HERITABLE BASIS OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY 93 



outcasts, as might have been anticipated, were found to be highly 

 abnormal; 22 per cent were adjudged feeble-minded and 11 per 

 cent were epileptic. Those of dull mentality were more numer- 

 ous. As a rule their schooling was very Hmited. Many did not 

 know the name of the Kaiser. Several who were born in Breslau 

 could not tell the name of the river upon which that city is sit- 

 uated; others confused the Pope with the cardinal residing in 

 Breslau, and for several, Prussia, Germany and Europe were 

 synonymous terms. Some also were ignorant of the main points 

 of the compass, the number of months and weeks in a year, and 

 the name of Bismarck. However poor his educational advantages 

 may have been, it seems improbable that a person of normally 

 active mind could have grown to maturity and remained ignorant 

 of such matters as these. 



Only a small percentage were not addicted to alcohol, the 

 favorite form being brandy. The relatively small proportion that 

 came from the upper classes almost without exception were 

 mentally unbalanced and came from insane (9 per cent), epi- 

 leptic (12 per cent), or alcoholic (79 per cent) parentage. While 

 the general morbidity of the group was high, few were physically 

 unfit for labor. The majority, however, had been rejected as 

 army recruits. Most of them had been from time to time un- 

 skilled laborers of various kinds, and a great many originally 

 came from the country. 



What was ascertained of the inheritance of these men indicated 

 that a bad heredity was primarily responsible for much of their 

 misfortunes. In a half of the cases there was a direct alcoholic 

 psychopathic inheritance from either the father or mother. 

 Doubtless more parental defect would have been discovered had it 

 been possible to secure reliable data. 



The pedigrees of paupers, so far as they have been studied, 

 show a large percentage of mental defect. The Eugenics Educa- 

 tion Society in 19 10 appointed a committee to investigate the 

 families receiving poor relief. The investigation dealt not only 

 with those who were poor through accident or misfortune, but 

 with those families whose members showed a chronic disinclina- 



