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In the discussion of the symptomatic causes of poverty it has been already shown that a neurotic heredity and bad conditions of the mother during gestation and childbirth are among the chief causes of imbecility. (156) The social results and the cost to the community of leaving feeble-minded children without education and adults without protection may be illustrated by the experience of Indiana, as described by Mr. Amos W. Butler of the State Board of Charities. From a study of 803 families selected because of feeble-mindedness, and made from the office records, the following facts were derived: --

"These families consist of 3048 members, of whom 1664, or 55 per cent, are feeble-minded. . . . Counting only those of whose parents we have some information, it was found that of 1748, or 67.3 per cent, one or the other, and frequently both, of the parents were feeble-minded or afflicted with some related physical defect. Included in the 803 families are 312 families in which feeble-mindedness was found in two or more generations. In this group there are 1643 individuals, of whom 67 per cent are feeble-minded, and 60.6 per cent are either men-tally or physically defective. . . .The entire number of descendants, extending into the fifth generation and including 96 men and women who married into the families, is 1019, and among them are 624 defectives. This indicates inherited defect in 61.2 per cent of the descendants of these feeble-minded parents." (157)

The origin of the work of training the feeble-minded has two sources: one the school, and one the hospital; it lies between the department of education and the department of medicine. The schools for the deaf and blind found themselves asked to educate children that were also feeble-minded, and hospitals for the insane were asked to treat a large number of imbeciles. The educational element was at first most strongly developed. Hopes were entertained of making 50 or 75 per cent of the feeble-minded self-supporting; but that optimistic view had to be modified, and it is now seen that not more than 10 or 15 per cent can be made self-supporting in the sense that they can return to an independent life in the ordinary population. (158)

The first step in the treatment of the feeble-minded is thorough classification with reference to their educability and their possible return to life in the world. Although medical men may differ upon the scientific gradation of different classes, for educational purposes there is essential agreement. Dr. Barr proposes the following classification for determining the degree of restraint, and the capacity for mental and moral development.

EDUCATION CLASSIFICATION OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED. (159)

I. Asylum Care:
A. Idiot:
profound {apathetic, excitable} unimprovable.
superficial {apathetic, excitable}improvable in self-help only.
B. Idio-imbecile :
improvable in self-help and helpfulness.
trainable in a very limited degree to assist others.

II. Custodial Life and Perpetual Guardianship.
A. Moral imbecile : mentally and morally deficient.
low-grade: trainable in industrial occupations; temperament bestial.
middle grade: trainable in industrial and manual occupations; a plotter of mischief.
high-grade: trainable in manual and intellectual arts; with a genius for evil.

III. Long Apprenticeship and Colony Life under Protection:
A. Imbecile : mentally deficient.
low-grade: trainable in industrial and simple manual occupations.
middle-grade: trainable in manual arts and simplest mental acquirements.
high-grade; trainable in manual and intellectual arts.

IV. Trained for a Place in the World:
A. Backward or mentally feeble:
mental processes normal, but slow and requiring special training and environment to prevent deterioration; defect imminent under slightest provocation, such as excitement, over-stimulation, or illness.

The general principles of the treatment of this class of defectives as laid down by the Special Committee of the London Charity Organization Society in 1877 are still accepted. At that time Sir Charles Trevelyan reported for the Committee: that idiots and imbeciles should be treated separately from other classes; they should not be associated with lunatics or paupers, nor could they be placed with advantage in the ordinary schools with other children, nor boarded out as lunatics often were. The Committee recommended that their education should begin at the earliest moment at which they could dispense with a mother's care, and should be of a physical and industrial character; they should be especially encouraged to develop any talents in order to promote their self-respect and happiness. The Committee were not over-sanguine : they thought that a few might be returned to their homes, a larger number could be fitted for employment under superintendence, but the greater proportion would be unfit to be restored to society and should have custodial care, under medical supervision, in an economical manner and, as far as possible, with industrial employment. They concluded with the statement, "Whatever be the cost of educating them, the cost of neglecting them is greater still." (160)