INHERITANCE OF MENTAL DEFECTS AND DISEASE 63 
One of the highest percentages of positive reactions was found 
by Fraser and Watson. These workers not only applied the test 
in a thorough manner, but they studied the family history of 
the patients, and applied the Wassermann test also to other 
members of the family. Dr. Fraser examined the blood sera of 99 
mentally defective and epileptic children. Excluding 10 cases of 
epilepsy where no apparent mental defect existed, and “‘consider- 
ing only the 89 cases where defect was present, it was found that 
40 gave a positive reaction, or 44.9 per cent.; 38 gave a negative 
reaction, or 42.4 per cent.; and 11 gave a doubtful reaction, or 
12.3 per cent.” 
In several cases in which the child gave a negative or doubt- 
ful reaction it was found that a positive Wassermann could be 
obtained from some other member of the same family, thus 
affording evidence that syphilitic infection was or had been 
present in the child examined. Considering all the evidence in 
hand it is probable that the percentage of syphilitic infection 
was over 57 per cent. 
An examination by Dr. Watson of the blood serum of 105 cases 
of mental deficiency, mainly feeble-mindedness, of varying ages 
up to 17 years showed that 51 gave a positive reaction, 45 gave a 
negative reaction, and g were doubtful. As several of the negative 
or doubtful cases had relatives that gave a positive reaction, it 
is probable that the percentage of syphilis in Dr. Watson’s group 
of defectives was over 50 per cent. ‘On grouping the defective 
and epileptic children together, it is found that of the 205 cases 
examined syphilitic infection is present in 126 or 60 per cent.” 
Should syphilis be found to play so large a part in the pro- 
using the Noguchi system in the examination of 204 idiots found 14.7 per cent 
that gave a positive reaction. Raviart, Breton and Petit in examining various 
cases of mental defect aside from parasyphilitic cases obtained positive reactions in 
30 to 4o per cent of all cases of idiocy, epilepsy and imbecility. A high proportion 
of positive cases was found in various forms of insanity by Rosanoff, Wiseman and 
Noguchi. (See Noguchi, Serum Diagnosis and Luetin Reaction, Philadelphia, 1912.) 
Kaplan (Serology of Nervous Diseases, 1914), found a positive Wassermann in 4 
out of 38 epileptics and a negative reaction in most cases of dementia pracnx and 
manic-depressive insanity, and he emphasizes the danger of reporting too many 
cases of a positive reaction. 
