Report on the examination of one hundred brains of feeble-minded children / by A.W. Wilmarth.

  • Wilmarth, Alfred W.
Date:
[1890]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the examination of one hundred brains of feeble-minded children / by A.W. Wilmarth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    a. <»'. wtmmJC' r& rinnt~,alir UrfTek number of cases of actual cerebral disease, in contrast with the relatively small number where imper- fect development seems the causative agent of the mental defect. With this fact, we see a corresponding improba- bility of a large majority of these cases ever attaining a full mental development. That a larg£ majority of them can be greatly improved, we have daily evidence in our schools. Children inheriting inactive brain from parents below the usual average of intelligence, without history of infantile disease or epilepsy, seem the most promising of general and permanent improvement. The brain dis- | eases of infancy, on the other hand, are peculiarly ’ destructive, and not only leave a permanent injury to the brain, preventing its growth and development, but are lia-4 ble, from the irritation they leave, to kindle the epileptic 1 habit with its destructive effects. Realizing these facts, g itfe physician should be more cautious in giving the cus- 1; tomary diagnosis of “ Arrested development that special H training will remove,” thereby arousing hopes in the minds of the parents that can only result in disappoint- ment. In closing, I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. I. N. Kerlin, not only for the clinical and school histories of the cases here described, but also for many valuable hints in conducting this work. «