y
to agree that some sex difficulty is the only conflict back of
kleptomania.

With these introductory remarks we will proceed to the discussion of our
case. X----, a colored boy aged 23, was admitted to the Government
Hospital for the Insane on January 16, 1915, from the District Jail,
where he was awaiting trial on two indictments for larceny.

Anamnesis obtained from the patient, his relatives and official sources
is to the effect that the patient comes from an unusually refined
colored family, his father being a rather prominent colored minister in
this city. The patient is one of eight children, all of whom with the
exception of the patient have led a normal and fairly successful life.
He was born in Washington, D.C., April 17, 1892. Birth and early
childhood up to four years of age were normal. At that time he was
rather seriously bitten by a large St. Bernard dog, following which he
was ill for about two months. He was rather restive under this enforced
confinement and one day in attempting to escape from the house he fell
from a second story window. His relatives attribute all his difficulties
to these two accidents, for it was soon after that his stealing
tendencies became manifest. The patient himself can place only
approximately the onset of his stealing propensities, stating that he
was quite young and that his first theft consisted in stealing ten cents
from his father. It was in connection with this theft that he first
experienced the sensations to be described later. His school career was
irregular owing to the interruptions necessitated by his repeated
sojourns at the Reformatory. He entered school at the age of 7 and at 11
was sent to the Reform School for the first time. This step was taken by
his father because the patient for some years previously had been
frequently placed under arrest on charges of larceny. He showed,
according to the statements of his relatives, a decided preference for
horses and vehicles of all sorts, which he would utilize for joy riding,
although he not infrequently stole objects of which he could make
absolutely no use. One time, for instance, he stole a dozen bricks from
a neighbor. The Chief Probation Officer of the District of Columbia, who
was an official of the Reformatory during the patient's sojourn there,
states in a letter to the hospital the following: "While there he (X)
gave very little trouble, except in the way of stealing. He would steal
any and every thing h