The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-05-10
SHOULD COUSINS WE'D.
Prominent Physicians Declare Inter Mar
rlpue to be InWise,

ringe tn be Unwise.
The widespread prejudice against
oOnsanguincous unions is exceedingly
stubborn, but certain writer's Of to-day,
including llacckcl, have cndoavored TO
show that it rests upon no well-au-
thenticatcd facts. They claim that tho
misshapen and imperfect offspring Of
such marriage Is due not 10 the union
OF like blood but OF like physical and
mental tendencies. Consanguinity it.
self, they say plays no particular rolo
in the union Of individuals Of the samo
stock, but il increases in the descend
ants the tendencies common TO the two
progcnitors. II these tendencies DO
good they will bo intensified in tho
child, and hence the union will be ad-
vantageous. If they be bad rc-en-
forccment of unfavOrable tendencies
should be suppressed by the avoidance
Of such marriages.
Yet there are on record humorous
cases OF blindness, deafness and do
formity in the children Of nearly re-
lated parents. Storility sometimes re-
suits, or if children are born they may
be puny, feeble and spiritless or with u
tendency to idiocy. A prominent ply
sician has complied statistics that show
that out Of H. 257 idiots nearly l3 per
cent, were children OF cousins. Tho
percentage Of deaf and dumb children
born OF parents related by blood is osy
trle less, and out Of 1913 blind per-
sons he has found that = per cent. can
trace their dofoct To II consanguincous
union. Insane mania is a much less
frequent resultant of such unions, rs
out Of nearly $1,000 cases examined he
finds less than 9 per cent. due TO that
cause. Among the inmates of blind
asylum several years ago were five
children Of one marriage OF cousins.
all born sightlcss.
Epilepsy. tuberculosis and consump-
tiOn are effects not uncommon, and in-
stances are on record Of the propoga-
tion of almost every known form OF
disease through this medium. Nor 10
II unusual for two or moro forms Of
disease to be allied in one child. la
late years n girl was admitted To tho
Pennsylvania Institution for Deaf and
Dumb, who, in addition To boing stono
deaf and spocchlcss was horribly de-
formed. Inquiry ELECTED the fact that
the father and mother were cousins.
a physician who had made close
study Of the subject said that he had
often observed i'm the cases Of offspring
OF consanguincOus unions whore actual
disease was absent n tendency to awk-
wardncss and dullucss Children wcro
apt To bc understood. with fat, stubby,
short-tingorcd hands and ill-dcvelopod
limbs. Though children with fne
forms and brilliant intcllccts often fol-
lowed these marriages he believed they
were exceptional, and that the mar
riage of cousins was fraught with
great danger. Their offspring was liza
bic to be endowed with mental, phys
ical and moral deformity.
"Tho best evidence of the evil effects
Of the mtormarriagc of kim" said a
leading gynccologist, lis To be had by
glance at the royal families of Eu-
rope. One can not doubt that there Il,
n tendency To deterioration when he
considers the unfortunate house OF
llapsburg and remembers that tho
King of Bavaria is in mad house,
that the present Emperor of Germany
is a victim &C. tuberculosis, aud that his
fathers disease was due in part to tho
poison Of the iutcrmiXcd blood Of tho
Hohon2ollcrns. Sicllly and imbccilo
Princes have for centuries bore witness
TO the danger that lies i'm the union ot
cousins. A careful observer OF animals
will note the same tendency To dcgca-
cracy. The lion and the lioness ut
at the Doc have repeatedly borne cleft
tongucd cubs. Not one OF their numer-
Gus progeny have been exempt from
this defect, and feel confident that tho
parent lions are brother and sister, and
that in that fact lies the cause Of the
invariably imperfect offspring"
DR. Chaplin, superintendent of Kirk
brides Insane Asylum, believes that
actual insanity worry rarely follows rs
an effect of marriage OF near kin.
ldiocy and imbocility. he says, fre-
| qucutly result, and the patient may be
afflicted with maniacal paroNysms. but
he has never known IA case of actual
insanity that was directly traceable to
this causc.-Philadclphia Record