Mental Disease and Defect 



25 



It has been mentioned elsewhere that there is f reqnently found 

 a complication of mental disorders in the same family. To the 

 social worker this means eternal vigilance in her psychopathic 

 work and effort to recognize the early manifestations in order to 

 secure the proper care and whenever possible to forestall acute 

 conditions. It will be noticed that 4 defectives have insane par- 

 ents, 1 has an epileptic mother, and 6 have parents afflicted by 

 some nervous disorder. 



Whether alcoholism is a cause of feeble mindedness or feeble- 

 mindedness is a cause of alcoholism cannot be answered here, but 

 it is known that the two often go together. Nine of these defect- 

 ives had alcoholic parents. By experiments, alcohol has been 

 proved to have direct effect upon the germ cells a short time after 

 entering the body. Hence, at conception this might impair develop- 

 ment of the fetus and result in mental or physical defect. On the 

 other hand, Mr. Kelso says : ''Alcohol, though boasting many 

 converts from the ranks of the highly intelligent, gets first and 

 most frequently into the head that has the least power to visualize 

 the consequences, least strength to appreciate the scope of life's 

 daily problem."^ 



TABLE VI. HEREDITY 



Syphilis in parents 



Tuberculosis in relatives 



Tuberculosis in parents 



Feeble-mindedness in brothers and sisters 



Feeble-mindedness in relatives* 



Alcoholism in parents 



Nervous disorders in relatives. 



Feeble-mindedness in parents 



Nervous disorders in parents 



Tuberculosis in brothers and sisters 



Insanity in parents = 



Feeble-mindedness in offspring 



Nervous disorders in brothers or sisters. . 



Insanity in relatives . . 



Alcoholism in relatives 



Insanity in brothers or sisters 



Epilepsy in parents 



Epilepsy in brothers or sisters 



17 



12 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 8 

 6 

 5 

 4 

 4 

 3 



2 



1 

 1 

 1 



Total 



112t 



*E.elatives include only cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents. 

 fSome persons are counted more than once, i.e. Alcoholism 

 and also Feeble-mindedness. 



Robert Kelso, "Feeble-mindedness as an Element in Poverty", Boston Medical 

 and Surgical Journal, October 4, 1917, Vol. CLXXVII, p. 485. 



