the suggestion of the environment, and the influence of example of the 

parents; but even so, the primal cause was that Max Jukes, the 

notoriously unfit ancestor, was allowed to propagate this evil brood, 

destined to be born and reared under the most adverse conditions and 

environment. 

The Eugenists also place great importance upon the prevention of insane 

persons becoming parents. To those who consider that this is but an 

exceptional and rare occurrence, the Eugenists reply that a large 

percentage of insane patients in asylums have a family history showing 

insanity in one or both parents; that reports show that there are 

thousands of feeble-minded women in every large city allowed to (yes, 

often actually compelled to) bear children to their husbands or male 

companions. 

Ribot says: "Every work on insanity is a plea for heredity." Maudsley 

says: "More than one-fourth and less than one-half of all insanity is 

heredity." Riddell says: "Of the great causes of insanity, alcoholism is 

perhaps the greatest, while morbid heredity ranks next. Insanity is 

largely the result of degeneracy. Most persons who become mentally 

deranged are the offspring of neurotic, drunken, insane or feeble-minded 

parents." While it by no means follows that one must manifest traits of 

insanity or mental disturbance simply because one of his parents 

suffered from a like trouble--and we believe that many a one has 

frightened himself into those conditions by pure auto-suggestion 

inspired by a one-sided belief in heredity--still it is unquestionably 

true that a fair mind must concede that wisdom and a proper sense of 

right and justice would require that parents of unsound mental 

tendencies should not be permitted to bring into the world children who 

might inherit a tendency toward a like, or worse, condition. 

The Eugenists also have called the attention of the thinking public to 

the danger of deaf-and-dumb persons transmitting their condition to 

their offspring. Of this Dr. Saleeby says: "The condition known as 

deaf-mutism is congenital or due to innate defect in about one-half of 

all the cases in Great Britain." Dr. Love says: "In every institution, 

examples may be found of deaf-mute children who have had one or two deaf 

parents or grandparents, and of two or more deaf-mute children belonging 

to one family." A case is noted in England where a deaf-and-dumb man 

having been killed by an accident, his relatives could not identify the 

body, as the wife and sister were blind, deaf-and-dumb, and the four