reach the standard for a 

 thirty-year-old, even if he did not arrive at that 

 point until he was fifty years old. Martin, Jr., 

 had several sons, the eldest of whom was born 

 when his father was far below the thirty-year 

 standard. He was below that standard partly 

 because of his inheritance, partly because of lack 



