372 THE TREND OF THE RACE 
prove, there is a diminution of their death rate, and hence a 
greater proportion of the insane are found living at any given 
time. Varying standards as to the degree of mental alienation 
which may be held to warrant commitment introduce further 
complications. It is probable that more of the milder forms of 
insanity are now placed under custodial care than formerly and 
that more are certified as insane in statistical enumerations. 
Then it must be borne in mind that the changes in the age com- 
position of the population which have taken place in the last half 
century, leading to an increasing proportion of adults in which 
insanity is more likely to develop would of itself produce an 
increase in the number of insane per 100,000 of the population 
quite irrespective of any increased proclivity to insanity at any 
particular period of life. While it is not improbable that, as 
many alienists believe, insanity has actually been on the increase 
in recent times, the conclusion cannot be established by the data 
on the subject which are at present available. 
Statistics on feeble-mindedness show that there has been a 
steady increase in the number of feeble-minded in institutions 
in proportion to the general population. But one obvious reason 
for this is the fact that we have more adequate provision than 
formerly for the institutional care of these unfortunates. As 
a tule only the lowest grades of the feeble-minded, and by no 
means all of these, are segregated in institutions. The proportion 
of feeble-minded in general who are in institutions compared with 
the number at large in the community is not high. There are 
indications, as is pointed out elsewhere, that this class is in- 
creasing on account of its relatively high birth rate. If our data 
concerning the relative birth and death rates of the feeble-minded 
and normal elements of our population were to show that the 
latter were being outbred by the former, the difference would be 
sufficiently alarming, even though statistical proof of how fast 
the feeble-minded are increasing, were lacking. 
Some writers have attributed the alleged increase in crime 
in recent years to the increase in the kind of inheritance that 
predisposes people to criminal conduct. From what we know 
