296 SECRETS OF ANIMAL LIFE 
pull themselves together. But strains with damnosa 
hereditas had been “assisted out”? from Europe, 
and from such, foreordained to perdition, came 
“the Jukes.” Here are some of them: Max, the 
hunter and fisher, the jolly, alcoholic ne’er-do-well; 
Lem, the stealer of sheep; Lawrence, the licentious, 
free with his “gun”; Margaret and Delia, the wan- 
tons; and Bell, who had three children by various 
negroes. Dr. Davenport continues: “ Not only was 
much of the original stock bad, but improvement 
which might otherwise have occurred was prevented 
by constant inbreeding. The nervous weaknesses, 
the mental insufficiencies were thus brought together 
from both sides, and mentally and morally defective 
offspring were rendered more certain. Some out- 
breeding there was, and where it was with better 
stock the progeny had better intelligence and 
emotional control, and lines were founded that 
were able to hold a good position in organized 
society.” 
The sequel deals with the now widely-scattered: 
descendants of five original Juke sisters, a total of 
2094 people, of whom 1258 were living in 1915. 
The most general fact about them is that one-half 
were and are feeble-minded in a wide sense, ‘‘ men- 
tally incapable of responding normally to the 
expectations of society, brought up under faulty 
environmental conditions which they consider 
normal, satisfied with the fulfilment of natural 
passions and desires, and with no ambitions or 
ideals in life.’ As to the other half of the Jukes, 
