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THE

Journal of Health and Disease.

JANUARY, 1846.

PHYSIOLOGY IN REGARD TO THE LAWS OF INCREASE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTS ON OFFSPRING.

CHAPTER III.

SECTION I.-Transmission of mental states.-The Roman Emperors connected with the Claudian family.-The Guise family.-The Stuart family.—Haller.— Transmission of the thieving propensity.—Mr. Hill's testimony.—ACQUIRED habits transmitted.-Sheep.-Calves.-Horse.-The Amble.-Race Horse. -The St. Bernard Dogs.-The Pointer.-Hottentots.-Children of Brahmins. THE influence of parents upon offspring in reference to the physical healthy and physical diseased conditions, having been detailed, the next step in the examination of this important subject will be to trace the influence to the mental, as connected with the functions of the various organs constituting the cerebral mass.

The arrangement of the mental nature into the three divisions is now so generally recognised, (so widely is the science of phrenology diffused,) that no further reference need be made to such arrangement, except to state, that the remarks to be made will have relation to the animal, the intellectual, and the moral nature of man, embracing the lower animals, so far as these afford illustrations in connexion with those faculties of the mental nature they possess in common with man.

Dr. James Gregory, in treating of the temperaments, in his classically written work on Theoretic Medicine, thus writes :"Peculiarities not of the body merely, but also of the mind, are for the most part observed to be congenital, and not unfrequently hereditary. Parents often revive in their offspring, who resemble them not only in countenance and form of body, but in the dispositions of the mind, in virtues and in vices. The imperious Claudian family flourished in Rome, courageous, ferocious, and proud: it produced the pitiless tyrant Tiberius,

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and, at length, in the monstrous Caligula, Claudius, Agrippina, and finally Nero, became extinct." 36

The same idea is presented in language still more striking, and in an illustration still more extended, by a writer, who lived anterior to Dr. James Gregory. "Physical organisation, of which moral is the offspring, transmits the same character from father to son, through a succession of ages. The Apii were always haughty and inflexible, the Catos always severe. The whole line of the Guises were bold, rash, factious; compounded of the most insolent pride, and the most seductive politeness. From Francis de Guise to him, who alone and in silence went and put himself at the head of the people of Naples, they were all, in figure, in courage, and in turn of mind, above ordinary men. I have seen whole-length portraits of Francis de Guise, of the Balafré, and of his son: they are all six feet high, with the same features, the same courage and boldness in the forehead, the eye, and the attitude. This continuity, this series of beings alike, is still more observable in animals; and if as much care were taken to perpetuate fine races of men, as some nations still take to prevent the mixing of the breeds of their horses and hounds, the genealogy would be written in the countenance and displayed in the manners."

The history of the Stuart family presents extraordinary exhibitions of a peculiar mental quality, to call it by no harsher name; and Dr. King, in treating of the peculiar fatality which seemed to attend this family, observes, "If I were to ascribe their calamities to another cause (than an evil fate), or endeavour to account for them by any natural means, I should think they were chiefly owing to a certain obstinacy of temper, which appears to have been hereditary and inherent in all the Stuarts, except Charles II." 38

The accurate Haller relates the cases of two noble ladies, who married two husbands on account of their immense wealth, but whose mental state presented almost idiocy. They had children who were nearly idiotic; and this want of mental condition descended unto the fourth and fifth generation—a fact which verifies the Divine declaration, "the sins of the parents shall descend to the children of the third and fourth generation." 39

The following facts, in relation to the unbridled activity of the animal propensities and their transmission, are taken from a valuable weekly periodical-"The Popular Record of Modern Science :"*"As an example of the hereditary occurrence of moral depravities of another kind, and of their appearing sometimes as innate, we give the following facts; the parties connected with which were well known to the writer.

"When I was a boy, there lived in my native town an old man named P. who was such an inveterate thief, that he went in the whole place by that name. People speaking of him, used no other appellation but that of 'the thief:' and everybody knew then who was meant-for epithets, generally speaking, are of common occurrence in small towns. Children and common people were accustomed to call him by that name, even in his presence, as if they knew no other name belonging to him; and he bore it, to a certain degree, with a sort of good-naturedness. It was even customary for the tradesmen and dealers, who frequented the annual fairs of this place, (which are there of a more mercantile character than in other countries), to enter into a formal treaty with him; that is, they gave him a trifling sum of money, for which he engaged not only not to touch their property himself, but even to guard it against other thieves.

"A son of this P, named Charles, afterwards lived in B- -, during my residence there. He was married respectably, and carried on a profitable trade, which supported him handsomely. Still, he could not help commiting many robberies, quite without any necessity, and merely from an irresistible inclination. He was several times arrested and punished: and the consequence was, that he lost his credit and reputation, by which he was at last actually ruined. He died, while still a young man, in the House of Correction at Spwhere he had been confined as a punishment for his last robbery. "A son of this Charles, and grandson of the above-mentioned

*This Journal, the first few numbers of which were excellent, experienced a great depreciation in the character and tone of its contents: within the last two or three weeks, it has recovered its original tone and character, and bids fair to be a valuable ally to the cause of human improvement.

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native town, lived in the same house my where I resided. In his earliest youth, before he was able to distinguish between good and evil, the disposition to stealing, and the ingenuity of an expert thief, began already to develope themselves in him. When about three years old, he stole all kinds of eatables, within his reach, although he always had plenty to eat, and only needed to ask for whatever he wished. He therefore was unable to eat all he had taken: nevertheless he took it, and distributed it among his play-fellows. When playing with them, their playthings frequently disappeared in a moment; and he contrived to conceal them for days, and often for weeks, with a slyness and sagacity remarkable for his age. When about five years old, he began to steal copper coins; at the age of six years, when he began to know something of the value of money, he looked out for silver pieces; and in his eighth year he contented himself only with larger coins, and proved to be on public promenades, an expert pickpocket. He was early apprenticed to learn a trade; but his master, being constantly robbed by him, soon dismissed him. This was the case with several other tradesmen, till at last, in his fourteenth year, he was committed to the House of Cor

rection.

"This case proves, that the inclination for stealing had been transmitted by inheritance from the father to the son and the grandson; just as we find physical complaints and bodily diseases propagating themselves by inheritance from one generation to another."

Mr. Frederick Hill, the Inspector of Prisons in Scotland, states, both in his second and his third report, that he has found crime, to a considerable extent, running in families, and apparently hereditary.

But the sources whence the most striking evidences of the hereditary transmission of qualities can be obtained, are presented in the cases where acquired mental qualities are transmitted.

Sheep afford illustrations of this. The first illustration of an acquired habit, in relation to the sheep, is in connexion with the nature of its food: "When turnips were introduced from

England into Scotland, it was only the third generation which heartily adopted this diet; the first having been starved into an acquiescence in it."40

Another illustration is connected with the mode of eating: "English sheep, probably from the greater richness of our pastures, feed very much together; while the Scotch sheep are obliged to extend, and scatter themselves over their hills, for the better discovery of food. Yet the English sheep, on being transferred to Scotland, keep their old habit of feeding in a mass, though so little adapted to their new country: so do their descendants, and the English sheep is not thoroughly naturalized into the necessities of his place, till the THIRD generation."

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It appears, that even with individuals of the same species, the liability, if the term may be so used, to have the acquired habit transmitted, varies. The same writer observes: "In the same manner it required some years to establish the English practice of bringing up calves by hand in Scotland; the first who were so fed being cheated into swallowing milk, as the English calves at first are, by dipping the finger in the bowl, and giving it the animal to suck. Nor was this mode of administering nourishment, (slowly and reluctantly admitted by Lowland calves) ever, I believe, cordially adopted by their mountain kindred. The Highland beast has shown himself the worthy imitator of the Highland man, and is as obstinate in his opposition to this, as his Celtic master is to any other southern improvement which can be offered him."

The horse presents a striking example of the fact, that acquired habits are transmissible. "A wild adult horse may be subjugated, but can never be thoroughly trained; even the foal of a wild mother, though taught with the greatest care from the day of its birth, is found to be inferior to domestic progeny in point of steadiness and intelligence. Parents, it would seem, transmit to their offspring mental susceptibility, as well as corporeal symmetry; and thus, to form a just estimate of equine qualities, we must look to the domesticated breeds of civilized nations." In other words, we must wait until good qualities acquired have been augmented to the highest extent by an addition at each succeeding generation.

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