been in and out half a dozen
times in the last few years. First one family comes slipping back, then
one by one the others trail in as long as there are cheap shelters to be
had. Then rents fall due, neighbors become suspicious of invaded
henroosts and potato patches, and one after another the families take
their departure, only to reappear after a year or two.

"The seven children of the eldest son were scattered years ago through
the death of their father. They were taken by strangers, and though kept
in school, none of them proved capable of advancement. Three at least
could not learn to read or handle the smallest quantities. The rest do
this with difficulty. All but two are now married and founding the
fourth generation of this line. The family of the fourth son are now
county charges. Of the 14 children of school age in this and the
remaining families, all are greatly retarded. One is an epileptic and at
16 can not read or write. One at 15 is in the third reader and should be
set down as defective. The remainder are from one to four years
retarded.

"There is nothing striking in the annals of this family. It comes as
near the lowest margin of human existence as possible and illustrates
how marked defect may sometimes exist without serious results in the
infringement of law and custom. Its serious menace, however, lies in the
certain marriage into stocks which are no better, and the production of
large families which continue to exist on the same level of
semi-dependency. In place of the two dependents of a generation ago we
now find in the third generation 32 descendants who bid fair to continue
their existence on the same plane--certainly an enormous multiplication
of the initial burden of expense."[75]

From cases of this sort, which represent the least striking kind of bad
breeding, the student may pass through many types up to the great tribes
of Jukes, Nams, Kallikaks, Zeros, Dacks, Ishmaels, Sixties, Hickories,
Hill Folk, Piney Folk, and the rest, with which the readers of the
literature of restrictive eugenics are familiar. It is abundantly
demonstrated that much, if not most, of their trouble is the outcome of
bad heredity. Indeed, when a branch of one of these clans is
transported, or emigrates, to a wholly new environment, it soon creates
for itself, in many cases, an environment similar to that from which it
came. Whether it goes to the city, or to the agricultural districts of
the west, it may soon