September 20, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



451 



both mentally and physically defective, 5.5 

 per cent. 107 or 11 per cent, were reported 

 as illegitimate. 



It will be observed that the feeble-minded 

 and blind are more common than any other 

 combination in the first generation, while 

 in the second and third generations there 

 are more feeble-minded and epileptics. 



In one neighboring county a feeble-minded 

 woman, who, according to the records in 

 our office, has been in the poor asylum over 

 twenty years, was the mother of two 

 daughters, to whom she transmitted her 

 mental defect. One of these feeble-minded 

 daughters, Rachel, has been twice married, 

 and has borne eleven children, three of whom 

 are now dead. Her second union was with 

 a negro. Her children are very ignorant, 

 but so far our records do not show that 

 they have been inmates of any public in- 

 stitution, with the exception of one son, who 

 has been in prison. The other daughter, 



sons have been the result of this marriage. 

 One of the daughters is feeble-minded. 

 One of the sous, also feeble-minded, is a 

 natural criminal. The direct descendants 

 of the feeble-minded woman first mentioned 

 number twenty-nine, and in the past ten 

 years twelve of these persons have spent an 

 aggregate of twenty- two years in the poor 

 asylum and orphans' home of the county. 

 The total family members reported number 

 forty- seven and extend over five generations. 

 One group of 13 feeble-minded families 

 is recorded containing 68 individuals. 

 Of these there were 18 in the first genera- 

 tion ; 26 in the second ; 24 in the third. 

 With these degenerates it is not always true 

 that when there is a little child there are 

 three persons in a family. The paternity 

 is not always known and in many cases 

 we are compelled to count two persons, the 

 mother and child. All the members of the 

 first generation were feeble-minded ; twenty 



A Eecoed of Thirteen Families of Three Generations Each. 



Kate, had four children, all girls, two 

 feeble-minded and two illegitimate. The 

 two feeble-minded daughters have spent 

 much of their lives in the county poor 

 asylum. One of them, Nancy, became the 

 third wife of a feeble-minded, paralytic 

 man, and one son and three feeble-minded 

 daughters were born to her. Her hus- 

 band's second wife had a feeble-minded 

 daughter, who married an insane man, and 

 they have one child, a son. Nancy's 

 feeble-minded sister, Lou, married a feeble- 

 minded man, and three daughters and two 



*No. of persons in 2d generation who had chil- 

 dren = 12. 



of the second generation showed the same 

 defect. The mental condition of the third 

 generation is not given. The reason is that 

 they were reported when they were at an age 

 at which it could not be determined. Eleven 

 of its members, however, are reported as 

 illegitimate. The 11 women in the first 

 generation were the mothers of 26 children. 

 The 24 members of the third generation are 

 the children of 12 of these. It will be 

 noted that when the younger members of a 

 generation are born in an institution, or 

 become inmates very young, their mental 

 condition cannot be reported and often is 

 not known unless they are readmitted when 



