136 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 396 



also apply to man, the intermarriage of congenital deat-mutes 

 through a number of successive generations should result in the 

 formation of a deaf variety of the human race." For example: 

 let some of the congenitally deaf marry congenital deaf-mutes; 

 then let some of their deaf children marry congenital deaf-mutes, 

 and some of their deaf children raarry congenital deaf-mutes, etc., 

 then the percentage of deaf children boi^n of such marriages will in- 

 crease from generation to generation, untU finally all, or nearly 

 all, of the children will be born deaf. The families of which this 

 would be true would then constitute a variety of the human race in 

 which deafness would be the rule instead of the exception. 



Now, Mr. Jenkins is greatly exercised over the fact that all the 

 distinguished scientific men whose opinions are quoted in the little 

 pamphlet entitled " Facts and Opinions relating to the Deaf," ad- 

 mit this theory to be true. He gets over the difficulty, iowever, 

 when he discovers that these gentlemen all belong to a scientific 

 association of which I also am a member; and he says, " A mem- 

 ber of their own frateraity has asked them their opinion on a 

 theory of his own formulating; and, in complimentary deference 

 to a great name, they have indorsed the theory." 



I need make no further comment upon this than to say that the 

 "fraternity" refers to no less a body than the National Academy 

 of Sciences; and that the gentlemen who are so willing to subor- 

 dinate their real opinions out of complimentary deference to me 

 are Professor Edward D. Cope, Professor Alpheus Hyatt, Dr. H. 

 P. Bowditch, Professor William H. Brewer, Professor Simon New- 

 comb, and Professor W. K. Brooks. 



But to aU his numerous mistakes Mr. Jenkins puts a climax 

 when he credits the above theory to me. Such an error might be 

 pardonable in one not connected with the Hartford School for the 

 Deaf; but it is surely unpardonable that Mr. Jenkins should not 

 know the author of the theory to have been the principal of the 

 very school in which Mr. Jenkins himself is an instructor. 



In my " Memoir " (p. 196) I quote the words of the late Rev. W. 

 W. Turner, as follows: "It is a well-known fact that among 

 domestic animals certain unusual variations of form or color which 

 sometimes occur among their offspring, may, by a careful selection 

 of others similar and by a continued breeding of like with like, be 

 rendered permanent, so as to constitute a distinct variety. The 

 same course adopted and pursued in the human race would un- 

 doubtedly lead to the same result. . . . Early consideration of 

 philanthropy, as well as the interests of congenitally deaf persons 

 themselves, should induce their teachers and friends to urge upon 

 them the impropriety of intermarriage " (from a paper upon 

 "Hereditary Deafness," published in 1868; for further references 

 see my Memoir, p. 196). 



The above is the theory for which I have so often been de- 

 nounced. But the statistics of the " Memoir," to which alone I 

 can lay claim, and which have led me to fear that a deaf variety 

 of the human race is actually in process of formation in America, 

 have never been seriously questioned. 



Many statistics have since been collected by deaf-mutes them- 

 selves, and by their teachers, to sUosv that there is no cause for 

 alarm; but their figures all demonstrate that the percentage of 

 deaf offspring born of deaf-mute intermarriages is many times 

 greater than the percentage of deaf offspring born of the marriages 

 of those who hear. 



The testimony of the present principal of the Hartford School, 

 Mr. Job Williams, is specially strong upon this point, although it 

 is adduced to sustain the opposite contention (see Facts and Opin- 

 ions, pp. 42-50), 



In view of these facts, we cannot but note with alarm that many 

 of the most prominent teachers of the deaf in America advocate 

 the intermarriage of deaf-mutes. Dr. Philip G. Gillett, superin- 

 tendent of the Illinois Institution for the Education of the Deaf, 

 says {Facts and Opinions, p. 53), "I do not discourage the inter- 

 marriages of the deaf, as they are usually more happily mated 

 thus than where one of the iiarlies only is deaf. The deaf need 

 the companionship of married life more than those who hear, and 

 it is a gross wrong to discourage it." 



Dr. Gillett is probably the oldest teacher of the deaf in America, 

 — not oldest in years, but oldest in service, —and he is looked up to 

 as a guide by very many in the profession. 



Much good might arise from a comparison of views between Dr. 

 Gillett and those scientific gentlemen who have given most atten- 

 tion to the subject of heredity. May I ask him, through the 

 columns of Science, what would be his advice in such a case as 

 the following? — 



A young man (not a deaf-mute) became deaf in childhood while 

 attending public school. He has one brother who is a deaf-mute, 

 and another who can hear. Two others of the family (believed to 

 be hearing) died young. 



The father of this young man was born deaf in one ear, and 

 lost the hearing of the other subsequently from illness. He 

 had a congenitally deaf brother who married a congenital deaf- 

 mute and had four children (three of them congenital deaf-mutes). 



The mother of the young man was a congenital deaf-mute, and 

 she also had a brother born deaf. 



The paternal grandmother of the young man was a congenital 

 deaf-mute, and she had a brother who was born deaf. This 

 brother married a congenital deaf -mute,and had one son born deaf. 



The great-grandfather of this young man (father of his paternal 

 grandmother) was a congenital deaf-mute; and he was, so far as 

 known, the first deaf-mute in the family. 



Thus deafness has come down to this young man through four 

 successive generations, and he now wants to marry a congenital 

 deaf-mute. 



The young lady has seven hearing brothers and sisters, and there 

 was no deafness in her ancestry, but she herself is believed by her 

 family to have been born deaf. 



Dr. Gillett must not think that this is a purely hypothetical 

 case, for it is not. The parties are engaged, but the marriage has 

 not yet been consummated, and I know that Dr. Gillett's advice 

 would have weight wdth the young people. 



The teacher of the young lady has been consulted, and she feels 

 her responsibility deeply. Her heart is with the young couple, 

 and she desii-es their happiness, and yet her judgment is opposed 

 to the imion. 



Will Dr. Gillett tell us what his advice would be in such a case? 

 Alexaj^der Graham Bell. 



Washington, D.C., Sept. 1. 



Treatment of Snake-Bites. 



In Science of A.ug. 33, lti90 (p. 107), it is stated that Professor 

 Kaufmann strongly condemns the use of large quantities of alco- 

 hol in the treatment of snake-bites, as he thinks it paralyzes and 

 depresses the nervous system. 



Now, this paralyzing and consequent depressing effect of alco- 

 hol in snake- bites is just wherein its medicinal or remedial value 

 lies; for by this paralyzing effect, tissue change and general met- 

 amorphoses of both the solids and fluids of the body are retarded, 

 and the reactionary susceptibility of the system is blunted and 

 benumbed; so that the venom is more slowly fed into the system, 

 which is, by the paralyzing effects of the alcohol, rendered less 

 susceptible to disturbing influences. Thus the vis medicatrix 

 naturae is given more time in which to eliminate, and in smaller 

 quantities, the venom from the system. 



This is another striking proof of the truth of the ancient aphor- 

 ism, " Do not allow your theories to interfei-e with your practice." 



Q. 0. Smith. 



Austin, Tex., Aug. 26. 



Temperature in Storms and High Areas. 



One of the first practical discussions of this question was pub- 

 lished in 1886 by M. Dechevrens, of Zikawei, China, and a trans- 

 lation of this paper will be found in the American Meteorological 

 Journal for August, 1886. An independent investigation of this 

 same question was carried on in this country before the above 

 publication, the results of which will be found in the journal 

 quoted above for October, 1887. The latter study showed that the 

 temperature fluctuations were almost exactly the same, and had 

 the same phases, both at the base and summit of high mountains, 

 which was exactly opposite to the results obtained by M. Dechev- 

 rens. Dr. Hann of Vienna espoused the cause of M. Dechevrens, 

 and tried to show that the observations at Sonnblick indicated the 



