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And last, but not least, the story is an important document in the case for the science of eugenics.

It has been estimated that in the United States one in every three hundred persons is feeble-minded -- that is, lacking the mental development to match the physical equipment. The minds of these unfortunates stopped unfolding when they were seven, eight, nine or ten years old. Physically they have grown up with the instincts and capacities of normal persons, but they are without the control of an adult mind. According to the degree of mental development which they exhibit, these defectives are classified as morons, or feeble-minded person or high grade, imbeciles and idiots. The first class is a particular menace to society, because, in many cases owing to the fairly good appearance of the subject, it is difficult to convince others that he or she is feeble-minded and ought to be segregated in some way for the protection of the future of the community. Without full normal mental control of their instincts, the power to resist environment, the capacity for choosing between the right and the wrong, they form good soil for the development of criminals, drunkards, and prostitutes. It is known that more than 25 percent of criminals are feeble-minded. Without power to meet the complex conditions of social environment they have fallen before it.

It has been demonstrated conclusively that epilepsy is hereditary. Dated on data collected at the State Village for Epileptics, at Skillman, N.J., it is asserted that at the present rate of increase in the number of epileptic and feeble-minded in that state in 1940 will be double what it is now, and that the proportion will be one to every 125 of the population in 1970. If no more restraint is imposed upon epileptics than at present, the population suffering from this ailment will double in that state every thirty years.

THE INSTANCES ARE MANY.

The problem of bad heredity finds illustration in many almshouses. A girl without mental stamina to cope with her environment and instincts finds herself about to become a mother. Perhaps she is a servant in some household and is compelled to leave her place. She goes to the almshouse and an illegitimate child, probably as feeble-minded as herself, is born. She goes out in course of time, and perhaps in a year or two returns for the same reason.

Among the inmates at Vineland is a girl, the daughter of a feeble-minded woman and a normal man, not united in matrimony. The story of her ancestry was investigated and it is told by Dr. Goddard, the psychologist of the raining school, in this language:

"Here we have a feeble-minded woman (referring to the inmate's mother) who has had here husbands, including one 'who was not her husband.' This woman was a handsome girl, apparently having inherited some refinement from her mother, although her father was a feeble-minded, alcoholic brute. Somewhere about the age of seventeen or eighteen she went out to do housework in a family in one of the towns of this state. She soon became the mother of an illegitimate child. It was born in an almshouse to which she fled after she had been discharged from the home where she had been at work.

"After this charitably disposed people tried to do what they could for her, giving her a home for herself and her child in return for the work which she could do. However, she soon appeared in the same condition. An effort was then made to discover the father of this second child, and when he was found to be a drunken, feeble-minded epileptic living in the neighborhood, in order to save the legitimacy of the child her friends saw to it that a marriage ceremony took place. Later another feeble-minded child was born to them.

"Then the whole family secured a home with an unmarried farmer in the neighborhood. They lived there together until another child was forthcoming, which the husband refused to own. When finally the farmer acknowledged this child to be his the same good friends interfered, went into the courts and procured a divorce from the husband and had the woman married to the father of the expected fourth child. This proved to be feeble-minded, and they have had four other feeble-minded children, making eight in all, born out of this woman.

"This woman had four feeble-minded brothers and sisters. These are all married and have children. The younger sister married a feeble-minded man and had three children. Two of these are feeble-minded and the other died in infancy. There were six other brothers and sisters who died in infancy."

Portions of this story could be duplicated in a large proportion of the towns and cities of the United States. It has characteristics which will be recognized as familiar by the kindly disposed of these communities.

The biologist has demonstrated that certain defects are transmissible and their presence in the next generation can be foretold. The eugenist, therefore, seeking "the improvement of the stock," must devise some means of stopping the flow of the taint. Segregation and sterilization have been suggested. The biologist has also demonstrated that good qualities can be passed on. The eugenist is following him up by pointing out that the human race should not only be relieved of the incubus of the unfit, but improved by the introduction of qualities which will fit it to cope with the increasingly complex problems which are being thrown upon I by its persistent efforts to conquer to forces of nature. That there is a growing feeling that something can be accomplished in this direction has been shown by he increasing numbers who have attended conferences on the subject at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences this winter and the number of new books which are now being issued.