institutions for the insane is satisfactory; the principal problem which insanity presents lies in the fact that an individual is frequently committed to a hospital or asylum, kept there a few years until apparently cured, and then discharged; whereupon he returns to his family to beget offspring that are fairly likely to become insane at some period in their lives. Every case of insanity should be accompanied by an investigation of the patient's ancestry, and if there is unmistakable evidence of serious neuropathic taint, such steps as are necessary should be taken to prevent that individual from becoming a parent at any time.
The hereditary nature of most types of epilepsy is generally held to be established,2 and restrictive measures should be used to prevent the increase of the number of epileptics in the country. It has been calculated that the number of epileptics in the state of New Jersey, where the most careful investigation of the problem has been made, will double every 30 years under present conditions.
In dealing with both insanity and epilepsy, the eugenist faces the difficulty that occasionally people of the very kind