EUGENICAL FIELD INVESTIGA- CALIFORNIA. sections: (1) personal or developmental history and (2) family history. For the family history the Eugenics Record Office method was followed without elaboration or change. For the personal history of the propositus The California Bureau of Juvenile Research, of which Dr. J. Harold Williams is Director, is located at the Whittier State School. This an outline was adopted, which has Bureau has branch laboratories in been used consistently in the 426 all state institutions caring for chil- histories obtained to date (Oct. 20, dren. It publishes the Journal of 1922). The outline includes 13 items, Delinquency, a bi-monthly technical as follows: Chronological data; inmagazine devoted to the scientific telligence; temperament; other menstudy of problems of social conduct. tal conditions; physical condition; The Bureau also conducts research moral character; conduct; associates; along psychological and eugenical amusements; education; vocational record; home conditions; neighborhood conditions. lines. Field investigation at Whittier State School began with the opening Each of the 13 items is divided into of the department of research in a number of sub-items, and a uniOctober, 1915, by Superintendent Fred. form order of presentation is folC. Nelles. At that time the research lowed in all cases. In home condistaff consisted of three persons the tions and neighborhood conditions psychologist, one field-worker, and the uniformity of procedure is carried one clerical assistant. The original still farther, and standardized scales field-worker was Karl M. Cowdery (E. R. O. '15), who is now director of education for Whittier State School. His original appointment was made for one year by the Eugenics Record Office, in accordance with the cooperative plan of introducing scientific family history studies then in effect. The first field work was limited chiefly to the making of a rapid survey of special cases, particularly relating to those in need of special segregation or transfer to other institutions. The early histories were therefore brief, although the number of cases represented was relatively large. The field investigation directly followed the psychological examination, and supplemented the laboratory findings. The have been devised for grading the conditions found. These are the Whittier scales for grading home and neighborhood conditions, and are comparable with the many scales and tests now in use for evaluating mental and educational conditions. research staff has also contributed to the standardization of intelligence tests, devised a scale for testing achievement in geography, and is participating in a joint investigation aiming at the development of moral character tests. Mr. Willis W. Clark, while sociologist on the staff, devised a scale for grading juvenile offenses. Dr. Williams writes, "One of the important factors in the development of the social case investigation at Whittier is the high degree of coAs soon as the preliminary survey operation and encouragement on the was completed, work began on or- part of the Eugenics Record Office. ganizing and standardizing the It is the hope of the staff that the method of investigation. The data quality of its work will justify the for each case were divided into two permanence of this relationship.” CONFERENCE OF JUDGES IN time, indicate that of each 100 paroled, there have been but 26 unsatisfactory cases. The Governor also stated that he felt that Indiana should have a State Orphanage where scientific study of the child, including heredity and mental make-up, should be made during the course of the State's care of every child. A Conference of the Judges of the Supreme, Appellate, Superior, Circuit, Criminal, Juvenile and City Courts of the State of Indiana was called at the House of Representatives at Indianapolis, on January 12, 1922, by Governor Warren T. McCray, who stated that the purpose was "to promote more uniformity in the administra- The Governor said “... we are tion of criminal law and to have a now beginning to understand that a closer coöperation between the courts very large number of prisoners are and the penal and reformatory in- either mental defectives-feeblestitutions of the state." The meeting minded, epileptic or insane. At least was attended by many judges, the one third of the State Prison populaprosecutors of a number of the tion, including those in the Hospital courts, and most of the state penal for Insane Criminals, are mental institutional officials. The history of cases, and we have reason to believe the various institutions for delin- that almost as large a proportion of quents in the state was briefly re- the population of the other State viewed and the purpose of each penal and correctional institutions is stated, and a plea was made that dis-mentally subnormal. This is really crimination be used that offenders be one of our most serious problems. committed to proper institutions. A We need to recognize the feeblediscussion of facts concerning the present population of the penal institutions of the state showed that the number of admissions had been higher since the War, but that the average was less than it was ten The Governor was followed by a years ago, even considering the in- representative, either a member of crease in the population of the state. the board of trustees or the superThe relation of the returned soldierintendent, of each of the state penal and the "crime wave" was discussed. and correctional institutions. The This brought out that some of the ex- parole and indeterminate sentence service men had not had a clean rec- system, and educational and indusord before service, and that many trial training were defended by the ex-service men, at present in institu- men who were actually handling these tions, were suffering from mental disease resulting from War condi- Judge Hugo Pam of Chicago, after tions. Further, the failures in the emphasizing the need of study of the indeterminate sentences and the family and life history of criminals, parole law administration loom much stated that this meeting was the first larger in the public eye than the of its kind held in the United States successes, with the tendency on the and that he felt that it would do much part of the uninformed public to good in assisting each of those prescondemn the system. Statistics for ent to understand the problems of ana, covering a long period of others. ! minded when they come into the public schools, or at least when they are brought into court. Now we can only sort them out after they get into prison." problems. ARTHUR H. ESTABROOK. MYOTONIA CONGENITA sign, or symptom (Friedrich W. E. A. von Graefe, German ophthalmologist), is the failure of the upper lid to follow the eyeball in glancing downward. In the American Journal of Medical Sciences (Vol. 140, p. 80, 1910) Julius P. Sedgwick of the University of Minnesota reports a family of the From the analysis of this particular oldest New England stock, in which family, it appears that Thomsen's there is a high incidence of Myotonia disease is a simple Mendelian domicongenita accompanied with von nant, and is, in no manner, sexGraefe's sign. In five generations limited. The typical characteristics thirty-one persons are recorded; of of a dominant trait are shown by the OLD NEW ENGLAND FAMILY SHOWING VON GRAEFE'S SIGN IN MYOTONIA CONGENITA (THOMSEN'S DISEASE). The shaded symbols represent members of the family who are affected with Myotonia congenita and von Graefe's symptom. family, it is permanently lost to the descendants, unless it again enters by mutation or by marriage with affected stock. Also in particular fraternities there is a relatively great number of these, thirteen-sev seven males and fact that the trait never skips a six females-are affected. Thomsen's generation. When it drops out of the disease (named from Asmus Julius Thomsen, a Danish physician), technically known as Myotonia congenita, is a disease which is commonly congenital and highly hereditary. It is characterized by tonic spasm or affected, compared with unaffected, rigidity of the muscles, coming on children. Dominance is again nicely when these tissues are first put shown by the case of III-6, an afinto action after a period of rest. fected man who twice married, each With use, the stiffness gradually time an unaffected wife; but by both wears off. Specifically, von Graefe's wives he had affected children. PROSTITUTION AND THE VENEREAL DISEASES. The American Social Hygiene Association has been investigating the question of Prostitution for many years. The material collected by this organization, together with that of other authorities, supplies the following points which should be of prime interest to every one: cent. (33%) of the cases. In 1910 it was estimated that there were 1,800,000 insane persons in the United States, and that twelve per cent. (12%) of this insanity was caused by syphilis. CANCER IMMUNITY. C. Lewin (Medizinische Klinik, Berlin, July 30, 1922) calls attention to two new elements in cancer research, namely, the so-called protein therapy and an appreciation of the fact that white corpuscles are of essential importance in the resistance of the body to malignant growths. His experiments for the last three years have been following these lines. His conclusion is that artificially induced leukopenia favors the growth of cancer while leukocytosis checks it. In reference to immunity, he reports that in a group of twenty-one unimmunized mice inoculated with cancer, this disease developed rapidly in all but four. In another group of twenty mice that had been given parenteral injection of from 0.5 to 1 c.c. of a 2 per cent. solution of nucleic acid before they were inoculated with Thirty-three per cent. (33%) of all prostitutes are feeble-minded. Ninety per cent. (90%) of all syphilitic infections in men are derived from the prostitute, either professional or amateur. Fifty per cent. (50%) of all syphilitic women are infected innocently. Seventy per cent. (70%) of women who came to the New York Hospital for venereal disease treatment were respectable married women infected by their husbands. Eightyfive per cent. (85%) of married women who have syphilis have contracted it from their husbands. Fifteen per cent. (15%) of all first admissions to the New York State Hospital for the Insane are traceable to syphilis. One hundred per cent. (100%) of all paresis cases (general paralysis of the insane) are directly due to syphilis. Ninety-eight per cent. (98%) of all white prostitutes have at least one venereal disease. Two out of every thirteen deaths in the United States to-day are directly or indirectly caused by syphilis. by a member of the family. In the About five per cent. (5%) of children third generation appears a fraternity who are idiotic became so because of of 7 children, of whom 4 (2 male and syphilis. Syphilis and gonorrhea 2 female) are typical albinos. There cause over fifty per cent. (50%) of are 95 other persons described in this the blindness in children according to family, none albinos. Apparently no English statistics. In this country other case of albinism is known in it is estimated that over fifty per the family network. The four grandcent. (50%) of the children blind, parents of this fraternity were all from birth, owe their blindness to gonorrheal infection. Deafness in young people, British statistics show, is due to syphilis in thirty-three per the cancer, no cancer at all developed. ISOLATED ALBINO FRATERNITY. born in Ireland. They have different belongs to a fraternity of 9. All who tion than I had ventured to hope grew up have a blond skin color; all existed. It does not, of course, in any but one have blue eyes; the hair color way supplant or supercede the theory is mostly "brown"; in one it is of personality inheritance, but from "fair" and in one it is black. The my limited knowledge I should supfather has blond complexion, clear pose may very greatly strengthen it. blue eyes and dark brown hair, has Particularly may this support come chronic kidney trouble." The moth- from a study of the cases requiring er belongs to a fraternity of 7. All colon resection, many of whom aphave blond skins, blue eyes, brown pear to have congenital colon deformhair, except one "blond haired" and ities which predispose to extensive one who has red hair. The mother colon pathology. May not such deis blond, blue eyed, and dark brown formities be dominant and therefore haired. She suffers from rheumatism; transmissible? If so, we have a posis easily excited. So far there is no sible explanation of the occurrence in of evidence that the albinic defect occurs families so-called "functional" in the two parental stocks. The only psychoses which are often arrested by thing suggesting albinism in other colon resection, and which had been members of the family is red hair in formerly looked upon as a personality aunt and maternal first and second inheritance. If we cannot have funccousins of the central fraternity. tion without form, so we cannot have There are four cases of such red hair abnormal function without abnormal on the maternal side. There are three form. I think that a better knowledge cases of red-haired persons on the of the colon may help us to underpaternal side. Two are consorts of stand the transmission in certain famoutside blood and the third is a ilies of serious mental abnormalities. daughter of one of these consorts. I shall have some material in the near However, the daughter would probably future and hope to have the privilege not have shown red hair had not both of talking with you about it. parents carried the determiner for it tract from a letter by Dr. John W. or for absence of brown pigment. Draper, New York.) Thus on both paternal and maternal sides there is an occasional absence of formation of brown pigment. Possibly the albinism may be due to the union of gametes with genes for no brown and no red pigment, thus producing white hair. ZYGODACTYLY. (Ex The foetal foot is, at an early stage of development, normally webbed; in the adult the toes become separate, but digits 2 and 3 not rarely remain I more or less united. Schultz gives (in Jour. of Heredity, for March) 3 pedigrees of syndactylous families and concludes that no generation is skipped and that webbed females are less apt to have syndactylous children than webbed males. But webbed females may have syndactylous offspring; and so Schultz concludes that this fact tells against Castle's hypothesis that the gene for the trait is carried in the Y-chromosome. |