New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-03-12

diversit- namely deformed parents Pio""0'"e -
feet oifeprng and generations freeing tne"Soi',o
time from hereditary faint, is really an eA"np'o
the law of Uniformity, under WHICH INC ,.:.ia
follows not the abnormal and dstorteu 49,
Of the Immediate ancestor but the periectoh Vi no
$3.50 Doforroitv sickness vice. is an ac-
idontal arrangement of nature and the law OF Trans
,nioo,on has n providentia tendency to disregard
oo;dont and returntO the primal type. However thS
| ,or no and however hopeless, i'll most instances,
the atempt to predict the exact qualities OF the cho
from know ledge of those OF the parents III Elain
finds that in one class of phenomena, anu IhaI inc
most important and practical prediction Is perfectly
safe External form and color organic pecuarlties'
and inherent moral and intellectual qualities may OF
NAV not be inherited but an acquired and hdoh"df
rice rarely fails to leave traces upon the offspring
either in its own form or in one closely alieu'
Boethius mentions the case Of Young grl VINO III
herted from her father n propensity Ior eatins
human flesh. Both her parents died before she was
year old, and she was well brought up DuV sho
cave way to the disgusting habit after time Inc
transmission of moral qualities is not OF such ma
ture as TO Obliterate mans freedom. fropensi'ies
and tendencies to particular forms of virtue ana
vice are hereditary, not the acts themselves. All
tho MISSIONS are distinctly hertabe. Hereditary IN
temperance is so common that almost every reader
can probably recall instances within his personal
knowledge Mr.. b. of Yorkshire and his wife were
scarcely ever sober. The wife died OF delrlnm ire
mems; the husband died of tho shock OF seeing ms
only daughter brought home in state OF intoXica-
ton by the police: the eldest son, an inveterate
drunkard. committed suicide; only one of large
family of children escaped the faint, all the 9th ers
coming to an untimely end NJ. Morel, an eminent
authority on this subject says: " have R6c6 seen
the patient cured of his propensity whose ten
denotes 10 drink derived from the
hereditary predispOsition given to him
by his parents The passion for gambling, libertin-
age and tendency to crimes against life and
property, are transmitted from generation to
generation. Ana example is cited of family.in
France, one of. whom was sentenced to the galleys
for life for assassination. Five remaned-three
brothers. sister, and her husband; they were all
ultimately convicted professional robbers. In
quiry showed that the father and grandfather had
both been hanged an uncle and aunt had been long
in the galleys; a nephew had been similarly con-
demned and all the rest of the family followed the
same destiny. There is no form of heritage more re-
markable than tendency to suicide, unaccompanied
by other marks of alteration of mind DR.. Winslow
speaks OF family in which all the members as they
arrived at certain age exhibited desire to destroy
themselves. DR.. Gall speaks Of seven children OF
one man. who all enjoyed competency and good
OF 40 years Sitting one day with an acquaintance
saws Dr. Elan, II noticed some depression in his
spirits After prolonged silence he broke ont into
the following dreary attempt at conversation: My
grandfather hung himseh,-my uncle took poison
nv father shot himselfI shall cut my throat! The
facts were conect but constant surveillance pre-
vented the sequel in his own history Insanity Is
universally recognized as hereditary, and more
than half the cases that occur arc occasioned or
favored by transmitted faint. Like other diseases
and peculiarities, it often skips generation but
often, too il descends in more or less aggravated
| form without any such Interruption Its various
| forms are interchangeable with strictly physical
| disorders so that hysteria chOrea, consumption IN
one generation may become imbeclity, mania, cpl
lepsy &C. in the next and, vice versa insanity III
| the parent may be represented in the offspring by
deafdumbness, epilepsy, bysteria, the vague and
underlined weaknesses or perversions OF Judgment,
capacity, or WILL which we call mental aRsoHndHesS.
There is consequently debatable ground of mental
condition which is not insanity in the eye
Of the law or the physician, yet is not
perfect mental soundness. Persons who in
hert a nature prone to temptation. and at the
same time an inert will and judgment, not. when
they commit crime equally responsible with offenders
who have been more kindly treated by nature. DIR.
Elan has no hesitation in saying that constitutional
almost complete responsibility while the in
telect such as il is remains coherent Is il not to
THE appalling fact that must attribute in some
measure the existence of those dangerous classes"
who offer such a perplexing problem to the legs-
lator and the philanthropist9 How the law deal
with such cases it is not easy TO Sec but the subject
deserves closer study than has yet been given it.
Closely allied 10 the subject treated III this first
essay is the question of Degeneration in Man. by the
-.
or extensive indulgence i'll vicious habits with their
long train of persistent hereditary consequences.
Our space will not permit Us, however an exalnna-
tion of all Dr. Elam's PrOblems;" and we pass on
to the third i'll which he inquiries into the subject Of
Moral and Criminal Epidemics. That there are
epidemcs of crme-nOw of pOisOnings, now OF
murder in other forms, now of incendiarism-
hardly needs to be proved The newspapers
daily comment on the fact, and careful statistical
| record supports what they assume. But this is not
| all. Derangement of the mental moral nature
shows itself in deluslOns as well in crimes. and
! there are epidemics of well Us epdemics Of
violence Our author classes among these diseases
the first belief in idoatry and human sacrifices; the
heresies of the Gnostics and other early Christian
sects; the imaee-worship of the Church the extra
| ordinary spread of monacbism; the asceticism of
| the ancborites the rise Of Mahometanism; the
| deluson of trials by ordeal; the fanaucism
Of the Crusades; the rise and spread Of
| the Fagellants or whippers; the wholesale
murder of Jews suspicion Of having poisoned the
water the dancing mania which seized upon the
! Netherlands in such extraordinary way during
the latter part of the 14th century; the long and
horrible mania of witchcraft and in later times the
extravagances of the COnralsiOnnare of ST. M6dard,
the MormOns, and the believers i'll SDiritualism.
Almost every one will agree that he carries these
| ILL