59 



A Family in One Neighborhood.* 



Amos W. Butler, 



Secretary Indiana Board of State Charities. 



Indianapolis. 



Not long ago I bad handed to me a little card containing these words: 



"When shall we apply the same intelligence to breeding human 

 beings that we apply to breeding cattle?" 



It came at a time when we were investigating the family histories of 

 some of the state's wards whose names are recorded in the registration of 

 the Board of State Charities. The application was made more striking by 

 having before me charts of some of these families, some of them running 

 back five or six generations. These tell a story of degeneracy that is ap- 

 palling. I have thought you would be interested in one of them whose 

 visible beginning was in a pair of feeble-minded ancestors about a hun- 

 dred years ago. It includes five generations, represented by fifty-seven 

 individuals. 



There would be some changes in the chart as a result of subsequent 

 investigations but in the main the facts are as given. 



The "C" Family. „ 



Sex 



Male. Female. Unknown. Total. 



Individuals recorded 24 28 5 57 



Mental condition : 



Feeble-minded 17 10 . 30 



Insane 1 . 1 



Normal 3 G . 9 



Normality in question 4 2 5 11 



Sex offenders 3 4 . 7 



Illegitimate 1 3 5 9 



*Read at Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis 1914. 



