exceptional children, the opportunities are, of course, unlimited.

Instructive Cases.-To illustrate a few of the points made in this chapter, also on previous pages of the book, several cases from the records of the author may here be briefly reported, omitting a mass of details which are on file. The first two cases were referred to the author by the Juvenile Court of San Francisco, in 1913, and examined by him in the clinic established in that city by the National Association for the Study and Education of Exceptional Children, with the assistance of Doctor Ernest Bryant Hoag. The tests were abbreviated in their cases, but followed the general lines of this system.

Case 60, F. C., boy, aged 15 years.—Reported because he was unable to retain a job, and had become practically a vagrant. The mental tests proved him to be intellectually very immature, generally representing the primary level, and certainly grossly unschooled. His physical condition showed the underlying causes of much of his difficulty. He should have had special treatment for many years past. Septum deflected on right side of nose, with great obstruction to breathing; nasal catarrh. This constituted so constant an irritation that it required immediate surgical relief. Hearing was reduced by two-thirds in right ear, with occasional discharge, indicating otitis media and calling for treatment to prevent further deafness. The boy proved to be an epileptic, with attacks dating back at least two years. On the basis of these findings the following report was sent to the court: "The boy is unable to undertake independent employment. Should have surgical relief and be placed in a home for epileptics, where also his manual faculties may be developed. He is entirely unfit for education in the public schools."

Case 61, J. F., boy, aged 16 years.-Had been arrested for repeatedly attacking his father, even his mother, and not doing well at anything. When brought to clinic, he was handcuffed,

sullen. His mental development was found to be exceedingly uneven. He showed much power of rational judgment, together with singular retardation in specific applications. He gave the impression of a mentally neglected child. He represented a transition period from childhood to adolescence, with all the mental disturbance characteristic of that epoch. Emotionally he was under a distinct strain, being sullen and antagonistic under unsympathetic influences such as his home presented; but yielding immediately to personal sympathy. He was hardly mature or trained enough for independent work. The medical examination revealed catarrh of the throat, enlarged turbinates which obstructed the nasal passages, and a long, adherent prepuce. Nasal treatment and circumcision were indicated for immediate relief, and it was suggested that he be placed away from home somewhere where he would have firm but kind discipline and special training without stigma.

His case suggests the fact that it is easier to make recommendations than to have them carried out. At the present time there are hardly any places in existence, under public control at least, which would have given this boy a chance. Reformatories, so-called parental schools, and the like, as they are now conceived and organized, are not the places required in such a case.

The following cases have been under observation in the east, in part in the institution for atypical children, Herbart Hall, at "Watchung Crest," Plainfield, N. J.

Case 62, G. S., boy, aged 15 years at time of complete examination. Parentage very good, easy circumstances. Father is quite deaf from catarrh of long standing, also exceedingly nervous, and G. is strikingly like him. He was the fourth child among seven, three of whom are dead. Prenatal conditions very favorable, but child was wakeful and nervous from first breath and wore his mother and competent nurses out completely. At 2 had a bad fall which caused two collapses; lived only on account of stimulants being administered. After that

time he was a bad stammerer. Very left-handed. Morbidly afraid of fire generally morbid symptoms of fear; also brooding and melancholic about his own condition. Backward in school. Given to tempers. Diminutive in size for his age, and sexually underdeveloped. Very defective eyesight, through muscular insufficiency. Readily fatigued. He had no visual perspective, owing to his defect. His visual and aural memory span was limited.

A year after first reported, had improved splendidly under training, in every direction. He had acquired considerable ability to concentrate and to endure, also to control his speech defect and morbid traits. His backwardness had been overcome to a large degree since his difficulty was understood, and he was bright and responsive, eager to progress. Organized manual work, especially work on a large scale outdoors, helped him to acquire muscular control and to improve generally in physiologic function. In contrast to this he developed manual dexterity with a distinctly artistic touch in producing small and minutely executed models of houses, boxes, picture-frames, etc., also in drawing.

After two years he left Herbart Hall. When he reached home (he had not been seen by his relatives for the entire period) his mother wrote that she was amazed at the change which had come over the boy. "When he entered your school he was melancholy and backward and with a poorly developed body. And now he is happy and brimming over with ambition in every direction."

Case 63, R. F., boy, aged 17 years. Of good appearance, above average in size; good conversationalist and apparently intelligent, with ability to do a number of ordinary things. The son of wealthy parents, he had never done well, had no great filial affection, and had recently drifted into bad habits, undesirable companionship, even delinquency. The medical examination was largely negative, except that circumcision was strongly indicated to correct preputial hypertrophy and his bad sexual habits. The mental tests revealed some of the causes of his somewhat shiftless and dangerous life. Visual and aural memory very poor; what was retained was not in proper order. Muscular memory unreliable, sense of balance impaired. Reproduction of oral information only fair. The judgment

tests showed distinct weaknesses; where he succeeded he needed much time and the opportunity of a second and third attempt. His methods in manual and art expression were distinctly primitive. In language he was quite proficient and could talk very intelligently; yet, when he was to formulate his thought in writing he was vague and loose in construction. It was plain that this boy, having grown up without the proper recognition of the special training he needed, could profit little from ordinary school instruction and influences. When let loose he had no perspective of situations and causal relations and could not learn quickly enough from experience, owing partly to his unreliable memory. He had, however, sufficient intelligence at bottom to be helped toward considerable improvement through a kind of training which took his needs of organization of his mental outfit into consideration. The atmosphere of his surroundings counted a great deal. He became a very tractable and very much better boy, and had good prospects of a brighter future if he could have been long enough under the reconstructive influences.

Case 64, L. D., boy, aged 171⁄2 years.-His mother suffered from shock in the sixth or seventh month of pregnancy, owing to father's sudden death. One aunt, very nervous temperament, asthmatic, died of Bright's disease. Language developed slowly and indistinctly after 2 years of age. At 16 was circumcised; much excited over operation and nearly died from heart failure during anesthesia. When a little boy, was frightened by a horse running after him; fell and broke his arm. Used to be morbidly interested in funerals; talks about the coffin he wants to be buried in. Barely escaped being placed in an institution for the feeble-minded. He had been unmanageable, inefficient, morbid, with suicidal tendency, backward, and given to several forms of sexual perversion. Medical examination gave a clew to his mental difficulty. Weight and height above normal, making him very heavy for his age. Flat-chested; heart-beat somewhat weak and râles in right lung. Network of varicose veins on both buttocks. Sexual organs showed contrasting development: overgrown penis, with entirely undeveloped testicles. Had been masturbating since childhood; indulgence in homosexual practices resulted in funnel-shaped rectum, which caused chronic constipation.

Careful exercise in the open air and special treatment relieved these serious conditions so markedly that a great change came over the boy. His sexual inverted acts ceased. His mental tests, after his main difficulties were removed, proved very satisfactory, showing him to be a mentally normal boy, with creditable power of judgment, logical and associative faculty, and good concentration. His memory span in visual and aural impressions remained narrow, and he had difficulty in graphic and constructive expression, being rather primitive in these things. The boy was plainly capable of considerable advancement, and with the further improvement of his physical condition there came a gain in temperament, application, and perspective. But as he had come under treatment too late, his psychopathic conditions reasserted themselves later and his reinstatement failed.

Case 65, D. T., boy, now 20 years old.-Distinctly primitive. To call him feeble-minded in the accepted sense would seem a superficial valuation. He is still very backward in his school studies, and did some absurd things in his judgment tests. Yet in others, those that required action of some kind, he did remarkably well, showing considerable penetration and quickness to learn a new thing. Thus, he learned to do all the five tests with the Knox cubes; connected one hundred dots rationally and immediately; was normal with his form board and the dissected pictures (graded series), etc. His drawbacks were, first, his extreme slowness of response, and, second, his very narrow memory span, both visual and aural. They account for his difficulty in learning and in building up a conceptual world on the basis of experience, for he cannot well learn from his so easily forgotten errors and experiences. The boy showed other faults which would stamp him ordinarily as a criminal. He had dirty personal habits and a strong inclination to pilfer eatables and glittering things, jewelry, money, etc. The money could have had no attraction to him, as he understood little of its value; neither had he any conception of the value of jewelry. There was simply the attraction of the tempting objects and the tendency to hoard, even though he forgot the hiding-places. Again, even when he had had a full meal, he would steal eatables in large quantities and gorge himself to nausea. All these traits are distinctly those of savage people, and would be altogether