]18 



scwwcu. 



[Vol. IX., No 209 



minds us of Hegel, who had incorporated anthro- 

 pology as the first chapter of his theory of the sub- 

 jective intellect, that is, according to his use of lan- 

 guage, of psychology, an arrangement in which he 

 was followed by his school. Dubois Eeymond's 

 thoughtful and well-expressed ' Akademische Re- 

 den ' reveal the irresistible need of something be 

 yond this material world in their acknowledgment 

 of ' world riddles ' and of psychic phenomena as ac- 

 companiments of physical processes. The physicist 

 E. Mach's clear-sighted ' Beitrage zur Analyse der 

 Empfindungen ' keep within the limits of ' psycho- 

 physics,' without throwing any doubt on the ex- 

 istence of the psychical. However, the collected 

 essays of W. Wundt, who was bred a physiologist, 

 prove that even an investigator who starts from 

 purely empirical causes feels the need not only of 

 philosophy, but also of the special branches that 

 have always been included under this head, psy- 

 chology, logic, ethics ; while even metaphysic, 

 though fallen into contempt, is asserting itself 

 again, however much the aim of this new induc- 

 tive science may differ from the old speculative 

 one that bore the name." 



CONSANGUINITY AND MENTAL UN- 

 SOUNDNESS. 



The question of the effects of consanguinity is 

 one of those vexed problems on which much evi- 

 dence has been collected pro and con. The ob- 

 servations have been made by careful observers ; 

 and the most probable explanation of the diversity 

 of the results reached, is that other circumstances 

 have in some cases cancelled the bad effects 

 of too close interbreeding, and in other cases 

 brought them into prominence. A very fair con- 

 sideration of the problem is given by Dr. G. E. 

 Shuttleworth, in the Journal of mental science for 

 October, 1886. 



The common misgiving as to the propriety of 

 cousin-marriages is of rather recent origin. In 

 ancient times marriages of near kin were not for- 

 bidden ; the first prohibition of them is in the 

 fourth century A.D. The Church soon came to 

 cast its odium on marriages even of the seventh 

 degree of relationship, and the fees for removal of 

 such objections by dispensation were an important 

 source of revenue. This has undoubtedly influ- 

 enced popular opinion on the question. 



From the physician's point of view, the evidence 

 from the animal world is important. Here there 

 is almost a consensus, that, while the effect of 

 ' in-and-in breeding ' is to intensify points, in the 

 long-run it is opposed to vigor of constitution. It 

 is to be remembered that every breeder takes care 

 to exclude any animals with any known morbid 



tendency, while, on the contrary, in the genus 

 Homo, as Dr. Clauston remarks, there seems to be 

 "a special tendency for members of neurotic fam- 

 ilies to intermarry." The result of this will be 

 that in some portions of the population the off- 

 spring of such marriages will show the evil results 

 of it to an unusual extent. And thus we find, 

 that in rural and especially in mountainous dis- 

 tricts, where the population is small and fixed, 

 the comparative amount of idiocy is greater than 

 elsewhere. Statistical information is inadequate 

 on the subject : the motion to include it in the 

 census returns of England was rejected "amidst 

 the scornful laughter of the house, on the ground 

 that the idle curiosity of speculative philosophers 

 was not to be gratified." In France the returns 

 have given rise to various estimates (varying from 

 ■f(j to 2i or 3 per cent) of the frequency of con- 

 sanguineous marriages. Mr. G. H. Darwin came 

 to the conclusion that in London 1^ per cent 

 of all marriages were between first-cousins, in 

 urban districts 2 per cent, and in rural districts 

 2i per cent. 



If, now, we ascertain the ratio of idiots and in- 

 sane patients that are the offspring of such mar- 

 riages to the total number of patients in the asy- 

 lums, we will have some means of estimating the 

 results of consanguinity. From quite an ex- 

 tended series of records, it is concluded that the 

 ratio just referred to in the idiot-asylums is from 

 3 to 5 per cent : hence "first-cousin marriages, at 

 any rate, are to some extent favorable to the pro- 

 duction of idiot children." But this conclusion 

 must be tempered by the consideration that in a 

 large number of such cases of idiocy and imbe- 

 cility other causes for this condition are present ; 

 and this consideration leads Dr. A. Mitchell to the 

 opinion that "under favorable conditions of life 

 the apparent ill effects of consanguineous mar- 

 riages were frequently almost nil, while, if the 

 children were ill fed, badly housed and clothed, 

 the evil might become very marked." From 

 such facts and figures we may conclude that first- 

 cousin marriages should, as a rule, be discouraged ; 

 but that, if a close scrutiny reveals no heritable 

 weakness, neurotic or otherwise, the banns need 

 not invariably be forbidden. 



ALLOEMEINE NATURKUNDE. 



In the production of elaborate works on natural 

 science for the general scientific reader or student, 

 the Germans are facile princeps. Besides bearing 

 evidences of thoroughness and general accuracy, 

 such works usually present a homogeneity and 



Allgemeine naturkunde. Leipzig, Bibliographisches in- 

 stitut. 8°. (New York, Westermann.) 



