H858r
 1848


m


V>-U
tl'i- "n H'-i'i.l ' . >■• • •

 

i ^§l^<vfP ^^>
VN0I1VN  3NI3IQ3W JO UVIIM IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W JO A » V » a I 1 IVNOIIVN 1NI3IQ3W JO A »
1 2
s/
MEDICINE  NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRA

                         *
I o
VNOI1VN  3NI3IQ3W JO A « V « 8 II IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W JO 1IVIII1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W JO AH
I  f>£
!- *  C2>si  \ * / j%&n\\ !  Cpm \ i / SSrt> 2 tm&k*
IONAL LIBRAI
/v!
UDICINE  NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRA

N-s?

VNOI1VN  3NI3IQ3W JO A H V «a I 1 IVNOiiVN 3NI3I03W JO AlVKIl IVNOIIVN 3NI3I03W JO AD
v  .
\ •• c
JT^ I -/
i>V  i
IEDICINE  NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRA
Cn  I  ATI
^

VNOUVN  3NI3I0 3W JO JH»I1I1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3I03W JO UVUall IVNOIIVN 3NIDI03W JO All
'V
UDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL L I B If /



  1 i
    *   '--£^  s.   t^-'  i       i      $
VNOUVN  3NI3IQ3W JO AaVialT IVNOiiVN 3NI3IQ3W JO A»V » a U IVNOiiVN 3NI3IQ3W JO Al
»r^
?k
\*/3
f $a$. i fp|-~\ 

\
=    '■ x
IVNOIIVN  3NI3I03W JO AKVaan IVNOiiVN  3NI3IQJW JO AaV.ail IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W JO A
s   $f \ r

MEDICINE  NATIONAL ll
J \
DUE
X-
DEC 16 80

Tl ON Al LIBR
LAST DATE
✓A.
■■*«.
>%'
3 I 0 3W JO A
\

MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE  NATIONAL LIBR
i f
X    :-~J'- ' \ J" S
—   ' ■'/,  J> «
—    a'/  X  °
e   f
IVNOiiVN 3NI3IQ3W JO AUVVSII IVNOiiVN 3NI3IQ3W JO ARVXail IVNOiiVN JNI3IQ3W JO A

I'
.*'
HSi V
\/  i  \/^ I >'V  i  V^M
                              '■ Ss  /'  ' :,  •   VX<*  \






MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBR
\
I   /v
i-N
M-4
#1
IVNOiiVN  3NI3I03W JO A D V II a I 1 IVNOiiVN  3 N I 3 I <D 3 W JO A II V 8 8 I 1 IVNOiiVN 3 N I 3 I 0 3 W JO A


      •        *   V ^   •   --    f   >•■-    •
„>*•
*s *:.   a


x -    p  -A. /
V   5   x/
MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBR
\  1

5  J-^ -

/
     *        1        *        5.        *

IVNOiiVN  3NI3IQ3W JO ilVllll IVNOiiVN  3NI3IQ3W JO ADVUail IVNOiiVN 3NI3IQ3W JO A
> ? K
'? C V
\ 
 
■»--.**&
/ ->
REPORT
D
7
<>u
MADE TO THE
LEGISLATURE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS,
IDIOCY.
   S. G. HOWE,
CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COMMISSION
  Subsequently to this Report, the Legislature of Massachusetts
made an appropriation of $2500 per annum, for three years, to
be devoted to the experiment of teaching aqd training ten idiots.
  A school has been established at South Boston, under the
direction of Dr. Howe; and several idiots are already under
instruction.  The teacher is Mr. J. B. Ricbards.
  October, 1848. 
 
i xx  - -
              REPORT
                           7^
MADE TO THE
LEGISLATURE  OF MASSACHUSETTS,
IDIOCY.
  S. G. HOWE,
CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COMMISSION.

c?Lir»ii.\irv. V
 fa"/#y^ x
BOSTON
PRINTED FROM THE STATE EDITION BY COOLIDGE & WILEY,
             12 Water Street.
                1848. 
 
Feb., 1848.]          SENATE—No. 51.
3
(Eommoutoealti)  of JWassatfjuBetts,
                                  Boston, Feb. 26, 1848.

To His Excellency, George N. Briggs, Governor of the Com-
               monwealth of Massachusetts: —

   Sir: — The undersigned, commissioners appointed by your
excellency, under the act of  April 11, 1846, "to inquire into the
condition of the Idiots of the Commonwealth, to ascertain their
number, and  whether any thing can be done in  their behalf,"
respectfully

                    REPORT

as follows: —

   When we accepted the task  assigned to us, it was not with-
out a sense of its importance.   We did not  look upon  idiocy
as  a  thing  which concerned  only the  hundred or thousand
unfortunate  creatures in this  generation  who  are  stunted or
blighted by it; for even if means could be found  of raising all
the idiots now  within our  borders from their brutishness, and
alleviating their suffering, the work  would  have to be done
over again, because the next generation would be burdened with
an equal number of them.   Such means would  only cut off the
outward  cancer, and  leave the  vicious sources of it in ihe sys-
tem.  We regarded  idiocy  as  a  diseased excrescence of soci-
ety ; as an outward sign of an inward malady.  It was  hard to
believe it to  be in the order of  Providence that the earth should
always be cumbered with  so  many creatures in the  human 
4
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 shape, but without the light of human reason.  It seemed impi-
 ous to attribute to the Creator any such glaring imperfection in
 his  handiwork.  It appeared to us certain that the existence of
 so many idiots in every generation must be the consequence of
 some  violation of the natural laws;—that where there was so
 much  suffering, there must have been sin.  We resolved, there-
 fore, to seek for the sources of  the evil, as well as to  gauge the
 depth  and extent of the misery.  It was to be expected that the
 search would oblige  us to witness painful scenes, not only of
 misfortunes and  sufferings, but of deformities and  infirmities,
 the  consequences of ignorance, vice, and depravity.   The sub-
 jects of them, however, were brethren of the human family; the
 end  proposed was not  only to relieve their sufferings, and  im-
 prove  their  condition; but, if possible, to lessen  such evils in
 coming generations;  the  task,  therefore, was  not  to be shrunk
 from, however repulsive and painful was its contemplation.
   It is to be confessed, however, that we have been  painfully
 disappointed  by  the  sad  reality, for the numbers of beings
 originally made in God's  image, but  now sunk  in  utter brut-
 ishness, is fearfully great,^even  beyond any thing  that  had been
 anticipated.
   The examination of their physical condition forces one into
 scenes, from  the contemplation of  which the mind  and  the
 senses instinctively revolt.
   In searching for the causes of this wretchedness in the condi-
 tion  and habits of the progenitors of the sufferers,  there is found
 a  degree of physical  deterioration, and of mental and  moral
 darkness, which will hardly be credited.
   We would fain be spared any relation of what has  been wit-
 nessed, as well for our own sake, as for the tastes and feelings
 of others, which must be shocked by the recital of it.    It would
 be pleasanter  simply to recommend such measures as would
 tend to remove the present evils, and prevent their recurrence.
 But  this may not  be.  Evils cannot be grappled with, and over-
come, unless their nature and extent are fully known.   Besides
our duty was  not only to examine into, but to report upon, the
condition of the idiots in  our Commonwealth; and that  duty
must be done. 
18-48.]               SENATE—No. 51.                    5

  During the year 1846, we endeavored, by means of circular
letters  addressed to the town  clerks,  and to other persons in
every town of the Commonwealth, to ascertain the number, and,
as far as could be, the  condition of the idiots  in their respective
neighborhoods.
   The  answers  obtained  to most of these inquiries were, in
many cases, very vague and unsatisfactory.   It was soon seen
that little dependence could be  placed upon  information so
obtained, even as to  numbers, much less, as to  the  condition
and wants of the idiots.   We, therefore, visited as many towns
as  possible, and endeavored,  by  personal  observation and by
inquiries, to  gather all the information in our power, respecting
the numbers, condition, and treatment of the unfortunate objects
of  our inquiry, whether they were in the public almshouses or
at private charge.
   It was not possible, however, to obtain all the desired infor-
mation, because the researches were begun too late in the sea-
son, and because the subject grew in importance and in dreadful
interest, the more closely it was examined.
   The imperfect results of these  inquiries were embodied  in a
report,  made March 15th,  1847, and printed by order of the leg-
islature.
   Being directed to  continue these labors, the painful inquiry
was resumed during  the last summer.
   By diligent and careful  inquiries in nearly one hundred towns
in  different parts of the State, we have ascertained the existence,
and examined  the condition,  of five hundred and seventy-four
human beings who are condemned to hopeless idiocy, who are
considered and  treated as idiots  by their neighbors, and left to
their own  brutishness.  They are also idiotic in a  legal sense;
that is, they are regarded as incapable of entering into contracts,
and are irresponsible for  their actions, although some of them
would  not be considered as idiots according  to the definition of
idiocy  by medical writers.  There are a few cases where insan-
 ity has terminated in total dementia.  There are  others where
the sufferers  seemed to have had all their faculties in youth, and
to  have gradually lost them, not by insanity but by unknown 
6
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 causes.   Excluding such  cases, there  are  four  hundred  and
 twenty persons who are to be regarded as truly idiots.
   These are found in 77 towns.  But of these towns only 63
 were thoroughly examined.  These contain  an aggregate pop-
 ulation of 185,942; among which were  found 361 idiots, exclu-
 sive of insane persons.  Now if the other  parts of the State
 contain the same proportion of idiots to  their whole  population,
 the total number in the Commonwealth is  between twelve and
fifteen hundred !
   This is a fearful number, and it may seem to others, as it did
 at first to us, to be  incredible.   It is far greater than any calcu-
 lation based upon previous returns to the legislature by commis-
 sions appointed  to ascertain the  number of  lunatics and  idiots,
 or than the  number of idiots  set down  in the pauper  abstract,
 published by the secretary of state,  as supported or relieved by
 the towns.  That document makes  the number to be only 377 ;
 whereas, if our observations are  correct,  and  the other towns in
 the State  furnish a  proportionate number of  pauper idiots, then
 the whole number in the State of that class should be over 500.
 It is probable, however, that the overseers of  the poor, in making
 their return, gave only the number of  idiots  in almshouses, and
 overlooked many who receive aid from the  towns at their own
 houses.  When a poor woman  applies  for  aid, they do not go
 to inquire whether any of her children are idiotic or not; whereas
 we  pursued our inquiries  into  the families, and found  many
 idiots there.  However, without  any reference to the manner in
 which other returns have been made,  or any question about the
 degree of care which was observed, by those  who made them, to
 distinguish between idiots and lunatics, it seems certain that our
 own return  is a very near approach to the truth.   Indeed,  if
 there be any material error, it  must be of omission, for our cal-
 culation is not based upon vague reports or answers returned to
 circulars.   We have examined almost every case  personally or
 by an agent on whom dependence could  be placed, and  in a few
 only have relied upon other sources of information which seemed
 unquestionable.
   There is  yet another mode  by which to try the  correctness of
 these conclusions.  The returns made  to us  in  1846, by the 
1848.]               SENATE—No. 51.                   7

town clerks in 119  towns, containing an aggregate population
of 213,993 inhabitants, give the names of 394 persons who are
considered by them as idiots.   If to these are added 361 idiots
proper, found in 1847, in 63 other  towns, containing an aggre-
gate population of  178,693, —they make a total of 182 towns,
and an  aggregate  of  392,586 inhabitants,  among whom are
found 755 idiots.   In this ratio, the number in the State would
be over 1300, even considering the  population as no greater than
it was in 1840, and supposing that the number in the towns that
give imperfect returns, is even  as great as in those that were
thoroughly examined.
   We make our report, therefore, of the number of  idiots in the
 towns examined, with entire confidence that it  is not too high;
 and conclude, moreover, that if  the other parts of  the Common-
 wealth furnish an equal number, there are over twelve hundred
 persons within the State who are considered and trealed  as
 idiots.   This, it will be observed, is even a greater number than
 was supposed  to exist, when the partial report of last year was
 made.
    The  same thing has  been experienced, in estimates made of
 the number of the insane.  When attention was first turned to
 the subject, the number reported was supposed to be altogether
 an exaggeration *, yet every succeeding examination has shown
 that the number is  greater than that  given by the preceding
  ones.
    Over four hundred idiots have been minutely inspected by us
  personally, or by an agent upon whom we can rely.  Upon the
  bodily  and mental condition of these will be based our remarks
  and conclusions.
    In an appendix will be found their names, ages,  physical con-
  dition, and mental and moral character.   It may seem to some,
  who inspect  the  tables, that they contain many trivial details
  with regard to the physical condition of the persons named; but
  it is hard to be too minute in these statements.  The whole sub-
  ject of idiocy is  new.  Science has not yet thrown her certain
  light upon its remote,  or even its  proximate causes.   There is
  little doubt, however, that they are to be found in the condition
   of the bodily organization.  The size  and shape of the head, 
8
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
therefore;  the  proportionate development of its different parts;
the condition  of the  nervous system;  the  temperament;  the
activity of the various functions;  the development of the great
cavities,—the  chest and abdomen; the stature, — the weight,—
every peculiarity, in short, that can be noted  in a great number
of individuals, may be valuable to future  observers.  We con-
tribute our own observations to the store of facts, out of which
science  may, by and by, deduce  general laws.   If any bodily
peculiarities, however  minute, always accompany peculiar men-
tal conditions,  they become  important;  they are the finger-marks
of the Creator, by which we learn to read his works.
   There are  yet more  subtle causes  of idiocy'existing in the
bodily organization, and derived from the action of that myste-
rious, but inevitable  law,  by which  Nature,  outraged in the
persons  of the parents, exacts  her penalty from  the  persons of
their children.   We have endeavored to throw some light upon
this  also;  or rather, to give  a number of detached  luminous
points; trusting that more accurate observers will furnish many
others, until  all the dark surface shall be made  bright, and the
whole subject, become clear.
   The tables have been made with great care;  and though they
cannot pretend to perfect accuracy, they  are  recommended to
the physiologist and student  of nature, as furnishing humble,
but important  data.
   With these introductory remarks, we proceed with our report.


          Definition of Terms.  Idiots.  Idiocy.

   A difficulty is met, at the very outset, in the  want of terms
which clearly explain and define themselves.
   Our commission is to examine into the condition of idiots.
What is an idiot ? — A being in the human form, but utterly devoid
of sense and understanding ?  If so, then  our report would be
brief.  Very few such have been found.  Creatures are some-
times born of  women, who are utterly wanting in the corporeal
instruments by which  understanding is most immediately mani-
fested,— monsters without  heads; but  Nature lets none such 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
9
cumber the earth; they come into life only  to  die; they take
one short step from  birth to death.   A few seem to possess  a
brain and nervous system, but in such an abnormal condition as
will not suffice even for command of muscular motion.  Such
creatures  have only organic life.   All  other  beings in human
shape,  manifest some sense and understanding.
  Take the case No. 349, recorded in the appendix, which  fur-
nishes  an instance of the lowest kind of idiocy.
  William----has the form  and name of a human being, but
not much else.   He  is at the age of early manhood, when some
have gained  victories in  fields of war or science; but William
has not  yet  learned  enough  to go  alone, to feed  himself, or
know his own name.  An  intelligent dog knows more than  he ;
and a child of two  years old would be a prodigy of talent  and
knowledge compared with  him.   He lies most of the day upon
a mat  on the floor, rolling  his lack-lustre eyes, and tossing his
limbs.   Sometimes they put him into  a  chair, and fasten  him,
as they do an  infant, to  prevent  him from  pitching forward.
This change  and approach to the  human posture  pleases  him,
but he soon  slips down, and  then moans and  cries until they
put him  up again.
  His  natural desire for action manifests itself by his continual
motions and  by his  cries, for  he is seldom quiet when awake.
He cannot feed himself, and observes not the decencies of life
as well as a trained dog or cat.
  Surely, it will be said, this man is an idiot; and  yet he is not
devoid of sense and  understanding.
  He  knows no arbitrary language; words are  to him of  less
import than to a  horse ; and yet he has a natural language  that
tells  you  he  has consciousness, memory, hope, fear, and even
judgment and  discrimination, feeble  though it  be.  This  lan-
guage, too, tells  imperfectly the story of his experience; it  tells
what kind of treatment he has received ; it tells of kindness  and
cruelty, of gentle  and harsh tones, of curses and blows.
  When he is first approached abruptly, he shows signs of fear,
which  you cannot mistake; he shrinks from  your raised hand,
and manifests signs of resistance and defence; but if you draw
near to him  gently, he does  not  shrink away; if you speak
             o 
10
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
kindly to him, he smiles ; if you caress him he is  pleased ;  and
if you continue your gentle attentions, you may make him yield
obedience to your wishes, as far as he can  understand them.
He has a yet higher faculty, the sense of music; the poor crea-
ture loves sweet sounds, and, in his most uneasy moments, all
his contortions  of body and all his wild cries are soothed  into
calm, and hushed into silence, by any music.
   Surely this being has some sense and understanding; and, if
so, then, according to the definition, he is not an idiot.
   Every one would know  a strongly marked case of idiocy,
and say, unhesitatingly, the subject of it is  an idiot.   But there
are a great many cases where it is difficult to say whether the
understanding is or  is not  so feeble, that the person should be
called an idiot; cases where a man seems to  have some mental
faculties  well developed,  but, in all  other respects, is a fool;
cases where  it is hard to  say whether a  man's faculties  had
become deranged, or were never developed ; cases where even
physicians hesitate to say whether the patient is a lunatic or an
idiot.
   Without alluding to that very large class of persons who seem
to have no perception of right and  wrong, no idea of duties and
responsibilities ; who obey no human or divine law,  but through
fear of its penalties, let us take the  narrowest ground, and speak
of  those whose understanding is so feeble that they are called
idiots.  Even here difficulties occur;  for  there are men  who
have  some of the intellectual faculties well developed, and yet
are called idiots.   Take case No. 25.  This young man  knows
the name and sound of every letter, he can put the letters  into
words, the words into sentences, and read off a page with cor-
rectness ;  but he would read over that page a thousand times,
without getting the slightest idea of the meaning.  He is, in all
other respects, an idiot, and cannot be trusted  to take a pail  of
swill to the swine, even after he  has eaten a full dinner, lest he
should cheat them and eat the crusts himself.
   Take case No. 27.  This young man's sense of  melody seems
active and acute.   He knows, and can sing correctly, more  than
two hundred tunes; he will  instantly detect a false note  in any
of them ; yet he is an idiot in every other respect.   If he is told 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
11
to go and milk the cows, he stands and repeats over the words,
"Billy, go and milk the cows," for hours together, or until  some
one  tells him something  else, which he will  repeat over in the
same way.   But put a pail in his hand, and make the sign for
milking, and give him a push, and he will go and fill the pail.
   Take case No. 360.  This man  has the percepiion of combi-
nation of  numbers in an  extraordinary degree of activity.   Tell
him your  age, and  ask him how many seconds it is, and he will
tell you in a very few minutes.  In all other respects, he  is  an
idiot.
   If  it were proper to travel out of our own record, and lake
cases which are vouched for by men high in science, many could
be given  far more  remarkable  than any  that have  fallen under
our immediate observation.  There are instances of the posses-
sion of moral sentiments, of marked tendencies to acts of kind-
ness, of goodness, and of veneration, by persons  idiotic  in  all
other respects.  We would gladly cite such instances, to  prove
that the germs of all our human duties, even of our duty to wor-
ship, exist in the very soil of the heart; that education does not
plant  them  there,  but only trains and  cultivates  them.   We
must not, however, be turned aside by such attractions from our
path of inquiry.
   The legal definitions do not help us to a knowledge of who
are and who are not idiots.  The old English law declares, that,
   " Persons who are non  compos mentis are idiots, or of non-sane
memory."
   " Idiots are fatui naturales which were of non-sane d nativi-
tate."  In order to  test  a man's idiocy, the law says,  "it is
sufficient to  find him  so,  if he has not any use of  reason ; as if
he cannot count twenty  pence;" "if  he  has no understanding
to tell his age ; or  who is his father or mother."
   It declares, that  "a man shall not be called an idiot if he has
the understanding  to learn or know letters;" "to  learn by  the
instruction or information of another."
   It gives to the king the custody of his  lands and goods.*

   * Rex habbeit custodiam terrarum fatuorum naturalium, capiendo exitus earum sine
vasto, et inveniet eis necessaria,  de cujuscunque foedo, et post mortem eorum reddit
 hreredibus.  Prserog. Reg. 17 Ed. 2,9. 
12
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
   Now some of the  cases  recorded  in  the  Appendix upset
every   one  of  these  definitious.    Many have  perfectly sane
memories on certain topics.   What they learn they never forget.
There  are cases,  Nos. 175  and  192, idiots beyond  all  question,
but who can  count not only  to  20, but  to  20,000,  and  perform
many  simple arithmetical operations  with  a  great  deal  more
facility than ordinary persons.
   There is  case No. 277, a girl  who can " learn and  know  let-
ters,"  but can understand nothing  of the subject to which they
relate.
   Blackstone says,  " An idiot, or natural fool, is one  that  hath
no understanding from  his  nativity,  and  therefore  is  by  law
presumed never likely to attain any."
   He says  further on,  " A man is not  an  idiot  if  he  hath  any
glimmering of reason,  so that he can tell his parents, his age, or
the  like common matters.  But a man  who is born  deaf  and
dumb  and  blind, is looked upon by the law as in the same state
with an idiot;  he being supposed incapable of any understand-

  " An idiot, or natural fool, is one that hath had no  understanding from his nativity,
and, therefore,  is by law presumed never likely to attain any.  For which reason, the
custody of him and of his lands was formerly vested in the lord of the fee, and therefore
still, by special custom, in some manors, the lord shall have the ordering of idiot and
lunatic copyholders ; but, by reason of the manifold abuses of this power by subjects, it
was at last provided, by common consent, that it should be given to the king, as the
general conservator of his people, in order to prevent  the idiot  from wasting his estate,
and reducing himself and his heirs to poverty and distress. The fiscal prerogative of
the king is declared in parliament by statute 17 Kdw. II. c. 9., which directs, (in affirm-
ance of  the common law,) that the  king shall have ward of the lands of natural  fools,
taking the profits without waste or destruction, and shall find them necessaries; and
after the death of such idiots, he shall render the estate to the heirs, in order to prevent
such idiots from alienating their lands, and their heirs from being disinherited.
  " By the old common law, there is a writ de idiota inquirtndo, to inquire whether a
man be an idiot or not, which must be tried by a jury  of twelve men; and if they find
him purus idiota, the profits of his lands and the custody of his person may be granted
by the king to  some subject, who hath interest enough to gain them.   This branch of the
revenue hath been long considered as a  hardship upon  private families; and so long ago
as in the 8 Jac. I., it was under the consideration of parliament, to vest this custody in
the relations of the  party, and to settle an equivalent on the crown in  lieu of it, it being
then proposed to share the same fate with  the slavery of the feodal tenures, which has
been since abolished.  Yet few instances can be given of the oppressive exertion of it,
since it seldom happens that a jury finds a man an idiot  a nativitate, but only non compos
mentis from some particular time, which has an operation very different in point of law."
— 1st Blackstone, Com. 303, 304. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
13
ing, as wanting all those senses which  furnish  human beings
with ideas."
   Laura Bridgman and Oliver Caswell would not agree to this
definition.
   The laws of  Massachusetts  declare, that idiots shall be con-
sidered as "insane persons;" but they do not enlighten us any
further.*
   The difficulties are sometimes practical.  The  public officers
are often in doubt whether they should or should not  interfere
and forbid the banns of  marriage between parties, one or both
of whom are evidently  simpletons and possibly idiots.
   The definitions in  medical  books  do  not  furnish  any more
satisfactory explanation.   They tell  us "idiot"  is derived  from
the  terse old  Greek word  «5wf, an individual  who stands  aloof
from political  or social  affairs, in dreadful isolation from human
intercourse; but if so, then it has been perverted  from its origi-
nal  meaning.   Besides,  many idiots have some of  the  social
affections fully developed.   They tenderly love a mother or a
sister.
   Medical writers usually consider  idiocy as a species  of in-
sanity.  Dr. Good establishes  the order Phrenica, diseases  of
the brain, and subdivides it into six  genera, the last of which is
Moira, and is subdivided into two species: — 1st, Imbecillis,
imbecility, containing four varieties, — 1st, stupiditas;  2d, amen-
tia, forgetfulness;  3d, credulitas ; 4th, inconstantia.   The 2d spe-
cies, Demens, irrationality, has 3 varieties, — 1st, stultitia,  folly,
silliness;  2d,  larema, dotage,  superannuation; 3d, anoea, idi-
otism.   Here  we  have 6 genera, 15 species, and  27 varieties of
mental disease.
   Dr. Ray, one of the  best  modern authorities, gives two  great
divisions of insanity, thus : —

  * The words, " insane person," shall be construed to include every idiot, non compos,
lunatic, and distracted person. — Revised Statutes of Mass., part 1st, chap. 2d, sect. 6th.
  The words, " insane person," are intended to include every idiot, non compos, lunatic,
and distracted person ;  and the word, " spendthrift," is intended to include every one
who is  liable to be put under  guardianship on account of excessive drinking, gaming,
idleness, or debauchery ; and these words shall be so construed in all the provisions re-
lating to guardians and wards, contained in this or any other statute. — Ibid, part 2, chap.
79, sect. 34. 
14
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
Insanity,
Defective develop-
 ment of the fac-
 ulties.

Lesion of the fac-
 ulties subsequent
 to their develop-
 ment.
Idiocy,
■ Imbecility,
Mania,
Dementia.
1 Resulting from congenital de-
   fect.
2. Resulting from an obstacle to
   the development of the facul-
   ties, supervening in infancy.

1. Resulting from congenital de-
   fect.
2. Resulting from an obstacle to
   the development of the facul-
   ties, supervening in infancy.
Intellectual,
Affective,
               1. General.
               2. Partial.
               1. General.
               2. Partial.
■ 1. Consecutive to mania, or injuries
    of the brain.
. 2. Senile, peculiar to old age.
   The common reader  would be  led, by these  definitions,  to
suppose that the idiot is a diseased man, which, however true it
may be  in a scientific point of view, is  not always true in the
popular  one.   The idiot has " defective development of the fac-
ulties ;"  granted;  but does this constitute disease?   Many men
are born with  defective development  of the bones of the upper
extremities ;  their hands and fingers are unnaturally short: does
this necessarily make them diseased ?
   All  classifications or definitions which lead people to treat idi-
ocy as a disease, in the common acceptation of the word, are  of
injurious tendency.  Instances will be  given, in our enumeration,
of cases where the most violent and absurd external appliances
have been made with a view of curing idiocy; such as attempts
to harden  the  brain, and make it retain ideas, by steeping the
head for whole months in tan poultices.
   The celebrated Esquirol  has  given one of the most acceptable
definitions.  He says, " idiocy is not a disease; it is a condition
in which the intellectual faculties have never developed themselves,
or have not developed themselves  enough to enable the person to
receive the instruction common to those of his age  and station  in
life:'
   If we accept this definition,  we  shall find that sometimes a
person would  be considered an idiot in one town,  and under the
care of ordinary persons, who, in another  town, and  under the 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
15
care of wise and  good men, would not  be considered an idiot,
but only a feeble-minded person.
  Then  there are different degrees of idiocy; there is the ab-
solute  idiot — the unfortunate  creature who has  hearing, but
seems  not to hear;  sight, but seems not to  see; who never
learns to talk; who cannot put on  his own clothes, or feed him-
self  with a spoon, or  learn to do the simplest  thing.  There  is
the imbecile, who cannot take care of himself at all, but can do
pretty well under the directions of  others.  There is the simple-
ton, who thinks  he  is a man, and  who hangs on the  skirts  of
society, the victim of  some and the butt of others, until at last
he comes upon the public for support, and usually degenerates
into idiocy as he advances in age.
   The books on  metaphysics furnish even less satisfaction.  In
truth, much  of  the obscurity  which prevails upon the subject
arises from the natural vanity which makes metaphysical writers
attempt  to establish an entire  difference  in kind, between the
human intelligence  which  God  has given to  man, and  that
which He bestowed upon the other creatures brought into being
by his creative power and love.   They say that  instinct is one
thing, and reason another; that animals are always governed by
instinct;  men never.  But, in  examining  the lowest links in the
chain  of humanity, cases  are found  where human beings are
incited to action by pure  instinct; they do things without in-
struction and without previous experience, which give them no
pleasure, but which are  important  for some ulterior end.   Such
cases will be referred to afterwards.  On the other hand,  some
of  the higher animals are more richly endowed  with the know-
ing and  reasoning faculties,  than some  men;  they  perceive,
compare  and  choose; they exercise forethought, judgment and
caution more than certain  idiots, who are  nevertheless endowed
with some of the human affections.
   The difficulty  is further increased by metaphysicians insisting
upon our considering the  mind as a unit,  and not admitting the
plurality and independence of its faculties.
   We  have referred to several cases in  which  idiots  manifest
some one of the intellectual  faculties in considerable activity.
 Still another may be mentioned, case No. 30.   He is  a young 
16
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
man of twenty years old; an idiot beyond all question.   He can
write all  the  letters of the alphabet with great skill; that is, he
can  copy them, but he cannot  put  them  together into words.
He has, moreover, considerable skill in drawing.  With a piece
of charcoal he will draw the figure of a man so correctly that the
likeness may be easily seen.  It may be said this is mere imita-
tion ; but if so why cannot he imitate  tunes as the other idiot
above mentioned does ; or why cannot that other imitate forms
as this one does ?  A reference to the cases  in our appendix will
show many others in which idiots who are inferior in mere intel-
lect to some animals,—who have less cunning  than the fox, less
skill than the beaver, less forethought than the elephant, — do
nevertheless manifest  germs of  the truly human faculties, such
as the most sagacious animal could never manifest if it lived a
century, and  were taught by the most cunning teachers.
   The truth  seems to be, that, while animals have the elements
of Ihe " reasoning faculties," they have none whatever  of those
nobler faculties, such as the religious sense, the conscience, the
hope of immortality, and the like, which make  men more espec-
ially the  sons of God.   It is the possession of higher faculties
which are superadded to reason, and not reason itself, which
makes men a little lower indeed than the angels, but immeasur-
ably higher than the  brutes, and constitutes the real distinction
between  them.   The reason of the brutes,  how contemptuously
soever we may call it  " instinct," differs from our reason not in
kind, but only in degree.
   It may be  supposed, from  the tenor of our remarks, that we
are not much disposed to draw any sharp line  of distinction be-
tween idiots  and other human beings, and  still less disposed to
deny them the attributes of humanity and  sink them to a level
with the  brutes.  Indeed, if they have not even the germs of the
peculiarly human faculties, then are they, though made in God's
image, far lower than the  brutes; for many brutes have more
intelligence, and indeed more reasoning power, than the idiots of
the lowest grade.   We agree with Esquirol, that idiocy is not a
disease.  We go farther, and maintain that  it is impossible to fix
the point at which idiocy ends and reason begins. The truth is
that extreme cases only are considered in general classifications 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
17
and lead 1o the popular belief, that distinctions do exist between
them, which really differ only as more and less.  When a man's
skin begins to feel a little  dry,  and he is rather  thirsty, and his
pulse is a very little quickened, and he feels ralher ill at ease,
we say  he is somewhat unwell, but has  no disease; — but when
all these symptoms have increased in severity, until his skin is as
dry as a drum-head, and his tongue rattles like a bit of baked
leather in his parched mouth, and his hot blood is jerked rapidly
through his tense and turgid arteries, then we  say he has a fever;
but no one can fix the point at which the indisposition ends, and
the fever begins.
   So it is with  the imperfect development of intelligence of
idiots.  They all  manifest  some  degree  of  sense  and  under-
standing ; and the difference between their intelligence and that
of other men, is  a difference in degree, and  not in kind.  The
light  of a candle  strikes  the  eye of  the  most  stupid  idiot,
and causes sensation,  perhaps thought, as of his supper; the
light of a star strikes the eye of a scholar, and  produces sensa-
tion, perhaps thought, as of a parallax.  From the most stupid
idiot up the most brilliant genius, the distance is immense;  but
every step  of  that distance is  occupied.  We have names to
mark the idiot, the fool,  the  simpleton, the weak-minded, the
man of common sense, the strong-minded man, the man of tal-
ent, and the man of genius ; but for the thousand intermediate
grades we have no name, though we admit their existence.
   Now, we claim for idiots a place in the human family.  We
maintain that they have the germs  of the human faculties and
sentiments, which in most  cases  may  be  developed.   Indeed,
the number of persons left by any society in a state of idiocy, is
one test of the degree of advancement of that  society in true and
Christian civilization.
   If men, who are esteemed as persons of good common-sense
among  the Charibs and Feegeans, were brought  into Massachu-
setts, any jury called upon to a writ de idiota inquirendo, would
render a verdict of punts idiota de nativitate, and  put them under
guardianship.   If the majority of our people were educaled up
to the highest  conceivable point of intelligence and morality,
would not thousands who are now considered as persons  of good
               3 
18
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 common-sense, be put under  guardianship as mental or moral
 idiots?
   No matter how low may be the condition of an idiot, he should
 not be left without some attempts at instruction; for surely, crea-
 tures made in the human form cannot be an exception to that
 universal and  beneficent provision which  makes  all organized
 beings, even the lowest, capable of cultivation and improvement;
 and there is required of us only love enough, and patience and
 perseverance enough, to improve their mental and moral, as well
 as their bodily condition materially.
   Mr.  Seguin, in his valuable work, discountenances the idea of
considering the intellectual incapacity as the distinguishing mark
of idiocy; and one would be cautious about venturing an opinion
against such high authority, were  it  not too evident  that  he is
rather disposed to disparage every thing said or done by others
besides himself.  The value of  his great labors is somewhat les-
sened by this; for it lessens our confidence in  his impartiality.
 He is unconsciously  biased in  judgment.  Besides, when he is
 giving descriptions of individual  idiots, to illustrate his subject,
he always places their manifestations of intelligence in the fore-
ground of the picture.  Speaking of the "most stupid" he says,
" this one  will not venture down a flight of steps,  because he
does not knoiv how to bend  the joint, to keep his balance in  the
movement, or to measure the distance from the step on which
he stands to the one below it."^
   The want of an ordinary degree of intelligence is indeed only
one of the effects of the original morbid cause ;  it is only one of
several symptoms, the whole of which, taken together, constitute
what we call  Idiocy ; but, in a human being, it is the principal
or leading one, because intelligence is one of the distinguishing
attributes of humanity.   The morbid condition of the brain and
nervous system, which causes all the phenomena of idiocy, may
 exist in  brutes,f and, in their case, we might select some other
symptom, such as the want of muscular contractility, for the dis-

  *" Traitment Moral Hygiene et Education des Idiots, &c." Paris, 1848.
  | We have known some cases where animals were so deficient in intelligence that
compared with other animals of their kind, they should be called fools,__simpletons  __if
not idiots. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
19
tinguishing characteristic; but in man what concerns us most to
know is the  intellect.
   Besides, Mr. Seguin's own definition, although it is one of the
best,  is  by no means free  from the objections which  he brings
against the definitions of others.   He says: Idiocy is an infirmity
of the nervous system, which has the effect of removing the organs
and faculties of the child from under the control of the will, and
giving him up to the dominion of his instinct, and cutting him off
from the moral world.
   This definition includes the statement of the supposed cause
of idiocy, but does not give the symptoms by which it may be
recognized.  It supposes the will to be an independent faculty,
and to remain intact, but deprived of power, because its minister,
the nervous system, is infirm.  Here is one of the consequences
of the want of sound philosophy as a basis, and one which  may
lead to  errors in its practical application to the treatment of idiots.
The will is an independent faculty, or it is not; — if it is, then
the same morbid affection of the nervous system, which impairs
all the  other faculties, must  impair this;  if it is not an indepen-
dent  faculty, but the result of the action of other faculties, — the
desire which prevails, for the time, over all other desires, — then
the weakness or derangement of the other faculties would de-
range it; so that, in either case it is no more philosophical to say,
that idiocy exists because the organs and faculties  are  removed
from under the control of the will, than it would be to say, that
the will is so infirm as not to be able to control those organs and
faculties.  It is no more the  fault of the horses for running away
with  the carriage, than it is the fault of the driver for not  having
skill and strength enough to  guide them.
   Dr. Ray considers idiocy to be " that condition of the mind, in
which the reflective, and all,  or part, of the affective powers, are
either entirely wanting, or  are manifested to the slightest possible
extent"^   The remarks of  this keen observer and able writer,
on this  subject, should be studied by all who are  interested in
the care of idiotic or weak-minded persons.
   There is, then, great confusion among writers as to what con-
stitutes  idiocy; but there is even greater  confusion  as to the
              * The Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity, p. 68. 
20
IDIOTS.
[Feb-
different kinds of idiocy.   Seguin makes two kinds : deep-seated
idiocy, and superficial idiocy.  But notwithstanding all his at-
tempts at division, the difference seems to  be only one of more
or less.
   The attempt to show the difference  between idiocy,  imbecil-
ity, and other affections, which are sometimes classed together,
is  not essential to the  object of  this report.   It is only necessary
to  show what class of persons  are designated as  idiots, in  the
remarks that will  follow.   Without   pretending,  then, to  any
scientific accuracy,  idiocy may be defined  to be that condition
of a human being in which, from some morbid cause in the bodily
organization,  the faculties and sentiments remain  dormant or
undeveloped,  so that the person is incapable  of self-guidance, and
of approaching that degree of knowledge usual with others of his
age.  There  may  be all  degrees of  this condition — from  the
simpleton, who cannot be taught the rudiments of knowledge as
other children are  taught, down to  the drivelling  idiot, who
cannot be taught to speak, to walk, or even to retain the saliva
in his mouth.
   Intellectual idiocy  is the condition  in which all, or several, of
the intellectual faculties  are so far dormant or undeveloped, as
to prevent the person from  perceiving, comparing, and under-
standing impressions with any thing  like the usual degree of
accuracy.  It is to the class of persons in  this condition,  that
the following report principally refers.
   Moral idiocy is  that condition in  which the sentiments, the
conscience, the religious  feeling, the  love of neighbor, the sense
of beauty, and the like, are  so far dormant or undeveloped, as
to  incapacitate the person from being  a  law unto  himself, in
any thing like the degree which is usual with others of his age.
This, it  is evident, may, and often does, exist, while the intel-
lectual faculties are quite active.  The condition and treatment
of the large and unfortunate  class  of persons, who would be
included in this definition, will not, of course, be considered in
this report,  but they cannot be passed  over without a remark.
Idiots of this character are not found in  our almshouses  but
they are often found  in our prisons.   Dr.  Voisin relates a most
affecting case of a young man, chained  in a gaug of galley- 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
21
slaves, whom he found to be, beyond all question, an idiot.  Dr.
Rush says that he has known several cases of moral imbecility.
In speaking of them, he says, without regard to any theory, but
with the philosophical shrewdness so characteristic of the man,
uln all these  cases, there is probably an original defective organ-
ization in those parts of the body which are occupied by the moral
faculties of the mind."
   The remarks  of  Dr. Ray upon this  subject are full of deep
meaning, whether he  intended  to give it to  them or not.  He
says, speaking of Dr. Rush's explanation of moral  imbecility,
" It will receive but little countenance  in an age that derives its
ideas of mental phenomena from exclusive observation of mind
in an acknowledged  state of health and vigor.  To understand
these  cases  properly,  requires a knowledge  of our  moral and
intellectual constitution,  to be obtained only by a practical  ac-
quaintance with  the  innumerable  phases of the  mind, as pre-
sented in its  various degrees of strength and weakness, of health
and disease, and all  its  transitions, from brutish idiocy to  the
most commanding intellect."^
   In the days of darkness with regard to material phenomena,
the  attempt  to  obtain knowledge of the functions of life and
health, by examining diseased persons, or dissecting dead bodies,
was  pronounced impious by the learned doctors; and, in our
days of  darkness  with regard to moral and intellectual phe-
nomena, the attempts to throw light upon healthy mental mani-
festations by examining  diseased  or  defective  manifestations,
are  forbidden by  metaphysicians  who  study only  their own
minds in order to understand the minds of others.
   But, to return to the  notice of different  kinds of idiocy, of
which intellectual and moral  have been  mentioned.  It may
be supposed that a third class can be found, as, for instance,
animal idiocy, but this can hardly be said to exist.  Nature takes
 such care to ensure the continuance of life, and the  procreation
of the species, that, whatever faculties, sentiments, and affections
 may be wanting, the animal appetites are  always there.  We
 once  saw a  poor creature, grown  to  the stature  of  man, who
 never knew  enough  to balance himself in a chair, or to speak a
               * The Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity, p. S7. 
22
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
word.  Sometimes, in cramming food  into his mouth with  his
fingers, he would catch them between  his teeth, and howl with
the pain, and still bite harder, the more  he suffered, not knowing
what hurt him.  Yet this creature, this  organism, so to call him,
was so constructed as to ensure the continuance of his own life,
provided the means were at hand.  The intellect to  provide  the
food was wanting; but,  if others provided it,  he could  eat it,
digest it, assimilate it, and grow.
   One of the greatest difficulties in the  consideration  of this
subject, is to distinguish  between demented persons and  idiots.
In our lunatic asylums are found some, who are reduced to a
state of  complete idiocy, but  who are  not, strictly speaking,
idiots; their  minds have once been in the normal condition ;
they have lost their understanding; they are  demented.  It is
not necessary, however, in a report like this, intended merely to
promote  a work of humanity, to be very precise about  the defi-
nition of terms.
   It was probably the intention of  the legislature to use  the
word "idiot" in the popular and common sense.   We have
considered, therefore, all  persons whose understanding is unde-
veloped,  or developed only in a partial and very feeble degree,
or who have lost their understanding, without becoming insane,
to be proper subjects for examination.   Of the 574 persons re-
ported  to us  as idiotic, 420  may be considered  as  properly
idiotic, for their feebleness  of  intellect is connate  ; while 154
have become idiotic after birth.


The Condition and  Capacities of the Idiots in Massachu-
                           setts.

   Confining our attention to the cases of real idiots, above men-
tioned,— viz. 420 out of 574, — it is found  that 188 are under
25 years  of age.  Of these,  172 seem capable of improvement'
they present  proper  cases for  attempts at instruction,  and  the
formation of regular, industrious, and  cleanly habits.  Only 16
seem incapable of improvement.  Of those over 25 years of age
there are 73 who seem capable of little or no improvement in 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
23
mental condition.   Of the 420 idiots proper, 19 can now earn
their board and clothing, under the management of discreet per-
sons ; 141  do earn their board,  when properly managed; 110
can do trifling work, if carefully watched  and directed ;  73 are
as helpless as children of 7 years old;  43 are as helpless as
children of 2 years old, and 34 are as utterly helpless as infants.
  With regard to  pecuniary circumstances, 20 have property of
their own,  held  by guardians ; 26 belong to wealthy families ;
196 belong to indigent families, but are not public paupers; 148
are town or slate paupers ; the rest are sometimes aided  by the
public, sometimes  not.  Of the whole number, — viz. 574,—
there are 220 at  town or state charge.
  Of the 420 idiots proper, 218 are insatiable gluttons; and 102
are known to be given to self-abuse in a frightful degree.
  For further information, we refer to the cases in the appendix,
and  to the tables, and proceed to consider the


         Condition and  Treatment  of  our Idiots.

  In order to form a just  idea upon this subject, we purposely
made our examination of  idiots in nearly one  hundred  towns,
situated in various parts of the Commonwealth, from the sea-
shore to the western line.   Of the whole number examined, 220
were town or state paupers, and mostly kept in the almshouses.
These will be first spoken of.  They are of all sorts and  grades
of idiocy, from  the mere  simpleton, who cannot take care of
himself, or his  own affairs, down  to the drivelling  idiot, who
wallows  in  his  filth.  They are of all ages, from the  youth,
who is entering  upon his dark and cheerless  pilgrimage of life,
without more thought of  his relations with man, or his duty to
God, than  a  young  animal, up to  the old man, who is closing
his career without  a knowledge of the joys and sorrows  of the
world which he leaves behind him, and without a  thought
about his lot in  that before him.   Some are comparatively free
from the dominion of animal lust and appetite, and are mild,
affectionate, and docile;  others are a helpless prey to  dreadful
passions, depraved  appetites, and disgusting propensities.  Some 
24
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
are evidently  susceptible  of great improvement;  they desire
instruction, and might be rescued  from the terrible  fate before
them ;  while others are so cruelly blasted  in the very bud, are
so utterly shorn of human capacities, — are such complete abor-
tions,— that little can be done except to render their animal
existence as decent and comfortable as possible.
  But, greatly as  the bodily  and mental condition of these  poor
creatures varies, and  whatever may be  their capacity for im-
provement,  their treatment and their fate are, for the most  part,
the same.   They need more careful treatment,  more judicious
associates,  and more  skilful training,  than any other persons ;
for, even with all these advantages, their chance for development
of their human faculties, and their restoration to human society,
is small; what, then, can it be, when, deprived of them, and
thrust  into  the almshouses, they  are  left, without any special
care and  instruction, to associate  with  ignorant paupers  and
broken-down drunkards ?
         Treatment of Idiots  in  our Almshouses.

  With  very  few exceptions,  they  are kindly treated  in  the
almshouses.  There  is reason to believe that a great change has
been made for the better, in this respect, within a few years.
  The interest that has been manifested in lunatics, and the sub-
stitution of kindness and moral influence for the hard treatment
and blows, which were formerly so common, has been of bene-
fit to idiots also.   Thus we see that good is contagious as well
as evil; and kindness and love, extended to one class of men,
is sure to benefit others.  In many places, it was found, that the
partial report, made  by your  commissioners the last year, had
been received and read by  keepers of almshouses;  and that
they had changed their views with regard  to  the  best mode of
treating idiots, in consequence of the statement there  put forth.
It is gratifying to be able to state that no instance of cruel or
wilfully unkind treatment of idiots, by the keepers of any alms-
houses, were  met with.   In most cases, the overseers  of  the
poor have given orders for the idiots  to be treated with kindness. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
25
  In a few instances, men of strong natural sense and of hu-
manity, reflecting that idiots of the  lowest  grade do  not  differ
materially in  intelligence from the higher animals, have, ceased
to blame or punish them, for waywardness or misbehavior, any
more than they would punish animals for the  like causes, and
they have substituted kindness of treatment and constant em-
ployment  for the old modes of punishment and confinement.
But, though there is little or no intentional cruelty or unkindness
practised  towards  idiots in our almshouses, there is,  in many
cases, a most deplorable ignorance of their true condition and
wants, which leads to dreadful consequences.
  Many a child who was only simple,  and whom  kind and
wise  parents would  have trained up to intelligent manhood,
on  becoming an orphan,  has  been thrown into the almshouse,
and then  neglected  and  mismanaged, until  the feeble light  of
reason has gone out, and  left him in  the darkness and  hopeless-
ness of idiocy.  A great many half-witted persons, when first
sent to the almshouses,  have vicious  and debasing habits, which
might be cured, but which are generally  neglected and allowed
to grow rampant, until all moral sense and all decency are gone,
and the poor victims become drivelling  idiots.  In some alms-
houses, from want of sufficient force of character on the part  of
the keepers, or from  want of sufficient help to enforce the disci-
pline the unfortunate idiots  are the  butts and the tools of the
rest of the inmates.  In  some such  cases,  they are  not  only
grossly mismanaged, but  terribly abused.  Sometimes, for want
of  proper buildings, the separation  of  the  sexes cannot be
strictly maintained, and, of course, the whole moral atmosphere
of  the  house is tainted.  What  hope can  there be, in such
cases, for  the poor youth who  is partially idiotic; what prospect
is there for him, but  that of gradually sinking down to the level
with  the  brutes?    Is  such  the  manner in which the  public
should discharge the sacred responsibility which devolves upon
it, when it assumes the  place and the duties of parent and guar-
dian to the orphan and  the destitute ?
4 
26
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
                        Cleanliness.

   The  deplorable ignorance  or negligence  manifested in the
treatment of idiots in our almshouses, is shown most strikingly
in the neglect of personal cleanliness.  Nothing is more impor-
tant for their bodily  and mental health,  than the  free and fre-
quent use of cold bathing.   There is hardly a case in  which it
does not work like a charm in strengthening the nervous system,
and increasing the command  over  all the voluntary muscles.
And yet  the idiots, in a great many  of our almshouses, are dis-
gustingly filthy.  They change their body and bed-linen only
once a week, and  never bathe except when caught  in  a rain-
storm.   The consequence is, that their  bodies are covered with
scurf;  and the scrofulous humors, with  which they are almost
all afflicted, are aggravated to deadly intensity, by the re-absorp-
tion from their clothing of  the excretions  which the  system
throws off.  The sensible and insensible perspiration are really
excrementitious matters, and  should  be  so regarded : they are
the debris, the waste of  the body, and should be removed.  In
all  persons they are  totally unfit for  any of  the purposes of the
animal  economy, and should  not remain in contact with the
surface.   In some  persons, they are disgusting and deadly poi-
sons.   A man in high and robust health, who changes his linen
daily, may neglect bathing with comparative impunity, because
the skin  keeps itself  clean for a long time ; it vigorously repels
the foreign matters upon its surface;  but it  is not so with  those
who are feeble, or whose functions are any way deranged.  Day
by day, and year by year, the health is impaired by the pernicious
effects of covering up the body with thick clothing, which, while
it prevents the invigorating action of the air upon the skin, presses
into contact  with the mouths of its absorbent vessels, the excre-
mentitious matters, and  forces more  or less of re-absorption to
take place.  This may not be the true physiological explanation
of the  evil effects  of neglecting the  skin, which, however, are
manifest and undeniable, and most  of which are  removed by
daily bathing the whole  body with  cold water.
   It is  important to dwell upon this subject, because  there is
the most astonishing and  deplorable ignorance about it in our 
184 s.]               SENATE—No. 51.                  27

community.  Some keepers of almshouses seem to think that
a man need  be washed  only twice in this world, once by  the
nurse before  she puts on his swaddling-clothes, and once  again
before she  puts  on  his grave-clothes.   They  are  confirmed,
perhaps,  in  this, by the  flippant wiseacres, who, wrapped com-
placently  in a year's coating of scurf, say that a man  must be
a dirty fellow who needs bathing every day.  If the  almshouse
is far removed from  any pond or  river,  in which the inmates
bathe for pleasure  during the  hot  weather, the only ablutions
required  of  them are performed by dipping the hands daily in
cold water, and rubbing them  over the face ; and on Sunday,
perhaps,  by working  down with a  little soap,  1o the white skin
about the neck and ears.  They go upon the doctrine that those
parts only which are exposed need  be clean ; in which they are
practically sustained  by thousands of refined  people, who, if
they should  break an ankle  in  a brilliant ball-room, and require
to have their stocking drawn off before the company, would be
more pained by the exposure of the state of the foot and toes,
than by the accident itself; or,  at least, they ought to be.
   If those who protest  against the necessity of daily bathing
would only reflect  upon the nature of the covering in which they
case the body, they would see  that  the skin should no more be
kept in contact with matters which  it has once thrown  off as
excrementitious, than should the lungs be presented again and
again with the air which has once been thrown out by them.  No
man would like to inhale the breath which has just been exhaled
by another,  if he  knew it;  he would not like to wear  linen
bathed in another man's perspiration, and yet, the breath and the
perspiration  of another man are not a whit worse than  his own.
   However,  our business  is  only with  known and avowed
idiots, who are not  responsible  for their habits of body, and who
are at public  charge.   In   a  very few  almshouses,  they  are
obliged to bathe often, but,  in  nine tenths of the cases, they are
disgustingly  filthy.
   Now cleanliness is of especial  importance to idiots.   Like
other persons,  they need it  as  one of the minor virtues of mo-
rality ; as a virtue which is essential to decent  self-respect, and
as a means  for preserving  and restoring health.   Moreover, 
28                       IDIOTS.                    [Feb-

they, in an especial manner, require  the frequent shock of cold
water upon the surface of the body, as a direct  aid  to other at-
tempts  which  should  be constantly  made  for increasing their
command over the action of the voluntary muscles.   The want
of power over the nerves and muscles is often one  of the most
striking features of idiocy.  It is sometimes so great that idiots
cannot hold themselves erect.   The  restoration or  the  increase
of this power should  always be kept in view in their hygienic
treatment.  The total  neglect of all these considerations,  and
the filthy condition of body in which these orphans  are kept by
the public, who is their guardian, is one of the many indications
of the  necessity of a  change in their condition.   Another is
found in gross errors which are so common with respect to  the


           Alimentation or Feeding of Idiots.

  Every one who is at all conversant  with physiology, knows
the importance of adapting the diet to the nature and condition
of the bodily organization.  What is good for one man, may be
very bad for another.   A quantity which one man can consume
with benefit to himself, during a year spent in the open air and
in constant exercise, may, if  consumed in a year of sedentary
and idle life,  be  laying the  foundations of fatal disease.   The
man whose brain and  nervous system  are in a high state of ac-
tivity should  use animal food  very differently from the  man
whose brain is sluggish, and whose  muscular system is largely
developed.  Now, the farther a man's system is from the nor-
mal standard  of  health, the more caution  is required in regard
to his diet.  An error or an excess, which a healthy man hardly
feels, affects a  feeble one severely. Idiots are almost always in an
abnormal condition of health.  Their brain and nervous system
are generally deficient in volume and in tone.  Their diet  may
be such as to  amend  this condition, — to  increase  the tone and
vigor of the nervous centres, — or it may be such as to produce
exactly the opposite effect, and to aggravate all their troubles.
   Unfortunately,  the  considerations  named above  are seldom
if ever, regarded  in our almshouses; and the idiots are fed just 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
29
as the other paupers are.  A weak, nervous, and  idle idiot, to
whom gross  animal food is  like poison,  is fed upon fat pork,
whenever pork is cooked for the  hearty laborers who  have been
working out in the  fields. Moreover, idiots are  apt to  have mor-
bid appetites, which lead them to devour the most filthy and  dis-
gusting garbage.   Instead of treating these morbid appetites as
diseases, the keepers sometimes punish the idiots, with about as
much reason as they would  beat a man who had  the jaundice,
for seeing  things yellow.   More  often,  however, no  thought is
bestowTed about  their diet, and the unfortunate creatures some-
times  fill their stomachs with  the most  injurious substances,
which are  not aliments.
   Sometimes these morbid appetites are encouraged,  and idiots
are permitted to take substances of a  poisonous nature.  Case
No. 63 is  that  of an  idiot whose friends  allow him  twenty
pounds of strong chewing tobacco annually.   This quantity he
actually eats, — not merely chewing it and spitting it  out again,
but swallowing the juice, and the very substance of the tobacco,
without ever spitting at all.  The quantity which  he  sometimes
swallows in one day, if it had been retained upon the stomach
the first day he began  to  use tobacco,  would probably  have
killed him outright.  So, indeed,  as  for  the matter  of  that, it
might  have killed him upon the first day's  trial,  if,  instead of
swallowing it, like an idiot, he had only chewed it in the man-
ner approved by wise chewers, who carefully express the juice,
 and roll it about the mouth  until its force is expended upon the
 nerves, and through them upon the  brain,  and who then cast
 away the  quid,  as tasteless  and powerless.   The wonder  that
 the idiot is not killed by what  he swallows is diminished if one
 considers  that he  has only to  imitate, other chewers,  and masti-
 cate his morsel long enough, so that what is left will be hardly
 stronger than oak-bark.  The fact of spitting or not does not
 make much difference, because what  is expectorated is not the
 narcotic and  poisonous  principle of  the  tobacco, but only the
 saliva stained by the coloring matter of the plant;  the poisonous
 principle is impalpable, and  acts upon the extremities of the
 nerves, and, through them, upon the system.  Moreover, there is
 no more apparent  and immediate ill effect in  the case  of the  fool- 
30
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 ish, than there is in the case of the wise chewers, or of men who
 bring about the  same sort of excitement 1o their brain and nerv-
 ous system, by the use of opium or alcohol.
   But the greatest injury arises from  gross ignorance of those
 principles of physiology which should be observed, with  regard
 to the quantity of food consumed by idiots.   The animal pro-
 pensities are. very active  in these half-developed beings.   They
 are exceedingly  prone 1o gluttony, and if allowed to eat as much
 as  they choose, they will so gorge themselves, that  the whole
 nervous energy will  be expended in digesting, and none  be left
 to stimulate the brain to activity.  Any man who attempts  to
 make a strong mental effort while he is digesting a very heavy
 dinner, feels that the two operations cannot well go on logether;
 his stomach generally carries the day; it draws off all the nerv-
 ous force from the brain, and his head nods ; or, if by desperale
 effort he summons the fluid to his brain, and makes lhat make out
 thought, then the digestion of the dinner is apt to be  imperfect.
 Now, in idiots, ihe stomach and digestive organs may be  in full
 activity, while the brain is very small and feeble.  If they are
 left to indulge freely in the gluttonous habits which they are apt
 to form, the brain is starved, while the stomach is over-fed.
   By reference to the tables in the appendix, it will be seen lhat,
 out of 444 idiots, who were examined upon this point, 280 were
 ravenous in their appetites, and gluttonous in their habits.  Rep-
 resenting the average consumption  of food  by adults by ten, it
 is found that, among these  idiots, the  consumption must  be
 represented by 15.
   Our idiots,  then, are over-fed ; they are generally allowed to
 eat as much as they choose at the table, and then,  in  many
 cases, they prowl  about, and pick up what they can, cheating
 even the pigs  by stealing the apple-parings, crusts, and  the like,
 from the swill-pail.
   This undue allowance of food is given,  of course,  through
 mistaken kindness.  They are considered as children ; and it is
known that healthy children will not hurt themselves  by eatin«
too much food, if it be perfectly plain,  and not  made bewitching
 by sweets, by  spices, or by the  cunning craft of cookery.  But
children have to  supply by food, not only the daily waste of the 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
31
body, but every ounce of increase in their growth.  When this
growth  ceases, the mental  powers  are developed, and  reason
tells the man he must  not eat as he did when a youth.   But to
the poor  idiot the  growth of reason comes not  at  all;  and he
continues to gratify his mere sense of taste, by gorging his stom-
ach with the usual  quantily of food, long after  his growth has
ceased,  and so over-taxes  his  system  by a worse than  useless
load of  food, that  he has no energy left  for any thing else than
digesting.
   In very few of our almshouses is there the inclination, or the
means,  of putting a stop to the debasing habit of body to which
almost  all idiots are  passionately  addicted, and  which, more
than all other things  together, degrades them below the  brutes,
and keeps them there.
   This  is a subject so disagreeable in its nature, that one would
be spared any consideration of it; but it is the root of so much
evil, it  causes  so many cases of total  idiocy, so many more of
imbecility, and affects, in a  lesser degree, so many thousands of
our youth, weakening and debasing the mental and bodily pow-
ers, that it will be again alluded to in the appendix.


                         Exercise.

   Another striking defect in the treatment  of idiots, is the neg-
lect of regular and severe exercise.  It is beginning to be seen,
in a few almshouses, that if a man is kept hard at work all day,
he is not only less mischievous, but  he lies down tired at night,
and sleeps soundly till morning.   Some of the keepers of the
houses  have the ability to  address  the proper motives  to  their
half-witted inmates,  and to  keep them  constantly  employed,
and the effect  is seen, in a few years, in the improved bodily and
mental  condition.  But  as  in common  schools, some  masters
of superior ability and  lact  can preserve  order  and promote
duVent study, by  appeals  to high motives, while others can
only do so by blows upon  the soul and blows  upon  the body,
so some masters of almshouses are followed round to  any work,
and fawned upon, by  idiots, as dogs fawn upon  a beloved mas- 
32
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
ter, while others  can extort from  them only a scanty task, by
scolding and by stripes.
   It is beginning to be so well understood that beating, and
punishment of any  kind, inflicted  upon  idiots with  a view to
making  them work, is bad  policy, that  the overseers of  the
poor, in most towns, have forbidden the keepers of almshouses
to resort to them.  Some have done so, doubtless, from feelings
of humanity,  but  others from considerations of  economy ; for
they say, the time and pains necessary  to be expended by keep-
ers and overseers, is not paid for by the  reluctant labor  performed
by ihe idiots.   The consequence is, that the poor creatures are
left in the house, or yard, while the  keepers and the able-bodied
men are away, at work upon the "poor's farm."   Of course, the
idiots are called upon by the women to do small chores, which
they perform in a slip-shod manner; or they are  made game of
by the  lazy slubber-de-gullions,  who are  found  in every  poor-
house ; or they bask in the sun, and indulge in unseemly habits.
   As for instruction, there is not a  single  almshouse within our
knowledge, we believe there is not one in the State, or country,
in which any systematic attempts are made to develop the feeble
mental  and moral faculties of idiots ;  in a  word, there  is no
school for those who, more than  all  others, need one.
   On the whole, then, after excepting five  or six almshouses, in
which the idiots are  treated  both kindly and wisely, the general
condition of  those at the  public  charge is most deplorable.
They are filthy, gluttonous, lazy, and given up to abominations
of various kinds.   They not only do not improve, but they sink
deeper and deeper, — while under the public care, — into bodily
depravity and  mental degradation.  It  is  true that this  is  the
result of ignorance, rather than of any unkindness; but the plea
of ignorance can no  longer save us from  the sin and  dis°race ■
for it  is now proved, by  triumphant  experience, in France
Switzerland, and Prussia, that idiots may be trained to habits of
industry, cleanliness, and self-respect;  that the highest of  them
may be measurably  restored to  self-control, and  that the very
lowest of them may be  lifted from  the slough of  animal  pollu-
tion to the platform of humanity. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
33
        Condition of Idiots in Private Families.

  Bad, however, as is the condition  of the idiots who are at
public charge, and gross as is the ignorance of  those who have
the  care of them, about their real wants and capacities, we are
constrained to say, that the condilion of those in  private houses
is, generally speaking,  still worse, and the ignorance of the rela-
tives  and  friends who  have charge of them, is  still  more pro-
found.
  This is  not to be wondered at, when  we  consider that idiots
are  generally born of a very poor stock, — of parents who are
subject to  some  disorders of the brain, or who are  themselves
scrofulous  and  puny,  to the last  degree.   This will  be  en-
larged upon, in speaking of the  causes of idiocy.
  Such persons  are generally very feeble  in  intellect, poor in
purse, and intemperate  in  habits.   A  great many of them are
hardly able to take care of themselves.  They are unfit to teach
or train common children ; how much less idiots, whose educa-
tion is the  most difficult of all!  On the other hand, the masters
of  almshouses,  and. their wives, are  generally intelligent and
responsible persons ; and though they are of course ignorant of
the art of  training idiots,  they will not permit such  enormous
errors as are  common among the parents of idiotic children.
  We have  ascertained (mainly by  personal  observation) the
condition  of 354 idiotic persons, who are not town or  Stale pau-
pers.   Of  these there may be, at the most, five who  are  treated
very judiciously, who are taught by wise  and  discreet  persons,
and whose faculties and capacities are developed to their fullest
extent.  The rest are generally  in a most  deplorable condition,
as  it  respects their bodily, mental, and moral  treatment.  One
would  hardly  be credited, if he  should  put  down half the
instances of  gross ignorance manifested  by parents, in  this en-
lightened community, in the treatment of their idiotic children.
Sometimes they find  that the  children seem to comprehend
what they hear,  but soon forget it;  hence they conclude that
the brain is soft,  and  cannot retain impressions,  and  then they
cover the head with cold poultices of  oak-bark, in order to tan,
              5 
34
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
or harden, the fibres.  Others, finding that it is  exceedingly dif-
ficult to make any impression upon the mind, conclude  that the
brain is too hard, and they torture the poor child with  hot and
softening poultices of bread and milk; or they plaster  tar over
the whole skull, and keep it on for a long time.
   These are  innocent applications, compared to some, which,
doubtless, render weak-minded children perfectly idiotic.   In
the appendix will be found ten cases, where children were sup-
posed  to have had  their minds enfeebled by excessive use of
strong  medicines, especially calomel.   This is sometimes given
with a view of mending the  condition of the brain, and some-
times with a. view of healing scrofulous  ulcers.   They  say that
mercury, administered plentifully  within, will act  as a solder,
and solder up the openings.
   Worse still are the numerous cases where the parents en-
courage the  ravenous gluttony of  their children by all  sorts of
stimulants to the appetite.   They say, the  poor creatures  have
few things  which  they can enjoy in this world, — that food is
one of these, and that they shall have as  much  as they can eat
of it.
   Still more deplorable, and hardly to  be credited, — except by
eye-witnesses. — is the blind  infatuation  which makes parents
regard  with indifference, or even complacency, a vicious habit of
their children, which is disgusting  in its  nature, and dreadfully
degrading in  its consequences.   Some even  make  no conceal-
ment of this habit;  they point it out to  the  sickened  stranger,
and, going to the Bible for justification, they say complacently
that  their child resembles Solomon  in early virility.   Such is
the dreadful effect of ignorance, that even religion is warped to
the support of that which it utterly forbids and condemns!
   In some families which are  degraded by drunkenness and vice,
there is a degree of combined ignorance and depravity, which
disgraces humanity.   It is not wonderful that feeble-minded chil-
dren are born in such families; or, being born, that  many of
them become idiotic.  Out of this class domestics are sometimes
taken by those in better circumstances, and they make their em-
ployers feel the consequences of suffering ignorance and vice to
exist in the community.  There are cases  recorded in  the ap- 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
35
pendix, where servant-women, who had the charge of little girls,
deliberately taught them habits of self-abuse, in order that ihey
might exhaust themselves, and go  to sleep quietly!   This has
happened in private houses as well as  in  the almshouses; and
such little girls have become idiotic!
   The  mind instinctively recoils  from  giving credit to such
atrocious guilt; nevertheless, it is there  with all its hideous con-
sequences ;  and no  hiding of our  eyes, no  wearing of rose-
colored spectacles,— nothing  but looking at it in its naked de-
formity, will ever enable men to cure it.   There is no  cordon
sanitaire for vice; we  cannot  put it into quarantine, nor  shut it
up in a hospital; if we allow  its existence in our neighbourhood,
it poisons the very air which our children brealhe.
   Nothing can afford  a stronger argument  in favor of  an insti-
tution for  the  proper  training and leaching of idiots, and  ihe
dissemination of information  upon the subject, than the striking
difference  manifested  in the condition of the few children  who
are properly cared for, and judiciously  treated, and those  who
are neglected or abused.   There are cases in our community of
youths who are idiotic from  birth, but who, under proper care
and training, have become cleanly in  person, quiet in  deport-
ment, industrious in habits, and who would almost  pass in soci-
ety for persons of common intelligence,  and  yet  their  natural
capacities  were no greater  than  others, who, from ignorance, or
neglect of their parents, have  become filthy,  gluttonous,  lazy,
vicious, depraved, and are rapidly  sinking into drivelling idiocy.
    This fact alone should be enough to encourage the State to
take measures at once for the establishment of  a school or insti-
tution for  teaching and training idiots, if it were but a matter of
 experiment.
    But there is another and more encouraging one, which should
 silence all  objections, and  cause us to  make  haste  to  do the
 good work; and that  is ihe fact  that schools of this kind  have
 already been  established, and  with the best results, and we
 shall, therefore, before  proceeding farther, give a description of
 these schools. 
36
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
              European Schools for Idiots.

  It is a singular and interesting fact, that the first regular  at-
tempt, upon record, to educate an idiot, was made with a view
to prove the truth of the theory of the  sensualist  school of phi-
losophy, which was so much in favor in France during the rev-
olution.
  A wild boy who had been found in the forest, was brought to
Paris, and became famous, as the Savage of Aveyron.   Great
was the delight of the wise men,  when they found that this man
could not speak any human  tongue, and  was devoid of under-
standing and knowledge.
  The celebrated Itard undertook to teach him, and it was ex-
pected that he would prove, that  all our ideas are derived imme-
diately from the senses, and that  our mental faculties are only
sensations transformed.   According to the theory,  by causing
certain sensations, certain  ideas  would be generated, and from
these a given kind of character produced.   No  one was belter
fitted than Itard  for giving the experiment a fair trial, and  he
labored as hard as man can,  whose feet are upon  moving sand.
But it was all in vain, and  would have been  nearly in vain
under any system, for it became  evident that the  supposed sav-
age was only an idiot.   Itard however was not merely a philos-
opher,— but was a man of humanity ; he became interested in
his  subject, and followed up his  attempts  to instruct this poor
creature with great zeal and great ability, for several years; and
his  labor was not lost.  He saw what might be done for  idiots,
and his thoughts  and hints have been since acted upon by a
disciple worthy of such a master, — Mr Edward  Seguin.
  In 1824, Dr. Belhomme, of Paris, wrote an able and interest-
ing pamphlet on  idiots, and demanded, in the name of humanity,
that something should be done for their education.
  In 1828, Mons. Ferrus, President of the  Academy of  Medi-
cine, and Inspector-General  of the lunatic asylums of France
became interested in the condition of the  idiots  at  the Bicelre
one of the  large  hospitals for the insane, at  Paris.  He organ-
ized a school for the most intelligent of them, and tried to have
them taught to read, write, and cipher, and also to be trained U
habits of cleanliness and order. 
1818.]
SENATE—No.  51.
37
  Mr. Falret, excited doubtless to emulation in deeds of charity
and  love, attempt to  teach  some  idiotic  females, at  the  other
great asylum, La Salpetriere, in  1831.
  Dr. Voisin, the celebrated physiologist, and  able  expounder
of phrenology, was among the earliest to take part in these efforts
for  raising up  the lowest rank  of humanity  from the brutish
condition in which it had  so long trailed.  His  writings are,
perhaps, the most able and philosophical, in a scientific point  of
view, that have  yet appeared upon this  subject.   In  1830  he
published a most valuable essay, and has  since published sever-
al others, in which are to be found the most satisfactory expla-
nation of various phenomena of idiotism.
  Nor did he aid the  cause by his  pen alone.   In 1833, he  at-
tempted the organization of a school  for idiots, in one of the
Asylums Rue de Sevres; and, in  1834, opened  a private school
for idiotic children.  In 1839,  he  was made physician to the
great hospital  of the  Bicetre, and, aided by Dr. Leuret, he  re-
newed  and enlarged the school for idiots, of which he  still has
the  general  superintendence, the  principal teacher being Mr.
 Vallee.   It is due, however, to  Edward  Seguin, to  say that, to
him more than to any other person, seems to be owing the great
and rapid improvement which has  been made  in the  art of
 teaching and training idiots.  He had  occupied himself with  the
 subject for several years, and in 1842 took the immediate  man-
 agement of the school at Bicetre, which however he did not  re-
 tain.  He has  labored with that enthusiasm  and zeal in a  be-
 loved subject, which  almost always ensure success.  He has put
 forth a degree of courage,  energy and  perseverance, which, if
 exerted in the  art of destroying  men and  cities, would have
 covered his breast with those crosses and decorations and tawdry
 baubles, so highly prized by vulgar minds.   But, how utterly
 worthless  would be such tokens of excellence  in  a bloody and
 barbarous art,  compared with the  high reward of  an approving
 conscience, which must ever follow labors of love in the field of
 beneficence.   We do not  know that  Seguin has even a title;
 but surely one of field marshal, or peer of France, which might
 have been given at the whim of a man, could never equal, in
 true honor, that  of friend and benefactor  of the most afflicted of 
38
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
the human race;  a title which he has gained by long years of
patient toil, and which will be held in honor when  that of de-
stroyer shall cease to be prized by any but barbarians.
   We have felt bound to pay this tribute to these  noble and
generous men, for they have brought rapidly  into a high  degree
of excellence the art of elevating and leaching a class of beings
who were  but yesterday regarded and  treated,  in  France, as
" human brutes" devoid of understanding and heart, whom the
highest authorities in that country condemned to  hopeless idiot-
ism ;  who, in  the rest  of Europe, and, we are sorry to  say, in
this country also, are still left a prey to the dreadful propensities,
which almost certainly sink them  lower  and  lower  in  brulish-
ness, until  every trace of humanity is lost.
   A brief notice  of the principal schools for  idiots will  not  be
out of place here.
   In 1843, the royal academy of science appointed  a commis-
sion to examine Mr. Seguin's school.   The commissioners were
Messrs. Serres, Flourens, and Pariset, — names high on the roll
of science.  We translate some extracts from their report: —
   ^  ^  ^=  " In order to form a just idea of idiots, suppose
yourself to be introduced into the asylum which they inhabit,
as Mons. Seguin was,  to become their teacher.  What a  sight!
One is  jumping about, bellowing  and crying out; another is
crouching in a corner as silent and motionless as a statue.  The
first  one whom  you address runs chattering away; the next
keeps bowing to you, and kissing his hand; a third makes signs
of the cross all over his body; a fourth lies flat upon the  floor;
a fifth gnaws his  fingers and laughs wildly."
   " Not one can  give an intelligible  answer  to your questions,
so inarticulate  is their  voice.  Further on  are more hopeless
idiots, — blind, epileptic, paralyzed.  # *  *  Eyes have they,
but they see not; ears have they, but they hear not.   Their legs
are unfit for standing, balancing the body, for walking, leaping
or running. Their hands are unfit for feeling, seizing or mov-
ing things."  *   *  *  " This being the case, an  idiot of the
lowest kind being  the extreme of ignorance, brutishness and
perverseness, it follows that to undertake  his education  is  the
most repulsive and the most painful task."    •  # •    #      %. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
39
Nevertheless, we are glad to declare  that  Mr. Seguin has, in  a
great measure, overcome all these difficulties.   Gymnastic exer-
cises properly varied have  given  to  their muscles  greater and
more equalized power.   Their senses are  exercised so that  their
movements have more precision  and  accuracy;  so that  they
have learned to  subject the action of the  organs to the will, a
faculty unknown to them before.
  "By modes of instruction,  peculiarly his own, and of which
the details would be out of place here, he has  brought his pu-
pils to a knowledge of  letters, reading,  writing, drawing, and of
the elements of  arithmetic and geometry.  By comparison with
different qualities of bodies, he has  familiarized them  with ab-
stract ideas  of  color, density, weight,  &c,  and with  ideas of
higher relations, such as order, authority, obedience, and  duty.
By thus training his pupils to exercises  of  body  and  mind, he
has made  them more robust and more wise.   He has created a
temporary abandonment  of their  secret and  pernicious habits,
and may succeed in causing them to be forgotten."*
   Other testimonies from such men as Esquirol and Guersant,
(pere) might be given,  but we will cite here that  of an Ameri-
can gentleman, Mr.  George  Sumner.  He  sent us a  very mi-
nute and  interesting account of the Parisian school for idiots,
which was embodied in our report last year, but we cannot do
better than give some extracts from  it here.   He says : —
   "During  the past six months,  I have watched, with  eager
interest, the progress which many young idiots have made,  in
 Paris, under  the direction of  Mr. Seguin, and, at  Bicetre, under
 that of  Messrs. Voisin and Vallee, and have seen, with no less
 gratification lhan astonishment, nearly one hundred fellow-be-
 ings who, but  a short time since, were shut out  from all com-
 munion with mankind, who were  objects  of loathing and dis-
 gust, many of whom rejected every article of clothing, others of
 whom,  unable  to stand  erect, crouched  themselves in corners,
 and gave signs of life only by  piteous  howls, others  in whom
 the faculty  of  speech  had  never  been developed, and  many
 whose  voracious  and  indiscriminate gluttony satisfied  itself
 with whatever they could lay  hands upon,  with  the garbage
       * Comptes  Rendus des Seances de 1' Academie Royale des Sciences. 
40
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
thrown  to swine, or with their own excrements ;  these unfortu-
nate beings, the rejected of humanity,  I have seen properly clad,
standing erect, walking, speaking, eating in an orderly manner
at a common table, working quietly as carpenters and farmers ;
gaining, by their own labor, the means of existence; storing their
awakened intelligence by reading one to another;  exercising
towards their teachers and among themselves the generous feel-
ings of man's nature, and singing, in unison, songs  of thanks-
giving !"
  " it is a miracle, you  will exclaim ;  and so,  indeed, it is, a
miracle of intelligence, of palience, of love.  When I expressed
to the teacher of the school  at Bicetre, M. Vallee, my gratitude
and  my surprise  at the results of his efforts,  his  reply was as
profound as it was beautiful and modest.  11 ne faut, Monsieur,
que la patience el le desir de bienfaire.  ' Patience, and the  de-
sire to  do good,  are all  that is  necessary.'  More  than this is
necessary, and I felt bound  to complete his sentence  by adding
to it the noble motto which Don Henry, of Portugal, engraved
on his shield, and, by his conduct, justified  so well, le talent de
bienfaire.   Patience and  the talent, as well as the  desire, to do
good, are all required; but these can  all be found  in the com-
munity  where Laura Bridgman has been taught; and, the pos-
sibility of success now fully established, it would be an insult
to Massachusetts to suppose that she will not be among  the
first  to make those efforts for her idiot population, which many
European states  are already commencing.
  " The fact, I have said, is now clearly established, that idiots
may be educated, that the reflective power exists within them,
and may be aivakened by a proper system of instruction; that
they may  be raised, from the filth in  which they grovel, to  the
attitude of men ; that they may be taught different arts which
will  enable them  to gain an honest livelihood ;  and that,  al-
though  their intelligence may never,  perhaps, be developed to
such  a point as  to render ihem the authors of those generous
ideas and  great  deeds which leave a stamp upon  an age,  yet
still they may attain a respectable mediocrity, and surpass, in
mental  power, the common peasant of many European states."
  Lest our correspondent should be supposed to be led into too 
1848.]                SENATE—No. 51.             '     41
great euthusiasm by what he saw, we will give the testimony of
another witness: —
  The  first account  of  the school at the Bicetre that reached
this country, was the very  interesting one  by Dr.  Conolly, prin-
cipal physician of the great English asylum for  the insane, at
Hanwell.  He visited the school in 1S45.   It is well  that he
wrote about it, for he ranks so high  in  the medical  profession,
and has had such exlensive acquaintance  with mental maladies
and imperfections, that  his opinions  respecting them will have
more weight  than  those  of  any unprofessional  observer who
had not had equal opportunity of observation.  It will  not  fail
to be observed, that the degree of confidence to be placed in any
system for instructing idiotic persons, and  the amount of success
of  any teacher, must depend upon  the condition of the pupil
when he comes  under instruction.   It is one thing to teach  a
simpleton or an imbecile, and another to teach an idiot; it is  one
thing to teach an  idiot who has the faculty of imitation actively
developed, so that he will follow your motives easily, until hab-
its of muscular exercise are established, and another to teach an
idiot who has  but very little disposition to imitate. So it is with
other mental  faculties.  An unprofessional man would find  it
difficult  to ascertain what was the probable condition of the
 trained pupil, before his training had commenced, but the medi-
 cal man, who had spent his  life among insane and idiotic  per-
 sons, could understand  it in spite of the changes produced by
 teaching.  Dr. Conolly, therefore, is a most important witness;
 more important even, in some respects, than the  teachers of the
 school. Being a stranger and a foreigner, he would be free from
 personal or national prejudices in favor of the  school;  while,
 from his lon»- and extensive acquaintance with insanity and idi-
 ocy, he would  not  be likely  to  be deceived  about the previous
 condition and capacities of the pupils, or to overrate the success
 obtained  by their  training.   His account is still  more valuable,
 because he gives us, besides a general view, a particular de-
 scription of one individual case.
    jle  says :__« No fewer than forty of these patients were as-
 sembled in a moderate-sized school-room, receiving various les-
 sons and performing various evolutions under the direction  of a
               6 
42
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
very able schoolmaster, M. Seguin, himself a pupil  of the cele-
brated Itard, and endowed with that enthusiasm, respecting his
occupation,  before which difficulties vanish.   His pupils had
been all  taught to sing to music, and the  little band  of violins
and  other instruments, by which  they were accompanied, was
formed of the old almsmen of the  hospital.  But all the idiotic
part  of this remarkable class also sang without any musical ac-
companiment, and  kept  excellent  time and  tune.  They sang
several compositions, and among others a  very pretty song writ-
ten for them  by M. Batelle, and sung by them on entering the
class-room.   Both the epileptic and idiotic were taught 1o write,
and  their copy-books would  have done credit  to any writing-
school for young persons.   Numerous  exercises were  gone
through,  of  a kind of military character, with  perfect correct-
ness and precision.   The youngest of the  class was a little idiot
boy of five years old, and it was interesting to see him follow-
ing the rest, and  imitating their actions,  holding out  his right
arm, left arm, both arms, marching to the right and left, at the
word of  command and to the sound of a  drum  beaten, with all
the lively skill of a French drummer, by another idiot, who was
gratified  by wearing a demi-military uniform.   All these exer-
cises were gone through  by a collection of beings  offering the
smallest  degree of intellectual  promise, and usually left, in all
asylums, in  total indolence and apathy.  Amongst them  was
one  youth whose intellectual  deficiency was marked in every
look, gesture, and feature.  I  think a more particular account of
this  poor boy's progress  deserving of record, as an  inducement
to the philanthropist  to enter on a  new field of instruction  pre-
senting many difficulties, but  yet not unproductive of  results."
   " The  age of Charles Emile is fifteen: he was admitted to the
school in June, 1843.  He is  described as being of a nervous
and  sanguine temperament, and in an almost complete state of
idiocy; ihe faculties which remain long in a slate of  extraordi-
nary activity, and rendering him  dangerous to  himself and  to
olhers ; but slill idiotic in his  inclinations, sentiments, percep-
tions, faculties of perception and understanding, and also in his
senses, of which some were obtuse, and others too excitable. He
was consequently unfit, to use the  words of M. Voisin, to 'har- 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
43
monize with the world without.'   As regards his inclinations,
he  was signalized by a  voracious, indiscriminate, glutlonous
appetite, un erotisme  hideux, and a blind and  terrible instinct
of destruction.  He was  wholly an animal.  He was without
attachment;  overturned every  thing in  his way, but without
courage or intent;  possessed no tact, intelligence, power of dis-
simulation, or sense of property ;  and wTas awkward to excess.
His moral sentiments are described as null,  except  the love of
approbation, and a noisy instinctive gayety, independent  of the
external  world.  As to his senses, his  eyes were never fixed,
and seemed to act without his will; his taste was depraved ;
his touch  obtuse; his  ear  recognized sounds,  but was not at-
tracted by any sound in particular; and he scarcely seemed to
be possessed of  the  sense of smell:  devouring every thing,
however  disgusting;  brutally  sensual;  passionate, — breaking,
tearing, and  burning whatever he  could lay  his hands upon;
and if prevented  from doing  so, pinching, biting, scratching,
and tearing himself, until he was covered with  blood.   He had
the particularity of being so attracted by the eyes of  his broth-
ers, sisters, and play-fellows, as to  make the most persevering
efforts 1o  push them out with his fingers.   He walked  very
imperfectly,  and  could  neither run, leap, nor  exert the act  of
throwing; sometimes he sprang  like a  leopard, and his  delight
was to strike one  sonorous body against another.  When any
attempt was made to associate him with the other patients, he
would start away with a sharp cry, and  then come back to them
hastily.   M. Voisurs description concludes with these  expres-
sions : ' All  the faculties of perception in this youth are in  a ru-
dimentary state;  and, if I may  venture so to  express  myself,
it  is incredibly difficult to draw him out of his individuality, to
place  him before  exterior  objects, and  to make him  lake any
 notice of them.   It would  not  be far from the truth to say, that
for him all nature  is almost completely veiled.'
    " This description  not only  exemplifies  M. Voisin's  careful
 mode of observation, but shows  that  an example of idiocy less
 favorable  to culture could  scarcely have been presented to the
 instructor.   This same poor idiot boy is now docile in his man-
 ners, decent in his habits, and  capable, though not without some 
44
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
visible effort, of directing his vague  senses and wandering at-
tention, so as to  have developed his memory, to have acquired
a limited  instruction  concerning  various objects, and to have
become affectionately conscious of the presence of  his instruc-
tors  and friends.  His  general appearance is  still  that  of an
idiot.  His countenance, his mode of walking, all that he does,
declares his very limited faculties.  Nature has placed limits to
the exercise of his powers, which no art can remove. But he
is redeemed from  the constant  dominion of the lowest animal
propensities.  Several of his intellectual faculties are cultivated;
some have even been called into life ; and his better feelings
have acquired some objects and some exercise.   In  such  a case
as this, we are not so much to regard what is merely accom-
plished for the individual.  A great principle is  established by it
in  favor of thousands of defective  organizations.  After witness-
ing the general  efforts of ihis school of the most  imbecile human
beings, and hearing  the particulars of  Charles  Emile's history,
it was really affecting to  see him come forward when  called,
and  essay to sing a  little solo when requested; his attempt at
first  not being  quite  successful, but amended  by  his attention
being  more roused  to  it.  His copy-book was then  shown  to
me, and his writing was steady, and as good  as that of most
youths of  his station in  life.   The schoolmaster, who seemed to
take pleasure in the improvement  of this  poor fellow,  then
showed us  how he  had taught Charles to count,  by means of
marbles and small pieces of wood, or marks made on a  board,
arranged in lines, the first containing an O, the second O O, the
third  O O O, and so on.  Charles was  sometimes  out  in his
first calculations, but then made an effort and  rectified himself.
He distinguished one figure from another, naming their value.
Large pieces of strong card, of various shapes, were  placed  in
succession in his hands; and he named the figure of each, as
square, triangle, &c, &c, and afterward  drew their outlines
with chalk on a  blackboard ; and, according to  the desire of M.
Seguin, drew a perpendicular, or  horizontal, or  oblique line ;  so
effectually altending  to what he was doing, that if any line was
drawn incorreclly,  he rubbed  it out and began  anew.  He also
wrote several words on  the board, and  the name of  the director
of the Bicetre, without the name being spoken to him. 
1848.]               SENATE—No. 51.                  45

  " This case was almost the most interesting of those which I
saw; but there was one  poor idiot standing a great part of the
time in  a corner, to all appearance  the  very despair of art;
even  this  poor creature,  however, upon  being  noticed and
brought to the table, proved capable of distinguishing ihe  letters
of the alphabet.   Most of  the others had received  as  much
instruction as has been  described, and could  count, draw lines
and figures, write, perform various exercises, and point to  differ-
ent parts of the body, as the  head, the eyes, the arms, the feet,
&o., &c, when named to them.  In all these cases, and preem-
inently in that of Charles Entile, the  crowning glory of the at-
tempt  is, that whilst the senses, the muscular powers,  and the
intellect, have received some cultivation, the  habits have been
improved, the propensities regulated,  and some play  has been
given  to  the  affections; so  that a wild, ungovernable animal,
calculated to  excite fear, aversion, or disgust, has been  trans-
formed into the likeness and manners of a man.   It is difficult
to avoid falling into  the language of  enthusiasm on beholding
such  an apparent miracle;  but  the means of its performance
are  simple, demanding only that rare  perseverance, without
which nothing good or great is ever effected; and suitable space,
and local arrangements adapted  to  the  conservation of  the
health and safety of the pupils ; to the establishment of cleanly
habits ; to presenting them with objects  for the exercise of their
faculties of sense, motion, and intellect,-and to the promotion of
good feelings and a cheerful, active disposition.  The idiot who
is cipable of playing  and  amusing  himself is  already,  as M.
 Sequin observes, somewhat  improved.  I can but regret lhat I
had not  time to watch  the  progress  of this  interesting  school
from day to day, and to trace the  growth of  knowledge  in  the
different  pupils ; as, of  Ihe  first  ideas of form and color, into
writing and drawing; the development of articulation into the
power of  verbal expression ; the extension of memory to calcu-
lation; the subsidence of gross propensities, and springing forth
and flourishing of virtuous  emotions, in  a soil  where, if even
under the most favorable circumstances the blossoms and fruits
are few, but  for philanthropic culture all  would be noxious or
utterly barren." 
46
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
   This school presents a most useful model  for similar institu-
tions ;  it is a beautiful  example of practical Christianity ; it is a
temple in which acceptable service is done to God, by love and
care bestowed upon the most helpless of his  creatures ; and we
cannot do better than give an account of the daily routine of  its
operations.   This we do  in  the words  of  our valued  corre-
spondent, who visited it at a later period.
   It must be borne in mind,  that the scholars in this school
were formerly wretched, dirty, drivelling idiots, gathered together
from the cesspools of society ; they were outcasts, abandoned  by
their relatives,  and left  to  their own  ravening appetites and
brutish  propensities;  they  were  rapidly  sinking into absolute
brutishness;  their sun was  going down, even in the morning of
their days, and, in a few years, the last breath  would have left
the senseless carcases from  which all human  spirit had long be-
fore fled.
   Mr. Sumner says : " The number of pupils in the school has
varied, for some time  past, from  80  to 100.  At 5 o'clock they
rise, and pass half an hour in washing, combing, and dressing;
the monitors — pupils more advanced, — aiding  those whose
instruction is but  recently  commenced.   They then  pass into
the hall  of  classes, and range  themselves in a double line,  no
easy task for the beginners;  when they sing a simple morning
prayer, repeated to them by the teacher.  After this, they make
their first breakfast, of -a simple  slice of bread.  The class for
the education of the senses  now begins, and fills up the time till
S 1-4  A.  M.  In the  1st or highest division,  several occupy
themselves with surface and landscape drawing; and others, less
advanced, with geometrical drawing upon the blackboard.  The
3d division,  divided into sections, is of those who are  exercising
the senses of smell, taste, sight, and  observing  color  and  form,
by the  method  I have  before described.   The sense of hearing
is exercised, among other means,  by the pupil's  learning to dis-
tinguish  and name, while  blindfolded, the natural sounds  as
produced by the cords of a bass-viol.   Meanwhile, the young-
est class, of 18 or 20, is going  through its elementary gymnas-
tics of  the moving power.
  " From 8  1-4 to 9 A. M., is taken up by the study of numera- 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
47
Hon and arithmetic.  Here the whole school is divided into fre-
quently changing  groups,  according  to  the various capacities
developed.  The lowest of all is ranged in line, and taught to
count aloud up to 30 ; a series of sticks, balls, or other material
objects, being given them at the time.   This helps to ameliorate
their speech, and to stimulate  to imitalion those who have not
that faculty. Another group is set to climb upon ladders, count-
ing the number of rounds as they go up, and thus the muscular
system, and knowledge of numeration, are simultaneously de-
veloped.  A higher group is of those who count up to 50, with
counters,  and  who,  by means of  them, get  an idea of unity,
plurality, subtraction, addition, and equality.  A higher  group
still has learned  to count up to 100, and another group is learn-
ing, by means of movable figures taken from a case, the combi-
nations of numbers.   Higher still,  are boys working upon their
slates,  or going through calculations upon the blackboard, with
a facility and  precision that  any  pupil  of Warren  Colburn
might  envy."
  " From 9 to  9 3-4.  Breakfast, of soup and a plate of meat.
The pupils are here seated at table, and eat with fork and spoon,
the more adroit aiding those less so."
  "9 3-1  to 10 1-2.   Recreation in open air, running, playing
ball, driving hoop, or cultivating a small plat of ground, the hire
of which, for 3 months, each one may gain by a certain number
of tickets of good conduct.
  "10 1-2 to 11 1-4.  Reading  class, in which all take part,
divided, however, into  various  groups, as before.
  " 11  1-4 to 12.  Writing class.  Here the lowest group is
taught only to trace on the  blackboard, with a ruler, these lines.


                  I—/\
  The next group is taught to make  upon the  board, the rudi-
mental characters, as

          ///    OOO   <rcrcr
making the three in each line.  After this, they write on slates, 
48
IDIOTS.
[Feb-
and, when  further advanced,  the monitor being ready to guide
their hands, they write in ruled books.  The highest class rules
its own books, and writes alternately a page of large  and fine
hand.
  " 12 to 12 1-2.   Gymnastics.
  " 12 1-2 to  1.   Music.
  " 1 to 4 3-4.  Manual labor.  In this all  take part; some as
shoemakers, some as  carpenters, or rather cabinet-makers, and
some as tillers of  the ground.   One of the best exercises for the
body, inasmuch as it compels the idiot to walk and balance himself
unaided, is that of wheeling a barrow, charged with  a weight
proportionate to his strength.  The most stupid may be soon
taught this.  Others more  intelligent, wield spade and pickaxe
most energetically and profitably; but nowhere does their awak-
ened intelligence  appear more satisfactorily, than  in the work-
shop of  the  cabinet-maker.   When  one of them has  sawed
through a plank, or nailed together two pieces of wood, or made
a box, his smile of satisfaction, the consequence of "something
attempted,  something done,"  the  real result of which he can
estimate, is beautiful to see.   Nor is their work by any means
to be despised.  With one  cabinet-maker as  teacher and moni-
tor, they performed, last  year,  all  the work necessary  for their
school-room and  dormitories,  as well  as  for a good part  of ihe
great establishment of Bicetre.  At shoemaking, they  show in-
telligence ;  but this is too  sedentary an  occupation for them.
Some, however, who have quitted ihe school, work at it;  but
the  greater number of them become farmers and gardeners."
  "After this manual labor, they dine, and, after dinner, play till
6 1-4 P. M."
  "From 6 1-4 to 7.  Grammar class; the lowest group  is taught
to articulate syllables; the highest,  as much as in any grammar-
school."
  " From 7 to 8 1-4, is passed in  reading to one anolher, or in
conversations  and explanations, with  the teacher,  upon  things
which may excite  the reflective power.   Two evenings in  the
week, this hour is devoted to a concert and a dance."
  " After this, comes the evening prayer,  sung by all; and then
fatigued, but  happy, they retire to rest." 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
49
  " Such  is  a day at the school  at Bigetre.   Every Thursday
morning, the teacher takes them to walk  in  the  country, and
then inculcates  elementary notions of botany, designating by
their names,  and impressing by smell, taste, and sight, the qual-
ities of different  flowers, and useful vegetables, which they see.
At the same  lime, he explains, by locality, the first elements of
geography.   On  Saturday evening, there  is  a distribution  of
tickets  of good  conduct, three of which, — I have before  ob-
served,— pay the rent  of a garden, and one of which may buy
off, for another, with the consent of ihe teacher, the punishment
adjudged for certain slight acts of negligence.   You will see, at
once, the effect which this must  have upon the  generous senti-
ments of the pupils.  The sentiment of possession  is developed;
the rights of property taught;  but its duties, and its true  pleas-
ures, are, at  the same time impressed."
   There  is anolher  school, recently established  in  Switzerland,
for teaching idiots, particularly the class denominated cretins.
   Cretinism is a diseased condition  of  body, accompanied by
idiocy, when there is defective size, or morbid  structure  of the
brain  and  nervous  system, and is modified  by  local circum-
 stances, or  atmospheric influences.  It is  not peculiar  to Swit-
 zerland, and the Pyrenees, but  is sometimes  found in  low and
 flat countries of Europe, and, though rarely, in  the United States.
 Idiots, closely resembling cretins, and, also, albinos, have been
 found in Massachusetts.
   Cretinism may, or may not, be complicated with goitre.
   " The head of cretins is usually deformed ;  the  stature dimin-
 utive  ; the  complexion  sickly;  the  countenance vacant,  and
 destitute of  meaning ;  the lips and eyelids coarse  ; the  skin and
 muscles flabby."
   " The qualities of the mind correspond  to  the deranged state
 of the body, and there are various degrees of  stupidity."^
   They abound mostly in  Switzerland, and,  as they are gener-
 ally mild  and  gentle,  they  are looked  upon with compassion,
 and called  Cretins, a corruption of Christian  ; perhaps because
 unresisting  gentleness  was  thought, by the simple shepherds, to
 be the true emblem of Christianity.
                       * Spurzheim on Insanity.
               7 
50
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
   One of the most remarkable schools for idiots, is that estab-
 lished for this unfortunate class, by Dr.  Guggenbiihl,  in  Swit-
 zerland.   This benevolent man was moved  to pity by seeing a
 poor idiotic  cretin on his  bended  knees, by the  road-side, in
 speechless adoration of an image of the Saviour upon the cross.
 Here was a creature upon whom ihe light of reason had  never
 dawned;  who, according to the common doctrine, had only the
 amimal instincts, by the impulses of which he was moved.  But
 the good doctor thought otherwise.  The  idiot had no reasoning
faculties, but he had the germs of some  of  the noblest faculties
 of the soul,  and these,  if properly treated, might grow and bear
 a harvest  of good for  time and for  eternity.  The doctor, there-
 fore, gathered together, from the  hamlets situated in deep valleys
 and dark  gorges of the Alps, and from other unhealthy places,
 a number of these cretins, and  removed them  to  a delightful
 spot high up upon the Abendberg, several thousand feet above
 the sea, and  began to try to teach them.  His success has been
gratifying beyond  measure, for, though he was not rich enough
 in this world's goods to  carry on his work  long, and his situa-
 tion was too lonely to attract notice, yet  friends were raised up
 to him, and  his work so recommended itself to the human heart,
 that the few men  who found him, gave  him their blessi/ig and
 their  aid.   Among the crowd of travellers, who  seek for  the
 sublime and beautiful only in  inanimate nature,  there were  a
 few, whose more generous sympathies drew them up the Abend-
 berg, (the  Holy Mount, it should be called.)  There they were
astonished and  moved by  what they saw: the  house of  the
good physician became to them more stately than a palace ;  his
daily manner of doing his " Father's business" seemed to them
 more truly religious than the pomp and  incense of cathedrals ;
 and the sight of gentle  cretins and grateful idiots, clinging about
their friend and  saviour, made a  deeper impression than that  of
mountains and  glaciers.   They  carried  home  reports thereof*
and now, as the  waters are gathered from distant lakes  and
seas into the  clouds to be softly distilled upon a dry and thirsty
spot, so the riches collected  by Englishmen in the far-off Indies
fall  in gentle  drops of charity, to quicken  the seeds of love sown
upon the barren Abdenberg. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
51
  A school for idiots  has recently been established  in  Prussia.
In England, a few  individuals have  been taken under  the care
of the teachers of a school for deaf mutes.
  No systematic  efforts have yet been  made  in this country to
teach a class of these sorely  bereaved creatures, but individual
efforts have not been  wanting in Massachusetts.  The  success
here obtained, for  the first time, in the education of  persons
who, by the English law, are considered to be necessarily idiots,
as "wanting  all  those senses which furnish the  human mind
with ideas," has encouraged attempts to educate idiots.*   The
results thus far are most satisfactory.  In view of all these cir-
cumstances, therefore, we most earnestly recommed, that meas-
ures BE  AT ONCE  TAKEN TO RESCUE THIS MOST  UNFORTUNATE
CLASS FROM THE DREADFUL DEGRADATION IN WHICH THEY  NOW
GROVEL.
   The reasons for this are  manifold,  and strong, and hardly
need to be repeated.  In the first place, it would be an econom-
ical measure.   This class of persons is always a  burden upon
the  public.  It is  true, that  the  load is equally divided ; it falls
partly upon the treasury of the different towns; partly  upon the
 state treasury, and  partly upon individuals;  so that the weight
 is not sensibly felt; but still it is not  a whit the less heavy for
 that.  There are at least a thousand  persons of this class who
 not only contribute nothing to the  common  stock,  but  who are
 ravenous consumers; who are idle  and often mischievous, and
 who are dead weights upon the material prosperity  of the State.
 But this is not all; they are even worse than useless; they gen-
 erally require a good deal of watching to prevent their doing
 mischief, and they occupy considerable part of the time of  more
 industrious and valuable persons.   Now it is made certain,  by
 what has been done  in other countries, that almost every one  of
 these men and women, if not beyond middle age, may  be made
 to observe all the decencies of life; to be tidy  in their dress,
 cleanly in their habits, industrious at work, and even familiar
 with the simple elements of knowledge.  If they were  all made
 to earn something instead of spending, wasting, and destroying,
 the difference would  be considerable.   It would be an economy
     * Two blind idiots are under training at the Institution for the Blind in Boston. 
52
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
to some towns to send a young idiot across the ocean if he could
be trained to such habits of industry as to support himself,  in-
stead of dragging out  a life of two or three score years in  the
almshouse, and becoming every year more stupid, degraded, and
disgusting.  Many a town  is now paying an extra price for  the
support of  a  drivelling idiot,  who, if he had been  properly
trained, would  be earning  his own livelihood, under the care of
discreet persons who would gladly board and clothe him for  the
sake of the  work he could  do.
  The moral evils resulting from the  existence of  a  thousand
and  more of such persons in  the community  are  still greater
than  the physical ones.   The spectacle of human  beings  re-
duced to a state of brutishness, and given up to the indulgence
of animal appetites and passions, is not  only  painful, but  de-
moralizing in  the last degree.   Not only young children, but
"children of an older growth" are most injuriously affected  by
it. What virtuous parent could endure the thought of a beloved
child living within the  influence of an idiotic  man or woman
who knows none of the laws of conscience and morality, and
none even of the  requirements of decency ?   And yet, most of
the  idiots in our Commonwealth, unless absolutely caged up,
(as a few are)  have, within their narrow range, some  children
who may mock them indeed, and tease them, but upon whom
they in return  inflict a more serious  and lasting evil.  Every
such  person is like an  Upas tree, that poisons the whole moral
atmosphere  about him.
  But the immediate adoption of proper means  for training and
teaching idiots, may  be urged  upon higher grounds than that
of expediency,  or even  of charity; it  may be urged upon the
ground  of imperative duty.  It has been shown, that the num-
ber of this wretched class  is fearfully great; that a large part
of them are directly at the public charge ; that the whole of
them are at  the charge of the community in one way or another
because they cannot help themselves.   It has been shown, that
they are  not only neglected, but that, through ignorance, they
are often badly treated, and cruelly wronged; that, for want of
proper means of training, some of them sink  from mere weak-
ness of  mind,  into entire idiocy; so that, though born with a 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
53
spark of intellect  which might be nurtured into a flame, it is
gradually extinguished, and they go down darkling to the grave,
like the beasts that perish.  Other countries are beginning to save
such  persons from their dreadful  fate ; and  it must not longer
be, that here,  in the home of  the Pilgrims,  human beings, born
with some sense, are allowed to  sink into  hopeless idiocy, for
want of a  helping hand.
   Massachusetts admits the right of all her citizens to a share in
the blessings  of education, and she provides it liberally  for all
her more favored  children.  If some be blind or deaf, she still
continues to furnish them with special instruction at great cost;
and will she longer neglect the poor idiot, — the most wretched
of all who are born to her, — those who are usually abandoned
by their fellows, — who can never, of themselves, step up  upon
the platform of humanity, — will  she  leave them to their dread-
ful fate, to a life of brutishness, without an effort in their behalf?
   It is  true, that the plea of ignorance can be made in excuse for
the neglect and ill treatment which they have hitherto received;
but  this plea can avail us no longer.   Other countries have
shown  us that idiots may be trained to habits of industry, clean-
liness, and self-respect; that the highest of  them may be meas-
urably  restored to self-control, and that the very lowest of them
may  be raised up from the slough of animal  pollution in which
they  wallow ; and can the men of other countries do more than
we ?  Shall we, who can transmute granite and ice into gold and
silver, and  think  it pleasant  work, — shall we shrink from  the
higher  task of  transforming brutish men back  into  human
shape ?  Other countries  are beginning to rescue  their  idiots
from further deterioration, and even  to elevate them; and shall
our Commonwealth continue to bury the humble talent of lowly
children committed to her motherly care, and  let it rot  in  the
earth, or shall  she do all  that can  be done, to  render it back
with usury to Him who  lent it ?  There  should be do  doubt
about  the answer to  these questions.  The humanity and jus-
tice of  our rulers will prompt them to take immediate measures
for the  formation  of a school or schools for the instruction and
training of idiots.
   The benefits to be derived from the establishment of a school 
54
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
for this class of persons, upon humane and scientific principles,
would be very great.  Not only would all the idiots, who should
be received into it, be improved in their bodily and mental con-
dition, but all the others, in the State and the country, would be
indirectly benefited.   The  school, if  conducted by persons  of
skill and ability, would be  a model for others.   Valuable  infor-
mation would be disseminated through the country; it would
be demonstrated that no idiot need be confined or restrained by
force;  that the young can be trained  to  industry, order, and
self-respect; that  they can  be redeemed from odious and filthy
habits, and that there is not  one  of any age, who may not be
made more of a man, and less of a brute, by patience and kind-
ness, directed by energy and skill.
  It is not our duty to enter into any detaiJs of the plan of such
a school, or  schools; that must  be left to abler  hands.   We
close this part of  our report, therefore, by most earnestly recom-
mending, that immediate measures be taken for the formation
of such a school.  In the Supplement will be found the result of
our researches into  the causes of the great frequency of idiocy
in our  borders, and  such reflections as  have been suggested by
the examination of the subject generally.   We  have also pre-
pared,  with considerable  labor, various  tables  in which is em-
bodied a great  deal of curious and interesting,  if not valuable
information.

  All which is respectfully  submitted, for the Commissioners, by
S. G. HOWE. 
 
 
Feb. 18 IS.]          SF.NATE—No.  51.
SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT  OX  IDIOCY.
  The object of the first part of this report was, to  lay  before
the proper  authorities such  information, respecting the number
and  condition of idiots in the Commonwealth, as would show
the necessity for some immediate action in  their behalf.  In this
supplementary part will be found some information which, per-
haps, may be useful for those who shall have the direction of
that  action; and likewise some facts and considerations,  the
knowledge of which may  tend to lessen the number of idiots in
the next generation, and possibly to hasten the period at wijich
the grievous calamity shall be removed.'
   All those who have a living  and abiding faith and  trust in
the  goodness and  wisdom of the  Creator, will readily believe
that the terrible evils which now infest society are not necessa-
rily  perpetual; that they are not inherent in the very constitu-
tion  of man, but are the chastisements sent by a loving Father
to bring back his  children  to obedience to his beneficent laws.
These laws have been as much shrouded in darkness, in  times
past, as the hieroglyphics of Egypt; and, though they were writ-
ten upon every man's body, no Champollion  was found to de-
cipher them.   But a better  day has dawned,  and men are be-
ginning to read the handwriting  upon the world, which tells them
that every sin against a natural law must be atoned for by suf-
fering here, as well as hereafter.
   It is beginning to be seen, also, that man has a double nature
and  double interests ; that he is a social being, as well as an indi-
vidual;  and that he  cannot sin with impunity against the  one
nature any more than he can against the other. God has joined
men together, and  they cannot  put themselves asunder.   The
ignorance, the depravity, the  sufferings of one man, or of one
              8 
56
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
  class of men, must affect other men, and other classes of men, in
  spite of all the barriers of pride and selfishness which they may
  erect around themselves.  The  doctrine of impenetrability does
  not obtain in morals, however it may do in physics; but, on the
  contrary,  as gases afford mutually a  vacuum to  each other,
  into which they rush,  so  the  nature of every individual  is a
  vacuum to the nature of society, and its influences, be they for
  good, or be they for evil, interpenetrate him in spite of himself.
  It is clear, therefore, that, in this, as in  every thing else,  the in-
  terest and the duty of society are common and inseparable.
    Idiocy is a fact in  our history of momentous import.  It is
  one of the many proofs of the  immense space through which
  society has yet to advance, before it even approaches to the per-
 fection of civilization which is attainable.   Idiots form one rank
 of that fearful host  which is ever pressing upon society with its
 suffering, its miseries, and its crimes, and which society is ever
 trying to hold off at arm's length,—to keep in quarantine, to shut
 up in jails and almshouses, or, at least, to treat as a pariah caste;
 but all in vain.
   There are the paupers,—a host in themselves; the drunkards,
 the vagabonds, the criminals, the insane, the blind, the deaf,—all
 these  together form a number,  the proportion  of which to the
 whole population is fearfully great, and the existence of  which
 is a reproach to our civilization, for that existence implies gross
 ignorance and open  violation of the laws of nature.
   The moral to be drawn from the existence  of the individual
 idiot is this,—he, or his parents, have so far violated the natural
 laws, so far marred the beautiful  organism of the body, that it
 is an  unfit instrument for the manifestation of the powers of  the
 soul.   The moral to be drawn from the prevalent existence of
 idiocy in society, is,  that a very large class of persons ignore the
 conditions  upon which alone health and  reason are  given to
 men, and consequently they  sin  in  various ways;  they disre-
 gard the conditions which should be observed iu intermarriage •
 they  overlook the  hereditary transmission of certain  morbid
 tendencies,  or they  pervert  the  natural appetites of the body
into lusts of divers kinds,—the natural  emotions of the  mind
into fearful passions, and thus  bring down  the awful conse- 
18 is]                SENATE—No. 51.                  57

quences of their own ignorance and sin upon the heads of their
unoffending children.
   Idiocy is found in all civilized  countries, but it is not an evil
necessarily inherent in society ; it is not an accident; and much
less is  it a special dispensation of Providence; to suppose it can
be so,  is an insult to the Majesty of Heaven.  No !  It is merely
the result of a violation of natural laws which are simple,  clear,
and beautiful; which require only to be seen and known,  in or-
der to be loved;  and  which, if strictly observed for two or
three generations, would totally remove from any family, how-
ever  strongly predisposed to insanity or idiocy, all possibility of
its recurrence.
   No  scientific exposition of these laws will be attempted here,
 but many facts and observations will be recorded, which may
 awaken some abler minds to  the importance of codifying them
 and setting them forth for the benefit of mankind. Suffice it to
 say now, that,  out of  420 cases  of congenital idiocy ex-
 amined,  some information was  obtained respecting  the  condi-
 tion of the progenitors of  359.  Now, in  all these  359  cases,
 save only four, it is found that one or  the other, or both,  of the
 immediate progenitors of the unfortunate sufferers had, in some
 way, widely departed from the normal condition of health, and
 violated the natural laws.   That is to say, one or the other, or
 both  of them, were very unhealthy or scrofulous ; or they were
 hereditarily predisposed  to affections of the brain, causing occa-
 sional insanity; or they had intermarried with blood relatives;
 or they had been intempcrate,-or  had been guilty of sensual
 excesses which impaired their constitutions.
    Now it is reasonable to suppose, that if more accurate informa-
  tion could have been obtained about  the history of the other four
  cases some adequate cause would have been found in them also,
  for the misfortune of the child, in the condition of the progem-

  t0This  subject of the hereditary transmission of diseased tend-
  ency is of vast importance, but it is a difficult one to treat, be-
  cause a squeamish delicacy makes people  avoid it; but,  if ever
  the race is to be relieved of a tithe of the bodily ills  which flesh
   is now heir to, it must be by a clear understanding of, and a wil- 
58
IDIOTS,
[Feb.
 ling obedience to the law which makes the parents the blessing or
 the  curse of the  children; the givers  of strength, and vigor,
 and beauty, or the dispensers of debility, and disease, and deform-
 ity.   It is  by the lever of enlightened parental love, more than
 by any other power, that mankind is to be raised to the highest
 attainable point of bodily perfection.
   Can  there be so sad  a sight on earth  as  that  of a  parent
 looking upon a son deformed, or halt, or blind, or deaf, with the
 consciousness that he himself  is the author of the infirmity ;  or
 upon a sick and suffering daughter, fading and dying  in early
 youth, from the gnawing of a  worm which  he himself  placed
 within  her  breast;  or a wayward and  unmanageable child,
 urged and hurried on to lust, and licentiousness, and  crime, by
 the irresistible force of passions which he himself bestowed  up-
 on it ?  If such parent erred  in  ignorance; if he had always
 obeyed the laws of life and morality, as far as he knew them,
 still  must his suffering be grievous;  but, if he  sinned against
 the clear light of  God's law; if he secretly defiled the temple of
 his soul, ran riot in lust, fed the fire of passion until it burnt out
 the very core of his body, and then planted a spark  from the
 smouldering ashes to shoot up into unhallowed flames, in the bo-
 som  of his child,—how horrible must be  his  sensations when
 he looks upon that child, consuming, morally, every  day before
 his eyes!   Talk about the dread  of a material hell, in  the far-
 off future!  The fear of that can be  nothing, to the fear  of
 plunging one's own  child in  the hell of passion here.   It is
 probable that there are thousands of such parents among  us,
 who never dream that they are at all responsible for those bodi-
 ly ailments of their  offspring, which sadden their own lives;
 or for the  stupidity,  the waywardness, or   the vice, which
 almost hardens their  hearts against the children who manifest
 them, while,  in  reality,  those ailments  and vices are but the
dregs of a poisoned chalice returned to their own lips.
  It  may be assumed  as certain, that'in  all cases where chil-
dren are born deformed, or blind, or deaf,  or idiotic, or so im-
perfectly and feebly organized  that they cannot come to matu-
rity under ordinary circumstances, or have the  seeds of early
decay, or have original impetuosity of passions that amount to 
1818.]                SENATE—No. 51.                59

moral insanity,—in all such cases, the fault lies with the progen-
itors.   AY nether they sinned in ignorance or in wilfulness, mat-
ters not as to the effect of the sin upon the offspring.  The laws
of God are so clear that he who will read, may do so.  If a man
violates them ignorantly, he suffers  the simple  penalty;—if he
violates them  knowingly, he has  remorse added to his suffer-
ing; but in no case can the penalty be remitted to him.
  The conditions of the law of transmission of hereditary tend-
encies to  disease of  body and of mind, are beginning to be
known, but there  are many circumstances which obstruct the
spread  of  knowledge upon  the  subject.    First and foremost
among these,  is the mournful ignorance about physiology.  Peo-
ple are blind to principles which, if understood, would make the
whole law clear and beautiful.
  The transmission of any infirmity is not always direct.  It is
not always in the same  form.  It may be modified by the influ-
ence of one sound parent; it may skip a generation ;  it may af-
fect one child more, and another less; it may affect one in one
form and another in another ; and so, in a thousand ways, it may
elude observation.   But more especially does it escape observa-
tion,  because it may affect a child merely by diminishing, not
destroying, the vigor of his mind or body,—by almost paralyzing
one mental faculty, or giving fearful activity to one animal pas-
sion,  and so reappearing, in the child, in  a different dress from
what it wore in the parent. Variety is the great law of nature, and
it holds good  in the transmission of  diseased tendencies, as well
as in every thing else.   But unerring certainty, too, is alike a
characteristic of this law; and let no one flatter himself, or her-
self, that its penalties can be escaped.
   The health and  vigor  of  the  body may be compared to a
man's capital;  it is a trust fund  given to him by  the Creator,
of which he may  expend the interest in the natural enjoyments
of life but he cannot encroach in the least on the principal, with-
out real loss.   Every debauch, every excess, every undue indul-
gence, is at the expense  of this capital.  A rich man may throw
away'cents or dollars, and not feel it—but he is really poorer
for it;  and a young man, with a large capital of  health, may
daily throw away part  of it,  and  still feel strong;  but every 
60
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
over-stimulant to the  nerves, every overload to the stomach, is
a cent or a dollar taken from his capital; feel it, or not feel it, he
is poorer for it, and so will be the children afterwards  born to
him.
  There is this difference, however, between the capital which
God gives man, and that which he  accumulates for  himself,
that the one is never so  great but its interest can be spent with
enjoyment, while the other may be so enormous as to  cumber
and embarrass him, like an overload of fat.  He may  grasp
so much, that, like the boy with his fist full of olives in  the nar-
row-mouthed jar, he cannot withdraw it, and  will not let  any
drop.
  Were it  not for the action of certain principles which give to
the race recuperative powers, there would be danger of its utter
deterioration as a whole, by the sins of so many of its individual
members.
  The  conviction of  the existence and the importance of the
law of hereditary influences has been brought  home so  strongly
by  examining the condition of the unfortunate  objects of this
research, that this digression has been inevitable.
  Before referring to the  tabular views appended, we shall at-
tempt to give an idea of the leading differences among  the per-
sons referred to, although it is no part of the object of this  report
to establish a  scientific classification of idiots.   The best way,
perhaps, to give an idea of the leading distinctive features  of dif-
ferent classes of these unfortunate beings  will  be to  describe
several  individual cases.   For all humane and practical pur-
poses,  we may divide them into Pure  Idiots, Fools, and Sim-
pletons, or Imbeciles, as they are sometimes called.
  According to Mr. Seguin,  the type of an idiot is an individual
who " knows nothing, can  do nothing, cannot even desire to do
any thing."  This is the maximum of idiocy ;  the minimum of
intelligence;  and but very few cases can be found (we  were in-
clined to think none  could,) in which a being in human shape
is so much below even  insects, and so  little above a sensitive
plant.   The vast European hospitals,  in which the two ends of
humanity  seem to meet, where beneficence, guided by  science
stoops to give attention to the most shocking and repulsive forms 
1848.]
SEX ATE—No.  51.
61
of human suffering and degradation ;—those  great lazar-houses
of London and Paris do, sometimes, as their records show, pre-
sent such cases of idiocy as, one would fain hope, can be found
nowhere else.    But,  alas!  when, overcoming  the repugnance
to close contemplation of utter degradation, one looks carefully
among the sweepings that are cast out by society, for something
that may be saved  to humanity, he finds, even  in our fair Com-
monwealth, breathing masses  of flesh, fashioned in the shape of
men, but shorn of all other human attributes.
   Idiots of  the lowest class are  mere organisms, masses of
FLESH AND BONE IN HUMAN SHAPE,  IN WHICH THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS
 system has no command over the system of voluntary  muscles ;
 and  which consequently are without  power  of  locomotion,
 without  speech, without any manifestation of intellectual or
 affective faculties.
   Fools are a higher class  of  idiots, in whom the  brain  and
 NERVOUS SYSTEM ARE SO FAR DEVELOPED AS TO GIVE PARTIAL COMMAND
 OF THE VOLUNTARY MUSCLES ; WHO HAVE CONSEQUENTLY CONSIDERA-
 BLE  POWER OF  LOCOMOTION  AND  ANIMAL ACTION; PARTIAL DEVEL-
 OPMENT OF   THE AFFECTIVE AND  INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES,  BUT
 ONLY THE  FAINTEST  GLIMMER OF REASON,  AND  VERY IMPERFECT
 SPEECH.
    Simpletons are  the highest class of idiots, in whom the har-
 mony BETWEEN  THE NERVOUS AND MUSCULAR SYSTEM IS NEARLY  PER-
 FECT ; WHO  CONSEQUENTLY HAVE NORMAL POWERS OF  LOCOMO-
 TION AND ANIMAL ACTION ; CONSIDERABLE ACTIVITY OF THE  PERCEP-
  TIVE AND AFFECTIVE FACULTIES ; AND REASON ENOUGH FOR THEIR SIMPLE
 INDIVIDUAL GUIDANCE, BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR THEIR SOCIAL RELATIONS.
    Among idiots proper, should be classed the following cases :—
    No. 410.   E. G., aged 8 years.  This poor creature  may  be
  taken as a  type of the lowest kind of idiocy.  He has bones,
  flesh  and muscles,  body  and limbs, skin,  hair, &c.  He is, in
  form' and outline, like a human being, but in nothing else.   Un-
  derstanding he has none;  and his only sense  is that which
  leads him  to  contract the muscles  of his throat, and swallow
  food when it. is put  into his mouth.   He  cannot  chew his  vict-
  uals- he cannot stand erect; he cannot even roll over when laid
  upon a rug; he cannot direct his hands enough to brush off the 
62
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 flies from  his face; he has no  language—none whatever:  he
 cannot even make known his hunger, except by uneasy motions
 of his body.   His habits  of body are those of an infant just
 born.  He makes a noise like  that of a very sick and  feeble
 baby,  not crying however in a natural  way.  His  head is  not
 flattened and deformed, as is  usual with idiots, but is of good
 size and proportion.
   It would seem  as  if the powers of innervation were totally
 wanting in him.   There is no nervous energy; nothing to brace
 the muscles; no  more power of contractility than  in a person who
 is dead drunk.   The  involuntary  muscular motions are prop-
 erly performed;  that is, the  organic life  goes on  regularly;
 the heart contracts and  dilates : the  peristaltic motion of the
 bowels is regular.
   The probable  causes are.hereditary ones.  The grand-parents
 were very scrofulous  and unhealthy.   The parents were appa-
 rently  healthy, but gave  themselves up to excessive sensual in-
 dulgence.  They lost their health  in consequence  of this, and
 were so well aware of it as to abstain and to recover again.   In
 the mean time, five children were born to them—two  of whom
 were like E. G.,  and died at five  or six years of age : two others
 were very  feeble and puny, and died young.
   No.  370.  Male, aged 9 years.   This organism in the human
 form is hardly a grade higher than the preceding.  He has no
 muscular  contractility;  he cannot  stand, nor sit upright, nor
 even turn over—for, if laid upon his stomach, he  paws and kicks
 until turned over upon his back, which  position he likes best.
 He has not even  power to masticate his food, though he swal-
 lows very well when it is  thrust into  his mouth.  He has no
 language, but seems to understand  some simple  sentences.   He
 has more intelligence than the boy  above named, and  the prin-
 cipal trouble  seems to  be want of  contractility.    He  can feel
flies that  alight upon his skin, and can brush them off.   His
habits  are like those of an infant.  His head is very small.
  The  causes are probably hereditary, and he seems to be the
last and lowest of a constantly degenerating breed.   The grand-
parents were intemperate and depraved.   The children born
unto them  were  puny  and weak-minded, and they sank still 
IS 18.]
SENATE—No.  51.
63
lower in the slough of vice and depravity.  The mother of this
boy was herself a simpleton; and this was her second illegiti-
mate child.   Though of feeble  health, she gave herself up to
excessive licentiousness, her passions becoming almost mani-
acal.
   No.  325.   II. W., aged 17.  This wretched  being seems to
be, like the preceding ones, so deficient in nervous energy, that
he lies almost as powerless as though he were a mass of jelly,
without a bone  or a muscle in his composition.  If his legs
arc  pinched or  irritated,  he seems to  try to move them, but
scarcely draws them up an inch.  If flies alight upon his face,
he can hardly  reach them  with his hand.  He sometimes rolls
his head from  side to side, with  a languid motion, and this is
the most he can do in  that way, for he cannot raise it up even
 to take food.   He is fed  like a sick  infant,  with  half-chewed
 victuals, from  a spoon.   He  has no speech,  and apparently no
 knowledge  of  persons.   When  food is  brought near to him,
 something like a smile  comes over his countenance; perhaps he
 is made aware of it by the smell.
   His head is  not very small, nor is it deformed.   The family
 of which he comes is very scrofulous and degenerate, physical-
 ly.   His relatives (especially  his mother) are,  many of them,
 remarkable  for erysipelatous humors,  tumors, carbuncles, etc.
 One of his cousins is idiotic, though  not of so low a degree as
 he is.
    It is remarkable, that,  in  this  case, as well as  the two  pre-
 ceding there is not the peculiar look so common with idiots, and
 which may be better expressed  by the word monkeyish than
 any other.  When the animal  nature is pretty active, and there
 is, at the same time, a governing intellect, the resulting expres-
 sion is human.  The higher is the  intellectual endowment, the
 more lofty and noble is the  look; the lower the degree of en-
 dowment, the  more nearly the look approaches that of animals,—
 until we get down to the mere  twinkle of cunning in the low
 rogue or the monkeyish looks of the idiot.
    Now, the three persons above mentioned  do not seem to be
 idiotic from any deficiency in the size, or deformity in the shape
 or structure, of  that part of the organization on which the man-
               9 
64
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 ifestation of intelligence immediately depends. There is, at any
 rate, no appearance of any thing of that kind ;  but there seems
 to be a want of power in that part of the organization by  which
 the nervous  fluid gives energetic  action  to the  frame.   The
 look is that of languor rather than of idiocy.
   Among idiots of the lowest class, are found some who, unlike
 the preceding, seem  to have  a superabundance of innervation,
 who have great  muscular contractility, that is,  great command
 of  all the  muscles by the  nervous   system,  and  who are
 consequently very active.   They  appear  like  insane persons
 in a state of excitement, and yet  they have no speech, and no
 reasoning faculties.  The distinction made with so much inge-
 nuity  by a celebrated  French writer, holds true here, u the in-
 sane man reasons falsely, the idiot reasons not at all."
   No.  35. Jonas----, aged 8 years.  His body is well-proportioned
 and strong, but  very  small.   Face has the deformed look of
 idiocy.  The sides of his head seem  to be  at a  fever heat.  He
 is almost all  the  time  in violent motion.   His  appetite  is not
 only voracious, but  evidently morbid and insatiable ;  for, after
 eating heartily at table, he  swallows any thing he can lay his
 hands  upon, raw  potatoes, the bark of trees, chips of wood, and
 even small stones.  He has been known to  swallow pebbles as
 large  as chestnuts.  He hears and  seems  to  understand the
 meaning of some sounds, but has no speech. He has no sense
 of property, no affection, no  attachment;  his brothers and sis-
 ters are no more to him than the dog and cat.
  His  father  was  intemperate  to the last degree.  His mother
 was of a very scrofulous habit of body.
  Cases of this kind are not  very  frequent, and they are often
 mistaken for cases of insanity.  They are generally proper sub-
jects for  instruction,  though the long  continuance of their life is
not probable, for there seems to be morbid  action in the brain.

                          Fools

 Make that class of idiots who have the muscular and nervous
system well  developed; powers of locomotion and animal ac-
tion ; imperfect speech ; partial development of the perceptive
and affective faculties, but very feeble powers of reason. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
65
  This class is more numerous than the preceding.   Cases are
found in every town, in almost every almshouse.  The type  of
this class would be a man who uses  all his senses; who ob-
serves things  about him ;  who can make simple sentences, and
understand simple directions ;  but who obeys every animal im-
pulse without any thought about  responsibility  to others,  or
consequences to himself.
  The description of some of  these cases will be put in such a
form  as to  give  an idea of the course that was followed in in-
quiring into the condition of these unfortunate persons.
  It was  obviously necessary to have some regular series of
questions, or rather, a series of subjects about which questions
were framed upon the spot, and  put  in  such form as the oc-
casion and circumstances demanded.
  Some of the terms used, as will be seen, are borrowed from a
system of mental philosophy,  which,  (however undeniable  its
claims are to have presented  the clearest and  best analysis of
the human faculties ever yet known,)  has not been relied upon
by the commissioners in their  examination.   In speaking of the
instinct to oppose and destroy, of the sentiment of self-esteem
and love of  approbation, the  faculty of number, &c., as mani-
fested in the following cases, no reference is had to the question
whether there is or is not a proportionate development of those
parts of the  brain  which some able anatomists and keen observ-
ers of nature  maintain to be the part of the organization which
is most immediately instrumental in the manifestation of such
instinct, sentiment, or faculty.   Indeed, in most cases, the notes
were taken before the actual measurements were made.   It was
thought, however, that the close personal  examination of so
many idiots presented too rare and important an opportunity for
ascertaining their craniological as well as  other  bodily pe-
culiarities, to be lost; and, accordingly, it  was improved, and
the general  results  may be found in  the Tables.  It  may be
stated here, in general terms, that the result of this examination
and measurement shows that  no dimensions of the head except
extreme diminutiveness, and no shape whatever, can be  relied
upon as criteria of idiocy.  A few of the worst cases of  idiocy
are those in which  the head  is normal  as  to  size and shape. 
66
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
Nevertheless, the tables  show, that, taking the aggregate of all
the cases, an obvious relation is  seen between the size and de-
velopment of the cranium,  and  of its different parts, and  the
amount of intellectual power, and of the different kinds of men-
tal manifestation.
  The results of the observations and measurements  are pub-
lished without any  inference  being drawn, in  order that those
who choose to examine and study them, may do so.
  Some writers have hastily concluded, that because a few idi-
ots, whose heads were smaller than the measure which had been
laid down as the minimum of brain by which intelligence could
be manifested, have nevertheless been partially educated ; and
because many others, with heads of normal size and shape, are
hopelessly idiotic;  therefore, the doctrine of  the dependence of
mental manifestation upon the structural condition of  the brain
is overthrown.  They say it has been asserted that persons with
heads of  a certain  size must necessarily remain idiots, and they
triumphantly point to  certain idiots  who have recently been
trained to show a  certain amount  of  intelligence, though their
heads were smaller than this arbitrary standard.
  This conclusion, however, does not seem justified by close and
candid observation.  Size is only one of the  structural condi-
tions of the brain upon which mental manifestations depend; —
quality of fibre, health,  exercise, &c, are others essentially mod-
ifying it.   It may very  well be that one anatomist and philoso-
pher, who wrote fifty years ago,  saying that a man with a head
below a certain measurement must necessarily  remain an idiot
in  spite of any means of education then known, would  be still
right in his general conclusions, notwithstanding means are now
discovered to educe considerable  intelligence out of such a sup-
posed idiot.  The result of close and extensive observations of
idiots, has been strongly to confirm,  not only the  doctrine of
the volume of brain being one important element in  the means
of manifesting mental power, but all the main doctrines of that
school of philosophy which teaches that God  gives us the body
not merely as the handmaid of  the soul, but weds  and welds
the two together in bonds of dependence that  death alone can
sever. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
67
  That philosophy has been aptly illustrated by comparing the
body to a musical  instrument, the soul to an invisible player.
It is indeed so ;  and if  the harp have a  thousand strings,  and
they all be kept in tune, then the  soul discourses sweet and va-
ried music.  But  the idiot's body is a wretched  thing, and its
few strings are  so sadly awry, that even in a seraph's hand, it
could give nothing but  jarring and discordant sounds.
  The whole of the success which has recently been gained, in
attempts to improve the condition  of idiots,  has arisen from the
adoption, in practice, of the principles of that much-ridiculed
doctrine which  teaches that the first thing to be done is to put
the instrument in tune.  Surely, then, the attempt to show what
are the material conditions of the  bodily instrument  in such a
number of idiots as have been examined by the commissioners,
will not be condemned by candid observers, as  such attempts
made upon other classes of men have too frequently been.
  That the different degrees of keenness and vigor with which
different manifestations of mind can be made by different indi-
viduals, and by the same  individual at different  times,  do, in
some way, depend upon the original nature and the actual  con-
dition of some part of the bodily organization,—none are  now
found foolish enough to deny ;  that they do depend,  moreover,
most  immediately upon the structure and condition of the brain
and nervous system, few  will doubt;  that  there must be some
peculiar corresponding outward   signs by which the internal
structure and condition of the brain and nervous system may be
known by examination of the outward man, will not be ques-
tioned by sagacious  observers of  nature; that such  examina-
tion, made upon an extensive scale, can lead to any but good re-
sults, will not be asserted  by any but the few who think  that
modern observations should only be made  to confirm ancient
theories.  If it is found that  a certain condition of brain  is an
invariable accompaniment of a certain passion ;   if the condi-
tion is more marked when the passion is strong,  less  marked
when it is weak,  and unobservable when the passion is want-
ing;  if, moreover, the  condition changes with age, waxing and
waning as the passion  grows or declines,—then the  inference be-
comes almost inevitable, that there is  relation of cause and ef- 
68
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
feet;  then the external sign by which such  internal structure
and condition can be  known, is as much the natural language
of the passion, as a smile is the natural  language of gladness.
Now, to say that, because such signs have not yet  been satis-
factorily ascertained, therefore  they never can be ascertained,
and that the attempt to ascertain  is impious  or foolish,  is  just
what it would have been a few years ago to say that, because
a nebula never had been resolved, therefore  it never could be
resolved; that infusoria never had  been seen, and, therefore,
never could be seen; and that to turn a telescope to the sky, or
the microscope to the water, was impious and foolish.
  But, however certain it is, first, that the activity and strength
of, mental manifestations must depend upon the internal struc-
ture and condition of the bodily organization; and, second,  that
this structure and condition, like every thing material, must have
signs  and  language,—no reference is had  to such signs in the
following cases.
  When it is said that a certain idiot's instinct to fight and de-
stroy  is very active, no  reference is  had to  the fulness  of his
head about the ears; it is meant,  simply, that he strikes, bites,
scratches, or smashes things, and thus proclaims, in another kind
of language, the activity and  strength of the  propensity.   In
order  to see how many cases there are of coincidence between
the craniological  development, and  the  existence of the pro-
pensity, reference must be had to the tables.
  No. 2.   W.  C., a lad  aged 13 years.  Bodily and mental
condition of parents.   The father is  a man of scrofulous tem-
perament, and very puny and feeble both  in body and mind.
Has been  insane at times, especially  at  religious revivals, at
which he prays and exhorts.
  The mother is of  a  similar habit of body and mind, and has
always been considered as a simpleton.
  They have one other child, a girl, aged 20, who is a simple-
ton.
  Functions  of assimilation, digestion,  growth,  &c.    These
seem to be pretty active and healthy.  He is of  the  ordinary
size, and, though subject to fits  when enraged, he has tolerable
health.
  Muscular vigor, rather  below the average. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
69
  Appetite for  food is insatiable.  Unless restrained, he will
always so overload his stomach as to bring on fits.  He is now
limited to a certain  ration,  which is about double the quantity
consumed by other boys of his age.  His thirst is also insatiable.
He has been known  to drink six quarts of water in twenty-four
hours.
  Instinct of reproduction does not manifest itself,  for he  has
been carefully watched in this respect.
  Instinct to fight  and destroy is pretty active.  He not only
defends himself by  striking and  scratching, but will rush at
things and persons,  and push them over.   He  pulls  things to
pieces, but does not seem to know how to use his fists to strike,
or to handle a stick.
  Disposition to hide and conceal is apparent in the manner in
which he disposes of things.
  Disposition to possess and hoard  is manifested by his claiming
his own chair, and his own cup and plate, at table, also by car-
rying apples and fruit to his room,  to put them away.
  Self-esteem is not apparent in any of his  actions.
  Love of approbation is feebly manifested.
  General activity of senses. The five  senses are normal,
though not acute, except smell.
  Perception of individual objects is feeble.  He knows those
immediately about him, and the common household things, but
he evidently does not know how to recognize persons and things
as other children do.
  Perception of color, unknown.
  Perception of number, very imperfect; he could not tell the
difference beteen two, three, four, and five.
  Perception of time, feeble.
     "       "  Musical sounds, null.
  Faculty of language, feebly developed.  He knows  a few
words, but has no power to construct a sentence to  express his
wants.  He hardly  knows  a hundred words.
  Causation, he seems to  have no  sense of whatever.   The
nearest approach  is  his habit of stealing hot water and putting
it away to cool, in order to gratify  his thirst.
  Disposition to imitate, very  feeble : he  will pick  up chips 
70
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
when he sees other persons doing so, but cannot, understand a
direction to do so.
  Benevolence,  utterly wanting,—the same with veneration,
imagination, conscience, hope of the future, &c.
  No. 412.  Male, aged 24.  Bodily and  mental condition  of
Progenitors.  The mother  was a very intemperate prostitute,
and not much else is known of her, except that she died of de-
lirium tremens.
  The father is rather apocryphal.
  Functions  of his general development and condition of body.
Imperfect.   Head is very small.  The extremities are shortened
at the end ;  that is, the  bones of the hands, fingers,  and  feet,
are very short in proportion  to the other bones, as if the central
formative power had not been vigorous  enough to push the
growth  to the circumference.   He is scrofulous,  and often  cov-
ered with sores, scabs, &c.
  Functions  of assimilation, digestion, growth, &c,  are pretty
efficient.
  Muscular  vigor seems nearly equal to the average.   When
sufficient motive is held out, he can do hard work, but the will
is wanting because the nervous energy is wanting.
  Appetite for food is  healthy as to quality of what he  eats,
but ravenous as to quantity.
  Instinct for reproduction is fiercely active and ungovernable,
and leads him on blindly to excesses of various kinds.  The in-
stinct to fight and  destroy seems manifested by his instantly re-
sorting  to force to  destroy whatever opposes his will,—to smash
an inanimate object, to kill an animate one, whether it be a fly,
a dog, or a child.
  No. 358.   Aged 22.   The  mother of this idiot  was a  very
scrofulous and puny person; she was insane during her gesta-
tion with him, and died of consumption  soon  after his birth.
She had three children.   One was a simpleton, and died young.
The other, a sister, is almost idiotic.
  The father, a healthy man, married a healthy woman for his
second  wife, and  has five  healthy and intelligent children by
her.
  The head  of this idiot is exceedingly small, measuring only 
18 IS.]
SENATE—No.  51.
71
16 inches in its  greatest circumference, 22  inches  being  the
standard.
  The other physical peculiarities  need not be referred to here.
His language is imperfect, like that of a little child.   He under-
stands all simple directions given in sentences short as his own.
  There is a useful lesson to be learned from  this poor youth's
history and  treatment.  He  was  formerly very irritable and
violent when  enraged,  breaking and  destroying things  For
this he was treated in the usual way.   Force  was met by force.
He was whipped  and punished corporally in  various ways, for
every offence,  by  any  one about him.  As he grew older and
stronger, the number of those who could whip him with impunity
grew less, till  at  last the father was  obliged to become execu-
tioner-general, and, in the evening, give him  a sound drubbing
for the divers  and sundry misdemeanors of the  day.  The fa-
ther spared not the rod, but healed not the child, who,  on  the
contrary, grew worse and worse.   The lessons in punishment
were not lost upon him.  Whatever object offended him, he
would beat and punish just as he had been punished.  If it were
a tool of any kind, he would smash and break it  in pieces; if it
were a dumb beast,  he  would beat and abuse it.   He smashed
rakes, hoes, &c, without number,  and one day broke a cow's
leg with an axe.
   It happened one evening, that a  zealous member of the Peace
Society was a visitor  at  the house,  and witnessed a scene of
contest, in which the father barely came  off victor.   The vis-
itor urged the father to follow a different course with his unfor-
tunate son ; to abandon all blows, all direct use of force, and try
mild measures.   By his  advice, Johnny  was made  to  under-
stand that, if he should commit a certain offence, he would be
mildly and kindly remonstrated with, have nothing but bread
and  water for supper, and be obliged to lie upon the floor, with
only a little straw under him.  Very soon, he began  himself to
practise this mode of punishment  upon the cattle.  If the cow
offended him, instead of flying into a passion and beating  her,
he addressed her  gravely, telling her the nature  of her offence,
and  assuring her of the consequences.   He would then lead her
out,  lay some straw  upon the ground,  bring a little water and a
             10 
72
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
crust of bread, and tell her that was all she could have for sup-
per.  One day, being in the field, he hurt his foot with the rake,
and, instead of getting angry as he was wont to do, and break-
ing the  instrument to pieces, he took it up mildly but  firmly,
carried it home, got some straw, and laid the offending tool upon
it;  then he brought some bread and water, and demurely told
the offender that it  had been  very naughty,—that he did not
want to hurt it,—but it should have no other supper, and no
bed to lie upon.
  By such means he has been very much improved, not only in
behavior, but in temper.  He is growing less violent,  and more
manageable every day.
  This is not at all  strange ; it is not even different from what
happens every day with common children. The poor idiot could
not understand much of the spoken words by which reason man-
ifests itself, but he could understand the natural language of all
the passions very well; the angry looks, the  harsh  voice, the
threatening gesture, were felt in the full force of their meaning,
and they roused in him the answering feelings of fear, rage, or
revenge.  These feelings, being called into frequent action, grew
more  prompt and  more fierce by every  day's  exercise,  and
would, at last, have  come to be spontaneously and habitually
active.  But, by withdrawing from before his eyes the natural
language of those passions  in  others,  his own were no longer
awakened.
  As a fierce dog sleeps quietly amid the din of other sounds, but
rouses  up  with defiant growl  at the  angry bark  of another
dog,—so anger sleeps quietly in our nature, unmoved by  any
thing except the language of its kind in another person,  which
language it understands and answers in a moment.  We may
make this, and other like passions, sleep so long and so soundly
that they will grow  feeble, and  even die out; or we may rouse
them  up so often that they cannot sleep, even when we  will
them  to  do so.  The  moral of this idiot's history will  not be
lost upon  those whose  passions became so restive  before they
were aware of their nature as to be  a source of perpetual trouble
in after life, when the moral sense had become awakened to the
necessity and the difficulty of self-control. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
73
  Simpletons are the highest class of idiots, in whom the  har-
mony BETWEEN THE NERVOUS AND MUSCULAR SYSTEM IS NEARLY PER-
FECT ; WHO CONSEQUENTLY HAVE NORMAL  POWERS OF LOCOMOTION
AND ANIMAL ACTION : CONSIDERABLE ACTIVITY OF THE PERCEPTIVE AND
AFFECTIVE FACULTIES, AND  REASON ENOUGH FOR  THEIR SIMPLE IN-
DIVIDUAL GUIDANCE,  BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR THEIR SOCIAL RELATIONS.
  As the class of  fools is  much larger  than that of idiots, so
that of simpletons is much larger than that of fools.  Indeed, it
is very difficult  to estimate  their number, or to say what per-
sons shall be included  in it, for they can  only be measured by a
sort of sliding scale, with a standard adapted to different locali-
ties and conditions of society.   A Russian serf, a Bavarian  boor,
might enjoy his sinecure office of citizen, and fill his narrow so-
cial circle, with a paucity of intellect such as  would incapaci-
tate a man for political rights or social relations in Massachusetts.
So, among the  inhabitants of the  least intelligent and active
village population of Massachusetts, a youth might be thought
to be of  tolerable  capacity, be permitted to go to the polls, and
even into society, who  would be rated as a simpleton, and treated
as such, in the active and bustling crowd of one of our  thriving
marts, where the weak sink down and disappear, and the strong
alone live and thrive.   And so it may  be with regard  to time ;
a century hence,  the standard of intellect and  of knowledge
may be raised  so  high as  to exclude from the polls, as simple-
tons, men quite equal  to  some  of  our generation who  consider
themselves qualified, not only to be citizens, but to hold offices.
Who would arrest such progress, provided no  qualification but
that of knowledge and virtue could ever be required !
   The persons put down in this  report,  as simpletons, are  those
about  whom there could  be no doubt, even  in this  day and
generation.  They are persons the highest of  whom should be
considered unable to take  any responsibility, to contract matri-
mony, or to vote.   The latter tests, however,  should  never be
applied  by interested  parties.  Some of the simpletons in the
list have been wheedled  into matrimony, and the bond after-
wards  cancelled  by authority, though nobody  can  tell  how
many continue  unchallenged.  Politicians,  too,  are sometimes as
blind as lovers to the  demerits of a head which can command a 
74
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
hand.  Several cases have occurred where the taxes were paid
for simpletons, and they voted—until the opposite party showed
that  they had a greater  number of fools whom they could
qualify and bring to the polls, and then the poor creatures, who
had been used to violate the purity of the ballot  and to defraud
an election, were thrown aside in contempt.
  It has been the aim to include in this report none  who could
be considered  by impartial persons as compos  mentis.  They
are susceptible of great improvement, and could be made useful
and  reputable men,  but  they  cannot be taught in  common
schools, or trained in the common way.
  The following cases will serve as specimens: —
  No. 58.  H. C. F., aged 33.   Parentage.—His mother  was
extremely intemperate for several years before  his  birth ;  she
continued to be so for years afterwards,  and died of delirium
tremens.   Condition of father not known.
  Functions  of  digestion, assimilation,  growth,  &e.,  seem
tolerably well performed.  His  body is pretty well developed,
and his health generally good.
  Muscular vigor is impaired by a singular affection of his nerv-
ous system, which gives to him the air, gait, and appearance of
a drunken man !  He seems  to have inherited from his mother
a strong  resemblance to her acquired habit of body.  He trips
and staggers  in  his walk, and  frequently falters in his other
motions.   The nervous fluid  seems to flow unsteadily from the
brain, or  to be frequently wanted; hence the  motions of his
muscles are suddenly checked, his jaw is arrested in the act of
chewing, his lips in the act of speaking; or, if walking, and the
stoppage  ii considerable, he stumbles, perhaps  falls  down.
Sometimes he remains insensible for a minute or two, and is
afterwards Utterly unconscious of what passed.  More often the
command of one  muscle, or of one side, is lost for an instant, and
he is obliged to hitch and  wriggle along with the others.  Thus
the poor creature drags himself about,  a living monument of his
mother's shame.
  Appetite for food is almost insatiable, and he  is very glut-
tonous.   It is said that his mother used to give him rum when
he was an infant. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
75
  Instinct of reproduction does not manifest itself in an un-
natural degree.
  Instinct to fight and destroy is  not over active.  He does
not desire to break things, as some idiots do, but he is ready to
fight in self-defence.
  Instinct to  possess and  hoard displays  itself in his readi-
ness to store up food.
  Disposition to  hide  and conceal shows itself in  the cun-
ning with which he compasses his purpose of obtaining things to
eat, and  of shirking work.
  Sl.lf-esteem is manifested in various ways.
  Love  of approbation  is the sentiment most acted upon by
those who have the charge of  him.   To secure the praise and
flattery of others, he will do any thing in his power.
  General activity of the five senses is normal.
  Perception of color is about as usual.
  Perception of the relations of  number is  very imperfect.
He can count off,  by rote, even to a hundred, but can scarcely
tell how much two added to three, will make.
  Perception of time is feeble.   He keeps step pretty well in
walking, but is perplexed in estimating the passage of time.
  Sense  of musical relations, feeble; he never attempts to sing.
  Faculty of language is  imperfectly developed.   He knows
the names of individual objects and persons, and can use com-
mon sentences, but does not use involutions and complicated
expressions.
  Causality seems active in proportion to his other faculties.
He can build a fire,  wash  potatoes, and put them to boil for
breakfast,  and do similar simple household acts.
  Disposition to imitation is not so  active as in most persons of
his class.  Provided he attains an object or an end, he does not
seem to care whether he proceeds in the same way that others do
or not.   In some idiots, this disposition is very strongly marked.
  Benevolence (so little manifested by most idiots) seems active
in this man.   He is very tender-hearted.  His pity is easily ex-
cited.  He gives away readily of whatever he has.
  Veneration  is but  feebly manifested.  He cares little for his
parents,  or his elders and superiors—of course, nothing for God.
  Conscience is feebly developed,  and he cannot be governed by 
76
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
appeals to it.  Hope reaches not beyond the things of this  life :
scarcely beyond the things of to-day.
  No. 218.  A. B., woman, aged 55, not a pauper.  Parentage,
&c.—Her grandmother was insane, and finally  became idiotic.
Her mother, and all her brothers and sisters are puny and con-
sumptive. Her youngest sister is stunted in growth, and scarce-
ly compos mentis.
  Functions of assimilation, growth, &c, are imperfectly per-
formed.  She is humpbacked and nervous.
  Muscular vigor, below average; she is incapable  of bearing
much fatigue.
  Appetite for food is natural as to quantity, but her taste has
become perverted by use of tea, coffee,  spices, &c.
  Instinct of  reproduction apparently normal, though great
pains have been taken to prevent its development.1  Character in
this respect good.
  Instinct to fight and destroy is manifested in  the degree usual
with children.   She shows passion  sometimes, and if injured re-
torts, and immediately assails the offender.
  Disposition to possess and hoard is  not shown  in its usual
activity, for, though she  is desirous of  possessing and owning
things, she cares not to retain them long.
  Disposition to  hide and conceal shows  itself not  only in re-
gard to  material objects of possession, but  sometimes in hypo-
critical conduct.  She will put on certain airs in order to con-
ceal some purpose which she may have.
  Self-esteem  is very strongly manifested by its  usual  nat-
ural language.   If her simple understanding could be convinced
twenty times in a day that she is sadly deficient in every thing
of which people are usually vain, it would make no difference;
self-esteem springs up again  as elastic as ever,  and makes her
regard herself with great complacency.
  Love  of approbation is one of  the most prominent traits in
her character.   To gain the attention and praise of  others, she
will do things that would otherwise be very disagreeable to her.
  Tendency to  imitation is very strong  indeed.    She  does
things as she has seen  others do them; imitates their actions;
and nothing but their example  wins her from  continual repe- 
1848]
SENATE—No. 51.
77
tition of  the  same thing in  the  same manner  that  she  once
learned to do it.
  The general activity of the senses is normal.
  Perception of  individual  objects, within a certain  range, is
good.  She recognizes most of the individuals of the village, and
common things about her;  but  then her circle is narrow, and
beyond it she takes no notice of differences  between individual
objects.
  Perception of colors is not vivid, but no striking  want of
power noticed.
  Perception of numbers,  limited.  With the assistance of ob-
jects, she can count a score  or two, as the  number in a pile of
plates, the stitches on a knitting needle; but she cannot count
or reckon abstractly without the aid of objects.   She can count,
for instance, a pile of ten or fifteen cents,  but cannot tell how
many cents are in two or three half dimes.  She cannot make
change,  therefore, or reckon higher than ten, even with the aid
of her fingers.
   Perception of time,  feeble;  she can  tell the hour by the
clock, but without idea of measuring the lapse of time by it.
   Perception of musical sounds is apparent in her.  She some-
 times hums a tune, but no fondness for music has been engrafted
 upon this capacity, which might have been done.
   Faculty of language is  not  well  developed; and  her range
 of words is limited, though  she can make simple sentences very
 well.
   Perception of causation is very feeble.
   Benevolence and conscience are not manifested.
   Hope is very feeble ;  the  horizon of her future is bounded by
 to-morrow.

   The cases, thus very imperfectly sketched, will serve to give
 an idea of the different classes  of idiotic persons, and of  the
 mode in which the inquiry into their condition was pursued.
 But they are strongly marked cases, each  of its kind, and  it
 must not be supposed  that all idiotic  persons can readily be
 ranged in one or the other of these classes.   The highest of the
 lower class  of Idiots can hardly be distinguished from the  Fool;
 the least stupid of Fools can hardly be distinguished from the 
78
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
Simpleton ; and the highest among Simpletons stand very near
the level of hundreds who pass in society for feeble-minded per-
sons, but still for responsible free agents.  These latter, indeed,
are looked down  upon  by the  crowd, but then  the  crowd  is
looked down upon by tall men,  and these in  their turn are
looked down upon by the few intellectual giants of each gener-
ation who stand higher by the  whole head and shoulders than
the rest.
  This view of the gradation  of intellect should teach us not
only humility, but humanity ; and increase our interest  in those
who are only more unfortunate than we  are, in that the limi-
tation of their  capacity  for seeing  and understanding the wis-
dom,  power, and love of our  common Father, is more limited
than ours, in this  stage of our being.
  It is thought  best not to close this report without  alluding to
some
 Circumstances or Causes which predispose Persons to  Idiocy.
  This is a difficult subject, requiring more scientific research and
accuracy than this report can pretend to.   Some facts, however,
which have been observed, and some thoughts which have sug-
gested themselves, may possibly be of use to others who follow  in
this field.   When certain circumstances are noted as preceding
idiocy, it is not meant that  they certainly caused it; indeed, it
is  hard to say that, any one cause or condition in a parent will
produce idiocy in the offspring; nevertheless, a number of causes
united may do it.   For instance, take the case
  No. 89.   Wm.  B., aged  13,  which is one of idiocy of the
lowest kind.  This boy cannot walk alone, and can hardly creep
about.  Has no speech, though some of his natural signs can be
understood.  He  cannot feed  himself with  a  spoon,  but can
cram food into his  mouth with his  fingers.   His head  is very
small.   His intellect is almost  null, and of course the  affective
faculties are not manifested.
   In  searching for accompanying circumstances  which may
throw light upon the probable causes, it is found that the father
was a very intemperate man.  This is not  enough, for all in-
temperate men  do  not  have idiotic children.   His wife was re-
lated  to him by  blood, though not within the  degree of first 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
79
cousin ; and still less was this a  sufficient cause  for the idiocy
of the son.   The  wife's  family  was tainted  with idiocy, her
aunt  having an  idiotic  child.   We find therefore, both  in-
termarriage and idiotism in the family; but still,  this was not
cause sufficient, because the parents of this boy had seven other
children, all of tolerably good parts.
   Looking at the mother's condition during gestation, it is found
that, at an early period of it, she was several times very much
agitated by terror and mental distress;  that, at a later one,
she became  ill, and had  great difficulty in  carrying her child
to its full period; and, finally, that her  confinement was very
long,  protracted, and painful.
   May it not be that these circumstances caused  idiocy in this
case,  though they might not do so  in ordinary cases, where  the
intemperance, or the intermarriage, or  the tainted blood, or all
of them, were wanting ?   May it not be likewise, that any one
of these circumstances occurring alone,—the intemperance, the
intermarriage, the family taint, the fright,  the illness, or the long
and difficult parturition,—though it would not cause idiocy, nor
even  any very manifest  effect, might, nevertheless, materially
diminish what would otherwise have been the bodily and men-
tal vigor of the offspring?
   With this explanation,  and with  the understanding that prob-
ability,  and not certainty, is aimed at, mention  will now be made
of some of the immediate causes of idiocy;  among which, by
far the most prolific one is

The  low Condition of  the Physical Organization of one or
                        both Parents.
   It is  said by physiologists, that  among certain classes  of
miserably paid and poorly  fed workmen, the  physical system
degenerates so rapidly,  that the children are  feeble and puny,
and but few  live to maturity ;  that  the  grandchildren are still
more puny ; until, in the third or fourth generation, the individ-
uals are no  longer  able to perpetuate  their  species, and  the
ranks must be filled up  by fresh subjects from other walks of
life, to run the same round of deterioration.
   It would seem that startled nature, having given warning, by
             11 
80
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
  the degenerated condition of three or four generations, at last
  refuses to continue a race so monstrous upon the earth.
    We see here another  of those checks and balances which the
  exhaustless wisdom of God preestablished in the very nature of
  man, to prevent his utter degeneration.   As the comet, rushing
  headlong towards the sun, is, by the very velocity which it gains,
  and which seems hurling it into the burning mass, carried safely
  beyond ; so a race of men, abusing the power of procreation, may
  rush on in the path of deterioration until, arrived at a certain
  point, a new principle develops itself, the procreating  power is
  exhausted, and that part of the human family must perish, or re-
  gain its power by admixture with a less degenerate race.
   It will be seen by the tables, that by far  the greater part of
 the idiots are children of parents, one or both of whom were of
 scrofulous temperament, and  poor, flabby organization.  It is
 difficult to describe exactly  the marks which  characterize this
 low organization, but the eye of a physiologist detects it at once.
 Regarding it as a matter relating to the mere animal man, if a
 farmer had swine, cattle, or horses, as  inferior to others of their
 kind  as  many  of these people are inferior  to  other men and
 women,  he would pronounce them unfit  to  breed from.  Such
 persons are indeed unfit  to continue the species, for, while they
 multiply the number, they lessen the aggregate powers.
   In saying that such persons are generally scrofulous, the word
 is used in its popular sense,  without any  pretension  to  patho-
 logical accuracy.  Indeed, it  is difficult to give a correct idea of
 scrofula, because its symptoms are  so  manifold and so various.
 The class of persons to whom reference is made may be known
 by several signs. They  do not stand erect and firm; they seem
 rather to be trying to hold their head and  shoulders up by their
 muscles than to  rest firmly and gracefully poised upon the spinal
 column and lower extremities.
   Red and sore  eyelids, turgid lips, spongy gums, swellings in
 the glands, liability to eruptions and diseases of the skin, mark
 this class of persons.   The skin is generally fair; the muscles
flabby ; the hair is light,—seldom hard, crispy, and strong.  They
are not liable to fevers and. violent inflammations, as others are 
1818.]
SENATE—No. 51.
81
but, when unwell, nature relieves herself by sores, ulcers, erup-
tions, &c.
  The peccant humors show themselves upon the surface in va-
rious  ways; swellings and ulcerations of the glands, blotches,
tetters, ring-worms, rash, salt rheum, &c.
  But it is not the surface alone that is  affected;  the internal
tissues are often vitiated, and show their  morbid tendencies  by
various affections, of which cancer is the worst.
  Great pains have been taken to ascertain the physical peculi-
arities of the blood relatives of most of the idiots whose names
are upon the list.  In reading over the description of more than
four hundred  families in which idiots are  found,  one  is struck
with the great number of cases in  which the  affections above
named  are  found.  A  few cases  will give a better idea than
any general description can do.
  No. 289.   F. D., aged 4| years.   This child is a poor,  puny,
and scrofulous creature.   Her head is very small, being only 16
inches in circumference.  She is quite idiotic,  as might be ex-
pected with a  head of such dimensions upon a frame so weak
and low-toned.  She  is very  feeble  in  the spine; her  right side
is torpid, and right arm  seems  paralyzed. Her  family is very
thriftless and  dirty, and present the spectacle, so  rare in this
country, of sharing their room with the pigs and poultry.
  The  father  is afflicted with  salt rheum and other humors,
which seem to affect his whole system, and make him dyspeptic
and wretched.
  The mother is a feeble creature,  whose skin  is covered with
eruptions.  One of her children,  sister of F. D.,  lately died from
a virulent cancerous affection.
  Xos. 129 and 260.  Abner and Palmyra  H, a brother and sis-
ter, aged 33 and 43, both idiotic. Heads small. Bodies, of feeble
and flabby fibre. The bones of the extremities seem shortened—
that is, out  of  proportion as  to length, compared to the  body.
They are both afflicted with scrofulous humors  and  sores.
  The man shows some of those remarkable signs,  often mani-
fested by idiots,  of the  instincts which one can suppose  men
would have if in the undeveloped animal  state.  When a boy,
he had a passion for burrowing in the  earth like a rabbit.  He 
82
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 still,  at times, will wander off into the woods, dig a hole as for
 a cellar, collect wood, and go on for days with  this occupation,
 until discovered and brought home.
   The general appearance of these idiots is said to be remarka-
 bly  like that  of their parents when  they  were in  their  long
 drunken debaucheries.
   Both the parents were of unhealthy  habit of body, troubled
 with scrofulous humors, St.  Anthony's fire, rum-sores, (as  they
 are called,)  and  other eruptions.   All these natural impurities
 were made worse by intemperance in  drink  and depravity of
 life.   By temperance, cleanliness, and careful observance of all
 the natural laws, they might have corrected the vicious  humors
 of their bodies, lived pleasant  lives, and  been blessed with chil-
 dren to comfort  their old age; but they chose to outrage nature
 in every way, and she sent them  their punishment in the shape
 of these idiotic children.
  No. 279.  Cynthia  T.,  a girl of 18 years old, idiotic.  She
 was deformed at birth about the eyes and nose.   She still shows
 the marks of a very scrofulous temperament.   The bones of the
 hands and feet are shortened, and the ends  seem as if they had
 been gnawed off.   The upper edges of the frontal and parietal
 bones seem shortened, thus reducing the size of the upper part
 of the brain,  or rather, perhaps, being reduced  by its non-devel-
 opment.
  Her parents,  uncles and aunts,  cousins, &c., are afflicted,
 more or  less,  with St.  Anthony's  fire, salt rheum,  cancerous
 sores, &c.
  Her father, as if his constitution was not  corrupt  enough,
 poisoned it still  more by liquid fire.   He has  an idiotic cousin,
 who resembles C. T. in many respects.
  In seeking for  the causes which lead to this  sad deterioration
 of families, it will be found that  the  most prominent and pro-
lific is

                       Intemperance.

  By inspection of the tables,  it will  be seen that, out  of 359
idiots, the condition of whose progenitors was ascertained 99
were  the children of drunkards.   But  this  does not tell the 
1848.]
SENATE—No.  51.
83
whole  story by any means.  By drunkard, is  meant a person
who is a notorious and  habitual sot.   Many persons who are
habitually  intemperate do not get  this name, even now; much
less would they have done  so twenty-five or thirty years ago,
and many  of the parents of the persons named in the tables
have been dead longer than  that time.   A quarter of a century
ago, a  man might go to  his bed every night muddled and sleepy
with the effects of alcohol,  and still not be called an intemper-
ate man.
   By pretty careful inquiry, as to  the number  of idiots of the
lowest class whose  parents  were known to be temperate per-
sons, it is found that not one quarter can be so considered.
   The effect of habitual use of  alcohol seems to be to lympha-
tize the whole  bodily organization;  that is, to diminish the pro-
portion of the  fibrous part  of the  body—to mjfke  the lymph
abound in all  the  tissues.  The children  of such persons are
apt to  be of the scrofulous character above described ;  and their
children are very apt to be feeble in body and weak in mind.
Idiots, fools, and simpletons, are common among the progeny of
such persons.   Thus, directly and indirectly, alcohol is produc-
tive of a great  proportion of the idiocy which now burdens the
Commonwealth.  If. moreover,  one considers  how many chil-
dren are born of intemperate parents, who, without being idiots,
are deficient in bodily and  mental  energy, and are predisposed
by their very organization to have cravings for alcoholic  stim-
ulants, it will be seen what an immense burden the drinkers of
one generation throw upon the succeeding.   Many a  parent,
by habitual stimulus applied to his own nervous system, forms
and fashions his child in such wise,  that he is more certain to be
made  a drunkard by the ordinary temptations  of life, than the
child  of a temperate man  would  be, even if living from his
youth upward  within the temptations of a bar-room.
   Probably, the  habitual use of alcoholic  drinks does a  great
deal to bring families into that low and feeble condition of body
alluded to, in the preceding section, as a prolific cause of idiocy.
   There is another  vice,  a  monster so hideous  in mien, so dis-
gusting in feature, altogether so beastly and loathsome, that, in
very shame and cowardice, it hides  its head by day, and,  vam- 
SI
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
pyre-like, sucks the very life-blood from  its victims by  night;
and it may perhaps commit more direct ravages upon the strength
and reason of those victims than even intemperance; and that
vice is

                        Self-Abuse.

  One would fain be spared the  sickening task of dealing with
this disgusting subject; but, as he who  would exterminate  the
wild beasts that  ravage his fields, must not fear to enter their
dark and noisome dens, and drag them out of their lair;   so he,
who would rid humanity of a pest, must  not  shrink from drag-
ging it from its hiding-places,  to perish  in the light of day.   If
men deified him who delivered Lerna from its hydra, and can-
onized him wlfo rid Ireland  of its  serpents,  what should they
do for one who could extirpate this monster-vice ?   What is  the
ravage of fields,  the slaughter  of flocks,  or even the poison of
serpents, compared with  that pollution of body and soul, that
utter extinction of  reason, and that degradation of beings, made
in God's image, to  a condition which it  would be an insult to
the animals to call beastly, and which is so often the conse-
quence of excessive indulgence in this vice ?
  It cannot be that  such loathsome wrecks  of humanity  as
men and  women  reduced to  drivelling  idiocy by this  cause,
should be permitted to float upon the tide of life, without some
useful purpose ;  and the only one we can conceive, is  that of
awful beacons to make others avoid,—as they  would  eschew
moral pollution and death,—the course which leads to such ruin.
  This may seem to be extravagant language, but  there can be
no exaggeration,  for there can be no adequate description even,
of the horrible condition to which men and  women are reduced by
this practice.  There  are, among those enumerated in this re-
port, some  who  not long ago  were considered young gentlemen
and ladies, but who are now moping idiots,  idiots of the  lowest
kind ; lost to all reason,—to all moral sense,—to all shame ;  id-
iots who have but one thought,  one wish, one passion,—and
that is, the further  indulgence in the habit which has loosed  the
silver cord even in  their early  youth,  which has already wasted 
1848.]               SENATE—Xo. 51.                  S5

and, as it were, dissolved the fibrous part of their bodies, and
utterly extinguished their minds.
  In such extreme  cases, there is nothing left to appeal to, ab-
solutely  less than  there is in the dogs  and horses,—for they
may be  acted  upon by fear of punishment;  but these poor
creatures are beyond all fear and all  hope, and they cumber the
earth awhile, living masses of corruption.
  If only such lost and helpless wretches existed, it would be a
duty to cover them charitably with the veil of concealment, and
hide them from the public eye, as things  too hideous to be seen :
but, alas !  they are only  the most  unfortunate members of a
large class. They have sunk down into the abyss towards which
thousands  are tending.   The vice which has shorn these poor
creatures of the fairest attributes of humanity  is acting upon
others, in a less degree indeed, but still most injuriously ; enerva-
ting the  body, weakening the mind,  and polluting the soul.
   A knowledge of  the extent to which this vice  prevails, would
astonish and shock many.   It is indeed  a pestilence which
walketh in darkness, because, while it saps and weakens all the
higher qualities of the mind, it so strengthens low cunning and
deceit, that the victim goes on in his habit unsuspected, until he
is arrested by some one whose practised  eye reads his sin in the
very means which he takes to conceal it—or until all sense of
shame is forever lost in the night of idiocy, with which his day
so early closes.
   Many a child who confides every thing else to a loving parent,
conceals this practice in its innermost heart.  The sons or daugh-
ters who dutifully, conscientiously, and religiously confess them-
selves to  father,  mother, or priest, on every other subject,
never allude to this.   Nay, they strive to cheat  and deceive by
false appearances;  for, as against this darling sin—duty, con-
science,  and religion, are all  nothing. They even think to
cheat God,  or cheat themselves into the belief that He who is
of purer eyes than to behold  iniquity can still regard their  sin
with favor.
   Many a fond parent  looks with wondering anxiety upon the
 puny  frame, the feeble  purpose, the fitful humors of  a dear
 child, and, after trying all other remedies to restore him to vigor 
86
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
of body and vigor of mind, goes journeying about from place to
place, hoping to leave the offending cause behind, while the victim
hugs the disgusting serpent closely to his bosom, and conceals it
carefully in his vestment.
  The evils which this sinful  habit works in a direct and posi-
tive manner are not so appreciable, perhaps, as that which it
effects in an indirect and negative way.  For one victim which
it leads down to the depths of idiocy, there are scores and hun-
dreds whom it makes shamefaced, languid, irresolute, and  in-
efficient for any high purpose of life.  In this way, the evil to
individuals and to the community is very great.
  It behooves every parent, especially those  whose  children (of
either sex) are obliged to board and  sleep with  other children,
whether in boarding-schools,  boarding-houses, or elsewhere, to
have a constant and watchful  eye over them with a view to
this insidious and pernicious habit.  The  symptoms  of it are
easily  learned, and, if once seen, should be  immediately no-
ticed.
  Nothing is more false than the common  doctrine  of delicacy
and reserve in the treatment of this habit.   All hints, all  indi-
rect advice, all attempts  to cure it by creating diversions, will
generally do  nothing  but increase the cunning with which it is
concealed.   The way is, to throw aside all  reserve;  to charge
the offence directly home ; to show up its disgusting nature and
hideous consequences in glowing colors; to apply the cautery
seething hot, and press it in to the very quick, unsparingly and
unceasingly.
  Much good has been done, of late years, by the publication of
cheap  books upon  this subject.  They should be put into the
hands  of  all  youth suspected of the vice.   They should be
forced to attend to the subject.   There should be no  squeamish-
ness about  it.
  There need be no fear of weakening virtue by letting it look
upon such  hideous deformity as this vice presents. Virtue is not
salt or sugar, to be softened by  such exposure; but the crystal or
diamond that repels all foulness from its surface.  Acquaintance
with such a vice as this,—such  acquaintance, that is,  as is gained 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
87
by having it held up before the eyes in all its ugliness, can only
serve to make it detested and avoided.
  Were this the place to show the utter fallacy of the notion that
harm is done by talking or writing to the young about this vice, it
could probably be done by argument, certainly by the relation of
pretty extensive experience.  This  experience  has shown  that,
in ninety-nine cases in a hundred, the existence of the vice was
known to the  young, but not known in its true deformity; and
that, in the  hundredth, the repulsive character in which it was
first presented, made it certain that no further acquaintance with
it would be sought.
  There is one mode of treatment however, often recommended by
physicians,  which, in many cases, deserves  only denouncement
as erroneous or  sinful;—that is, causing the victim to contract
matrimony.  The cure is generally effectual, and the mode in
which it is accomplished may, in some cases, be justifiable ; but
certainly, in many others, the retribution of offended  nature is
awful, and  seems  like a whole volume of revelation  of God's
purpose.  In no less than ten cases which are here recorded, the
idiocy of the children was manifestly attributable to this sin of
the  parent.   Now if a cause, which would be so carefully con-
cealed, is brought out in these  ten cases,  in how many more
must it have been at work unnoticed and unsuspected !  And if
these ten extreme cases of idiocy have been  the visitations upon
the  children  of the sins of the parents, how many  times  ten
cases must there  be  where the visitation  is  less severe, but
still awful!   How much  bodily disease  and  weakness; how
much mental obliquity and  imbecility ; how  much of ungov-
ernable  lust, are thrown upon  the children of this generation
by  the  vices of  their  fathers and mothers  of  the  foregoing
one !
   There is  one  remarkable and valuable fact to be learned re-
specting this vice, from observation of idiots,  and that  is,  that
some of them,  though they  have no idea  of right and wrong,
no  sense of shame,  and  no moral restraint, are nevertheless
entirely free from it.  They could never have been in the  prac-
tice of it, else they would never have abandoned it.
   From this may be inferred, that it is a pest generally engend-
              12 
88
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
ered by too intimate association of persons of the same sex; that it
is handed from one to another like contagion ; and that those who
are not exposed to the contagion are not likely to contract the
dreadful  habit of it.   Hence we see, that not only propriety and
decency, but motives of prudence, require us to train up all chil-
dren  to  habits of modesty and reserve.   Children, as they ap-
proach adolescence, should never be permitted to sleep together.
Indeed, the  rule should be,—not with a view only to prevent-
ing this  vice, but  in view of many other considerations,—that,
after the infant has left its mother's arms,  and become a child,
it should ever  after sleep in a bed by itself.  The older children
grow, and the nearer they approach to youth, the more important
does this become.  Boys even should be  taught to shrink sensi-
tively  from  any unnecessary exposure  of person  before each
other; they  should be trained  to  habits of delicacy and self-re-
spect ; and the capacity which nature has given to all for becom-
ing truly modest and refined, should be cultivated to the utmost.
Habits of self-respect, delicacy, and  refinement, with  regard to
the person, are powerful adjuncts to moral  virtues; they need
not be confined to the wealthy and  favored classes ;  they cost
nothing; on the contrary,  they are the seeds which may be had
without  price,  but which ripen into fruits of enjoyment that
no money can buy.

                Intermarriage of  Relatives.

  In assigning this  as  one of the remote causes of idiocy, it is
not meant that, even in  a majority of cases, the offspring  of
marriage between cousins, or other near relations, will  be idiotic.
The cases are  very numerous where  nothing extraordinary is
observable in the immediate offspring of such unions.  On the
other hand, there are so many cases  where blindness, deafness
insanity,  idiocy, or some peculiar bodily or mental deficiency, is
seen in such offspring, of the first or second generation, that one
is forced to believe they cannot be  fortuitous.  Indeed,  the infer-
ence seems to be irresistible, that  such intermarriages are viola-
tions  of the natural law,  though  not  such flagrant  ones as
always to be  followed by obvious and severe punishment.   If
two full cousins, who are  both  in  good health, and free from 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
89
any marked predisposition to any disease  or  infirmity, should
marry,  the  probability is, that their immediate offspring will
have  tolerably  good  constitutions—though  no one  can say
how much less vigorous in body and mind they are  than would
have been offspring born to either parent from marriage with some
one of another healthy family.  On  the other hand, if a man,
in whose constitution  there lurks a predisposition to any partic-
ular disease of body or mind, inherited from his father's family,
should marry a  daughter of his father's brother or sister, there
would be a strong probability that the disease or infirmity would
appear  in the offspring; while the  probability of such  re-ap-
pearance  would be  less if  he  married a healthy cousin by
his mother's side, and still less if he  married a person free from
all unhealthy predispositions, who was not related to him  at all.
   It is seen by  the tables, that, out  of 359 cases in which the
parentage was ascertained, seventeen  were  known to be the chil-
dren of parents nearly related by blood. But  as manyof these cases
were adults,  it  was sometimes  impossible to  ascertain whether
their parents, who are dead,  were related or not before marriage.
From some collateral evidence we conclude, that at least three
more cases should be added to the 17.  This would show that more
than one twentieth of the idiots examined are offspring of the mar-
riage of relations.  Now,  as marriages between near relations
are by no means in the ratio  of one to twenty,  nor are even, per-
haps, as one to  a thousand to the marriages between persons not
related, it follows that the proportion of idiotic progeny is  vastly
greater in the  former than  in  the latter case—(that  is, taking
this limited  number of 400  for what little it  is worth as data
for calculation.)  Then it should be considered that idiocy is
only one form  in which nature  manifests that she  has been
offended  by  such intermarriages.  It is believed by some, that
blindness, deafness, imbecility,  and  other infirmities, are more
likely to  be the  lot of the children of parents related by blood
than of others.   If so, and  it seems likely that it is, then the
probability of unhealthy or infirm  issue  from such marriages
becomes  fearfully great,  and the  existence of the law against
them is made out as clearly  as though it were written  on  tables
of stone. 
90
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
  The statistics  of  the  17 families, the heads of  which, being
blood relatives, intermarried, tells a fearful tale.
  Most of the parents  were intemperate or scrofulous; some
were both  the one  and  the other;  of course, there were other
causes to  increase chances of infirm offspring, besides that of
the intermarriage.   There  were born  unto them ninety-five
children, of whom forty-four were idiotic,  twelve others were
scrofulous and puny, one was deaf, and one was a dwarf!   In
some cases, all the children were either idiotic or very scrofulous
and puny.   In one family of eight children, five were idiotic.

              Attempts  to procure Abortion.
  It appears that out of the  idiotic persons examined, at least
seven were probably made so by attempts, on the part of their
mothers, to procure abortion.   We say at least seven, because it
is natural to suppose that, in  most cases, every effort would be
made to conceal  the crime;  in many cases  the circumstances,
even if generally known at the time,  would be forgotten in  the
course of  a few years, so that those  who had the charge of an
idiot twenty or thirty years of age,  would hardly go back to
causes preceding his birth in giving to a stranger an account of
the case.
  If. then, with all these inducements for secrecy, and  all these
liabilities  to forgetfulness, we find that seven, out of about four
hundred idiots, were made so by attempts at abortion, the proba-
bility is very strong that others, whose history we do not know,
were made idiotic by the same dreadful crime.  Attempts are some-
times made by young women to conceal their shame by getting
rid of the unborn  proof of it—but, failing in this, they get married,
and the child is  idiotic,  though all children  born  afterwards of
the same parents are sound and healthy.  Several cases  of  this
kind are among those above alluded to.   One woman had seven
sound children, and another had six, born in wedlock, though the
oldest child of each of them, upon whom abortion was attempted,
was idiotic.
  This subject is indeed most painful.   It is horrible to think
that a mother should  aim  a blow at  the  life of her unborn
babe,  and,  failing  of   murder,  wound  and maim his soul, 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
91
and  bring forth  a drivelling idiot  to be  a life-long  witness
against her crime;  but such  is one of  the  forms  in  which the
fruit of sin re-appears to punish the sinner and forewarn  all be-
holders.
  There is nothing which nature so carefully guards as  the life
of her creatures.  This must be secured, if necessary, at  the ex-
pense of every thing else.  This  care is manifested from the
first moment of conception.   The tender being hidden in the in-
nermost  and vital  centre of  its  mother,  floating  in  an elastic
fluid, and carefully enveloped, fold within fold, by  curious mem-
branes, is not only beyond  her reach, but almost beyond the
reach of accident.  She may fall,—her bones may be broken, —
she may be wounded even unto death3-^and her babe  be  still
safe.   She may, it is true, affect its health by  her own intem-
perance in food or drink;  she may affect its  passions by indul-
ging her own , but still it lives.
   Now, the attempt to destroy what nature so carefully guards
is a most dangerous one;  and it can only succeed by using medi-
cines or measures of  such violence that the whole system is
shaken to its centre, and  the  life of the mother put  in  peril in
order to kill the  babe.    The attempts,  however violent, may
fail; they do fail, perhaps, oftener than they succeed  ; but, alas !
the poor innocent who has escaped murder has not escaped in-
jury.  It cannot be doubted that many are made idiotic, and
more have their faculties  impaired, and their bodies injured, by
attempts at this unnatural crime.
   Sceptical persons may naturally inquire how it is possible for
the Commissioners to  procure any reliable information concern-
ing matters of this kind, since the parties would not be likely to
criminate themselves.  It is to be recollected, however, that most
of such persons  are very ignorant and indiscreet; that  some of
them do not perceive any guilt in an attempt to destroy evidence
of shame;  that  women  are very communicative; and that an
inquisitive person, whose object was evidently only  to learn all
he could about an  idiotic child, solely with a view  to the good
of that child, would obtain  evidence  not  easily  obtained from
others.
   Matters like these soon become known among the friends and 
92
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
neighbors of the parties, if they are of the ignorant class, and are
spoken about without much reserve.
  It may be said about this, as about supposed causes of idiocy
referred to above, that great care has been taken to obtain evi-
dence ; that much has been suppressed which was deemed doubt-
ful ; and that the  rest  is given with such explanations of its
source, that each one may place upon it as much reliance as he
thinks it deserves.
  We have  thus alluded  to some of the most obvious and fer-
tile causes (either remote or proximate) of the existence  of such
a great number of idiots as are found in this, and all other coun-
tries called civilized.  It would swell this report to volumes, to
examine these causes pathologically and minutely.  Scientific re-
search has not been our object, but we have sought diligently for
every item and scrap of knowledge upon the subject of idiocy,
which could be of  practical use to the legislature.  In so doing
we  have been obliged, in some cases, to drag,  as with a net, the
lower depths  of society, seeking for the pearls  of truth.  With
those pearls there may be much worthless trash,  but this  will all
perish, while the gems will remain  indestructible; and,  if they
are of value enough to redeem only one human being from the
brutishness of idiocy, our labors will not be in  vain.
             For the Commission,
                                         S. G. HOWE. 
1848]
SENATE—No. 51.
93
GENERAL EXPLANATION OF  THE  TABLES.
  The Commissioners, after visiting and inspecting personally
many idiots, found that it was very important that a minute ex-
amination should be  made of a very large number of those un-
fortunate persons, and full information obtained concerning their
history, and the habits and bodily condition of their immediate
progenitors, in order that some general inferences might be drawn
concerning the causes of their calamity. It was impossible for any
one of the commissioners to devote himself solely to a work requir-
ing so much time. Mr. Enos Stevens, a young gentleman of good
character, was, therefore, engaged for this purpose.  He had been
employed in making measurements of the human body, with a
view to certain  physiological studies, and  was thus partly qual-
ified for the task.  A series  of questions was drawn up for him.
He was occupied the whole of the last summer in collecting infor-
mation, visiting all the idiots in a large number of towns, and
spending from an  hour, to  half a day, in examining each one
of them, and making thorough inquiries,  of  their relatives,
concerning their history.  The great mass of his field notes have
been as carefully examined, sifted, and digested,  by the  commis-
sioners, as  the  pressure of  other occupations would allow;  and
the result will be found in the following tabular summary.  It has
no pretensions to science in  arrangement,  or perfect accuracy in
the details.  Others might have elicited more truth, and elimin-
ated more  errors.  It is submitted  with  a consciousness of its
imperfections, but a confidence in its general  correctness.

                Explanation of Table No.  1.

  The object of this table is to furnish data for a comparison
between idiots and ordinary persons, in certain respects.  Some 
94
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
of the columns furnish positive information which can be relied
upon, as age, dimensions, &c.  Others  furnish only the means
of approximating to the truth.  In judging of the temperament,
for instance, one observer will  describe a person as being more
nervous than fibrous, while another observer might reverse the
order.
  The mode adopted  for showing the comparison, though it
may seem preposterous with respect to certain mental qualities,
is, on the whole, the best that could be thought of by the com-
missioners.  For instance,—it  may seem idle to  talk about the
activity of the moral sentiments in one man  being as 5, while
in another man it is 6,  or 4, or 10.  But it is not seen how any
better mode could be found, without printing all the particulars
of each case,  which  would make a  voluminous  work.   The
mode adopted  was this :—assuming there is a moral sense, re-
sulting  from the tolerably harmonious action of  the various
mental faculties, and that the degree of its activity in ordinary
persons is represented by 10, the  idiot is  examined, and, if he
has no sense of property,  no idea of right,  no benevolence, no
affection or regard for  any body, he is marked,  0.  If he  has
some faint  idea  of  property,  he is   marked, 1 ; if he  has
affections, 2; if he manifests the rudiments of veneration, by
respect for  others, 4, or 5, &e.   Some are marked  higher than
ordinary individuals, and this may seem still more idle, since a
great activity of the moral sense implies intelligence of uncom-
mon order;  nevertheless,  as, in these persons, the disposition to
venerate and obey elders or superiors, to  respect property, to
feel pity, and show affection, are more apparent than in ordinary
persons  of their  age and condition of life, they  are marked
higher in the moral sense.
  It matters not whether  the psychological estimate here made,
of moral sense, be correct or not, so that the reader  knows what
mental  qualities were  referred to in making up the table.   It
will  be seen that, to obtain information which would enable one
even to  approximate to a  correct estimate of character, each id-
iot must be examined  personally and  closely, and a great va-
riety of questions put to  those who have the care of him ; and
this  was done.  Whenever  the  measurements of  the cranium 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
95
 are given, they may be depended upon as accurate, having been
 carefully taken with a cephalometer.
   It is pretty well ascertained that the activity of certain men-
 tal faculties or moral sentiments, has some relation to the actual
 size of different parts of the cranium.  For instance, that, where
 the lateral region of the cranium is  full or protuberant, the  fac-
 ulties of self-preservation, forethought as to food and raiment,
 cunning, &c., will be manifested in greater activity than in those
 cases where that region is flat, other things being equal.   Now
 when these  measurements were taken in idiots, care was also
 taken to ascertain the peculiarities of the character, and the re-
 sults of the two  observations  are placed  side by side, for the
 gratification of the curious.
   Age.   The average age of congenital  idiots,  as appears by
 this column, is 29  years.   This,  however, is not the average
 longevity of idiots,  because no reference is had  to the number
 that were born, but only the number and  ages of those now liv-
 ing.  According to  the best estimate  that can be  made by the
 commissioners, the average duration of life, of congenital idiots,
 is not more than  12 years.  There are a great number brought
 into the  world so deformed,  that it is apparent they must be id-
 iotic, and so  feeble that they do not  live through  infancy.
   Idiots  of the lowest class perish in great numbers in infancy
 and childhood ; fools last longer, and simpletons  attain to near-
 ly the ordinary longevity.  Perhaps  it is safe to say that the av-
 erage longevity of the lowest  class  of idiots is not more than 6
 years.
  2d column, Congenital, or not.  When the person appeared,
 in infancy or early childhood,  to be idiotic, he is considered to
 have been born so.
   3d column, Height.  It  has not been possible to procure the
 height of a sufficient  number of persons  of Massachusetts, to
 establish a standard of comparison.
  Temperaments.   There is not much reliable information to be
 gathered, perhaps, from these four columns.  The object was,
however,' to show, in each  case, the kind of original structure of
body or the acquired habits.  For instance ;  if a certain person has
the brain and nervous system originally large and well developed,
           13 
96
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
or if, by the quickness of his motions, his general sensibility, the
acuteness of his senses,  and  other  appearances, he  gives signs
of that system being in  great activity—while his arterial, mus-
cular, and glandular systems  are less developed, he is marked
nervous,  first; sanguine, second, &c.  If, on the contrary, his
brain and nervous system are  comparatively small, or if he is
sluggish  and insensible, while the  glandular system is well de-
veloped,  and he eats, and sleeps, and lounges about, and grows
fat, he is marked lymphatic first, and nervous last.
  Fibrous temperament is used as a better term  than  bilious.
It expresses the preponderance of the fibre of the  body; that
which gives strength and endurance, or  toughness.  A man of
fibrous temperament, is one  whose osseous  system is well de-
veloped,  all the prominences on the bones being strongly marked,
making the body  angular, and the features  sharp and  strong;
whose muscles have no fat,  but seem like bundles of wires;
whose hair is hard, and wiry, and  black, and who is capable of
great endurance.
  Now it is  very rare  to find a person who is decidedly and
strongly  of one temperament.   The temperaments are  generally
united, but one preponderates over the others, and the order of
this preponderance among idiotic persons is attempted to  be
shown in these tables.
  Tactile  Sensibility.  By this is  meant the activity of the
sense of  feeling residing upon the  surface of the body.  There
is great difference in  this  respect,  and this does not arise from
the fact that the nervous system generally is well developed or
not.
  For instance; No. 210 is a girl 19 years old.  The surface of
her body is comparatively insensible; flies  and insects would
hardly be felt; the prick of a pin,  or  the extraction of a hair,
would not  cause half the sensation shown by ordinary persons.
She is marked  4.  But  she is quite animated  by the sound of
music, and will even leave off eating to listen to it;  therefore,
in the column  indicating  sensibility to musical sounds, she  is
marked 13.   The average of tactile sensibility in this  class of
persons,  compared with ordinary persons, is as nine to ten.
  Command of  Muscular Contractility.  This indicates the de- 
1848.]
SENATE—No.  51.
97
gree of command or direction over  the muscles which a person
possesses.   The difference among  men  in  this Tespect is im-
mense, and is not all dependent upon the dynamic condition or
strength of body, indicated in the next column.   Many of  what
are called the involuntary muscles, as some of the sphincters,
are nevertheless considerably under the command of the will
in  ordinary  circumstances,  and the command is sometimes
lost, as by sudden and great fright, especially in young persons.
In idiots,  these sphincters are much less under the command of
the will.  Children  are  sometimes severely punished because
they  have  not naturally so much muscular contractility  as
others, and the sphincters relax when they  sleep.
   Take case No. 218.  This woman is marked 11 in the column
 showing command of muscular contractility;  she is unusually
 agile, and can command the muscles of her body and  hands,
 and work very expertly  at  any thing she can understand ; but,
 under column for dynamic condition of body, she is marked only
 7,  because  she is below the average of strength.   Some jug-
 glers attain to uncommon command of muscular contractility,
 without much muscular power.
    Dynamic Condition of Body, or general vigor  of health,  as
 manifested in the ability to put forth muscular strength. The
 average is  as 8 to 10; this is probably too  high.
    Sensibility to Musical Sounds.   The meaning of this is  ob-
 vious.  There  is very  great difference in this respect  among
 idiots; and the degree of sensibility to musical sounds is by no
 means commensurate with intellectual  ability.  Some very stu-
 pid  idiots can sing correctly, and detect a false note instantly.
  The average is as 5 to  10.
    Skill  in the Use of Language.   As a general rule, this is the
  surest test of the degree of intelligence.  It is not the   amount
  of talking but the number and variety of words at their com-
  mand that must be considered.  Some who are garrulous to the
  last degree, chattering  all the time, and repeating over and over
  all day long the few words and phrases they know, are, never-
  theless, marked very low in this column; while others, who talk
  much less, are marked  higher,  because they have knowledge of
  a much greater number of words. 
98
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
   Capacity for fixing Sight upon visible Objects.  The mark-
 ings in this column are probably too high. The faculty depends
 somewhat upon degree  of command of muscular contractility.
 Some who have visual organs which seem perfect can with dif-
 ficulty fix the sight upon a small object, as a hair.  Those who
 are marked 0, are blind.
   Ability to count.   There is very great difference in this  re-
 spect ; but the degree of ability is  not  at all  indicative of the
 degree of intelligence.  Those  marked 0 cannot count at all;
 if they have three apples, and  you abstract one  slily,  they do
 not perceive the loss.   Some will miss one apple out of a heap of
 three or four, but will not miss one if  taken from  a heap of five
 or six.  Such cases are marked 2 or 3; while, if they can count
 ten, they would be  marked 4.  Sometimes they have great
 quickness at simple reckoning.   No. 225 has  little use of lan-
 guage ; he is marked  but 6 in that column ;  his intellect is very
 limited;  he is,  to all intents, an idiot;  yet he has an astonishing
 power of reckoning.   Tell him your age, and he will, in a very
 short time, give you the number of  minutes.  He is marked 18;
 he  should, perhaps, have been  marked higher.   The  average
 is as 3 to 10.
  Consumption of Food.  The column expresses,  as nearly as
 could  be, the amount of food  consumed in comparison with
 other persons.   None are marked higher than 20, though some
 are perfectly insatiable, and, if they can get at food, though it be
 swill, they gorge themselves, vomit, and then  gorge again.  Even
 in cases where they have a given allowance, they will contrive to
 beg, or steal, more.  It is difficult to know where  to rank such
 cases,  or  how to express  the degree of their voracity by any
 number.   The average by the table  is as 15 to 10.
  Manifestation of Amative Feelings.   In this column  it is at-
 tempted to show  the  degree of activity^ of the sexual passion.
 This is measured by the sexual desire, which is manifested in
 various ways,  either  natural  or  diseased.  In some  cases, it
 amounts to a perfect mania.  The physical powers yield, break
down, and seem exhausted, but the horrid propensity continues
 unabated.  Average marked as 14 to 10.
  The next columns in order are those giving the actual  meas- 
1848.]
SENATE—No.  51.
99
urements  of different parts of the body,  and especially of the
cranium and its different parts.  They were taken  with great
care, and  are believed to be exact.
  Degree of Aeility to support Themselves.  This column, of
course, gives only an approximative estimate, because an idiot,
under  the care  of  discreet and industrious persons,  would be
made to  do much towards his own support,  whereas, under the
care, or rather under  the  neglect, of ignorant and idle parents,
he  would be a drone.
  Parents in a Normal  Condition  of Health,  ok not.  This
column is intended  to show the number of  cases in which both
parents of the idiot were usually in  the  enjoyment of vigorous
health before his birth.
  Where both parents were sound and healthy, so as to be able
to pursue their avocations steadily and uninterruptedly,  to eat
heartily,  and sleep  soundly, they are considered as healthy.   If
either of  them was puny, obliged frequently' to give up labor on
account of indisposition;  if they were dyspeptic, or subject  to
scrofulous humors and sores;  or if they had been insane within
two or three years before the birth of the child,—they are consid-
ered not to have been in a normal state of health.
   Parents Drunkards, or not.   This column cannot be taken
as  a test  of the number of idiots whose parents were intemper-
ate before their birth.   It shows only how many carried their
intemperance to such an extent that  they  were set down, by
universal consent, as drunkards.  Some of these are the parents
of  persons forty or fifty years old.  Of course, they lived  in a
time when a man must have  been continually besotted with
strong drinks, before he would be called a drunkard.
   Number of Cases of Idiocy or Insanity  known  among near
 Relatives.  This  means to  express the number of  cases  in
 which there was, among the immediate kindred of the idiot, one
 or  more  idiotic or insane persons—that is, among those who stood
 to  him in the relation of grand-parent,  parent, child, uncle, aunt,
 brother, sister, nephew, niece, or first  cousin.   Of course, these
 are sometimes repeated; as when there are two idiots who are
 brothers.
   Scrofulous, or not.  This is a very vague and unsatisfactory 
100                      IDIOTS.              [Feb. 1S48.]

term; and, in this case, it is employed in its most  comprehen-
sive sense.  If persons are much subject to frequent eruptions,
boils, ulcers, deep-seated humors, colds and coughs; if the flesh,
when wounded, will not heal readily ; if indisposition seldom or
never takes the form  of  fever, but appears in chronic affections
of different organs,—they are supposed to be scrofulous.   They
usually have  fair skin ;  they have grains or swellings among
the glands,  red  and spongy gums, and  rather  flabby  flesh.
Sometimes they may be apparently in  good health,  and be
marked as normal in the dynamic condition of  the body, being,
at the time of observation,  pretty vigorous, while these symp-
toms of scrofulous habit of body are still apparent.   It  is com-
mon for persons having  the care of idiots  to say  of them that
they are going to be sick, because all  their eruptions  and hu-
mors have dried  up;  or  to say they will surely be well for some
months, because  boils and humors are making their appearance.
   Given to Masturbation, or not.  This means that the person
is known to be habitually in the practice of this vice.
   Teachable, or not.  That is, whether  they appear  to have
capacity enough  to be improved in  their habits, and made to do
simple work.
   In the column for General Remarks, some peculiar or  striking
circumstance is  given relating  to the  case; generally,  but not
always, such as are supposed to have had influence  in caus-
ing the  idiocy.  Sometimes it is stated very positively by the
relatives, or  even  physicians, that the  idiocy was occasioned
by causes that alone are altogether inadequate, such as severe
salivation in infancy:  where no other remarkable circumstance
is known, this one is put down. 
 
 
          Table  No. 1,





               SHOWING





THE PHYSICAL AND  MENTAL CONDITION





                OF






    IDIOTIC  PERSONS





                IN





         MASSACHUSETTS. 
	Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.
t" ■£*■ ZC (O —' O ;D "/J v| 35 iit i-- iC JO — O X TO ^» 3; Ui -u. ^i JO — — ~ TO M ~. in J- iO iC — O *-C 00 M 31 CN ** CO JO >—'	
Ut-*^cc3i*i.cnjoco>ujo *- jo — *^ — m—'fc — cojo — — >— — ^.■C'fOJC — 3; — cnc;joc<;^JO<Cio—^	Age.
O^^(!l'loQo(I)3(l)(13(l)rtni(Tl(t(Dft)f0^(in)Otl(t^'Ii;O(i)(t(Iiftltt'OfD^O^f5n)ft)(lrt	Congenital Idiocy, or not.
wwnw    cncn    cnuu
JJ» J? P? 3>    S> S>    S1 ^> 31

O CH I-" "^    00 CO    CO CO to

5' 5' 5' 5'    5' 5'    S' 5' 3"
f*> r*j ^ f r^ s r*» i  r*» r"» 3  1   i-~
33000001—,  3^-,r*5i  ?+>
m  ff'iS 3  .^S 1  on m m  ,   no
3  tn to j*};—• j—'jo ,   ;—' 3 ;—' i   3

33333    333333    33333    3333333  =  3    33
Height, in feet and inches.
3  r-53 3  r*5^3 3  ."^ rr> 3  i-* 3 3  r^r-s 3  r1) r> ."*> *  to —-im  u> t» tn 3
00  ^-r*5r*»tn  t« j^tn  3  tn co ^iio H)^>3  ro ;-*} r^ 3  j-* <n 3  r^r-^01  3  r-5""r*i
^3 r- " t— t-
^--jS t-' 3  co ;-* — 3 ;— t-' r- 00 hj.h)3  -ji ««a 3
 B 3 £ =1
•a0"5 ° 5
 B" C C O
 B) =' "' £
2 "i ft 3
c ft
  o
  o
I1
3 a
c 2.
w
OOO^SMfflQO1  CO JO © '   CO
OOCECOMOOO©ODCCVJOVJ<OOOaor:jO©<XOMCO".OOOCCGDOOCOOCO
Tactile Sensibility.
CO O 00 if*. 00 00 C3i '   O "^ *» CO JO
oowcootooo.uooioxcio^aiMooiocxcocioaj'ctroicc
Command of Muscular Contrac-
 lilitv.
, J5 CO O *KO CO CO '  JO CO 00 '  I-"
ooooc3wcoo(crooco--r. occcaioowcr: '^-yuoo(C-uci
Dynamic condilion of bodj'.
'Ci'-^JOCOOO'OOOOS'   «
Sensibility to Musical Sounds.
s-	j
ffq	0
3"	
a	rr
	0
	
	
	(J!?
	
cr	3.
» SS JO W CO ** VI >  MWO  '  1-1
0000MCiC^JO<l^I,<J00C5JOC00D0D^CnCi<JJO00JO0000C:wThfe-iCt7»C^C0
Skill in the use of Language.
o co co o © ©  ■  OOOO1  CO
oocceosooooaioQO'O-octc^eooocococoo'Oooc
Capacity for fixing  Sight upon
 visible objects.
•4 CO — CO — CO CO *>. JO — H»0
*.OCOJO*».I—'JOC0>U0Dm>—< i—i ** Ci ** i— COirtCOCTiJOCOCOJCCCJOl—' CO 1—ih
Ability to Count.
:ooftooooooooo»o
/
Consumption of Food.
1-1   >-i    jo JO      1— JO
jo 1  o  '  oo ■   '  roo
Manifeslat'n of Amative Feelings 
1848.J
SENATE—No. 51.
Development of various parts of the cranium, and ac-
  tivity of various mental faculties  as compared with
  that of 1000 ordinary persons of the same age and
  sex; 10 being the standard among ordinary persons.
 
4
IDIOTS.
[Eeb.
h5	
U)	
5	
	
	
	J=
	
	
	V
	
	
	
fci	0
CO	
	o
	
	•a
Not
Noi
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18 Not
19 Noi
Not
Not
Yes
Not
Not
Not

Yes
Not
Not

Yes
Not
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 25
 26
 27
 28
 29
 30
 31
 32
 33
 34
 35
 36
 37
 38
 3<»
 40
 41
 42
 43
 44
45
 Not
 Not
 Yes
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not

 Not

Not

Not
Yes

Not
Not
Yes

Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes

Not
Yes

Not
Yes

Yes

Yes
Not
   3
   3
   2
   3
   1

   1
 None
 None

 3 or 4
 None

 None

 None
   3

   2
   4

   2
   1
   1
 None
   1
 None
 None
 None

 None
 None
  1

None
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Not
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Not
  Yes
  Yes
  Not
  Not
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
  Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Ye.
 Yes
 Yes
Yes
a
Not
Not
Noi
Yes
 Yes
 Not

 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Not
 Yes
Yesl
Yes
Remarks.
Always healthy.
Subject to fits ; mother insane during1 gestation.
Head small, swinish;  skin pachydermatous.
Head and voice resemble swine; skin pachydermatous.
Not
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes Subject to fits.
Yes Puny and sickly in infancy
    Parents monomaniacs.
Subject to fits in youth.
Subject to fits from 1 to 5 years old.
Subject to fits in infancy and youth.
Parents related by blood.
Intemperate in youth.
Supposed cause, disappointment in love and business
                              [at 30 years of age.

Supposed to have suffered from laudanum in infancy.

Supposed cause, masturbation.
Very small head.
Parents intemperate, and brother idiotic.
Very puny in youth.
Supposed to have suffered from drugs in infancy.

Subject to fits and paralysis.
     Yes
     Yes
     Yes
     Yes
     Yes
     Yes
    | Yes
Notld'bt';
 -  I Yes
 -  I Yes
Yes  Yes; Idiotic at 18, from masturbation.
Yes  Yes Very small head.
 -  | Yes Supposed cause, fits at 8 years old.
     Yesj Mother sickly during gestation.
     Yes Idiotic from 5 years old.
     Yes .Masturbation  and gluttony from childhood.
    Yes General torpor, or paralysis.
    Yes;
    Yes, Verv small bead.                   [intemperance.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Not
Yesl Yesj Supposed cause, vjttaifiaJ. 
COXXXXXXXX © ' ~ ~t - > T. CJ> J- iC JO		X X "^J ^> M -on »i —■ — jc (O jo m JO © (O en	s}vjvivjvjvivjO)3iCiC 353535350535CncntntncnCnCncntnenito.(fe.ife.*k 35 0» *- CO fO — © T O0 •*» 3. V» — i: JO — © CO TO -^> 35 in -£- Oi JO — © CO X -O 3".					Numbers for reference to names		in the MSS.
t	— — CO JO — — JO en JO J\ CO (O — CO X 35 JO Cn		— CO JO ©	JO -■ CO X CO	^J — JOJOCn — JOJO3535JOC0JOC0*«.*>.33>e».*»Cn — CO— C0©4^ 35"«JCn35©C0©35 3;Cn — CvJOC035COO©X©X^.CnXCn^}			Age.		
	CO CO r» tO 7) X GO CO 00 CO CO U> CO CO 00 CO							Congenital Idiocy, or not.		
*-COv»incOJ^CnCn		5 ft. 6 in. 5 ft. 10 in. 4 ft. 8 in.	CO 1 5"	5 ft. 7 in. 4 ft. 4 in.			wot*>fflwwuiwwaic«tyicflCitwyiwwwwtncntn	Height, in feet and inches.		
	CD©Jj.»JCO©tOOD '						35 .to- 35 Cn 35 *4 CO JO if»> CO JO tn £>. lO ife. CO co <j CO			
	333333^3						3 3 33333 333333333333			
	a a jo r- r-* r** r*> r^ i	i f ?)» i	^ 1	3 r» i			. r^r*>3 ™ r^i^a r-r'is 3 3 j° r- ^ ."i n a a r.^r'B	n. for nervous; f. " fibrous; s. " sanguine; 1. " lymphatic.	Temperaments ex-pressed in the or-der of their pre-ponderance.	Comparisons with ordinary persons, Ten being the standard, lower numbers marking inferiority, and higher numbers superiority.
'	r>>r'ri>??1??3 i	i 3 r— r*i i	3 i	ri3 .			1 3 B n ^iB n r>3 3 ? fi!"'3cnco3coj-tsf*>co3co^j			
J	rria -ir>3 ":» i	■ r> w a i	t"~' .	01 CO ,			1 mo—3B3^an^)tiijo,-»i,->i^jjt3aito^jpiftiJB			
	a>;o— 3 3 r- 3 ^ i	r 03 3 J—' ,	CO ,	i-r-.			1 i-1 J— i-'' S-'"f '5° r*> t—' i—' i—' S-*^ t-- 3 3 " .".— r1 3 i~' p i-1			
	(OSMQOMMSCe '	i CO X CO "	X '	JO CO '			1 0 CO JO CO CO X — CO © "^I CO O X X © © CO © CO 35 CO X ©	Tactile Sensibility.		
	CO JO CO M — CO VI © '	' M X X '	^J '	C5CO '			1 © © h-> CO — © CO CO © JO C0O5 35 CO — CO i—' *- JO CO© CO tO	Command of Muscular Contrac-tility.		
	tntococo — envjco ■	i CO CO X '	CO '	35 CO ■			1 0 CO i-1 *<f -- CO 35 en X JO X *. CO 35 X >— i— CO 35 CO JO •*! CC	Dynamic condition of body.		
	•sj 35 JO ©.....	.....	1 1	i . ■			1 1 . 1 1 . eji 1 . . . . «q 1 1 .. 1 . 1 1 1 1 1	Sensibility to Music	al Sounds. .language. Sight upon	
	XJOXin — Cn**JO '	1 35 CO JO	JO ■	Cn 35 '			1 #* en ~' tn en co tn ** ** en en •<? ** en <i >to. *>■ CO CO JO tn co 35	Skill in the use of ]		
	©©©©©©©©	' © © M	© '	© © '			1 © © © © © © © 0 © © 00 © © © 0 © © © CO x © © ©	Capacity for fixinj. | visible objects.		
	tn —' 35 -b. O CO —' i-" ' i_i jo _■ _ i—• —* o x © © — • oo x '	i friow	h^ 1	*«. CO '			' #»• JO © CO m *> i-" — CO 35 .to. CO JO CO vj Oi CO i-i 1— f CO t— *»	Ability to Count. Consumption of Food. Manifestat'n of Amative Feelings.		
		' © © ©	l 4*. 00 1 1				,_- <_> i— —. >-> jo JO >— —' JO — i-> JO — — — >— JO JO i-> — 1 ' JO©©©en©OVi ©©©**©' h-MMOOCOO			
	JO i 1 o ' ' ' ' '	—> JO i— 1 i I 00 © ' C5 ' ' '					JO JO JOIOm i-1 . 10©1 ' ' '©' ' ' ' '©©00' ' ' 'CO*-'			
 
o j~ x^^^SiSo-o^^^y^^Ioo-©-^                                                      Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.
	35 35C^lXtn350 35 J* ~ MX	X X	■ i	i i i i	( Vt3500X©COXVl ■vlMXX^lXX^I^JMXCOX JO© .fc. X ~CO Cn ~ X CO — en cr CO in x>.	Depth of Chest.	Actual size, by measurement, in inches and tenths.
	CO CO © r- X V| © —i CO CO in CO tn CO	© 'to		i i i i	©X — ©©©©CO COCO — ©©©©CC©COCO — CO v» tnencojoccJO —© — /excox oc to m —	Width of Chest.	
	JO 11 ■ ■ 1 . ■ i	.....	00	i i i i	lO iO to JO 11.1......1 I I I 1 1 1 1 1 1 I . 1 I tn	Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium	
	-sltnv|X3535XX -O CO 35 in in CO	It... in	1 1	i i » i	CXMMv|Mvlv(vt ^sl00v}vtO;sJvlQt)s)M00^l © X M "O ">•>*.» Vi CO X <o — ZZ tO «■» — <C »-l X — CO	Greatest Diameter of Cranium.	
	"<|tnvjX3535XX »-i 'O re in en CO	»4 in	1 1	. . . ,	i CXMvJvtvlvjvJvJ MVtcXi-vlVtX^t-JXMMX^I © vi © vi m m en MM-^«-si-tfMT-a	Diameter from the root of the Nose to the Occipital Spine.	
	>£»**tn©en£-cncn CO CO ■£» J^ en CO CO	en ...ii v-	' '	■ . . ■	( ( ( en en en en en en tti tn en © tn © cn en en en © in en en en X©tO-C*C0©XJO — C - 51 D 3; «> .U © in -U	Transverse Diameter over the Ears. Arc of Cranium from root of Nose to Occipital Spine.	
	© CO tn	i.i.i	' -	i . . i	14.5		
	H- #».	i . i . i	• '	...I	14.5	Arc from Ear to Ear.	
	^ 1 •—* ■—■ ■ . t-> —■ 1 ■*». *>■ X © CO JO	i i •—- . i ©	• ■	..ii	CO 35 JO © ©XX CnCOC0*»JOCO — ©in — en CO	Size of the Lower Frontal Region.	Development of various parts of the era tivity of various mental faculties as c that of 1000 ordinary persons of the s sex ; 10 being the standard among ord
	V| JO JO Cn —' © CO JO '	1 35 £». JO '	CO '	en © en i	1 *. © tn --' >uen©encoen©©*>.co*>.vix*'COJOio*».*>.*.	Skill in the use of the Perceptive Faculties.	
\	tf» ' CO 00 ' CO in © '	' ' en ' '	' '	....	' ' ' ^oa^ ' © — to' encojocoocoM'MrcI^' jo H	Size ol the Upper Frontal Region	
	J5l-'35tn©^.JO-' '	1 © © CO '	JO '	© en ' '	1 cotn©i—'CO*>.*>.enencotn©XhJi.ccxcocoxjojocoenx	Skill in the use of the Reflective Faculties.	
	J5 ' © tn ' co lO/O '	1 ' i0 ' '	' '	. . 1 .	1 ' ' CO lO © Cn ' ©JO©1 i—. OiC tM- VI .ii. © — ' CO 3:	Size of the Lateral Region.	
	s. i-> en *». — tnjojo '	1 tn *>. jo '	~.	00 **• ■ '	' C04^»U,-^C0^CnC0C0C0**tnCnJOW>to.cyiC0i— ---'JOJOCC.fc.	Activity ol the Faculties of Self-	
	&«. ' tn co ' in i;i © '	' ' o ' '	1 '	....	— to co co ' ©enen' cn co co co — co © — cr. <o ' jojo	Size ol the Posterior Re-jion.	
	» CO -U Cn — v|*>00 '	' © tn CO '	tn '	^i © ' '	' JOCl»C0©X©.c-"-© CCT)~MJiC:~C- —• CO -C*. -O — —	Achv'v ol the Social Attachments	
	e* ' -fc». © ' co ^> © '	1 ' *». ' '	' '	....	CO ~ CO -t. ' v> fO — ' 3. JO -c X © ■&■ Cn X J- CO ' IC J-	Sze ol the Coronal Region.	
	O Js» 3 v> o X tn x. '	1 VI X fO '	JO JO	X VI ' '	' JO X in fO X. «o IC 3. in CO X vi en in CO \0 "3 "3 (O CO © x © X	Activilv uf'tho Moral Sentiments	
fcn^ r;^ ' -xH		J_'_ _x ^_"_ . — lO co co o © © © tn jo tn	' '	....	' ' X CO Cn CO ' X i. X ' in X to 3. •&■ -^ in — J- in ' — in	Size ol the Cereliellum.	p 3 § S"
			Z£ -^	v| X ' '	' *'©J-cox©.ocoin— * i. m t ri ^ c: -c - x — ~-o~		m,and ac tared wit e age ant y persons
jv> en r5 co cn en o co '						Activity "1 the Animal Nature.	
©to©*».©*»cotocn			to ^	© © en rfs-	cocoentii—.*-tntncoco^jotn^^#»co*»tncoiOJOti<*>.rfi.	Degree of ability to support themselves.	
 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
7
1				
o				
'H CO				
a				
o		o a		
o -5 cn h-1 Q		c 0		Remarks.
	o °	15 3 a	o	
o
noi Not
6li Not
G\> Not
6.-V, Not
fiP Not
651 Not]
6<;, Not!
67   -
6H Not
(lit1 Not
70j   -

U\   :
73 Not
74 Not
75 Not
7fi Not
77 Not
78 Not
7«>,   -
80   -
81 j Not
821 Not
83 Not
84 Not
85 Not
8<">  Not
87  Not
88  Yes
80  Not
90  Not
Yes	2 or 3
-	1
Yes	1
Not	5
Not	5
Yes	1
I Not	2
Yes	1
	1
Yes1 None
Not  None
Yes
Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
  1
None
  2
  2
  o
None
  6
  3
  2
None
None
None
  1
Yes  Not1 Yes
Yes  Not; Y7es
Yes  Not Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ye,
Yes
Vet
Yet
Ye-
Yes
Ye>
little
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Not
    Yes
    Ye
    Yes
    Yes
    Not
    Yes
Not d'ht'l
Not; Yes
Yesj Yes
 -  ! Not
 -  I Yres
Not Y7es
Not Yes
Not Not
Yes Yes
    Yes
Supposed cause, blow on the head in youth.
Gluttonous, and torpid almost to insensibility.

Illegitimate;  head small.

Idiotic from youth, and very irritable and stubborn.
                   [gestation ; subject to fits till 14.
Supposed  cause, violence during parturition, sickly
Supposed cause, drunkenness of mother in gestation.
{ Parents related, and subject to insanity.  Of" 8 chil-
\  dren, 4 are idiots and 4 deformed.
Parents intemperate.
Parents related ; had 16 scrofulous children, 3 of them
Brother to No. 403.                          [idiots.
Supposed cause, sickly gestation.
Father drunkard, and mother scrofulous.
Parents scrofulous and sickly.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes:
Yesj Y"es
Yes  Yes
Yes,  -
Yesj  -
Yes   -
Yesj  -
Not' Not
Yes  Not
Yesj Not
Yes1 Not
Yes! Not
Not. Nuue
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         YTes
         Yes'
         Yes
         Not
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         d'bt'l
         Yes
Yes  Yes Yes
Yes  Not d'bt'l
Y&». »-~ , le*
Very sickly gestation.
General weakness from birth.

A dwarf; extremely scrofulous.
Much masturbation.
Subject to fits and insanity.
$ Brothers ; parents related  by blood; cousins to the
I   next.
Parents related by  blood, and feeble.

Parents drunkards; had 7 idiotic children.
Grand parents related—uncle and*niece; parents sim-
First cousins; two sisters are becoming idiots.   [pie.
Salivated in infancy ; subject to fits.
Hydrocephalic.
Covered with scrofulous sores.
Sickly gestation, with fright.
Subject to fits from infancy. 
co to «o 10 <o jo jo jo jo jo <o — — — — — —• n- — — i—o©©o©©©©©©cococococococccoco   Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.
© ;o tu v» ©en 4-00 (o — © © oo ^i © en *» co jo — © © <x m © en 4- co <w — ©cooo^©en^cojo— 1
CniOJOJOJOtnCOCnjOCO    ift.eti-^*.-JO*>Ol-'   co © co cn — ©00©    C0 — JOJOJOC0JOJOC0>—■ CO -U  .  i—i
o oo © — cojoco©4-v|qo,— 4».rf».©©©co©©— '  jo©--© — OD©©©©oo©co©©en©ooo©tncoco
Age.
IIOigiaiBrttllrtiTltllIIIIIIIrtrtiiaBlliaiIln^!tit||l3llIiigilt01IBIBIInctrrr>ailInla
Congenital Idiocy, or not.
	5 ft. 7 in. 5 ft. 7 in.	4 ft. 5 ft. 5 in. 5 ft. 7 in. 5 ft. 7 in. 5 ft. 3 in. 5 ft. 9 in.		tn vl 5'	tn © ' 5'		5 ft. 4 in. 5 ft. 10 in.	5 ft. 10 in. 4 ft. 5 ft. 5 in. 5 ft. 7 in. 5 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 4 in. 5 ft. 6 in 5 ft. 6 in. 5 ft. 10 in. 3 ft. 8 in.	tntnentncntncOili. pp;©;©j4>;?>£4>j?;© ©V|rfi.©>*».©*».ao	Height, in feet and	inches.	
										33333333			
	r*> r» .	3 3 r*> r» r*5 rt» r- i		r>	r*>	1 I	r*j r*i .	r>3 "SBfa i	s ?+> r^ y» r*5 .	i t— a ri? ^a s 3	n. for nervous; f. " fibrous; s. " sanguine ; I. " lymphatic.	Temperaments ex-pressed in the or-der of their pre-ponderance.	o
1	on a> ,	-*i r»s j-- co a	oo cn ,	00	3	1 I	00 00 |	°o f-j 3 T*s r*> m T*> .	m» 3 jo 3 3 ,	■ B^BHlJl^HjHj			o § 3 E-o
	3 3 .	do to co 3 3	3 3 i	3	00	. I	3 3 i	j-1 co oo to tn j-»j jo i	cn cn 3 j-^ to ,	i r^jnf^t^SS—oocn			3 v re v. 3 o
	r-r- .	f- r- b :— ;—	f 3*> .	—	i-	I I	i~' t~* .	pr-.-r-r-s r-.	i- s- s- r- .- .	i cof-inigf-i)i--[-			w 3 PI £
	CO O '	to CO ' CO © 00 © '		©	CO '	h-l JO '	VI VI .	h- h-1 h-l © O CO CO © 00 CO '	© #* 00 CO O '	h- h-l 1 © VI CX» © CO© © CO	Tactile Sensibility.		era o
>	h- h-1 —i © co co ao jo « © © eo vi ■			i—" ©	i— i	© '	CO 00 '	© h- © co to © c© '	h-l h-l h- 00 CO CO © '	h-l — — 1 V| CO © 00 CO CO CO o>	Command of Muscular Contrac-tility.		1" -i 2J 5^
t	h* —I © co vi ;© • co © '		COCO '	h-©	CO '	00 '	© JO ■	*». © co *». to oo vi .	JO CO 00 CO CO '	h-l l—l 1 jo CO *>• © oo © en ©	Dynamic condition of body.		2.T3 11
	. oj .	vi © cn tn '	© VICO	h-l	VI >	VI 00 CO ' '		■ i i . i i ■ i	' • tO JO© i	i i " i © JO ' " ©	Sensibility to Musical Sounds.		as re re 3 -i cr a ^ C 3
-	00 4> V| JO h-i i^ CO '		JO CO V| ©		00 '	rf». lft» © © *»		© *». to © to cn vi .	© jo co tn £t '	' h-i JO ** VI rfkCOrfk ©	Skill in the use of Language.		
	© © © © © © © '		© © © ©		>— © '	© VI o © O '		© © © © CO © © '	© © © CO © '	---------------------,-------1_ '©©ooo—©©	Capacity for fixing Sight upon visible objects.		3W O" 3. -i re
	*». JOCO	-i — JO JO '	COh- tnco		CO '	CO h-i	JO toco	Cn h-i h- 4^ h-i iO CO '	CO h-i h-i h-i £>. 1	h-1 1 M M M tO M O M Ih	Ability to Count.		re Q<
1				JO o	JO © I	h- JO 00 ©	lO © w< '	UHMMMIO ►— © en en © © ■ ■	h- — JO — —l 4- © © © 4V^ 1	JO JO — JO i— h-I 1 © © © O 00 JO ©	Consumption of Food.		5 3.
>	**. — ill	en to jo jo tn en co .o											9%
1	h-	' • oo jo tn	1 . o	5.	JO © '	. 1	h-l . o ' '	JO JO (C i 1 o ■ ' O ' ©	h-1 I . 1 C5 '	JO JO — JO JO I O ' © h- © © ' ■	Manifestal'n of Amative Feelings.		
 
ISIS.]
SENATE—No. 51.
Actual size, by measurement, in inches and
               tenths.
	.j	£
oj		3 u
O	CJ	u
o	o	
		
		ra
C-	"C	
		
c	^	°
 91
 92
 !W
 94
 95
 96!
 !>?
 98
 99!
1001
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
118
114
115
l](i
11?
1181
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
12(i
127
128
1291
130
131
13 ■>
133
134
135
5.8  9.1 17.5
7.8!
7.9,

7
7.5'
7.8'
1 22
9 »-2
2.5

6.4'  5
4 22.
7 12
,2 23
8.1
8.3
5.8
7.2
9
7
8.5
7.71
7.8
7.6
7.5
7.6
7.8
11.4
10.5
11.9
11   12
 7 A 19
10.4
10.2
 9.6
22.5  7.5
21.2  7.4
22.5  7.8
      7.7
      0.7
>2
'20
7.7
11
v.e
7.7 11.1 21.5 7.7
8.6
7.6

9.3


9
10.5 21.8 7.5
  -  20
II  21

11.3 23.3
  -  120
7.?
7.6
7A\
7.5
7.5
7.8
5.6
6

11
Development of various parts of the cranium, and ac-
  tivity of various mental faculties as compared with
  that of  1000 ordinary persons of the same age and
  6ex; 10 being the standard among ordinary persons.
12
    13.5!l3.5
    13.214
5.7ll4.2|l5.5
5.814.515
5.4 13.5 14
6   14.5 14.2
7.5  5.7I14
7.4  5.3 11.5
7.8
7.7
G.7
5.6
5.9
5.1
7A\
7.7
7.5
5.2
5.7
14.5
13
12.5
13.5
14.5
15
14
14.5
13
14
5.313.5 14
7.4
         13   J13.5
7.4|  5   12.5 14.5

     5.6 14.7 15
9.7 22.7 7.7  7.7  5.3 13.5 14
'.4  7.4
LL
S
 2
 4
10
 5
 4
 3
 2
 1
4  12
6  -
5 !-
2
0
1
1
4
5<^
 7
 91 5
14
   7
-I 5
 2:14
1010
11:14
   6
11,13
  20
10
16 
10
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
		c		1
		is o c		
i-		a		
o "t3		'3 cd		
J3		C		
o		o		o
a o		^		a
	o a	o		o
■3 c o	o	■3 ^ h-l a		a o
u		<~ >		
*«	13	O -3 a, td	■g	
S	£	v "^3	a	D
	-^			
o a	a 3 a		o 3	S
M	m	« SP	_o	o
c	s	■° o	<3	a
CD		if	O	>
C-	P-,	a "	02 Yes	O Not
Not	Not	1		
Not	Not	1	Yes	Not
-	-	None	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	4	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	None	Yes	Not
-	.	_	Yes	Yes
-	-	_	Yes	Yes
-	.	_	Yes	Yes
Not	-	-	Yes	-
Not	Not	2	Yes	Yes
Not	Not	2	Yes	Not
Not	Not	2	Yes	Not
-	-	-	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	_	Yes	-
Not	Yes	-	Yes	Yes
	-	-	Yes	-
	-	.	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Not
.	-	-	Yes	.
-	-	-	Yes	Yes
	-	1	Yes	_
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	-	1	Yes	_
Not	Not	1	Yes	Not
Not	Yes	3	Yes	Not
Not	-	None	Yes	_
Not	-	None	Yes	.
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
-	.	_	Yes	Yes
Not	-	None	Yes	_
-	-	-	Yes	Not
Yes	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
Yes	Yes	None	Not	Yes
-	-	None	Not	Not
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Yes
Yes	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	Not	3	Yes	Not
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	Not	2	Yes	Not
Not	Yes	1	Not	Yes
-	-	-	Yes	-
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Remarks.
} Mother sickly during gestation, and frightened ; have
£  small and monkeyish heads.
Very scrofulous, and given to masturbation.
Parents related.  Sickly gestation.
Sickly, subject to paralytic fits.

Supposed cause,  sexual excesses.
Made idiotic by masturbation.
^ The  father of \hese children was very  scrofulous
^   and leperous ; children much dosed with laudanum
}   in infancy.
Probable cause, masturbation.

Much given to masturbation.  Illegitimate.

Supposed cause, masturbation.
Mother very scrofulous and nervous.
Supposed cause, mania a potu and masturbation.
Supposed cause, masturbation.
Injury  to the head at 20 years of age.
Mother sickly during gestation, and very scrofulous.
Of a very scrofulous breed.
Mother sometimes insane.
Subject to fits since 7 years old.         [the family.
Fits in infancy;  is full of scrofulous humors, as are all
Illegitimate; his mother  attempted abortion ;  had fits
Mother very puny;  he was suckled )   [from infancy.
  by an intemperate woman.        I
Much given to gluttony and self-abuse.
Parents very scrofulous and feeble.
Very scrofulous, with general torpidity.
Has improved since childhood, but still simple.
Deformed, puny, and very scrofulous; parents very
Puny from birth ; the family is scrofulous, [scrofulous.
Masturbation and gluttony.
Full of scrofulous sores and boils ; eyes weak.
Scrofulous, gluttonous, and masturbating; parents
                                       [drunkards.
Parents are cousins; sister is idiotic; all very scrofulous.

Family very scrofulous ; sister idiotic.
Father a drunkard, and mother a simpleton. 
181s.]
SENATE—No. 51.                      11
tn 22					Comparisons wi				th ordinary person			s, Ter	i being the standard, lower				
					numbers marking inferiority, an							d higher numbers			superiority.		
in V a					Temperaments ex-					a				B O D.			bo B
a					pressed in the or-					a	•->	-a	bo	3			"5
o		-	<3		der of their pre-					o	-o c	3 o	IS S> B n <*-	13			£
c		B O	-a u a T3		ponderance.				>>	— "5	o c c	02		to 02		■a o c	o
h																	c
eg		o	a						15	3 3	'"£	3 3	o a	'5	3	<•> 0	<
CO 43 E	cu	T3 '5 CU bo B	03 B		n. for nervous; f. " fibrous; s. " sanguine; I. " lymphatic.				a a 02	c -a a (3 it	a o o u 'i a s	o >> 13 a	a a J3 _g	■-'.£	O U o	a a. S 3 B	a 2 '3 d
3 55	<	O U	'v						a	c •"= U		02	12 02	£1	<	6	£
136	52	Not	5 ft. 6	in.	s.	f.	n.	1.	G	10	10	5	4	10	2	13	20
137 60		Yes	_		-	.	.	.	.	10	-	6	6	10	3	15	-
138 25		Yes	5 ft. 6	in.	f.	s.	n.	1.	9	8	8	-	6	10	2	15	-
139 27		Yes	5 ft. 5	in.	1.	s.	f.	n.	5	7	8	5	7	10	3	11	20
140 70		Not	.		f.	s.	n.	1.	8	7	4	-	4	10	2	-	-
141 32		Yes	5 ft. 4	in.	s.	n.	f.	1.	6	3	6	G	6	8	2	20	20
142 57		Not			s.	n.	f.	1.	8	4	2	2	-	10	2	9	10
143 9		Yes	3 ft. 7	in.	1.	s.	n.	f.	5	9	9	7	5	10	2	18	-
144 34		Yes	2 ft. 7	in.	n.	s.	f.	1.	9	2	8	4	2	7	1	18	-
145	40	Not			f.	s.	n.	1.	9	10	9	5	7	10	5	13	16
146	18	Yes				-	.	-	8	9	-	9	7	10	-	20	18
147 148 149 150 151	6 4 48 26 40	Yes Yes Yes Yes Not	3 ft. 4 3 ft. 3 5 ft. G 5 ft. 5 ft. 3	in. in. in. in.	n. f. f. 1. f.	f. 1. s. s. s.	s. s. 1. n. n.	1. n. n. f. 1.	10 9 8 8 8	9 8 9 3 10	9 8 9 8 9	4 2 8 7 7	4 2 5 6 7	10 0 10 8 10	0 1 2 3 2	8 10 13 12 18 16 20 20 15 20	20 20 18
152 153 154 155 15f,	50 18 7 11 8*	Not Yes Yes Yes Yes	4 ft. 6 3 ft. 10 3 ft. 10	in. in. in.	1. f. n.	s. s. f.	f. n. s.	n. 1. 1.	9 8 9	G 9 11	7 6 9 11	2 9 1	6 6 2	8 10 10	3 2 1		
157 21		Yes	-		-												
158 14 159 21 160 60		Yes Yes Not	5 ft. 7	in.	1. f.	s. n.	f. s.	n. 1.	7 10	10 10	11 11	7	6 8	10 10	2 8	16 18	-
161 60 162 35 163 20		Not Yes Not	5 ft. 2 5 ft. 7	in. in.	s. n.	1. f.	n. 1.	f. s.	8 8	10 10 9 9 11	10 10	6 8	3 8 5	8 10	2 8 4	20 20 20	8 20
164 50 165 19 166 8		Not V'3 Yes	5 ft. 3 3 ft. 7	in. in.	1. n.	s. s.	n. f.	f. 1.	4 8		10 10 10	4 6 5	3 3 7	10 10 10	2 3 6	15 20 12	20
107 59		Not	-								10	3	6	10	2	12	.
168 2f5 16" 60 ;/0 22 171 16 172 35 173 30		Yes Not Yes Yes Yes Yes	5 ft. 5 5 ft. 2 2 ft. 9 5 ft. 3 5 ft. 4	in. in. in. in. in.	f. 1. 1. 1. 1-	s. s. s. s. s.	n. n. f. n. n.	1. f. n. f. f.	10 10 7 9 6	10 10 9 10 10	10 9 6 10 10	5 7 5 3 3	7 6 5 4 4	8 10 10 10	6 2 5 1 1 2	13 18 8 12 18 15	12 16 16 15
174 24 175 50		Yes Yes	5 ft. 8	in.	f.	s.	n.	1.	8 10 8 I 9		10 10	4 4	6 6	10 10	18 1	16 15	20 13
176 23		Yes	5 ft.		f.	s.	n.	i. i			9 10 10 7	9	5	10	1	20	20
177 178 179 ieo	40 26 30 60	Not Yes Yes Not	5 ft. 8 5 ft. 7 5 ft. 7 5 ft. 6	in. in. in. in.	n. L	!	s. 1. s. s.	I. n. n. 1.	7 8	9 10 9		3 2 o	7 6 3	9 10 10	2 3 1	13 18 10	9 20
■^ 
oovtv|-siviMV|v|-^-^«oai©©©©©©©©©cncncncncnwCrtCnwcn>^'U4^'i^iU*.^>^ih^ ©©00^f0)Cn>^C0J0^©OC»M©Cni^C0J0^'©C0C»M©e^>feC0J0h-©C0CXiV(©Cn4^C0J0h-©C00D'viC5>				Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.	
, coco vi coco cn © oooo vi 1. I.ll. IIIII..I. II. 1 © © JO CO Cn i—i CO	cn vx ■ • . CO©	co co vi 4- cn © III..... III. 1 it*. 4*. © oo cn *»	00 V| CO . 1 . II. vi Oi ©	Depth of Chest.	!> r> C P_ E3° .? cr << g re » 8! 5. c " 3 re 3 5' 5' er re » 3
©O CO t— © V(© h- © h-1 .I.II..IIIII 1 .11 1 © JO CO © en	co vi ■ • • h- CO	O © CO© © V| III. .. .111.1 h-i 00 CO VI CO	10.6 10.6 11	Width of Chest.	
JO JO JO JO JO h- CO JO JO JO . iO © O JO h- CO O© h-■ l—i I I.ll . Illl II II 1 cn cn	iO >— JO JOjOJOJOh- JOi—h-h-00© GO tO h- O v| IO CO CO ( en JO JO cn CO >U		22.6 20.5 22.2 20	Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium.	
vl"^©-vJ05V| v} V| ©© VI V! «^l ......i.. iiiii.. i.. ii. ■ oo co © oo co en x».^» ro~5 o> ^ ©	©© CC CO	00 V| VI VI © © III . . ...... © en jo co	7.8 7.8 7.2	Greatest Diameter of Cranium.	
^v|01«sl©VliV|Vl 1(©©V|V| VI co co © oo co cn rfi. vi ©© cn .u ©	©© co h>	00 V| V| V| © j ( Oi © cn JO JO	VI ( V| ( t v| Jo Of) CO	Diameter from the root of the Nose to the Occipital Spine.	
cn en en cn cn cn cn cn cn cn cn cn cn .........Illll. 1 . . 1 1 . 1 CIUmvI-o MM CO ©CO cn	Vx *-I • • CO VI	© Cn cn i^. .u . rf* , III ....II'.' vthtoio co	5.9 14 - 13 5.7 14 5.1 11.3	Transverse Diameter over the Ears.	
lco!oico| (coco( t t t ijojoi ,coi t IS ( -J Cn ©	, joS VI	Cn JO en		Arc of Cranium from root of Nose to Occipital Spine.	
14 13.5 14 14 13.3 13.5 13.3 13.3 14.5	CO JO 1	IS CO CO W J- , , ( CO § m mw Cn	H- IS .h* t >£»• o^ Cn	Arc from Ear to Ear.	
.........i i i i i i i i i i i i i ■ i i ■ i ■ < i i i '.....i i i i ■ i i				Size of the Lower Frontal Region.	Development of various parts of the cran tivity of various mental faculties as co that of 1000 ordinary persons of the sa sex; 10 being the standard among ordu
io cn ** co co >— ©co*-cn©vj*.©cnen©vi*.ci0o© ■	1 JO *>	i wJO©vicnjocn*».vicocoito.©tO©cn©.fi.		Skill in the use of the Perceptive Faculties.	
> > •....................	1 1 1	............		Size of the Upper Frontal Kegion.	
JO«ucnJocn©i iococn*>.©.£».cncn*».cn©cocncnc>i'	< wco '	JOh-cnCn*.h^c0C0©C0C0C04^i-icncn©C0		Skill in the use of the Reflective Faculties.	
■ i ■ ■ i i ■ i ■ i ,,,,,,,,,,,, ■ / ■ • ■ i • ■ • > • • • i ■• ■ ■ i ■ ■ • ■ | Size of the Lateral Keirirm.					
tOZdCitO0Sit±.it*.l0it*.£*VxG>ZCVX)&.Vx>t*-£*.C>VX'f1*,c*- '	1 »fa ** '	^■1-iji.rfi.COh-cO^^COJOh-	en JO *-*-*- CO	Activity of the Faculties of Self-Preservation.	
.......................	, . I .	............		Size of the Posterior liogion.	
JO ■£*■ © i—i Cn en ' COCn©rr>vi;^vienrr\J^SrtOD"^CnCO'	' k_i CO '	JO !-■ *. © © h- ' Cn Oi tO © h-i	Cn i—i VI Oi v? *>.	Activ'yoftheSocial Attachments.	
■ i ■ ■ i i......i • i i - •......■.......i i i ■ i i i ■ i i ■ i i | Size of the Coronal Koeinii.					
JO CO vi i—i cn cn ' ^cnooencocnCn©v^COCnCnvlODV^,	1 h-. cn '	i—■ >—' CO Cn © >-* JO .&. CD ' Cn >—	>U h-1 OD en © CO	Activity of the ftloral Sentiments.	
' ' ' • • ■ . . .......' ' '.....	1 1 1	■ -..........		Size of the Cerclielliim.	P 3 3 C ^ »ls 3
jo S — © co en ' IucsmSwoo- jo no co co co jo co '	■ JO — . 1 © JO '	O^CCM'OOOCOOOCnCn^-JOCnCOCO — £^IS		Activity of the Animal Nature.	"S.SSS
w^cnfc3i^i^cnC0iJ^encn^^^ww^w^^ww^MW^^^^w^w^w^m^^^			*. JO cn Cn cn *-	Degree of ability to support themselves.	id ac-1 with e and rsons.
 
18-18.]
SENATE—No. 51.
13
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
Yes
Not
Not;

Not
Not,
    Yes
    Not
    Not
    Not
    Yes
    Not
    Yes
143! Not  Not'
144, Not  Not
    Not! Not:
    Not   -
    Notj Not
    Not, Not
    Not! Not
    Notj Not
      -  ' Yes
    Not Yes
    Not Yes
    Not
    Not Not
    Yes Not
145
140
14?
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
150
15/
158
159
100
161
162
103
164
165
100
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
170
17?
178
179
180
Not

Not!
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes'
Not'
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes

Not
Yes
Yes
  1
  2
None
None
None
None
  1
None
None
None
  2
  1
None
None
None
None
None
 10

  1
None
  1
None
None
  1
  1
None
  1
None
  5
  5
None
Remarks.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes|
Yes
Yes1
Yes
Yes
Yes!
Yes
Yes1
Yes
Yes'
Yes
Yes
Yes!
Yes
Yes1
Yes
Yes|
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes

Not
Not
Not
Not
Yes

Not
Yes
Not
Yes
Not

Yes
Yes Probable cause, masturbation.
Yes Often drunk in childhood with his parents ; had fits at
Yes: Deformed head.                         [10 years.
Yes Fingers and toes webbed.
Not Long intemperance.
    Very puny, scrofulous, and torpid from birth.
    Given to self-pollution, and opium-eating.
    Deformed from birth.  Parents very scrofulous.
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Masturbation, gluttony, and fits.

Head small; sutures closed at birth.  2 cousins idiots
Parents scrofulous.  Cousin idiotic,  [from same cause.
.	_	Yes!	Yes
...	.	Yes	Yes
....	-	Yes	Yes
Not Yes	-	Yes	-
Not Not	.	Yes	-
w ; -	.	Yes	Yes
     Deformed ; scrofulous and torpid from birth.
     Masturbation and fits from youth.
Not; Formerly insane ; chained for 20 years.
Y7es' Subject to fits in childhood.
Yes Poor and puny breed.  Parents covered with eruptions.
Yes1 Upper extremities shortened.  Mother's hands deformed.
Yes Fits in infancy ; is most gluttonous and restless.
Yes Deformed.
Yesl
Yes Sickly, scrofulous, and  gluttonous from infancy.
Yesl 11 of the family subject to cancers, and often insane.
Yesj Simpleton.
Yes Deformed, gluttonous, and pachydermatous.
Yes From masturbation and gluttony.
Yes: Insane and intemperate at 20 years of age.
Yrcs' Full of sores, and always puny ; skin pachydermatous.
Yes Salivated in  infancy ; effects  still continued, [abdomen.
Yes Mother had fits during gestation, and rec'd a blow upon
Y'es Mother and grandmother scrofulous ; nephew to above.
Yes Fits in childhood, and formerly a drunkard,   [venery.
Yes Mother a simpleton.  He is given to masturbation and
Yesj Scrofulous and deformed ; growth  of bones arrested
little ? The parents of these were simpletons, cousins, [early.
little \  and drunkards ; have 4 children foolish.
Yes Fits from childhood.
Yres Masturbation from childhood.
Yes Deformed about the face and hands. _
Yes Religious mania in youth, ending in  idiocy.
Yes
 Yes Very scrofulous breed.
Not Was kicked  on the head in youth. 
^^hStOK)t010KitOlOK)K)^lOK)lObSKitOKltOtOK>iOtOh0^^^^^i^^^^h^^^^^^^^i^^i

& E 8 ^|S TO5gSEc35 = o-gg3ggggg2ggg5gggSSgSgg^
in the MSS.
cn f* co  ,h-coJocnjOiUJO    >u >—ijoi—'Qo^-Mhicnco©i—i©   MhiMioioioit»a)-jajOiUi-iuioio>o>ok3
cn cn ^ *3 © ^ en en ui cn co^ *3 to to co  © cn ^ o  *3 © © to  cn © co© to
SOJSSS^OdttfflOSKtUXlltOSdlttltlOOItfllddfflllltll O (5 ffl  o !t O (t  O (II (6 (1  (D (t
Mr»a(ora<Braeo<-haaGQraSairaraMMMCBmmuiS^[BOimefira»jmu
Age.
Congenital Idiocy, or not.
5 ft. 6iin. 5 ft. 6 in. 5 ft. 4 in.	4 ft. 10 in. 4 ft.	5 ft. 5 ft. 2 in. 5 ft. 3 in. 4 ft. 6 in.	5 ft. 4 in. 5 ft. 5 ft. 5 in. 5 ft. 2 in. 5 ft.	5 ft. 4 in. 4 ft. 9 in. 5 ft. 5 ft. 3£in. 4 ft. 9 in. 4 ft. 11 in.	5 ft. 1 in. Oft. 1 in.	5 ft. 7 in. 4 ft. 4 in. 5 ft. 2 in.	5 ft. 9 in.	Height, in feet and inches.		
t-rnr1!	i 3 3 i	a r>^3	b b r^ r- r> 1	ra 3 r» r- b r> r- 1	1 1 1 1 r* r- b 1	1 r^ r^ r-. r- r-1 r^ 1	1 1 r>	n. for nervous; f. " iibious; s. " sanguine; 1. " lymphatic.	Temperaments ex-pressed in the or-der of their pre-ponderance.	O 0 i-i
Mia r	i r*j r> i	r»a a r»	j-j r*j m 03 3 ,	r- r. 3 ja r*. 3 3 1	■ 1 1 1 r> j° r» 1	1 3 J0 B 03 03 03 ,	1 ■ 3			
oi » a	i » r- i	w pa go j—•	to to 3 3 a ,	3 03 00 3 tn j-1 02 ,	1 1 1 1 S 3 ra 1	1 ps 3 03 jtj f-5 3 ,	1 1 ra			3 p re w
3 r- 3	■ ;—■ pa a	f ?" t-' 50	f-r-.-r.r-.	03 r- r- r*> r-1 m r> 1	1 1 1 1 ?> r> r-" 1	. r-r-r-33.-,	1 1 r-			V*
TO TOCO	1 TO© '	O © © ©	O — Orf*COTOCO©h-TOh-o© ■		hi hi hi '•'• TO CO CO © V| O © CO TO CO O '		1 1 CO	Tactile Sensibility.		
V| TO TO \----	-l h-l CO '	h- © O ©	TOi OCOTOCOTO©©COi—©O1		hi 1—1 1—1 hi 1 1 1 ICOCOJOOCCTOVICOCCO1		hi 1 • O	Command of Muscular Contrac-tility.		
I.**, cn ©	-> JOTO '	v| CO TO V|	*>-tnTOCOTOV|oo-v|COO©V|00 1		1 co cn O TO TO © 1	hi hi hi m o©©co©©ccco	O © ©	Dynamic condilion of body.		2.-a ?3
■ i i ----	1 © ■ '	h-1 1 ^- 1 1 1	1 O ' CO ' ©	■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	1 1 1 1 0 CO** 1	cn cn co hi *>. 1 jo '	1 . cn	Sensibility to Musical Sounds.		B 3
h^ CO JO	' h-l *. 1	© oocn cn ■	JO©cncococncn©©rf^coTOco '		1111 vi cn cn 00 Cn © co © Cn itk cn ©		1 cn vi	Skill in the use of Language.		S"3 B 2.
h-i h-i h-i © TO © h-i en © '		© © © 0	MhMwwhhihMhUMh-©©©©©©©©©©©0©'		NUMhi MMhMhhh 1 1 1 1 0 © © © TO © © © © © 0 ©		hi h-1 1 O ©	Capacity for fixing Sight upon visible objects.		gorq n a
»hlM	©h-l l	-itAJJ 1	h-i JO CO h- hi CO	- ^ JO M JO VJ iti '	1 1 1 1 Mmwcii	h-V|C0C0hirfi.©C0JOC0JO		Ability to Count.		= 1 ■ a
1 O © •	JO i-i © © 1	h- 00 cn © '	jo jo jo jo © © © ■ © '	Cn © © © 1 © © 1	hi JO hi i—itOMMJOh■ hi JO JO JO JO JO > ' ' ' ©©cn*^©toco©cn^©©©©o			Consumption of Food.		5'3.
h-i i i O '	JOmmJOm 1 © cn © © co ' ■		h- hi JO 1 ' CO *» © '	JO MHM © • ' JO **• © • 1	■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	JO JO JO JO hi JO JO JO JO ©'©©©TOO©©©!		Manifestal'n of Amative Feelings.		re
 
joiOioj^JOJOhii^h^if^^                                                                                  Numbers for reference to names in the MSS
en .i^CO JO _>-«_© CO TO ^> © Cn *» CO tO — ©OTOM©Cn^COJOhi©COTOM©Cn»J-CQJOhiOCOOO^©cn.h.COJOhi|-------------------_-------------------
©V| 1 - 1	© vi 1 . 1 . 1	© vj |	V| CO © © CO CO 00 i ■ . ii... iii Cn Cn TO Cn	6.4 9,5 8 H.2	vi cn i i . r i i i i i i © CO	Depth of Chest.		re
vi co > . . i	CO TO i.i i ©	CO C3	Oh CO TO CO © CO Cn vi TO Cn		, , . 5co......	Width of Chest.		n'
i i i	© i i i i	1 I I	i i i i ■ i i i ■ ■ i i ■ i	JO JO JO JO © ^-1 1 1 1 . . 1 TO ©	JO — JO JO JO JO 63 CO © JO JO ( ( CO © Cn	Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium.		a"
7.4	© vi t vi (	V| ( (	V| VI VI VI V| 1 1 1 1 1 1 . ...... Cn JO to en	V| V| IIII. II ©	©VI ii........■ © JO	Greatest Diameter of Cranium.		re
7.4	© V| ( V|	VI vi ___co__ cn Cn JO vi	M 1 l § v| VI V| vi vi ( en cn IO TO Cn	V| V} ..... II ©	, , , 9^...... © to	Diameter from the root of the Nose to the Occipital Spine.		5* <B " 3 re B
5.1	** cn cn . ■ . Cn ** ©		Cn Cn en en cn cn VI JO JO CO h- *-	cn cn iiii.. ■■ Cn vi	, . , w .*-...... ©	Transverse Diameter over the Ears.		5' 5'
i ■ ■	i i i i i	i i i	1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	CO JO ■ III. II Cn	I,,s"IIIII. , , , Sw.....,	Arc of Cranium from root of Nose to Occipital Spine.		re p
i ■ i	• iiii	i i i	1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	ht CO iiii. ii Cn		Arc from Ear to Ear.		c
i i o	i O TO i CO	i © i	ii.iiiCOh-OiTOiii	l ■ 1 l l i l i	1 1 1 1 1 1 I I I 1 1	Size of the Lower Frontal Region.	re X o T 2. 5' crq B-a p B C P »-i c p 3 0 crq o 3. 3 P «3 •o re o B	o r- r- <»
h- CO JO	—ii-iioc0Cn©©cn		lO©>UtOtO>UC0CnCnC0C0V|© i	1 cn *>• © cn *. vi vi cn © vi © cn © *>■ © © vi i—i		Skill in the use of the Perceptive Faculties.		'"cr 5"
' ' E	' 2 cr ' jo	i cs '	llllll-^^Q'TO'''	■ ■ i i i i ■ i	...........	| Size of the Upper Frontal Region.		0< 3 O m «-► <=>S.o 0 O —i MS BBS. P, re o
lOiOJOOoiOJOCnCncniJi.			hiCnC0hiC0CnJO>U*'JC.iP»-©v| ■	1 ©C0©CnCnC0©CnCn©>^>e*©C0©Cn©©		Skill in the use of the Rdlectivo Faculties.		
1 ' TO	• 2 co ' 5	' C" '	• • • ■ • • ' cOiOi ' o ' ' '	• •.....<	, I I I ... I . 1 1	| Size of the Lateral Region.		
hi h-i hi	O©C0C0TOC0*>.C0		i co *»■ *. Cn *>. cn #»• cn *>. ** co CO to '	■ cnlO*^cn^JOCn>fc.cn*»>tiC0CnJOCn^C0if^		Activity of the Faculties of Self-Preservation.		2 p1 ~z O " S ° is,
' ' to	^ 2 ->^ TO O © en ' CO	1 i£. ' J^ IO J^	' ' • i • • ' - ^, cti ' © ' ' '	........	..........'	| Size of the Posterior Region. | Activ'yofihc Social Attachments.		
.fc 1.1 ui			1 i—i©0i.it»Cn©C>'^TC0>UOTOi—' '	' © JO © CO en TO <£*■	©©©TOJO^JO©CnlO©			» 3
' ' CO	, 2 co ' © O © ^- >t- Oi • 2 jo ' ' _ ~ CO — © ©o to coca	' CO ' co to o.	1 ' ' ' ' ' 'co©jo'to' ' '	> <......	........• ' '	| Size of the Coronal Kegion. | Activity of the Moral Sentiments.		
Cn n CO			1 tOMtO^JOCCOOnviai^Cnn '	1 © CO «*» © TO © ©	CO — UiCOifc.Cn.£a.Cn«OC0TO			p 2 3. 3.§ £ »TS 3
' ' ©		•to''''''''Sao1u1'' JO TO TO> ' JO IO »&■ TO © -0 >c* TO CO © JO -i T ' cncn^tocotni^ioto^cocncncoi^cncoco		......■ ■	i i i i i i i i i i i ~ u—4a.©.fc.it*©©©©Cn *» © Ui cn iP- cn co cn cn cn cn	| Size of the Cerebellum. | Activity of the Animal !\;iliire. | Degree of ability to support | themselves.		
.£*. «^| co				' HD Cn OW Js. Of) <••-•				^S.§
JO h-" Ml				rf*cncocncn*>.ioen				S d.P B _ n a. 3-7
 
16
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
181 Not  -
182] Not Yes
1831 Not Yes
1811 Not Yes
185 Not  -
18(5  -  j  -
187! Not Yes
18ti Not Yes
189 Not Yes
190|   - |  -
191; Not Yes
192'   -  :  -
19:] Not1 Not
194 Not Not
195 Not: Not
190' Not'  -
197 Not Yes
198' Not1 Yes
199, Not Yes
200' Not Yes
201 Not  -
202; Not Yes
203' Noli  -
2041   -
205l Yes Not
200 Yes Not
2071 Noti Not
208 Not1 Not
209J Not I Yes
210! Not Not
2ll| Not
212 Not
213! Not
2141 Not
215| Not
216 Not
217 Not
218 Not
219 Not
220 Not!
221 Not1 Not
Yes
E
3 C
I"



 1


 1
None

None

  3
  3
  1
  1
None
  2
None
None
  3
  2
222 Yes
223   -
224   -
2251   -
Not
  1
None
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yc
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ye*
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yres
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes

Not
Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Not
Not

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yesj

Not'
Not!
Ye
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ye
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Y
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ye
Ye
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Remarks.
Father was very old, and mother very young,  [simple.
Mother insane; a drunkard and scrofulous.  Brother
Given to masturbation and gluttony. Father a drunkard.
Family very scrofulous, and some of them simpletons.
Subject to spasms and fits.  Given  to masturbation and
                                       [gluttony.
Mother a prostitute; father committed suicide.
Head small, and lower extremities insensible.
Very scrofulous.

Very scrofulous breed, and subject to fits.
Simple from childhood.
Palsied from birth.
Very scrofulous breed.  Torpid, and pachydermatous.
Very scrofulous and puny breed.

 ) The  father  was a simpleton and a  drunkard.  The
 $   oldest is deformed.

 > The  parents were scrofulous, dirty, and intemperate.

Became idiotic within ten years.   Mother and 2 sisters
Mother a prostitute. Masturbation, [similarly affected.
Sickly gestation.
Made drunk in childhood.
Brain fever, at three years old.
Father, mother, and brother, are simpletons.
Nearly paralytic.
Hereditary tendency to insanity and idiocy.
Mother sickly during gestation ; her brother idiotic.

Hereditary idiocy.
Very scrofulous and gluttonous.
Very small head.   Hereditary tendency to idiocy.
Mother sickly in gestation.
Idiotic from masturbation.
Supposed cause, attempted abortion.
Paralytic from birth. 
gg^giOgtOJOg^tOJO^JO^OJO^J^

o_TO"^»©enJi.cojo — © — to -o © c 4-^jo-offigiMr.oi^mo^-ccrrMr. oiACJic»-ecti«-»c:i-----.---------_-------------■
n — ow-i.-Ma-i 0- Cn JO —' — 4*. Cn JO    JOCOCOtO   •— mCOCOmi-i  i-i JO*-C0©*>C0*i.©_C0JOi^CnC0
TOTO^ool^S-aocoSviotnoowacnoow©^^





'^.^.^.^^.^KJK^htlKlKl^h^h^KXK^^
no  i»o 3  i (t o  ffl mo o»(t otoaioaioofflnttflKiKiipjoiSJJooojasoeoo
Age.
Congenital Idiocy, or not.
p-cn


Op



£> JO
J- Vx *>■ cn    Cn en

© os oo 00    s> l©
©   co    to


5'   5'    3'
cn co >f* en rf*. en *». a*-*»■   cn Cn Cn

JO p? OO 00 0J> 0? J?> 0J> 0J>   pp OS I©



   if*. TO    —COCO*''©1  CO    tO



   3'3'3'3'3'a 3  3    p     3
cn cn cn en

PO po rp 00


CO ©h- to


3' 3' 3' 3
— 3 r- 1  r^i  r*> m 1  r^ ■  ^^n^a  "3  1  r^r^i  3  3rJ."3?>3:-'3rirj3
£
™  1  3 a  rJ,° r^^r1'  1  ?> P  1  r^r,»?1?,rir^?1^3?r*i3
r^«3  1  to  ,  3 to  ,  *- ,  B rp  3? ?  ?  •  " " 1  P?33?3"?"P^P?
3r^.-5i  r- 1  t- r- 1  3 1  r- 3 3  r*>:
^ 1  33  1  r'r.'t^r'^P ^!"  "?
CO©1  ©TO'  ©TO'  00'  COTOO©TO©©'
CO©**©—1  ©CO1  ©©©^l"OCO©CO©'
CO©JO'  ©©CO©©TOTO©TOTOjCO©COCO
-1  1  co©•uccco©v^v|oovlcoco,
©oi-i^j©ooco©cnviojco>u.©vivicnvi
CO©1  © © © 1—1 © h- © © O © to© © © ©
CnCnhiJOJO©l-'iUtf».JOC0l-<C0JOi—ihiCOTO
— JO TO © 1	TO — TO -1	wojMOOseiiMtoocK 1
1 1	JO hi 1 © 1 en	JO JO i-i JO hi © 1 TO © TO ' • © ' TO '
TO©coTOTO©cojO©cn*>cncn
V|l—iTO©*»©V|hiV|*».V|©rf*.
©©CO©*^'OTOhiCnTO©V|*»
© CO TO 00 cn '  © 1  hi
*>.©©4*.©hl.fi.h1|fi.C0>f*-©**
O—OTOO©©©©©©©©
h-hiC0C0*>.hitO>-'hi|-ihitOhi
MBlMUUMlOl    >—■   10

0©0©©©JO©©'  i-11  ©
t~* r** 1   1  ^ ?*> r*^ r*>
H  ID  1   1  ffl p p 3
Height, in feet and inches.
 = =  :?


 — a> sr>a
^  p cr ra
 3  b a -2
■3MO J


 p  3 j; S
 -• re   „.
 re ...
IT O-TD ""5

 O « CJ 2.

 B "• £ 3
gf"s'i
re 2. _ 2
'  -• S-5.
Tactile Sensibility.
TO © hi  1  © cn TO >f*
Command of Muscular Contrac

 tilitv.
cn©i—'>f*.TO©vi>fi.
Dynamic condition of body.
Sensibility to Musical Sounds.
vi vi 1  to vi cn to CO
Skill in the use of Language.
© © 1  '  © © © ©
Capacity  for  fixing Sight upon

 visible objects.
Cn *«• '  hi © JO tO hi
Ability to Count.
o © '  '  ©'  00
Consumption of Food.
1   .  1   •  © ■   S cn   Manifestat'n of Amative Feelings. 
to to to
v| © Oi
© © TO
JO tOfcg
© © ©
v| © an
JO JO JO JO JO JO JO JO JO IO JO JO JO JO
©©©©©Cncncncncncncncncn
*^COJOi-i©CCTO^I©Cn>*>.COJOhi
to to to to to to
Cn hfa. *» 4i» 4* 4*
© CO TO -J © en
jo to to to
4- CO JO n-
to JO
4-CO
O ©
tOtOiOtOtOtOiOJOtOtOtOiOtO
COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOJOJOJOJO  I
TO ««l © Cn >C CO JO —'  © CO CO VI ©  I
Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.
© © Cn © ©
TO © Cn CO CO
© cn vi vi
TO CO Cn CO
vi vi cn ■vt
jo to en    i
cn to
TO CO
VI VI

Cn TO
Depth of Chest.
COTO

l— V|
TO CO © TO CO

TO TO CO JO hi
CO VI © CO
©   TO Cn
CO CO TO CO

tO TO © CO
CO ©

CO TO
V| CO

vi jo
Width of Chest.
Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium,
© v|

TO .E*
V| VI V| V| V| V|

   JO   i—i IO to
V| © VI V|

en .tu to
V| V| VI V| •

-I~ J— JO 4*
V| V|
to to
Greatest Diameter of Cranium.
© V|

TO 4i.
CO
VI V| V| V| VI ^|

   JO   '—> to JO
V| © V| •V!

Cn ib. So
V| V| V| V|

4^ 4* JO 4^
VI V|
to to
cn cn
Jo JO
cn
CO
Cn cn Cn en cn cn
CO ©   4* CO 41.
cn cn Cn cn
«-l   © VI
en cn cn cn
CO VI cn CO
Cn Cn
cn jo
Cn cn

M 4-
Diameler from the root  of the
 Nose to the Occipital Spine.

Transverse Diameter over the
 Ears.
JO CO
4a. CO
hi -i
CO 4a.
to
h- CO to JO CO
4i.JOC0jOC0C0C0C0rf>
Arc of  Cranium from  root  of
 Nose to Occipital Spine.
iiii
CO 4> tO 4^ CO
     4a. CO Cn
4* JO CO 4*
Cn >Q Cn
CO CO #»■ CO
   JO   cn
iiii
Arc from Ear to Ear.
© © CO © TO TO
Size of the Lower Frontal Region.
©CntOCnvicnCn©©©TOJ04i.cnrfi.4i.cn©
C0©Cn©v»hiC0hi4i.hiC0>fa.C0
to CO it* co to
Skill in the use of the Perceptive
 Faculties.
O tn M v| _ oo
Size of the Upper Frontal Hi
yirfi.hi4i.cn4i.*>.cn4i.cn©tococncococncn
JO4i.4i.CnTOhitOhiCnhijoCnC0
Skill in the use of the Reflective
 Faculties.
— © •VI TO JO © '
|  Size of  the Lateral Region.
yiCnhiCOCOCnCO*>.tO»b.*».i— t0 4*4*C04*4a.
rfi.v|rfi.4a.Cnh-C0hiC0^hi*>.C0
CO cn CO to to
Activity of the Faculties of Self-
 Preservation.
CT- — «0 © TO i—i  '
'  TO
Size of the Posterior Ueffion.
X>©-i©TOCO©Cn4a.V|-Oi^ — vi CO CO © VI
CnJ>.©O©iiJ0i—i © i—■ JO Cn 4*
^ j^ co >p |  Activ'y of the Social Attachments
— jo -o © JO —
i   | Size of the Coronal Kegion.
vi en ■-■ '  vijoo'  co^icni-i 4*. v> © jo © cn
?E3 Cn
CO © en COTO^-i^iiTOhi4*4*CO
CO JO © JO I Activity of the Moral Si'iitiments
i   i  i   i   i   i
© © TO JO CO Cn '
TO '
Size of the Cerebellum.
CnJO©©©CO©Cn©CO-VI4^.— o^Ji^
© JO JO TO TO CO © VI QQ 4a. VI CO CO
Si © © © I  Activty of the Animal  Nature.
C^wi-iif^cnC^it^if^WCncn^ifkcnco>f^if^©cnCncn&305Cnrf^CnCnh-iOM
Degree  of  ability  to  support
 themselves. 
1848.]                         SENATE—No. 51.                              19
Remarks.
Irresistible sexual propensities.
Idiotic from masturbation.
Strong hereditary tendencies to idiocy.
Afflicted with Vitus's dance and excessive venery.
Idiocy, attributed to fits.
Idiocy, attributed to fits.
Idiocy, attributed to fits.
Parents cousins; four out of eight children, were idiots.
Attributed to fits.   Pachydermatous.
Attributed to fright of her mother, during sickly ges-
Attributed to fits and venereal excesses.       [tation.
Attributed to fright during sickly gestation.
Parents cousins, and two sisters foolish.
Hereditary idiocy and fits.
Given to masturbation and gluttony.

Scrofulous breed; red mackled face.
Idiotic from  infancy; father a drunkard.
Mother drunk  during  gestation.

Of a scrofulous breed.
( Parents cousins, and very scrofulous.   Had 4 idiot
I    children out of  8.  Sisters to Nos. 59 and 60.
Scrofulous and poor breed.
Mother scrofulous, and father intemperate.
Very scrofulous breed.  The  4th  idiotic  child out of
     J                                    [8  children.
Parents and family scrofulous and puny.
 Parents related by blood ; scrofulous and puny.
 Scrofula and masturbation, from" youth.
' Masturbation and gluttony, and is growing more idiotic
 Parents scrofulous and intemperate.   Brother idiotic.
 Father and sister very scrofulous.
 Masturbation ; insane at 20;  now idiotic.
 Maternal relations scrofulous ; and brother idiotic.
 Of a scrofulous breed.  A brother idiotic.     [idiotic.
 Masturbation  and venery.  Parents drunkards. Uncle
 Attributed to  inoculation by virus  of psora,  (itch,) in-
                                  stead of kine pock.
 Deformed;  paralysis of lower extremities.
 Whole family scrofulous and scurvy.
 Small and deformed head. Very scrofulous breed. 
S!^)^K^^SS^SP9>^002SS^^ra^^^^^^^TO^^TOTOTOTOTOTO^^VI^^M^Mv| Cn.^Mt0hi©C0TO«<*©Cn4^WJ0h-oC0TO^©Cn4^C0J0h-©p£>TO^©Cn4^Wt0h-©CCTO	Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.
©C0C0iO^0^l-iCn©tn©Cn4^IO4>tnCnC0VI4i.rfi.C0hi4i.tOt0 ^C0C0tOCntOC0iO4a.lO4a.hihiC04a. m JO tnCn&50TOO©tOO©Cfl©hi4^tOiOOh-TOCniO©tOtnh-rf^4^©CO^©©4>COCOtnCOiO©TOCOTOCOTOTO	Age.
	Congenital Idiocy, or not.
>	5 ft. 8 in. 5 ft. 1 in.	CO 1 IP-S'	5 ft. 5 ft. 2 in. 5 ft.	cn i 4a. p'	cncncncncncn4a.cncn £0 3? -*ft 3J5 *"ft t© i-Tl i-a 3J t—' 1 4a. rfa. tO hi © rfi. V| b'b'b'b' b'b'b'	4 ft. 11 in. 5 ft. 7 in. 5 ft. 1 in. 2 ft. 11 in. 5 ft. 7 in. 4 ft. 11 in. 4 ft. 6 in.	cn 4a. cn cn cn 4> 4a. £0 JO £0 pO ;© £0 JO VI © to tO rfa- O CO ' B 3 3 3 3 B B	4 ft. 11 in. 4 ft. 8 in. 4 ft. 10 in.	Height, in feet and inches.		
	■ r** r*i i	r~' i	^rsr-	r>	3 t-p f^rsr^B nrs i	fr'irsr'B b r-r- s i	I .~ i- 3 r*. 3 B i- i	rra i	n. for nervous; f. " fibrous ; s. " sanguine; 1. " lymphatic.	Temperaments ex-pressed in the or-der of their pre-ponderance.	O
	, oo 3 ,	3 I	m 3 m	a	f*>MJijB>MBJ-ij33 I	j'BBr'if*!?101?^!	i fi J° r*5 5° jo f*> ra ,	co m j—■ ,			o e 3 b"13
	, 3 tfi ,	CO ,	B?B	m	oqh+)CO«j>—icotvouim ,	fito tn in b f-iis ta |	i JQ 3 oa 3 mj tn j-»j ,	f> 3 jn i			C"3. O in 3 °
	■ J-1 i~' i	t*i i	mt-r..	t- ■	t~'3 t-'3 B J-'J-' t-' i~' i	s s-t-b rr+ia r^s— i	■ a r*j^ — s-r-s i	B ^,			3 < P ^
	hi i ©O '	CO I	CO © CO '	O '	hi i—i i-i|-i Cnoocococo©coo '	hi hi hhH OOOOOffiOOO1 '	hi MMM I © CO CO © © © CO ■	CO V| CO '	Tactile Sensibility.		E3-_.o.
	hi hi hi © n © TOCO i		1—1 hi TO © © •	CO '	MMM hi hi hi OOHtOOOOhiCOO '	l—i hi hi I—i hi hi cocni-i©©h-©cOhio	hi hi hi HI i h- CO © © O CO CO '	hi hi O CO JO ■	Command of Muscular Contrac-tility.		5,5" o^
	to i—i to vj cn '		© CO CO ■	hi — -i HMM hi Mh1 hi ©CO©©COCOCOCOi-hi©©CCCOi— TOCO©OCO© '			hi hi hi O M CD O OO 00 00 CO '	COCO hi ■	Dynamic condition of body.		2.13 P o
	i V| oo i	© i	VI© 1 1	CO '	hicocotocntotoioto '	CO CO CO V| ■ rfa. rfa. Cn • "	i h- co co co hi cn © '	© CO© •	Sensibility to Musical Sounds.		qtq re B-3 s 2. c s
	35 © © © hi i		CO© V| 1	V| 1	cncoco^'-'oovicn© '	4a.CO©COlOC0'V|rfa.tO '	1 © to© cn co TOcn ■	4a. CD CO •	Skill in the use of Language.		
	P O © i	© '	© i © i	© '	0©0©0©0©0'	©©©©OO©©1i			Capacity for fixing Sight upon visible objects.		""Sr
							1 h-©©©©©©©©©^-'				-i re W V)
) i t	ocoto ■ -1 11 11 JtCOO '	hi l h- hi © 4i	© cn to '	wwcohiooio©to#>.hicocn		"MU»|MHCi5WM 1	1 Cl M (O CO M ifcM M	to to to i	Ability to Count.		1 =
			hi hi h-l JO JO Cn 4a. 4a. © © <		hi 1—1 iO JO h- MliOhlMllhlWlOW hi ©Cn©©4a.CCCnTO©©TOh-tOC0©iiCOTO© i		hUMtOhmlOnJOlOhiJOM to©oco©ocno©i—1©00 '		Consumption of Food.		■ 4
	— — —1 j\ ©cn '	h- JO to JO i Oi O ' ' © O ■			hi JO iO JO hi to JO JO i—' JO hi tO h- JO •^©©©^•""©©©TOO1 h- ' ' ©' to©1		JO i— tO hi © V| 1 © i 00 ■ ' •	hi ■ i oo •	Maniiestat'nof Am	itive Feelings.	
 

in the MSS.
V| V|   ©
.   .   I  •
m- cn   vi
I  © O
VI© VJ
© ©   TO
.   .   i  .   iiii
©JO   to__________
"to JO   JO   JO   to
h— tO   CO   hi   CO
IIII
cn ©
to to JO JO
h-1 h-1 © ©
JO
VI M
I   I  I   I
  -I V|
I     .
____M

  cn cn
V| VI V|
to CO   cn
 Cn cn cn
JcoJ&'Jo.
 Scoco
IIII
V| V| V|
V| VI V|
cn 4a. cn

   CO CO
n   Mi    hi JO
CO   CO    © h-
V| ©

   cn
Cn 4a.

4a.*-J
CO 4a. g  tn

   Cn______
CO JOCO

   Cn Oi
© hi
   CO
i   i  i  i   i  I
V| cn TO    CO TO ©
h.i cn cn
O TO ©
cn © mj
to JO JO JO
m- h © tO
V| V| © V|

cn to CO O.
VI V| © V|

Cn JO CO 4a.
cn cn 4a. cn
tO JO TO JO
JO CO JO CO

TO V! cn Cn
CO CO CO *a

ihftlMUl
vi Oi
Depth of Chest.
CO © TO
vi cn vi
Width of Chest.
Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium
© © V|

© 4a. hi

© © V|

© 4a. hi
cn Cn tn
CO   4a.
Greatest Diameter of Cranium.

Diameter from  the root of  the
 Nose to the Occipital Spine.

Transverse Diameter  over  the
 Ears.                      ____
m m co    |  Arc  of Cranium  from root of
•        '  J   Nose to Occipital Spine.______

5 JO 4a.      Arc rrom Ear t0 Ear.
                                                                                                                 ...   I Size of the Lower Frontal Region
                                                                                                                         I        ________________-----
                                                                                                                         I Skill in the use of the Perceptive
TOCn©4a.hiviTO©viv|VtCn©C0VI4a.V|Vl©Cn©©4^tOCnTOJOC0©4a.tO©v|VIC0CnCn©v|VltO4a.V|©©l  Faculties.               -----
'  ii- «o '
|  Size of the Upper Frmita[Regio_ri
4-4^©C0MCnTOV|O54a.Cn©4a.tOCnC01ta.©CnC0CnCnC0--'4a.V|h-tOCnCnMCn© cntO4a.4a.4a.Cn4a.C0C0©CnCn
Skill in the use of the Reflective
 Faculties.           ________.
Size of the Lateral Region.
-----~---------------------------------~                   —   "                                                       Activity of the Faculties of Self
C0CnC0C0hiC04a.©Cn4a.4a.iCn4atOtOtOCntO4a.4a.4a.©tOtOC0©hiC0Cn4a.hi4a.4a.CntO4^                            Preservation.          -------.
CO on '
|  Size of the PostorimJ^offion^
                 ----~-----------------------------"~                  "         ~Z.    ^ k^^am.i.mu.m I  Activ'y of the Social Attachments
avtnoM^ti^owaa^M»cjaM>sMMWMMe!rr)MMau.Mc;03aM^^Mgi^"^MC"vl'---

 1  Cn CO  '  '   '..............________________________________-----------
                                                                                                                          Size of the Coronal  Resron.  _

                                                                                                                         | Activity of Ihe Moral Sentiment!
OD^rpijMi^wp^rB^^M^lJJOJarjaM^^^MUslOw^via^M^WMCJgW^M^^JiCv^
Size of the Cerebellum.
—~— —-----_T—~—~_ /o —---— ■— >— — —    — — — — — — h- — i- — — — —   h-n — —■ — h- — — —    — —    I  y\r,',v|tv 0f (he Animnl Nature

                                                                                                                        I  Degree of  ability  to  support
                                                                                                                           themselves.
o^l 
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
w			a				
'Jl	o		o				
			s				
es	^		M				
	■£~						
.£	13		CO				
u E CO C	0 c		c M o		o		
O 0) a o £,	■5 a o "co s	o a M o	o o "3 ,/ hi qj '~~ > O \3 Ol & CD ~o	o	o _o 13 Si 3	o	Remarks.
w £ 3 z	o s	5 G a CD CO Ph	o a .5 c a ° B5 B	M o D _o <3 O	CO 0 s o >	M o a	
271 Not		.	1	Yes	_	Yes	Scrofulous and puny from birth.
272 Not		Yes	2	Not	Yes	Yes	Scrofulous breed; sister and two cousins deaf and
278 Not		-	1	Yes	Not	Yes	[dumb.
274| Noi		-	.	Yes	-	Yes	Small head and deformed hands.
>75 Not		Not	None	Yes	-	Not	Became insane at 27, and idiotic at 33.
176	Not	-	None	Yes	Not	Yes	Scrofulous, with salt rheum ; puny from birth.
277	Not	Yes	1	Yes	Not	Yes	Cousin idiotic. All the breed puny and scrofulous.
278	Not	-	None	Yes	Yes	Yes	
279	Not	-	None	Yes	Not	Yes	Fits from 6 years old.
280	Not	-	None	Yes	Yes	Yes	Fits in infancy. Excessive venery and masturbation.
28]	Not	Not	None	Yes	Not	Yes	Fits at 7 years of age. Of a scrofulous and puny breed.
282	-	-	None	Yes	Yes	Yes	Excessive venery and gluttony.
283	-	-	None	Yes	Yes	Yes	
234	Not	Not	None	Yes	-	Yes	Scrofulous breed.
285	Not	Not	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	Masturbation and gluttony, from youth.
286	Not	Not	None	Yes	Not	Yes	Often diseased ; occasionally violent.
287	Not	Not	None	Yes	Not	Yes	Fits in infancy.
288	Not	Yes	5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Parents related ; simpletons and drunkards; have 4 fool-
>89l Not		Not	-	Yes	-	Yes	Small head. Fits. Scrofulous breed, [ish children.
290 Not		Not	None	Yes	-	Yes	Very scrofulous breed.
291 Not		Yes	1	Yes	Not	Yes	Parents drunkards. Mother a simpleton. [tractcd.
292, Not		-	-	Yes	-	Not	Lunatic ? Very scrofulous. Lower extremities con-
293; Not		-	None	Yes	Yes	Yes	Feeble and scrofulous. Masturbation from childhood.
294! Not		Yes	2	Yes	Yes	Not	Supposed progeny of an uncle and niece. A simpleton;
295 -		-	1	Yes	Yes	Yes	) Very scrofulous, subject to fits. Masturbation, [erotic. ^ Like her sister above. Moreover, deformed.
296 -		-	1	Yes	Yes	Yes	
297	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Not	Masturbation from youth.
!98	Not	Not	3	Yes	-	Yes Fits in infancy. Uncle a simpleton, and 2 cousins fools.	
!99	Not	Yes	8	Yes	Yes	Yes Parents simple ; 2 bright children, 2 fools, & 7 simpl'ns.	
too	Not	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes Parents drunkards. She scrofulous and masturbating.	
101	Not	-	1	Yes	Yes	Yes Masturbation and excessive venery, and syphilis.	
102	Not	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes Masturbation. Very scrofulous, dirty, and intemperate	
103	Not	Not	1	Yes	Yes	Not Puny, scrofulous breed. [breed.	
104	Not	Not	1	Yes	-	Yes Cousin to the above, and very diminutive.	
105	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes Scrofulous breed. Masturbation since 20.	
106	-	-	1	Yes	Yes	Not	Simpleton ; gluttonous and idiotic.
107	-	-	-	Yes	-	Not	Simpleton; very scrofulous.
08	-	-	-	Yes	-	Not	Simpleton. Small head. Has become deaf and blind.
09	Not	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	Masturbation. Paralysis. Parents intemperate.
10	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	A simpleton and vagrant.
11	Not	Not	19	Yes	Not	Not	Hydrocephalic.
12	-	-	-	Not	-	Yes	
13	Not	Yes	None	Yes	Not	Yes	Very scrofulous. Mother attempted abortion.
14	Not	Not	None	Yes	Not	Yes	Pachydermatous. Hands and feet horny and insensible.
15	-	-	-	Yes	-	Yes	Simpleton.
 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
23
310	39	Yes
317	Gl	Yes
318	12	Yes
319	103	Yes
320	6	Yes
321	8	Yea
322	30	Yes
323	16	Yes
324	31	Yes
325	17	Yes
326	8	Yes
32/	35	Yes
32p	23	Yes
329	22	Yes
330	30	Yes
331	30	Yes
332	45	Yes
333	40	Yes
334	17	Yes
335	38	Yes
336	20	Yes
33?	35	Yes
338	35	Not
339	19	Yes
340	33	Not
341	25	Not
342 343	23 9	Not Yes
344	29	Yes
345	33	Yes
346 21		Yes
347 45		Yes
348! 29		Yes
349, 22		Yes
350 23		Yes
351 27		Not
352 50		Yes
353 40		Yes
354 50		Not
355 13		Yes
3561 62		! Not
3564, 84		Yes
357 31		, \ es
358 22		| Yes
350	i M	, led
Comparisons with ordinary persons, Ten being the standard, lower
   numbers marking inferiority, and higher numbers superiority.
Temperaments ex-
 pressed in the or-
 der  of their  pre-
 ponderance.
5 ft.  4  in.
5 ft.  1  in
3 ft.  7  in.
3 ft. 5.5 in
6 ft.  3  in
4 ft.

5 ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.  8
4 ft. 11
5 ft.  4
5 ft.
5 ft.  7
5 ft.  4
3
2
4
4
9
4.5 in.
8  in.
    in.
    in.

    in.
    in.
5 ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.
4 ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.
4 ft.
5 ft.
 8  in
6.5 in
 8  in
 5 ft.  6  in.

 4 ft.
 5 ft.  9  in.

 5 ft.
 5 ft.  6  in.
\ 5 £L 1  in.
n. for nervous;
f.  " fibrous;
s.  " sanguine;
1.  " lymphatic.
8.1 1.

S.| 1.
ES
 4
10
 5
10
11
10
10
 9
 4
 6
10
13
11
 9
12
 8
 9
 8
 9
10
 9
10
 7
10
10
10
10
 9
10
10
 2
 4
 1
10
 7
 6
 9
11
10
 8
 9
 7
 8
 9
 8
10
11
 9
 4
 9
 8
 5
 9
10
 9
10
 1
 6
12
 3

 9
 2
 4
 3

 1
 4
 8
 6
 5
 0
10
 9
13

10
 4
10
 8
 2
10
10
 6
10   10
10   10
s	.S
it	
a	■n 1
~i	bp 1
o	•JJ
CD	« «
3	M C O <v
a	-~ "~
	^C
a	
	re .-=
	ft. *■
	
W	U "*
8	10
3	10
7	10
6	10
4	10
6	10
3	11
2	10
1	10
1	8
4	10
2	10
8	10
7	10
5	10
0	2
13	11
7	10
5	10
8	10
10	10
3	10
4	10
5	10
3	10
6	10
1	10
3	10
-	10
4	10
4	10
10	i io
1	9
-	-
(5	8
0	10
6	10
4	10
6	10
4	10 |
10
10
10
12
20
20
15 
	CC f. ^».£	© Cn 4*. CO	<o — © co oo ^i ©		4^. 41 4i 4- 4— 44. 0. cn 4- oo <o — o c^	3 CO CO 00 CO CO CO : oo ^» © oi j- co	COCOCOJOJOtOtOtOJO lO — © CO OO M © Ol 4i		JO JO JO tO h- hi — co to — © © oo ^	©	Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.		
VJ V* M		VI © to cn	©	VI VI	TO Ol TO © vl Ol CO CO CO v|	V{ TO vl 00 v| TO TO TO i—i *>.	V| TO V| 00 TO V| ■vj n O0 4i. cn	© TO	! VI Ol © M- © TO CO © mi	TO	Depth of Chest.		>
	© © o © ©	hi TO	<co Ol	O CO CO TO	OSOCh I . 1 Ol	10 10.7 10 11.1 10.3	9.2 11.1 10.6 10.8 11.4 11.7	TO	h- ^1 ^1 JO V| 1 • • • 1 Ol >tS. Ml	-	Width of Chest.		a
	© VI Ml TO Cn	CO © JO Cn	1 1 1 *°	tO (O JO -i	JO (O <w tO iO i i— © JO JO JO TO Cn CO JO V)	(O lO lw tO Oi no	JO lO tw JO <o iw tO JO h- liO O © "— Cn cn	JO • 1 Ol	<o to to jo to JO i— O CO © 1 . . 1 Cn cn	JO JO	Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium,		N D-
	v| Ol v} v} Ol v| -o JO	VI © CO CO	—1	vl v| no	vl •vj vj -VJ .^ 4i. Cn M -O	M v| © v| ^i © TO CO JO	VJ V? VI vl © © cn oo © co © no	VI (	VI v| Oi TO © i.....i M to tc m to	V} ©	Greatest Diameter of Cranium.		3 a a a
		"^ © © TO	1 1 1 M 1 4i.	r1 *^ on	>fe. Oi Oi Cn	v| VJ Ci V| ^| © TO CO -i	MMNvlOCl cn to © co cn to	CO	vl ^1 © 00 © i.....i v| jo CO >— ©	v| ©	Diameter from the root of the Nose to the Occipital Spine.		«. g CB
01 *». 01 ■ © © ©		Ol Ol . i i ©	III01 v|	VX Ol © Ol	Ol Ol Ol Ol Ol 1.....1 CO tO ^J © TO	oi cn oi oi oi oo >e» j^ to jo	oi cn oi © oi cn © v» JO to cn	Ol 1 ©	r o< Ol Ol Ol Ol © JO CO mi	Ol Vx	Transverse Diameter over the Ears.		B 5'
12.5 10 12.5		4- JO . 1 1 v|	III05! Ol	CO JO CO	CO CO CO 4^. 4^. i .... i JO cn © Oi	CO JO JO CO JO © Ol TO Ol	CO rf*. CO Ol JO i—1 TO cn	>n	. *m CO to Ol JO 1 • • 1 Ol Ol	CO	Arc of Cranium from root of Nose to Occipital Spine.		a o 3" a>
CO i-CO ( Cn		Ol 4-1 1	1 1 1 M 1 Cn	*- CO Cn	t CO CO 4- Ol Ol cn to Cn	if* CO CO CO 4i. cn to JO cn	*»■ Ol CO Ol CO CO JO Cn Cn cn	CO 1 Cn	, Ol *» CO Ol 00 Oi Cn Or	CO Cn	Arc from Ear to Ear.		CO D a.
i t i i		IIII	i i i i i	i TO	i i ■ i i i i	hi 1 I — *». VJ Ol	— CO CO Cn Oi	. .	1 h- 1 h-' | , © Ol Ol	©	Size of the Lower Frontal Region.	et X o cr 2. 5' 5-a B 0-e> 3. P> 3 o s <n o 3. 5 SI <5 a o E	a
© Ol Ol *•■ TO © TO '			1 ' ' i— v} cn *». TO CO hi TO JO JO Ol CO © © © rf*. to				h- £t V| Ol CO © i	hi tO	' CO © CO © Ol **• Ol		Skill in the use of the Perceptive Faculties.		5 £. ei
	1 1 1	■ III	i i i i i	© '	i • • i i i i	Ol ' JO "sj Ol '	' 4* v) © .U £>. '	1 1		CO	Size of the Upper Frontal Region.		--I
	n to CO to TO TO CO '		' ' ■ hiC0*«.tOOlrfi.hi^C0hi©OlOlita.OlOlC0				miWOI^mM i	© CO	1 tO V} JO Ol © CO Ol		Skill in the use of the Reflective Faculties.		o o —> S.S <
	1 1 1	IIII	i i i i i	© '	'.....	Vj ' MVllO '	1 mi CO vl to Ol '	I I	' O ' ik>u ' '	to	Size of the Lateral Region.		
	0 Ol © CO CO © JO >		1 © CO mi Oi © hi cn tO hi © CO hi VJ © Ol ^ CO © ©				hi Ol CO Ol i—i to '	hi tO	1 TO TO hi £k CO © Ol		Activity of the Faculties of Self-Preservation.		C3 S g 3 »
	1 1 1	■ ■ l 1	i i ■ i i	to '	......	CO ' JO © © '	' 4i. M o. TO © '	I I	' CO ' JO TO ' '	CO	Size of the Posterior Region.		;s 1 § g .
An A. © JO oi». © Oi '			' hiC0"sJIOCTsJOTOi©>OhiO>			mi cn ^ cn vi a	n cn A. oo JO mi '	ui Cn			Activ'v of the Social Attachments		£ ELo
|i..		llll	i i i i i	CO '	......	Ol ' CO TO VI '	1 4^. Cn © mi oo '	i i	' 4i- ' CO 4i. ' '	tO	Size ol the Coronal Region.		5-w a
fc. CO M Ji.		© © TO '	' ' ' hi ©	JOMivjCOn©C0i-'CnTOOiOi©C0TO			MfflaOlMM '	© ©	' CO Ol JO © CO CO CO		Activity of the Moral Sentiments		a w q in o ffl
,------		iiii	.....	*». ' '	< . . . . .	TO ' tO CO M '	1 © JO © TO mi '	. .	' CO ' ib. — ' '	El	Size of the Cerebellum.		3 3 5
JO_ 'O CO CO		© © Ol >£».	' JO ' Cn vj	^^i'^)C5ai3)-o-		COCn©COCOJOCOCO©4i.ODOCnCOtO			— CO JO © J*. © .&.	^	Activity of the Animal Nature.		■n, and ac-^ared with 3 age and
CO(^Olrf^COCO©OlOlrfikOli-'^.cnrfs.OlCOhi©COiOOlCO©©Ol*k©							niUOlOliOC0rf^rf^tOrf*iJ*©JOC0OlOlOl				Degree of ability to support themselves.		
 
1843.]
SENATE—No. 51.
25
■5   —~
318! Not: Not
319
320! Noti Yes
321 Not Yes
322 Not'  -
323'   -  I  -
321 Noti Not
         Not
         Not
         Yes

         Yes
Yes

Not
Yes
     Yec
Not  Not
     Yes
     Yes
     Yes
Noti Yes
Not| Not
Not  Yes

Not' Yes
     Yes
Not, Not
Not, Yes

Not] Not
Not! Not
Njrtj ¥m|
   1
   2
   1
   1
None
   2
   2
None
   1
None
None
  4
None
4 or 5

None
  1
o
Yes  Yes Yes
Yes  Yes Yes
Yes   -  Yes
Yes  Yes Not
Yes  Not Yes
Yes  Not Yes
Yes  Not Yes
Yes   -  Yes
Yes  Not; Yes
Yes1 Not: Yes
Yes1  -
Yes; Not
Yes: Not
Yes] Yes
Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
         Yes
Yes      Yes
Yes  Not Not
Yes   -  Yes
Yes   -  Yes
Yes   -  Yes
Yes   -  Yes
Yes  Yes Yes
Not   -  Yes
Yes   ■■  Yes
Not  Yes Yes
Yes  Yes Yes
Yes  Yes Yes
Yes  Yes Yes
Yes  Yes Yes
Yes   - ! Yes
Yes| Not' Yes
Yes' Not Yes
Yes  Yes; Yes
     Not
Remarks.
Yes
Yes
Yes
         Not
         Yes
         Yes
 -  I  - |l7es
 -  i Yes Yes
 .  |  - I Yes
Yes1 Noti Yes
Not! Yes! Not
Yes  - ! Not
Yes Not Yes
        ' Yes
\:
"\Hvt\
Venery and Masturbation.

Torpid limbs ; sister same.
Simpleton ; town pauper over 70 years.
Parents  drunkards;  mother scarcely compos;  sister
Torpid and scrofulous.                     [idiotic.
Parents very scrofulous.
Fits in infancy ; no use of limbs.
Cousin to the above.
Small deformed head ; mother a prostitute.
Small head ; paralysis of right side.
Gluttonous, and parents intemperate.
Mother a diseased prostitute.
Gluttonous.
Has become deaf, dumb, and nearly blind ; is catalep-
                                            tic.
Deformed and scrofulous.
Fits in infancy ; mother always very puny.
Deformed extremities, and small head.
Masturbation, gluttonous ; parents drunkards.
Injury on the head 10 or 12 years ago.
Father drunkard,  and the race all scrofulous.
Mother insane ; cousin idiotic.
\ Brothers; only  children  of a scrofulous  mother and
I a drunken father; masturbation and fits from 10 yrs.
Father intemperate; masturbation many years,   [old.
$ Masturbation; very scrofulous breed.
) Brother of the above.
Very scrofulous breed.            [sister a simpleton.
Gluttonous;  parents intemperate, mother a prostitute,
Very scrofulous mother; father has healthy children by
Father drunkard,  full of scrofulous sores, [another wife.

Gluttonous;  both parents are intemperate.
                                [sane occasionally.
Fits since 6 years old ; masturbation ; two sisters  in-
Scrofulous family, of which many occasionally insane-
Paralysis and St. Vitus's dance from infancy.
Paralytic and intemperate; scrofulous,  insane family.
From infancy ; fits in youth, scrofulous, full of ulcers.
Mother sickly during gestation; frightened by an idiot.
Head very small: mother  died insane; sister idiotic.
Scrofulous ulcers and leprosy; mother scrofulous. 
iC c 4. c	h4X0^i^^COCOCO(_OCOCOCOCOCOCO<»CO(hOCOCOi_OWCOM 3©©©©COCO©CQCOTOCOCOCOCOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO^vl^M^	Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.		
	JCBCJIMi Oi. hi ife. © CO tOCO Ol©tO©COhi hi C0itw*>.*hhiOl OlOliti-tO COtOTOOlJOvlhi to >u ?^COCcISoitOh^OlC0vl^^CO©C0WOltO03TO©0l©C0Wh-h-TOC^	Age.		
h a a C r c	-h<M^h^M^KJKjh<2KjK!h^h<h<Jl--^H<Kj^h<h<K-h<;^ SaicoBiSSefi&intntntnJncflSroco&iauioom^	Congenital Idiocy, or not.		
	n oi oi >*». *>. oi co oi oi oi ■*»■ oi oi co cn ■*•<» co *»■ 01 co cn cn *». 01 01 01 co cn > 3> S> JS> 3? 3> 3> pp j? s> s? S> Pt> «> 3> 3>«> £> PPP P J>p p pppp MM hi, ||| llill hilhil IIII 1 H 00 CO © h- VI CO 00 ©00 CO © <0 © h- © rfi.rf*.cO ' a'5'a'5'5' a'a' a'a' a' a' 333 3 333	Height, in feet and inches.		
fi?>r,)f'^r"fJr,>r,ii ffi^fn r*n i r- a a s a ■ is-,ir1»s3sr|ai^J3it-,i i i n» 3 r>i«		n. for nervous; f. " fibrous; s. " sanguine; 1. " lymphatic.	Temperaments ex-pressed in the or-der of their pre-ponderance.	C
to m a at xa t^o 0 p > ? a ?> n t a i i ?> v* ? t^ r*» 1 ir*»iBr^jor*5ai?,r,5ir,5i 1 1 a r*3 f+a 3 3				g 3
BB<»s-ij3aiMiiai{-,i3tn3ai,coi i 3 ? !"» ? i | a i jt m H) a to i hj to , to , , , ffl >- » jb «i				cr 2. 2 °
r- ~ r- 3 rs ? rs i ^r^r- i fi • r^:-r> J" ^ ■ i a ■ r- f-1-1- f i a t- i a ■ ■ ■ ^ a ^ f-1-^				3 " si
_ __i MM _ M- Ml mi Mi MMMMH covjoo^i©vi©oovivicocncovico©' • ©©oi©©1 • ■ ' ooooco ' to co • oi m > ©©©©©oo		Tactile Sensibility.		tw ° 5'S:
Al Ml h-i Ml Ml _ — Ml M- Ml Mi 1-1 hi hi hi Mi C > © vlCO hi CO © © CO © © © © CO CO vl ■ ■ 00©v|COC0' ' ' ■ © © CO © © ' MMi Ol 00 ' © h- CO CO h- to		Command of Muscular Contrac-tility.		-1 m] 5'V! 2.-0
1 I M- Ml Ml _ M_ Ml M- — MMM < i CO 4-»© © © *»>CO CO © CO vl © COCO 00 ' ' ©OlVJOOOlOO' ■ ' CO©iOhi©i vl hi i ©C0» CO TO © JO h-i CO		Dynamic condition of body.		?3 s a
|)Ol' 00 CO Ol © COiO© © Ol © tO ' TO......hit i • ' © Ol © CO *»• < TO©' CO' ' ' ' 00 CO Ol TO		Sensibility to Musical Sounds.		a-a
	hi hi 5CO©TO00tJll-'0JtOO0OltOvlhi' CO' » ' Cn V| 00 Ol ' ' ' ' C0©OI-l00' virfi.1 ©Ol' ' COVJCCvlQO	Skill in the use of Language.		ra _ -1 D" p ct c E" 30m a-
|h Mi Mm hi Ml Ml Ml hi M hi hi hi M m- mm Ml MMMMM hi hi Ml Ml hi 1-1 ^©©©©©TO©©©—©©^'©' ' • O © ' © ■ ' ' '©©©©©'©CD'CO' ' '©©OO©		Capacity for fixing Sight upon visible objects.		
i-h	hi — 9JO^MUlhiOiOl^h'MHCI<M 1 Ml 1 ' rfM tO ' CO ' ' ' 1 MMOOMfrl MHI l^ltkl ' CO *m> h- tO ©	Ability to Count.		•ii.
	jhita-JOhihiMihih-tOtOlOtOhi hi m-i—iJO iO ton tO tOJO h- MiOM«tO -TO©©©C0JOCn©©O©©TO' W1 ' ' tOtO©CD©' ' ' ©©CO©V|' O©1 TOTO' ' Ol © JO *- ©	Consumption of Food.		*1 M
h-	J mm h- JO tOlOtOJOhlhi hi JO Mih-hlJOlO Mi tO Ml Ml > ' Cn Ol©' ' 0DOOOO • CO ' 00 ' '©' ' 'hi©' ' 'OltO©©©'00^l'©hi©'Ol' '©©	Manifestat'n of Amative Feelings		rt
 
1848.]                        SENATE—No. 51.                            27
Actual size, by Measurement, in inches and
              tenths.
7.5
5.3
6.6
7.2
9.6
4.6
8.1
6.4
360,12
3611  8
362
363:
3641
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380!
381
3821
3831
384
385
38fi
387
388
389
 390
391   5.5
 392  8.5
 393  6.6
 394l
395
 396
 397
 398;
 399
 400
 401
 402
 403
 404
11.5
 7
10.6
2.5
18.2
21
11
II
 6.7
10
 8.2
22
22.5
 2.8
23
19.7
5.9
9.1
6.8
8.5
6.3
7.1
     5.7|13.5
7.2  5.414.4
6.5  4.813
8.5
Development of various parts of the cranium, and ac-
  tivity of various mental faculties as compared with
  that of 1000 ordinary persons of the same age and
  sex; 10 being the standard among ordinary persons.
14.2
14.5
13
6.2 15.2
18
20
11

 6.9
10.8
 9
9.1 11
7.210
22.5
6.2  4.5
7.1  5.3
7.7
7.7
9.3
7.8
6.8
6.3
20.5
22.7
21.3
7.5

6.9
7.8
7.4
7.7l
7.7
8.2
7.8
6.8
5.6
5.6
6 2
5.7
4.7
6.3
12.3
13
16.2

13
13
19
13.5
12.5
4.611
       3 23.3
        120
 . !   -  ]25
7.4 10.821.5
8.1  9.520.5
6 4  8.7 20.5
9.3 10.2  -
9.5 10.321   ]
8.8.11.2,22.6!
6.8

7.1
7
7.2
7.6
7.3
6.8
7.7
7.4
14
14
19.5
14.5
12.5
11.7
10
3
6
13.4
15
5.5

5.113  '13
5.713.5 14.5
5.3 13.313.5
       5.7 14.715.5
  6.8  5.1112.513.5
   .  j  - '   -   18
  7  1  5.7 13.514.5
  7   j 5.1 12.2 13.2
  7  Qi 5.3 13   13.5
  7.6  5.4   -  j
  7.3  5.213   13.5
;1 7.6. 5,8.14  >14.7
 3
 6
 1
 5
 2
 5
 5
 7
 4
12
 4
 5
 4
 6
 5
 7
10
10
v | • - i  t£ a.
xii \ < i a
17  1
    2
    4
  13
   8i
  13
  15
-16
- il6|
- !17|
- il3
-illi
-i  8

-113
-115
9 10
-i 9!
-Illl
5
5
1
4
2
3
3
5
4
5
4
5
3
5
1
5
2
5
5
5
4
2
4
5
4
4
5
5 
28
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
		a		
o a		0 a		
M		_<:		
o		>-.		
43"				
"cS		a CIS		
cu JS		a hi		
0		O		0
a				a
_o		t>~.		
	0 a			c
'■3 a 0	h. O	"3 ,A hi S		m? 0
0		<M. >		
13	■3	O V3	~	C5 J3
5	cs	HI'S	C5	3
	-^	2 M		
0 a _a	a 3	C3 " CO 0 C	O 3	c§
w	«	5 SP	_o	0
a	a	-° S		C
M C«	cu cB	s i 3 s	O	>
Pi	P-	aa	to Yes	O
Not	Yes	_		Yes
-	-	_	Yes	Not
Not	Yes	2 or 3	Yes	Not
Not	Yes	.	Yes	-
-	-	-	Yes	Yes
Yes	Not	2	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	1	Yes	-
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Not
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Yes
-	-	-	Yes	Yes
Not	Not	2	Yes	Not
Not	-	-	Not	Not
-	-	None	Yes	Yes
-	.	1	.	_
-	-	None	Yes	Not
_	_	1	Yes	Yes
Yes	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	Not	2	Yes	_
Not	Not	.	Yes	.
Not	Not	1	Yes	.
_	-	-	Yes	Yes
"	-	-	Yes	Yes
Not	-	-	Yes	.
Not	Yes	None	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	None	Yes	_
-	-	1	Yes	Yes
Not	Not	1	Yes	Yes
Not	Not	None	Yes	Yes
Not	-	2	Not	Yes
Not	-	None	Yes	Not
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
Not	Not	None	Yes	Not
-	-	-	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Yes
Not	Not	2	Yes	_
Not	Yes	1	Yes	_
Not	Yes	-	Yes	Yes
Remarks.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Very deformed; parents very scrofulous and intem-
                                          [perate.
Parents intemperate.
Parents drunkards and simpletons.
Intelligent in youth ; given to masturbation.
Senility.
Paralytic in limbs and nearly blind; skin pachyderma-
Poor, sickly breed; many relatives simpletons,   [tous.
Mother a simpleton, given to venery;  he cannot walk
Pachydermatous and torpid; mother diseased, [or chew.

Long a lunatic ; parents drunkards.
Brother idiotic,  and both given to masturbation.
Hydrocephalic; cannot walk ; very scrofulous breed.
Excessive garrulity.

Hereditary insanity.
Paralytic; getting  rapidly worse.

Irrepressible masturbation.

Parents cousins; mother married on account of symp-
  toms of insanity  ; insane during gestation.
Paralysis and St. Vitus's dance from infancy.
Masturbation from  16 or 18 years of age.


Excessive venery.
                                [from tender years.
Scrofulous from infancy,  and fits and  masturbation
Mother consumptive and frightened during gestation.
Masturbation and spasms at 6.
Masturbation from  tender years.
Fits at 6 or 7; healthy, and works in company.
Insane and idiotic at 35, with masturbation.
Small head; all the  descendants of his father very
Hydrocephalic.                          [scrofulous.
Scrofulous ulcers and sores from infancy.
Masturbation from  early childhood.
Father intemperate and sister idiotic.
Brother of No. 62.
Brother to No. 63;  parents drunkards.
He and his f"*hn J-"r''irrlf 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
29
1 ■Jl	f															
'11 1 2				Comparisons with ordinary persons, Ten being the standard, lower												
~i				numbers marking inferiority, and higher numbers superiority.												
a			Temperaments ex-						o CO				a 1 o			St! c
co				sressed in the or-					a	>>	•3 a	6	ET			"a
c		m!	<£	der of their pre-					o	O	3	CO 3	J3			'£,
a		a	"u	ponderance.					hi CO	40	tn	bX) a	bjo		_	a >
i		o	.E						"3	O	ra	ij			o	•3
o		„~	13					si,	u	a o	'ui		.=f		■I	E
,0		o	IS					15	3 s	•c	3 3	o	'x «3 v,	a 3	1	"^
^0 0) 43 £	c3	■5 MH 'a V bo a	TJo	n. for nervous; f. " fibrous; s. " sanguine ; 1. " lymphatic.				3	Cm. o "C a ctf E >..	o	O 13 a	3 | o	m o ! c £•-.! O		.2 a. S 3 a	
3 2	<	o U	'5 E					r-	o ~ U	«'	ct>	12 CO	£'			s
405	16	Yes 5 ft. 1 in.		1.	f.	s.	n.	6	10	10	6	6	10	2 18		-
406	30	Not 5 ft. 6 in.		f.	s.	1.	n.	9	11	9	-	8	10	9 18		20
407	49	Not 1	5 ft. 9 in.	f.	s.	n.	1.	10	9	9	8	8	10	15 i 20		18
408	25	Yes	5 ft.	-	-	-	-	10	9	9	8	6	10	3	12	-
409, 30		Yes														
410, 8		Yes	3 ft. 5 in.	1.	s.	n.	f.	10	3	2	1	6	8	1	12	-
411, 9		Yes	3 ft. 9 in.	n.	f.	s.	1.	10	2	4	8	6	9	9	15	20
412 24		Yes	4 ft. 11 in.	f.	s.	n.	1.	8	9	10	8	5	10	2	16	18
413, 12		Not	4 ft. 7 in.	n.	f.	s.	1.	9	10	10	13	10	10	13	20	18
414: 15		Yes	4 ft. 9 in.	f.	s.	1.	n.	8	10	9	7	4	10	3 14		-
415 11		Yes	3 ft. 9 in.	n.	s.	f.	1.	10	2	2	8	3	10	1	8	-
41<i 17		Yes	.	-	-	-	-	10	10	10	8	7	10	8	13	-
41/t If		Yes	2 ft. 7 in.	1.	s.	f.	n.	8	4	3	-	4	7	-	13	-
418 60		Yes	5 ft. 4 in.	f.	s.	1.	n.	5	9	10	8	3	10	1	16	16
419; 70		Yes	5 ft. 4 in.	n.	f.	s.	1.	8	9	9	2	8	8	2	12	18
420 42		Yes		_	-	-	-	-	10	10	8	8	10 3		20	-
421! 16		Yes	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	9	6	2	9	1	20	-
422; 20 423! 47		Yes	5 ft. 5 in.	f.	n.	s.	1.	8	8	9	0	3	10	3	16	-
424 49		Yes	5 ft. 3 in.	n.	s.	f.	1.	5	10	9	9	3	8	1	18	-
425 21		Yes	5 ft. 5 in.	n.	f.	s.	1.	7	10	7	5	2	10	1 4 3	10	20
426; 25		Yes	5 ft. 8 in.	s.	1.	f.	n.	10	10	7	-	-	-		-	-
427: 1R		Yes	5 ft. 10 in	n.	s.	f.	1.	9	7	6	-	-	-		-	-
42 42 43 43 43 43 43 43 43 43	- 25 ■) 14 D 48 1 65 2 28 1] 70 1 60 5 50 ; 18 7 16	Yes Yes Not Not Yes Yes Not Yes Not Yes	5 ft. 7 in 5 ft. 7 in 5 ft. 7 in 5 ft. 2 in 5 ft. 6 in	s. f. 1. f. f. s. n.	f. n. s. s. s. f. f.	1. s. f. n. n. 1. s.	n. 1. n. 1. 1. n. 1.	10 10 6 7 10 6 8 10 9 11 10 9 10 10 10 9 10 10	10 10 8 8 9 10 10 9 10 8 g	10 10 9 7 10 10 9 9 9 8 9	6 4 3 2 6 1 4	8 7 5 5 7 7 7 1 4 2 6	10 10 1 10 10 10 10 10 10 10	4 4 1 7 4 8 2 1 4 1 3	14 15 12 20 20 11 20 20 20 20 20	20 20 8 20 15 20 20
438 29 439 63 440 60 441 23 442 21 443 36 444 56 445 60 446 18 4471 16		Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Not Yes Yes 1 Not	4 ft. 10 in 5 ft. 1 in 5 ft. 5 ft. 5 ft. 6 in 5 ft. 5 in 5 ft. 1 m 4 ft. 11 ni 4 ft. 10.5in	n. . f. if' n. .i f. i n. .1 s.	1. n. 1. f. s. f. f. s. f.	f. s. s. s. 1. s. s. f. n.	s. 1. n. 1. n. 1-1. n. 1.		11 11 2 6 9 9 10 8 11	9 11 4 5 8 8 9 8 1 9	12 5 6 6 4 7 2 5 12	3 6 3 8 7 6 7 4 3	10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10	1 3 3 3 4 4 4 j 3 1 ?	15 15 10 15 1 16 14 1 11 9 18	20 10 10 20 8 13
44 44	8; 18 9 8&	1 Not -v. Yes.	5iL-Ji i-	1 1 -•J 1.	,-S-	f.	n	10	! 9	1 9	1 "	7	1	"	1 !	■ -
 
4m ©		4M»4M.4-»4^4^4^4i.»^4M.4^>jM.4^4l4^4^4^4^l^4^4^jM>4^4^4^4^4^4^4^4^4^4^>t^ ^^^^^"""^"""co^joJo^joS^ TOM© 01 -"-.mO/O -OJrDvi0)JlM.WJ0M.OO00viaiii*iC0i0-OOCDv)arj,4i05M-' © CD TO M © Ol					Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.	
		©VJ © V| Ci © V| <| ©VI TO __© _vi oi © jo v» oi vj jo oi	TO VI .1 II CO	VI© CO TO TO	t f f TO *m © © V| 4i. Ol Ol © CO TO CO © VJ	. . . , M	Depth of Chest.	Actual size, by measurement, in inches and tenths.
	_	TO TO CO TO © © © VJ ©1— Mi __TO OD CO © CO © *>. Ol	© © .1 II ©	CO © © Ol Ol *>.	© VJ o TO CO TO © JO CO CO CO CO	9.5	Width of Chest.	
		<o <o <o <o to <o iO <o <o jo co |JOJO(--JO^-m-cO{0 to co to JO CO CO Ol Ol	22.2 22.3	JO JO JO M- O CO • Ol	<o JO JO JO JO IO (O IO 1 1 1 '-' *~ ©©©©--© Ol MM. Ol	JO to llll	Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium	
		, vj VI VJ VJ VJ VJ VJ VJ VIGO vi ■ • • i.......i. ii. i ©Ol CO CO JO JO VI Ol 4*. 00	vi ■ 1 1 1 1 VJ	VI © VI CO TO CO	! V| © © © © VJ Oi JO TO TO TO TO JO VJ	7.3	Greatest Diameter of Cranium.	
		, vi VJ VJ V| VI VJ VJ VJ VI QO VI 1 • . 1......11. II. 1 Ol *>. CO CO JO JO VJ Ol wU 00	1.1	VJ © vi CO TO TO	, <l © © © © VJ Oi tO © TO TO TO JO VJ	7.1	Diameter from the root of the Nose to the Occipital Spine.	
		! Ol Ol Ol Ol >U it» Ol Ol Ol © Ol Ol A. CO Ol CO CO 4-. V| Vx'—' ©	5.3	Ol **. Ol JO CO Ol	( Ol Ol Ol Ol Ol Ol Ol JO *» CO CO JO	5.6	Transverse Diameter over the Ears.	
		, ««! i cocotococo CO CO Ol TO VJ JO	13.5	tO 4^ Ol	t to ( to JO to JO to CO Mm, Ol Ol Ol VI	, . . , «"	Arc of Cranium from root of Nose to Occipital Spine.	
		,*^*i1C0C04^.C04^C0 CO Ol © oi oo oi oi ©	MM	14.5 13.5	( t ,coi ( CO CO CO JO CO CO JO 4i. Oi	Ol iiii	Arc from Ear to Ear.	
>		11.......1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	1 1 1 1 1	• ■ii	1 1 1 1 1 1 1.....	i ■ i i i	Size of the Lower Frontal Region.	Development of various parts of the cranium, ai tivity of various mental faculties as compare! that of 1000 ordinary persons of the same ag sex j 10 being the standard among ordinary pe
	Ol	1 © Ol TO *» VI V! © 4-. tO © tO Ol tO *>. © #* ** *>. Ol © 4-> Ol tO CO it-. '			tOC0©4->*»©*>.Ol©C0©*.*»©TOTOOl		Skill in the use of the Perceptive Faculties.	
	.......'......' '.........i i i i i i 1 i i.........| Size of the Upper Frontal Region.							
	yj	1 TOC«©OlOl©OlOlCOO?hi4i.hirf».OlOlOlOlOl©viOiMi4^COl			JOOlVlOlOlOltOrfiO0*>.OlC0*>.rfM*>.VIOl		Skill in the use of the Reflective Faculties.	
	.........'.....i • • •• ■ ■ ■ i i • i i i ■ ■ i . . . ,......., | Size of ihe Lateral Region.							
	ft	1 »&■©' CO © Ol ©© to *». to tO hi CO rfi 4-> CO CO Ol Ol £t Ol ii CO CO '			*.C0*-tOOlOlJO^©C0*Mhi	COOl Oi TO©	Activity of the Faculties of Self-Preservation.	
		■ 1 I I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 1 ■, 1 1	.....	iiii	.........,■■		Size of the Posterior Region.	
.	4	©©JOtOVJCO©OiJO©COJOMio©JOJOCOOl©TOVI		Ml © JO '	OiMM.TDOi4M.O^r5VJC1©©MiciiOitOi04M.		Activ'y of the Social Attachments	
	............'...........■ • i . . i.......... ■ ■ , . | s,ze 0f ,he Coronal Region.							
	o	TOTO-[».4M,COOivpjM.JOCOCO©tO>tMVIVIo;	© © Ol TO TO	!-■ 4m. CO '	JOC04M.CO*MVIiM050iVITOMiCOTO4^.©VJ		Activity of the Moral Sentiments	
		• i ■ ■ i i i i i i i i i i i i i	i i i i i	Iiii	......I.....	1 ' ' ' Mi	Size of the Cerebellum.	
k	0_	C0TO©4i.JO©VJJOOl©ai.©^M©*toiOi	4m.C0JO©VJjoC0JO '		4m.OiC04m.00mmOi>—'©4M.CO©	' O © © IfcC	Activity of the Animal Nature.	
OtCOOl014^WOlOlOlOlCOOlt04^t04^0i4^.f--4^0!OiCncnMiw                                                       Degree  of ability   to  support
thems 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
31
Not

Not
Not

Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not

Not
Yes
Yes
Not
Notj Yes
Not  Not
K
Not	Yes
Not	Not
Not	-
Not	Yes
Not	Yes
-	Not
Not	_
Not	Not
Not	Not
Not	Not
Not	Yes
Not	Yes
-	Not
.	Yes
Not	Yes
Not	
Yes, Not
Not  Not,
Not; Not
Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Noti Not
Not; Yes
Not; Yes
Not Not
  3
None
  1
None

None
None
  1
None
  1
None
None
None
  2
  1
  3
  1
None
None
  3
  3
  5
  5
None
None
None
None
None
Some
None
  1
None
  2
  1
Yes! Not^
         None
            1
 -I-i    l
Not|Not|  J2_
	
	o
	a
	
	0
	c
	o
	
o	40
	3
M,	
o	«
»T	§
	
o	
,3	c
	V
	
W Yes	O
	_
Not	Yes
Yes	Yes
Yes	Not
Yes	Not
Yes	Yes
Yes	Yes
Yes	Yes
Yes	Not
Yes	Not
Yes	.
Yes	Not
Yes	Yes
-	Yes
Yes	.
Yes	-
Yes	_
Yes	-
Yes	Yes
Yes	-
Yes	-
Not	-
Not	-
Yes	Yes
Yes	Yes
Yes	-
Yes	Not
Yes	Yes
Yes	Yes
Not	Yes
Yes	Not
Yes	Yes
Yes	Yes
Not	Not
Yes	-
Yes	-
Yes	Not
Yes	Yes
Yes	-
Yes	Not
Not	Yes
,-Yes	Not!
Ye
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ye
Yes
Yes
Ye
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Remarks.
Parents cousins, and scrofulous; one brother idiotic,
  and four others malformed, who died early.
Masturbation from youth.
Mother, brothers and Bisters very puny.
Father scrofulous and intemperate ;  brother simpleton.

Puny, St. Vitus's dance from birth, scrofulous tumors.
His mother was intemperate and a prostitute.
Masturbation and fits  from 8 years old ; before, was
He and his relatives very scrofulous and idiotic,  [bright.
Fits in infancy.
Masturbation at 6 years, and spasms since ; poor breed.
Scrofulous and obese from birth.
Fits in childhood; gluttony and masturbation.
Parents simpletons; the family seem rum-soaked.
Parents simple and intemperate.
Father drunkard, and a desperate character.

Puny;  very destructive.
Small, deformed head.
Very unhealthy  and morbid from birth ; irrepressible
$ Subject to fits.                      [masturbation.
I Brother of  the above.
$ Brothers, and simpletons  of a poor breed; parents
} and grand-parents simpletons.
Masturbation ; nyctalopeia; intermittent amenia.
Masturbation in youth ; very scrofulous.
Scrofulous, and general torpor from infancy.
Illegitimate, intemperate, scrofulous.
Masturbation and insanity from 40.         [38 years.
Deformed ; kept in  a cage  in the shop during  the last
Bright till 16.   Caused by masturbation in infancy.
Fits.  Now improving.   Scrofulous breed.
Brain fever at 3 years old;  scrofulous breed.
Shameless venery and self-abuse ; has 2 bastards.
Healthy and athletic ; has a beard like a man.
Gait like a drunkard ; father a drunkard, mother sickly.
Resembles, in gait and  manner, her drunken father.
Mother insane; brother & paternal half-sisters idiotic.
Masturbation from 18; parents very scrofulous; father
Scrofulous ;  father a drunkard.          [intemperate.
Very scrofulous and cancerous ; deformed.
Healthy and intelligent, till taught masturbation at 6.
Cousin to the above; idiotic from the same cause.
Yga^ Scrofulous, as are all her relatives. 
32
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
 17
 35
 46
 26
 45
 50
 48
 29
 12
 28
 22
 22
 25
 8
 10
 35
 21
 59
 60
 64
 56
 48
 56
 8
61
42
 12
43
16
14
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
Yes
Not
Not
4 ft. 8  in.
5 ft.
5 ft. 2  in.
4 ft. 10  in.
4 ft. 4  in.
5 ft. 5  in.
5 ft. 4  in.
5 ft.
4 ft. 10  in.
3 ft. 10  in.
5 ft.  1  in
5 ft.  4  in

5 ft.  2  in.
4 ft.  8  in
5 ft.  2  in

3 ft.  7  in
5 ft.  4  in
5 ft.  2  in.
4 ft. 10  in
3 ft.  2  in
5 ft.  3  in.
Comparisons with ordinary persons, Ten being the standard, lower
  numbers marking inferiority, and higher numbers superiority.
Temperaments ex-
 pressed in the or-
 der of their  pre-
 ponderance.
n. for nervous;
f. "  fibrous;
s. "  sanguine;
1. "  lymphatic.
3 ft. 10  in.
5 ft. 4  in.

5 ft. 2  in.
5 ft.
4 ft. 3  in.
5 ft. 3  in.
4 ft. 11  in.

5 ft. 2  in.
5 ft. 2  in.
10
11
 6
10
11
10
10
10
10
10
 5
11
10
10
10
 9
 8
 6
11

11
11
12
10
 8
10
 6
u
10
 7
10
 9
11
10
 8
 6
10
10
 8
10
 3
 9
 3
 3

 9
11
 2
 8
 3
 9
 5
 10
 9
 13
 7
 6
 6
 9
 5
 5
 10
 9
 12
 4
 10
 4
 10
10
 8
10
 7
 4
 5
 9
 5
10
10
 8
10
 9

11   10
11 I  1>
 7
 9
 6
12
 1

10
a-v.
co -r
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10

10
10
10
10
10

10
11QI   rk \ °a 
1848.]
SENATE—No.  51.
33
Actual size, by Measurement, in inches and
                tenths.
Development of various parts of the cranium, and ac-
  tivity of various mental faculties as compared with
  that of 1000 ordinary persons of the same  age and
  sex; 10 being the standard among ordinary persons.
 
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
o a		a is o a			
o		4d			
JmT					
"5		KS			
CU		a			
o a .2		O tM.		o a	
	o c	u o		o	
T5 a o	Im o	"3 i/ hi g		a o	
		<- >			
13 g		OS a, CS	o a	a 3	o a
	4*				
o a	c 3	° CB	o	S	o
.a	Q	"o a 5 fcn	3	o	CCS
"S	a	-£> 5	^	a	-G
CU cs	CU	s i 3 s	o	CU >	CO o
Pm	M4	2 *	tn Yes	O Not	tl Yes
Not	Not	2			
Not	Not	2	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Yes	2	Yes	Yes	Yes
Not	Not	None	Yes	-	Yes
-	-	-	.	Not	Yes
-	.	-	-	.	Yes
Not	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
Not	.	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	None	Not	Not	Yes
Not	Not	2	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Not	2	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Yes	None	Yea	Not	Yes
-	-	None	Yes	.	Yes
Not	Not	None	Yes	.	Yes
Not	Yes	None	Yes	-	Yes
Not	.	.	Yes	.	Yes
Not	-	3	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Yes	Yes
	-	-	Yes	Yes	Not
Not	Yes	.	Yes	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	-	Yes	Not	Not
Not	Not	2	Yes	Yes	Yes
	-	-	.	Not	Yes
Not	Not	None	Yes	Yes	Yes
Not	Not	4	Yes	Yes	Yes
	-	None	Yes	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	None	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Not	Not
Not	Yes	None	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Not	1	Yes	Not	Yes
-	-	-	Yes	.	Not
Not	Yes	2	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Not	1	Yes	.	Yes
Not	Not	3	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Not	3	Yes	Not	Yes
	-	None	Not	Yes	Yes
	-	-	Yes	_	Yes
	-	-	Yes	.	Not
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Yes	Yes
Not	Yes	1	Yes	Not	Yes
Not	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
	-	-	Yes	.	Not
	Yes	None	Yes	-	Yes
	-	2	.	Yes	Yes
	-	None	-	-	Yes
Remarks.
Sister to the next.
Puny from birth; purblind.
Of a wretched,  puny race.
Deformed head.
Cousin to No. 449.
Open, shameless venery
         [and self-abuse.
Very scrofulous.  Parents drunkards and licentious.
Given to venery and masturbation at 17 ; had 2 illegit-
Made drunk at 8 years old;  became idiotic,   [imates.
Very scrofulous ;  brother and sister idiotic.
Sister to the above.
Deformed, and has fits.  Father drunkard.
Very scrofulous.
Paralysis of lower limbs.  Family very scrofulous.
Puny ; could not walk till 7.  Father drunkard.

Parents and brother scarcely compos.
Father drunkard ; mother  prostitute.  She masturbat-
                        ing, and has 1 illegitimate.
Congenital.   Still lustful to  excess.
Stunted in growth ;  deformed.

Fits in childhood.
Small head.
Hereditary insanity.   Masturbation.
Masturbation at 13, and religious mania.
Fits in infancy ; attempted  abortion.  Other children
Deformed.   Parents both beastly drunkards,  [bright.
Deformed.   Mother scrofulous and father drunkard.
Scrofulous race.

Deformed.   Parents both drunkards.  Mother simple.
Mother scrofulous and lunatic, and brother a simpleton.
5 Parents scrofulous and unhealthy ; 2 brothers are
\  insane from masturbation.
Religious mania in youth,  and masturbation.

Very vigorous and active.
Father intemperate and simple.  Masturbation.
Father drunkard, and cousin idiotic.
Father drunkard ;  mother prostitute.  Head deformed.
                 [Open and shameless masturbation.
Parents intemperate ; brothers  and  sisters scrofulous.
Masturbation; still insatiably erotic.  Two brothers in-
                                             [sane. 
 OlOlWOlWOlOlOlOlWOnCTOTCT.O.Oi^OTO.01^
JggSSgggjg ;2 2! j£_{5 £ S '^,g^j^»5^"a5.ucotOMio8gv?
OOOOOOOfflfflOg
OjO14m.03(O — OCOTOVI©
OlCOTOCOhihi   j^i
.g5gfcSSSS8Sg8S3S£S8!8S3S5§?^
f ???« asmSS8 aa???S  3 ???f 8 S  8 ??8 8 S3  8 8 as 8  8 8  S 8 8 8 3
Numbers for reference to names in the MSS.
Age.
Congenital Idiocy, or not.
WOl^i(-*OlO!itMOlJOC0OlC0*>tO    *nUOlOlJi   *> *> CO *- Ol Ol CO
M^M^Mjp^M^-p-^MJ-JJJIjMJll,    MJ, M*, M*, p -M,   ^ ^» p JJ JJ O ^


tOrf-.hi©©rf».00C0i-'0D    OlOoS'tf-COtOrfi©   VI Ol   TO

5'5'3'3'3'5'5'5'3'5'    3'3'3"    a 3 a  a a   pa    a________
*
B*3M-M-3ri3aBt-M-B1s3r,>!
~>3 a  r*>r*>? .— 3  .— 3  r-r-r-:-r-? r^p p  ?> t-a  r^a  r-r-r^r
MljMfjtBUl^OQMMjM^JMjJMjaiMMjMtjJja,  |
^3Mna,3tB3tor,»?r,>?r,5?1™™^p^?"?1?ls::*5?'.tD3?'
■  r-^-jaiar-" ■???-■?>?  . ■ .»  ? r> <° a :*> ? ?>  ? ■  ? ■  r>r> syy  ?r>sar»y ?^^? r1
1 — ^B-j-j-j-^af-M-M,,  r--r-M-.M-h-M-r,h-r<,r-.ji,BB3r.
i^r-^r-rr^r^t-a a
©00©hi©©©©0<OCO
©TO VI ■  5o©CO^COV|V|COV|COTO©COCOCO©COV|TO©CO©COV|ODOl©CC
Height, in feet and inches.
r-» r>3


-» »a
9 a m, -t
S<W q <
• c a o
. CB
13	Q.-0		h-
			
3			H
a.			T3
		rt	
S»		0.	
	~		3
			
	"	ni	a
			
			
	re		
Tactile Sensibility.
nggSMOoS^MSMMCOOtDOOtJCOOtDC^Htt
Command of Muscular Contrac
 tility.__________________________
tx5<  O0i—C0©i—'h-h-i TO
TO©©OTOTO©4^TOTO©TOTOtOTOCOCOOtOCO©COTOV|OCOCOTOTOVIlOTO*.
Dynamic condition of body.
•  ©'  ©M-tOOlCOh-h-JOtOTOh-COJO*.©©V|OlC0 V!CO '  h-© TO *• h-CO CO
Sensibility to Musical Sounds.
.  Q0OlTO©tOM-V|©Olh-V|tOOl©h-TOC0©TOh-h-coOlOltOCOTO©h-©4i.
Skill in the use of Language.
0©©0©©0©000©©©0
©OO©©©©©©©0000000
Capacity for fixing Sight upon
 visible objects.______________
TOi-iN3t0^h-IM4VIOi-TOr-tO*^hihih-©Ol--h-OltOtOh-OlTO--'h-h-h-
Ability to Count.
h-hlJOJO    h-  .  M h- Ml hi JO M. hi
JOTO01©01TO0l0l©©l
Consumption of Food.
»i   !_i   —to    tOh-tOtOJO
Ol1  ©I  Ol©'  ©TOO©©
O Ol '  '  '  '   '
Mauifestat'n of Amative Feelings 
Sco'SSSSSSSSSSSjo'SSto'jo'S^
© © #» VI 00 V|
VI *© © CO it- V|
Ol 00 Ol © ©
   TOO!   TO
© CO © CO CO TO
Ol mm Ol © CO CO
d i— vi hi vi
   hi 4m
Ol © Ol © TO
VI JO Ol Ol
Depth of Chest.
TO CO VI CO ©
Ol Oi JO Ol Ol
Width of Chest.
OiOiOI©immOiV»TOOiOiOi
Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium
V| V| Ol V| © V|
*k © CO m- TO 4i.
© V| © V| VI
TO TO Ol JO V
© V|
CO Ol
© © © © v|  (  ©  Greatest Diameter of Cranium.
© vi co vi vi    <
vi vi oi vi © vi
4i. © CO mi OO CO
© VI © V| VI
VI TO •&. JO Cn
© V|
CO Ol
© © © © vi
Ol VI h- VI vl
Diameter  from the root of  the
 Nose to the Occipital Spine.
Ol Ol rf^ Ol Ol Ol
CO CO V» TO mi CO
i*m Ol Ol Ol Ol
00 it. CO -i *>.
Ol Ol
CO Ol
*^. Oi *m Oi ©  .  Oi   Transverse Diameter over the
Jo   © hi ii    mi    Ears.__________________________
CO © co to CO
JO CO to CO CO
CO JO    CO Qi
JO -~ to to Ol    to
CO Ol    Ol_________
Arc  of Cranium  from root  of
 Nose to Occipital Spine.
+ih.^03*.
CO |  to *m tococo
vi   TO CO Ol 4m. Oi
to to COCO Ol  §  CO
Cn Qi    Oi Oi______
Arc from Ear to Ear.
Size of the Lower Frontal Region,
V|*>.©C0C0tO©OlC0C0Ol4^.©Olhi©©©>^*^.hiV|MM
JO M- TO mm JO CO Ol
Skill in the use of the Perceptive
 Faculties.
| Size of the Upper Frontal Region
OlC0©i^tO©Ol>M-JOtOOl©C0rfi.©C0C0OlOlhitO©lO
hi CO V| Ol h-» tO ©
Skill in the use of the Reflective
 Faculties.
i   ■  |  Size of the Lateral Region.
4^tO>h^COtOhi©>^COC04^.tOV|COh-itMhiCOOltOi-'tOCO
JO © TO CO mm 00 VI
Activity of the Faculties of Self-
 Preservation.
|  Size of the Posterior Region.
MWMMstouvjj)ahiciiMUiffi"tJ''-tcaiO"M»3
0 oo ji mi ^> to 1  Activ'yoftheSociiil Attachments
Size of the Coronal Region.
COJO©JOJO©©©Qi|—'0iOJ0JmOQiTOC0v1©mi<04m.
mi co TO © mi oo oo I  Activity of the Moral Sentiments
Size of the Cerebellum.
© © jo — Jo © ^cotooiJOoov»cncnJo©©tojocoS(co©M^M^too |  Activity of the Animal Nature.
I Degree  of ability  to  support
 themselves. 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
37
49f
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
5l!)i Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not

Not
Not
Not

Not
Yes

Not

Not
Not
Not
Not

Not
Yes

Not
Yes
    Not
Not1 Not

Not!  -
Noti Yes
    Yes
Not
Not

Not
520,   -
521 Not
522 Not
523'   -
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
Not
Yes
Yes
  i
None
  1

  1
None
None
  1
  3
  1
  3
  3
None
   1
   1
None
None

   1
   1
None
None
   2
   2
None
   1
   1
   o
 None

 Some
Some
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
 >
 o

Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes

Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Not
Not

Not

YTes
Yes

Yes
Remarks.
Yes
  1
Some
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ye
Yes
Yes
Yes
 Not
 Yes
 Ye
Parents cousins;  father drunkard.  All maternal rela-
Puny and scrofulous from birth.     [tives scrofulous.
Mother harlot; father scrofulous and masturbating.
Scrofulous race ;  tongue and lips paralyzed.
Scrofulous ; paralysis in left hand, and cannot chew.
Deaf at 2 years old.   Very scrofulous race.
Masturbation from 7 years old.
Father scrofulous, and paternal cousin idiotic and par-
Simpleton.  Very scrofulous.                [alytic.
Masturbation; deformed.  Mother deformed and scrof-
Scrofula and masturbation.                   [ulous.
Much given to masturbation.
Given to masturbation.
Masturbation  and gluttony from youth.
Rickets in childhood.   Sutures of head not closed.
Fits at one year old.  Open and shameless masturba-
Parents very scrofulous. Masturbation.        [tion.
Irritable and  malicious.
Masturbation.
The sutures of the head are growing wider.
Fits in infancy, and paralysis of right side.
Scrofulous.  Malformation of head and face.
$ Sisters.  Idiotic from infancy. Scrofulous  race.
I Their brother idiotic and  cancerous.

Small head and paralysis.  Her cousin is an  idiot.
Healthy and  well formed;  nervous and gluttonous.
Masturbation; has several  bastards.   [Mother simple.

Scrofulous.   Father intemperate.
         Inane at 24 ; insanity hereditary.  Masturbation.
         Insanity, and then idiocy and vagrancy.
         Was intemperate and insane at 18; and then gradually
         Insane at 28, and idiotic at 30.              [idiotic.
         Insane at 52 ; insanity hereditary.
         Insane at 24 ; idiotic at 26, from domestic affliction.
Yes  Yes' Insane at 30.  Venerous, and has violent temper.
 - I  Yes Insane at 21, and idiotic at 25.
Ye?  Yes Insane at 15, from masturbation.
     Yes Insane at 27, idiotic  at 28, and growing worse.
     Yes Insane at 37, and thence gradually became idiotic.
     Yes Insane at 46, and idiotic at 48.  Brother insane.
     les; 
38
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
tn																
Vi				Comparisons with ordinary persons, Ten being the standard, lower												
0) .s				numbers marking inferiority, and higher numbers										superiority.		
0) B				Temperaments ex-					u CO				c o			So a
CO				pressed in the or-					c	>>	-a a	CU so	3			~o
c		■~	<p	der of their pre-					0	O	3 0	CS 3	£			
CU CJ c		a M o o	«J .£ T3 S a	ponderance.				IS	M _c0 3 u 3 s	43 <— O a _o t3	Vi 3	be c CO mJ o CU	fcuO in s "3	a	XI c o o	0)
CU M <£ CU M																CO s < Sm
<2		Is	cl	n. for nervous; f. " fibrous;				a CU	o T3	B O CJ	o	3 CU	k. V o <u	o	a .2	o a
Mi		'a	"V	s. " sanguine;				Vi	C CO	u s co c >>		-	z>°	o	a. S 3 a o	CO
43 s 3	tsi	o be a o	.S '53	1. " lymphatic.				a	o ■-		IS s	15	11 a.« co ■?	IS		1 '5 CO
Z	<	O	X					H	O	Q	w	w	O >	<	U	§
541	24	Not	_	n.	f.	s.	1.	10	11	8	.	_	_	.		
542	40	Not	.	f.	n.	s.	1.	11	12	11	.	.	.	.	_	
543	37	Not	-	f.	n.	s.	1.	7	10	11	.	-	.	_	.	.
544	60	Not	.	f.	n.	s.	1.	10	9	11	.	.	.	.	_	.
545	12	Not	-	1.	s.	n.	f.	10	10	9	.	-	.	_	.	20
546	25	Not	.	1.	s.	f.	n.	10	9	7	_	_	_	_	.	
547	48	Not	.	1.	s.	f.	n.	6	8	9	-	3	10	5	12	_
548	50	Not	-	1.	s.	n.	f.	.	.	10	.	4	10	_	13	.
549	59	Not	-	f.	n.	S.	1.	8	9	6	_	4	10	1	11	.
550	33	Not	.	n.	f.	B.	1.	7	9	7	_	.	.	_		
551	39	Not	-	f.	n.	S.	1.	7	10	10	_	.	.	_	_	
552	51	Not	.	f.	s.	n.	1.	7	11	10	_	_	.	.	_	
553	45	Not	.	f.	s.	1.	n.	4	8	5	.	.	.	_	_	
554	33	Not	-	n.	f.	s.	n.	11	10	8	.	_	.	.	„	
555	29	Not	-	f.	s.	1.	n.	2	7	9	.	.	_	_	_	
556	33	Not	.	n.	f.	s.	1.	8	10	10	_	_	.	_	_	
557	75	Not	-	s.	f.	1.	n.	6	10	10	.	.	_	_	_	
558	25	Not	.	n.	f.	s.	1.	10	10	9						
559	29	Not	.	f.	n.	1.	s.	10	8	2						
560	26	Not	.	s.	f.	1.	n.	5	8	4	.	.	_	_	^	
561	27	Not	-	f.	n.	s.	1.	9	9	9						
562	30	Not	-	n.	f.	1.	s.	4	7	6						
563	62	Not	-	f.	n.	s.	1.	2	2	5						
564	29	Not	-	f.	s.	1.	n.	5	9	9						
565	52	Not	-	f.	s.	1.	n.	9	10	7						
566	28	Not	-	s.	f.	n.	1.	10	10	9	.	.	_	„		
567	31	Not	-	1.	s.	f.	n.	5	10	10	.	.	_	.		
568	28	Not	.	f.	s.	1.	n.	8	10	8	.	.	.	.	_	.
569	41	Not	-	n.	1.	f.	s.	8	10	9	_	.	.	_		
570	23	Not	-	s.	n.	f.	s.	8	10	9	.	.	.	_	.	
57]	60	Not	5 ft. 2 in.	n.	f.	5.	1.	8	5	8	.	1	10	1	20	.
572	9	Yes	3 ft.	1.	n.	S.	f.	10	2	1	.	1	10	1	20	0
573	29	Not	5 ft. 1 in.	n.	f.	s.	1.	8	4	5	.	1	10	1	20	20
574	40	Yes	5 ft. 5 in.	f.	s.	I.	n.	9	10	11	-	8	10	4	16	15
 
OlC^OiOiOlOlOlOlC^OlOlCnOlOlOTCnOlCJlOiCnOlOiOlOlOlWCnCnWOlOjOlOlCn
the MSS.
	^rn.--oromvi^tjiM.uio-oc3nnvl32Wil4UiOp-OCCCviouiMi.COtO-		
, "4,............................' • '		Depth of Chest.	>
	r~>	Width of Chest.	M-
, 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 1 < t • 1 1 t 1 ' • ' ' ' ' ' '		Greatest Circumfer'e of Cranium.	cr <-ct 2 re re s 2. "=
..................' ' '.......'.....		Greatest Diameter of Cranium.	
,,,,,.. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I . 1 I I 1 1 I . I 1 «'<<<' • '		Diameter from the root of the Nose to the Occipital Spine.	™ 3 e» a
, J" ,,,,,,, I I 1 1 1 1 1 I ■ 1 ...............		Transverse Diameter over the Ears.	5" 5'
,,,11,1111.....1..............IIII		Arc of Cranium from root of Nose to Occipital Spine.	3" n W p
I I . 1.........., , , , . I , 1 1 1 .1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 ■ •		Arc from Ear to Ear.	ft.
, , , 1 1 I I » . . . 1 1 1 1 I 1 . 1 . ■ I ■ ■ < ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '		Size of the Lower Frontal Region.	d « <- — t»
hi vltOhih-" ■ ' ' ' • 'h-i.....' 'hi'COtO' 'tOtOCO' « ■ 'O'		Skill in the use of the Perceptive Faculties.	eloprr vity o at of 2Xj 1(
,,,,,,, i i i . i.....i i i i i......i i i i i i | Size of the Upper Frontal Region.			g-g< a
Ojh-©h- ■ •.....1_iiiiiiiMiiicOi'h-©Ol'''|CC'		Skill in the use of the llellective Faculties.	of va rious Oordi ing th
			" Ei n o
	U, Ml 1— hi ' ' ' ' ' ' 'hi' ' ' ' ' ' 'hi' '©' 'hlJOCO'JO' ' ' '	Activity of the Faculties of Self-Preservation.	is part ntal fa y pers andar
	....................,,,,,,,.......	| Size of the Posterior Region.	s o cul ons d ai
	oiMiMiMi'','','hi.......m ' ' ' ' ' h.joa' ' ' ' ' '	| Activ'y of the Social Attachments.	
i i . i ■ ■ i ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ i......it.......i i ■ i i | Size of the Coronal Region.			0C1 g.cs a o a m 2
	QDhlO"...... 'hi' ' ' ' ' ' 'hi1 'tO' 'MOM'.....	| Activity of the Moral Sentiments.	•anium, an comparec same agi rdinary pe
..........i i i i ■ ■ ■ i ■ i ■ i ■ ■ ■ i i ■ ■ i ■ ■ ■ ■ | Size of the Cerebellum.			
	4m.OiVI4m.cOCOCOTOCOTOTO>£mOiCO' IOtDCOCO"00<itDCCf»QOk-OOJ ' ' ' ' '	| Activity of the Animal Nature-	
	-)HHH^(^^Hl('l^Uh'HHtClOHil'JOHHHl|MHi|-IH^VlHl|MUHUtO	1 Degree of ability to support j themselves.	d ac-with : and rsons.
 
40
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
tn			c		1		
tn S CU 4=	a o 43~		o 3 44 >>				
C	"cO		CO				
1/3 CU	CU -C		c. MH				
E CO	o		tM o		0		
a o t) CJ (3	a o ■5 c o	o a M O	u o T3 „; hi cu		3 hi O mT		Remarks.
CU	"3 E	4*	O \s cn m cu "3 cO "	o 3 M	13 43 3	s M	
1-	o 3 .5	3 3 Q	° Is Cm-o a	O 3	CO	O	
M CU 4CJ	a	C	» 1? ■° a	[3	O 3	CO 43	
e 3	CU cO	CU u CO	3 5	O M	CU >	CO CU	
£	Oh	P-	Zt *	tn	3	C-l	
541			.	-	Yes	Yes	Insane and idiotic at 18; insanity hereditary.
542	-	-	-	-	-	Yes	Lunatic at 19, and gradually insane and idiotic from
543	-	-	-	-	-	Yes	Vagrant and idiot. [masturbation.
544	-	-	-	-	-	Yes	Insane at 26. Lies on the floor, and rolls and mutters.
545	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Idiotic vagrant.
546	-	-	-	-	-	-	Insane and idiotic at 9 years old. Fits daily, or often-
547	-	-	-	-	Not	Yes	Insane at 20. Intemperate. [er.
548	-	-	-	-	Not	Yes	Insane at 31, and idiotic at 33.
549	-	-	Some	-	Not	Yes	Hereditary insanity, and intemperance at 29.
550	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Insane at 21. Masturbation and hereditary insanity.
551	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Masturbation. Insane at 29, and idiotic at 30.
552	-	-	-	-	Not	Yes	Insane at 45, and idiotic at 48. Runaway slave.
553	-	-	Some	-	Not	Not	Insane at 27, and has been an idiot 6 years.
554		-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Insane at 23. Masturbation while a theolog. student.
555	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Insane and idiotic. Masturbating and cataleptic.
556	-	-	-	-	Yes	Not	Insane. Masturbation at 22, and soon idiotic.
557	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Insane at 64. Masturbation.
558	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Insane by masturbation at 18, and soon idiotic.
559	-	-	-	-	Not	Not	Insane from over-exertion at 22, and idiotic at 23.
560	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Insane. Masturbating and cataleptic. [walking.
561	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Insane and idiotic at 23, by masturbation. Active in
562	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Preacher, and became idiotic from masturbation.
563	-	-	-	-	Not	Not	Gradual paralysis at 53.
564	-	-	-	-	Not	Yes	Epilepsy at 17.
565	-	-	-	-	Not	Yes	Epilepsy more than 5 years.
566	-	-	-	-	Not	Yes	Epilepsy.
567	-	-	-	-	Not	Yes	Insane at 30, and soon idiotic.
568	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Idiotic at 18, with masturbation and hereditary insanity.
569	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Idiotic by masturbation and hereditary insanity.
570	-	-	-	-	Yes	Yes	Masturbation.
571	-	-	None	Yes	-	Not	Idiotic at 30. Parents, self, and child scrofulous.
572	Not	Not	2	Yes	Not	Yes	Scrofulous family. Aunt and two cousins idiots.
573	Not	Not	None	Yes	Yes	Yes	Masturbation in childhood, with fits and gluttony.
574	Not		2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Simpleton. Cousin to No. 572, and masturbating. Marriage decreed void by court on account of idiocy. Note.—Pachydermatous is used to express a hard, thickened, and almost horny condition of the skin.
 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
41
GENERAL  SUMMARY OF TABLE NO.  1.
                                        A.
Showing the actual measurement of Idiotic persons over 18 years of age, and their
       comparison with corresponding measurement of 1000 ordinary persons.
		E co X CU o	CU 3 ai co _c cu^; 6.5	I'm E o
		-a <M . O T3 • CU O 3	CU 3 ho— ES CU CU > E	Average ment ol persons.
Height, .......	( Males, ( Females,	172 116	64.7 60.0	
Depth of Chest, ......	$ Males, I Females,	146 78	8.0 7.3	8.0 7.3
Width of Chest,......	<\ Males, I Females,	146 78	10.0 9.3	10.0 9.3
Greatest Circumference of Cranium,	t Males, \ Females,	99 59	21.7 20.7	22.0 21.5
Diameter from root of nose to occipital spine, .	$ Males, \ Females,	94 87	7.5 7.3	7.8 7.5
Transverse Diameter over the ears,	^ Males, I Females,	94 87	5.5 5.3	5.8 5.5
Arc of Cranium, from root of nose to occipital spine,	^ Males, \ Females,	87 61	133 13.0	13.8 13.5
Arc from opening of one ear over to opening of the other	( Males, ' ( Females,	87 61	14.0 13.5	14.3 14.0
                                        B.
Showing  the  average  of certain conditions of body and manifestations of mind in
  Idiotic persons, compared with similar  conditions  and manifestations in the aver-
  age of ordinary persons.
Dynamic condition, or general vigor of body,
Tactile sensibility, or general sense of touch,
Muscular contractility, or command and direction of muscles
Manifestation of amative feelings,
Consumption of food,  .
Sensibility to musical sounds,
Skill in the use of language,  .
Ability to count, or reckon,
Skill in the use of the perceptive faculties,
  "   «     "      reflective     "    *
Activity of the faculties of self-preservation
   "  '   "   social nature, attachment,
   "     "   moral sentiments,*
   "     "   animal nature generally,
No. of Id-
iots  exam-
  ined.
504
476
494
248
444
300
452
461
493
489
490
479
480
504
Average of
their devel-
 opment.
 7.88
 8.52
 8.33
16.5
14.7
 6.3
  5
  3
  5
 3.50
  4
  5
  5
 10
 Average
of ordinary
 persons.
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
  * Several cases have been marked 1, 2, or 3, in these columns, upon the supposition that the rudiments of
the faculties or sentiments existed, though, on account of physical torpor, they are not manifested. They
are generally, perhaps, marked too high.                                           S. G. H. 
42
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
                                        C.

Showing the actual development  of certain parts of the Cranium in Idiotic persons ;
  the average measurement of the same parts of the Cranium in 1000 ordinary per-
  sons ;  also, the activity of certain  mental manifestations in the same Idiots, com-
  pared with the average activity in  ordinary persons.
Development of the lower frontal region of the Cranium,
  Skill in the use of the perceptive faculties,
Development of the upper frontal region of the Cranium,
  Skill in the use of the reflective or reasoning faculties,
Development of the lateral region of the Cranium, .
  Activity of the faculties of self-preservation, as cautious
    ness, cunning,  &c.     ....
Development of the posterior region of the Cranium,
  Activity of the social nature, or attachment to others,
Development of the coronal region of the Cranium,
  Activity of the moral sentiments,
Development of the region of the Cerebellum,
  Activity of the amative feelings,  .
  Average activity  of  the animal nature, estimated by the <
    developments of amative feelings, the dynamic condition
    of body, and the consumption of food, .
116
116
116
116
116

116
116
116
116
116
114
 70
115
 9
 5
 9
 3
 8

 4
 8
 6
 9
 6
 7
14
10 
1848.]
SENATE—No. 51.
43
                           TABLE  No.  2.

Showing the general condition and capacities of Idiotic persons examined.
CO	-■j
	
= >>	a
	>-> CU
	
~ -a	.2 S
a"	s °*
Whole number of Idiotic persons on the roll,
Idiotic persons under 25 years of age,       ....
  "      "    over 25 years of age, .....

Idiotic persons who are as helpless as  infants,
  "      "       "        "     as children 2 years old,  .
  tc      «       «        «          <c    7   "   '<
  "      "    who can work to some small profit if carefully watched
                 and directed,    .....
  "      "    who can nearly earn their board if directed in work
                 by others, ......
  »      "    who can earn their board and clothing under the man-
                 agement of discreet persons,

Idiotic persons who have property of their own, and are under guard-
                 ianship,   .
  «      "    who belong to wealthy families,
  «      «    -who are of poor families, but not public paupers,
  "      "    who are town or state paupers,
  »      «    whose pecuniary condition was  not ascertained,
  «      «    who have been countenanced in the practice of mas
                 turbation by parents or nurses,

Idiotic persons under 25 years  of age who seem capable of improve-
                 ment,     ..••;•
  «      «    over 25 years of age who seem capable  of improve-
                 ment,      .       •      •       •      •      •
  a      «    under 25 years of age who  seem capable of little or
                 no improvement,   .      .      •
  «      «    over 25 years of age apparently capable of little or no
                 improvement,     .   ^.______•______•
420
187
233

 33
 43
 73

110

141

 19
 20
 56
196
148
  0

 14
174

195

 13

 38 
44
IDIOTS.
[Feb.
                  TABLE No. 3.
Showing the general bodily condition of the 574 Idiotic persons.
			a		
			'S >,	>~i CU	
			too	CJ >	*C0
			§2	2 a-	0
Idiotic	persons with blindness or deformity of the eyes,		15	6	21
u	it	with deafness, ......	12	1	13
cc	cc	with deformity of the mouth and nose,	22	1	23
cc	cc	with deformity of the hands or feet, .	51	3	54
cc	((	with torpor of feeling, ....	11	3	14
cc	CC	with paralysis in some or all parts,	83	13	96
ii	CC	who are insatiably gluttonous,	218	62	280
u	((	who are known to practise masturbation frequently—			
		Males,	59	57	116
		Females,	43	32	75
		Total, ' .	102	89	191
cc	It	who are subject to fits, ....	92	33	125
cc	((	in whom the use of tobacco at once brings on con-			
		vulsions, ......	1	2	3
K	CC	in whom anger immediately produces violent convul-			
		sions and insensibility, ....	6	1	7
CC	EC	in whom anger causes spasms and less violent fits, .	19	3	22
cc	((	in whom fright causes faintness, nausea, and vomiting,	7	0	7
cc	((	supposed to have been injured by the use of calomel,	0	8	8
cc	CC	" " " " opium,	0	5	5
 
IRIS]
SENATE—No. 51.
45
        TABLE  No. 4.

Showing the Hereditary tendencies.
boo
o
Idiotic persons who are known to be of decidedly scrofulous families,
  "      "    whose parents were known to be habitual drunkards,
  "      "    some of whose near relatives are idiotic or insane,
  "      "    whose parents were known to be neither very scrofu
                 lous nor very intemperate,
  "      "    who have 1 near relative idiotic,
  cc      cc     cc    cc  2   "     "      "
  c«      cc     cc    cc  3   cc     cc      cc
  cc      cc     cc    cc  4   cc     cc      cc         .
  cc      cc     cc    cc  5   cc     <c      cc         .       •
  cc      cc     CC    CC ]Q   cc     cc      cc         .
  cc      cc     cc    cc 29   "     cc      cc         .       .
  "      "    one or both of whose parents were idiotic cr insane,
  "      "    who are parents,       ....
  "      "    whose parents were advised to marry on account of ill
                 health,     .....
Families where the parents of idiotic persons are near relativ
  Of these families, 6 have 1 idiotic child each,
                   2  "   2   "   children each,  .
                   3  cc   3   cc      cc      cc
                   g  cc   ^   cc      cc      cc
                   1 has  5   "      "      "    *
  Average idiotic persons  in each of these 17 families,
es,
Parents who have 2 idic cc cc cc 3 c			>tic children, • c cc . .
cc cc	cc	4 '	c cc
cc cc	cc	5 '	c cc . •
cc cc	cc	7 «	I cc .
cc cc	cc	9 '	c cc . .
cc cc	cc	11 '	c cc
Number of families in which all the  children born of one marriage
  were idiotic or very puny,  while all those of another marriage, by
  the surviving  healthy parent  with a healthy person, were sound in
  body and mind,_____.      ______•______»
355
 99
177

  5
 44
  8
  5
  3
  6
  3
  1
12

17
43
10
 8
 1
 1
 1
 0 
46
IDIOTS.
[Feb.  IS IS.]
                    TABLE  No.  5.

Showing the Physical condition of the 574 Idiotic persons.
			CO		
			'= ^ CU o be c	■° S3 .2 £	1 0
		TEMPERAMENTS.			
Idiotic	persons in whom the sanguine temperament preponderates, ■		18	7	25
cc	(C	" " nervous " "	103	50	153
cc	cc	" " fibrous " "	110	48	158
cc	cc	" " lymphatic " "	82	22	104
	SIZE, SHAPE, AND CONDITION OF THE HEAD.				
Idiotic	persons	with hydrocephalic or large heads,	8	1	9
cc	cc	with very small heads, among 338 who were measured,	97	2	99
Idiotic	persons	whose heads were carefully measured with the cepha-			
		lometer, ......	100	5	105
Of these 105, there are—of					
Idiotic	persons	whose heads are of normal size,	54	4	58
cc	cc	whose heads are of both normal size and shape,	29	1	30
cc	cc	whose heads are large, but of normal shape, .	7	0	7
cc	cc	whose heads are very small, ....	39	0	39
cc	cc	whose lower frontal region is preponderating,*	23	0	23
cc	cc	" " " " is deficient,	7	0	7
cc	cc	whose upper frontal region is preponderating,.	13	0	13
[C	cc	" " " " is deficient,	23	0	23
cc	cc	whose lateral region is preponderating,	14	3	17
cc	cc	" " " is deficient,	30	1	31
cc	cc	whose posterior region is preponderating,	32	2	34
1C	cc	" " " is deficient,	24	2	26
cc	cc	whose top or coronal region is preponderating,	30	2	32
cc	cc	" " " _ " is deficient,	16	1	17
cc	IC	whose cerebellum is preponderating, .	22	2	32
cc	cc	" " is deficient,	43	1	44
  * By preponderating, is meant that the region in question is largely developed in comparison with other
regions in the same cranium; not that there is any absolute deformity. 
ERRATA.
Page 22, 6th  line, for  " the whole number," read " the 420."
                    for  " were," read " was."
                    for  " 16 inches,"  read " 17.5."
                    for  " normal," read " active."
                    for  " not," read " feebly."
                    for   9,   read   8£.
                    for   5,   read   6.
                    for   6,   read   4.
                    for  14,   read  16£.

                                  TABLE.
                  in the column, Skill in use of reflective faculties, for 10, read  6.
                    "      "    Skill in use of language,
                    "      "    Ability to count,
                    "      "    Activity of moral sentiments,
                    "      "    Skill in use of language,
                    "      "    Skill in use of perceptive faculties,
                    "      "    Skill in use of reflective faculties,
                    "      "    Parents in health or not,
                    "      "    Skill in use of language,
                    "      "    Skill in use of reflective faculties,
                    "      "   Skill in use of reflective faculties,
                    "      "    Skill in use of language,
                    "      "    Activity of the moral sentiments,
"	24,	1st "
it	71,	1st "
It	76,	14th "
It	77,	28th "
tt	96,	37th "
It	97,	29lh "
tt	98,	17th "
tt	98,	37th "
Page 9,		No. 93,
it	14,	" 225,
tt	14,	" 225,
tt	16,	" 218,
«	23,	" 333,
ic	24,	" 333,
tt	24,	" 333,
tt	25,	» 325,
tt	26,	" 398,
tt	27,	" 375,
tt	27,	" 398,
a	29,	" 410,
tt	30,	" 412,
4,	"	6.
2,	a	18.
5,	tt	0.
13,	"	10.
12,	n	10.
13,	tt	5.
,	u	not.
H,	CI	9.
H,	It	8.
10,	It	7.
6,	"	0.
7,	a	1.
 
V
6-y
d
■^p
 
 

{i^*^>j£f
VN 3NIDIQ3W dO A II V IB II IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W dO A B V B fl l"l IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W dO A > V II 9 II
«N 1NI3IQ1W dO AUVDflll IVNOIIVN 3NI3I03W dO ABV BSI 1 IVNOIIVN 3 N I 3 I 0 3 W dO A S V II 8 II
<if
/&\y&J j&\>C>J j%{\)

»N 3NI3IQ3W dO A II V II 8 I 1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W dO A II V 8 8 I 1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W dO A II V II 9 I 1
I F<s/' i
INE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF
VN 3NI3I03W dO ABVBBI1 IVNOiiVN 3NI3IQ3W dO A II V II 9 I 1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W dO ABVB9I1

 
VI
"t \w f W/ ? \M
»  \WP7
•  V.,
Y OF MEDICINE NATIONAL IIBRARY OF MEDICINE  NATIONAL IIBRARY OF MEDICINE  NATIONA
,£\a  )
1  \Xi X/  5
fBBIl IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W dO ABVB9I1 IVNOIIVN 3NI3IQ3W dO ABVBBII IVNOIIVN  3NI3IQ3I
|  ,/W |
■; ^
c
Z
I  /V I

 3N I 3 10 3 I

i A
« Y OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE  NATIONA


                                    X
r^M '
\
.-«,
'Am
IViVrr  ?^
II IVNOIIVN 3NI3I03W dO ABVBBII IVNOIIVN  3NI3I03W dO ABVB9I1 IVNOiiVN 3NI3I031








  f?N2 ,' ? V»mN X  ^  X -'iT&rV - ^&ljv / a  X' iJ<*T -"  ?Au
RY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATION*
 
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
NLM  0325T3b7 3

*mm%

	I^ja
	PI
	I'**'
	w
	K***
Plr*l	i^-iS
H	
	
%pl	I •» '•• >»*
	l^wg
ii	
'••I^
:i>'
	SIM	■ 11 ■>> 1	
			
			
''  ^AAu,^mM
NLM032593673