tent judges in classifying them in the group of
"feeble-minded." All are definitely institutional cases. It is a matter
of record, however, that one of the cases, H. S., was diagnosed by a
physician (without test) as "backward but not a defective." and with the
added encouragement that "the backwardness will be outgrown." Of course
the reverse is the case; the deficiency is becoming more and more
apparent as the boy approaches the age where more is expected of him.

In at least three of the above cases (S. M., I. S., and I. M.) the
teachers had not identified the backwardness as feeble-mindedness. Not
far from 2 children out of 100, or 2 out of 1000, in the average public
school are as defective as some of those just described. Teachers get so
accustomed to seeing a few of them in every group of 200 or 300 pupils
that they are likely to regard them as merely dull,--"dreadfully dull,"
of course,--but not defective.

Children like these, for their own good and that of other pupils, should
be kept out of the regular classes. They will rarely be equal to the
work of the fifth grade, however long they attend school. They will
make a little progress in a well-managed special class, but with the
approach of adolescence, at latest, the State should take them into
custodial care for its own protection.

BORDER-LINE CASES (USUALLY BETWEEN 70 AND 80 I Q). The border-line cases
are those which fall near the boundary generally recognized as such and
the higher group usually classed as normal but dull. They are the
doubtful cases, the ones we are always trying (rarely with success) to
restore to normality.

It must be emphasized, however, that this doubtful group is not marked
off by definite I Q limits. Some children with I Q as high as 75 or even
80 will have to be classified as feeble-minded; some as low as 70 I Q
may be so well endowed in other mental traits that they may manage as
adults to get along fairly well in a simple environment. The ability to
compete with one's fellows in the social and industrial world does not
depend upon intelligence alone. Such factors as moral traits, industry,
environment to be encountered, personal appearance, and influential
relatives are also involved. Two children classified above as
feeble-minded had an I Q as high as 75. In these cases the emotional,
moral, or physical qualities were so defective as to render a normal
social life out of the question. This is occasionally true even with an