San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-04-27
Professor Bell Discovers That Intermar-
riage Is Responsible.


Professor A. Graham Bell, well known to
the public as the inventor of the telephone,
but perhaps deserving even more of science
from his admirable studies on the phenomena
of speech and the conditions of deafness, has
recently prepared at the suggestion of Senator
Hale, report concerning the methods to be
followed in the forthcoming census of 1890 in
taking account of the defective classes of our
population. By defective classes is meant
those who are deficient in intelligence, in
sight, hearing or the power Of speech. Pro
fessor Bells communication relates, in the
main, to the unfortunates who are at once
deaf and dumb. His work shows certain la
mentable results which are coming about
through the growing habit Of marriage rela-
tiOns between men and women who suffer from
the same malady. Professor Bell states that the
facts in his possession show that intermarriage
between deaf mutes began in the year 1919,
and that the percentage of these lntermar-
riages has grown continuously, until at pres
ent about % per cent. of all such unfOrtunates
wed with those who are similarly affected.
Professor Bells statistics include l. 4H cases in
which deaf mutes have married In Il OF
these marriages the deaf muteS were welded
to persons of ordinary hearing power, and
1872, or % per cent, of the marriages were
between deaf mutes. The natural result OF
this unhappy union of similarly affected PEG
pie has been rapid increase in the percent
age of deaf nluteS in proportion to the adult
population.
Professor Bell well shows that 1.-THE laws of
heredity indicate that if these deaf people
should marry congenitally deaf husbands or
wives, an increased proportion of deaf off
spring will appear in the next generation, and
that the continuous intermarriage of con-
genital deaf mutes from generation to gen
Grafton may ultimately result in the forma-
ton of deaf variety Of the human race in
America, in which all or most Of the children
will be born deaf" Professor Bell in his re-
port gives many other important suggestions
concerning the census Of the blind, idiotiC
and insane. If his project is carried out we
shall obtaina better record of the defective
members of our society than has ever before
been secured in this or other countries 1t Is
impossible to follow out the suggestions on
all these several points, but ono cannot for
bear to point to the important moral which
is evidently indicated by his statements con-
corning the intermarriage of deaf muteS
There is no inherent reason why the children
Of parents who are deaf should inherit the
disability common to their immediate anceS-
tors any more than they should receive by
transmission any other quality whatsoever.
Whatever be the defect on the part of the
parents in body or in mind, if it be shared by
both alike, there is some approximation to
certainty that their offspring will inherit the
common misfortune In other words, there
iS,a lesson concerning the laws of marriage
relation in these statistics which Professor
Bell.has gathered that deserves to be spreaS
wide among az pe0rla. Boston Herald
THE FEAT OF A HALF BREED.