South Bend News-Times, Volume 30, Number 308, South Bend, St. Joseph County, 28 October 1913 — Page 2

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The New Clearing House Which Aims to Decrease the Number of Criminals by Scientifically Diagnosing Mental and Moral Defectives and Placing Them Where They Can Do No Harm and Where There May Be Hope for Their Redemption.

NHW YORK Is the first metropolis in the world to scientifically systematize the study and disposition of its mentally and morally deficient child population its "potential criminals." With 15.000 of these unfortunates reported by public and private schools and protectories, and with city Institutions for such cases haying a total capacity of less than 5,000, the need of such a centralized method of examination, classification and continuous observation. Is manifest. Tho sifting out and sequestration of tho morally deficient, on account of their

By Dr. Max Gustav Schlapp, Director of the New York Clearing House for Mental Defectives.

VERY largo city face3 a grave problem la j1 connection with its child population of mental defectives. These unfortunates must be regarded as potential criminals. In many instances they aro already morally, as well a3 mentally, deficient, and havo a conlaminating influence upon normal children in the schools, in the streets, in tho bomeswherevcr they are freo to como and go. ino problem 13 to discover these cases early in their development, to place them where there Is hopo for their redemption, thereby limiting tho bad influence they exert and reducing the supply of underworld material. Up to tho present time no metropolis has put into operation a satisfactory solution of thl3 problem. Each maintains various public institutions to which the mentally deficient are committed, often without any exhaustive examination into their condition, without thorough inquiry into their personal and family history and without means of systematic observation of their subsequent careers. Facilities for tho caro and treatment of theso cases aro always inadequate. Lack of Bvctem in- their discovery, diagnosis and commitment results In overcrowding existing institutions with a largo percentage of comparatively mild cases whllo many" others for whom Immediate attention is imperative for the public good a3 well ns their own are neglected. This stato of affairs in New York City Is at- , tempted to bo met by the establishment of a Clearing IIouso for Mental Defectives a central organization of efficient examiners, nurses and social workers conducted under the Department of Public Charities, to which all cases aro sent a3 discovered, which makes accurate diagnoses of all cases, classifies them, end recommends commitment according to the

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By Prof. Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., D.Sc, President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. IJ yc exited not the unexpected yc shall not Ind truth." lleraclitus. r N a recent article I spoke of the question "whether consciousness apart from brain has any meaning" as the fundamental issue. But this Important and profoundly difficult question is not tho Immediate phenomenon that the Society for Psychical Research has been investlg: nor It Is the phenomenon under discussion. The possible existence of consciousness apart from brain (however obviously consciousness requires brain to manifest itself hero and now) 'is not a phenomenon at ail. but a hypothesis one that I spoke of as eminently debatable, though I admitted that it wis tho working hypothesis to which I have been myself led by long continued study of a considerable range of obscure psychical facta. Such a hypothesis does not rest solely on the cccurrenco of simple telepathy, on which the present discussion hinges; it Is sustained by a good deal more. Tho experimentally observed fact immediately under consideration Is the transference of thought or mental Impression between a few living people, i. e., between such as have the faculty sufficiently developed, without the use cf their normal sense organs, the conditions cf transfer being not yet known. But what the explanation of this fact may be is an open question. It may possibly be due to brain waves, cr eono kind of syntonic material or ethereal connection between brains; for, though I think that unlikely, it is what some people have suggested and provisionally hold, finding In it an obvious analogy with wireles3 telegraphy; and if that can be proved to bo the explanation no question of consciousness apart from brain need arise, i. e., no such hypothesis would in that caso bo necessary to account for simple telepathy. The process would then take Its place as an extension of, or addition to tho already known methods of transmitting thought speech, writing, gesture, codo signalling, etc. Some of theso methods would seem mysterious to a savage, just as telepathy may seem mysterious to us so long as wo aro unacquainted with the mechanism of tho process. On anything beyond affirming the bare fact I have been careful not to dogmatize, though I myself am inclined to maintain that telepathy is not a physical process, pari passu with the other or long known methods of communication, but is a sign or incipient outcome of a faculty and a method essentially different. As to evidence of the existence of such a faculty. If a record is wanted, it is contained In a mas3 of papers published in the Proceedmgs of the Society for Psychical Research, for :t servos as the hypothetical and most nearly orthodox explanation of a multipilicity of phenomena which without It would bo even more

contaminating Influence, la of first Importance. For the first time this Is made possible and effective by the "clearing house" method, with Its scientific means of dlagaoste and its supervision of all cases discovered. The organizer and head of the Clearing Hous9 for Mental Defectives is Dr. Max Gustav Schlapp, an eminent authority on mental diseases, both here and In Germany, professor of neuropathology in the Post Graduate School and Hospital. He also occupies the post of psychiatrist to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

urgency of the cases and existing facilities for their treatment. The first step In attempting tri solve tho problem of the mentally deficient child is to discover as accurately a3 possible the degree of his defectiveness. The observer, noticing the Mongolian idiot as he sits staring stupidly ahead cf him, with open mouth, will say that it is no difficult matter to see that he is definitely deficient 'It is true that no mental test Is required in this case. The defects are obvious. But it is also true that thi3 helpless Idiot does not represent that class of mental defectives which is most dangerous to society. It is the high-grade imbecile and tho moron that constitute the real menace to the community. In the case of these high-grade defectives diagnosis was formerly difficult and uncertain. It depended to a great extent on the subjective standard of the examiner. For instance, there was no segregation of these cases in the schools, for no child who could learn to read and write was rcgraded as feeble-minded. "Stupid," "dull" or "stubborn" they might be called, but they were not recognized as definitely defective, because there was no standardized scale of mental development by which they could be measured. Binet and Simon, two French psychologists, undertook to standardize a scale of tests whereby the mental age of an individual might be objectively determined with some degree of precision, just as his height and weight havo been determined for a long time. Other psychologists have submitted tests for the detec- . tioa of feeblemindedness, but tho Binet-Simon scale is most widely accepted and is tho one we use in the Clearing House. By means of this scale we can tell not dniy that a child is defective, but also approximately HOW defective he Is for example, whether he has developed to tho ago of three years, seven rf tice mysterious; it ls the minimum hypothesis, which we feel bound to stretch to tho utmost before going beyond it If, however, direct first-hand laboratory experience of the rudlmcntpry stages of such a faculty is wanted as it ought to be it must bo looked and waited for, and experiments must be tried from time to time, as in any other chance ! success is likely to occur if observers are patient, though it is not always at hand, and my experience shows that sooner or later sufficiently sensitive or capable recipients persons with adequate receptivity will be found. Perhaps they aro commoner than we think, because the test is so seldom applied. I have now an apparatus set up for examining whether traces of the faculty exist widespread in normal people, and I shall make report to the Society for Psychical Research in due course. But whether inclplently widespread or not. and however it be explained, the faculty of telepathic receptivity certainly exists in a few people, though even in them it is by no means always and under all circumstances available. In that respect it differs from an inorganic property like radio-activity though that, too, appears limited to a few substances and Is not conspicuous or widespread. The Society for Psychical Research has dona more in the way of detecting fraud than any single person; partly, no doubt, by reason of Its wide experience; but it has also had a large experience of genuine phenomena, and by application of the comparatively simple principle of telepathy to cases where Its application ls not superficially obvious and where any other explanation involves a greater departure from normality it has done a good deal to mitigate superstition, to give a rational explanation of at least ono kind of 60-called ghost, and generally to Induce a sane and sober treatment of a number of uncommon but genuine experiences. It is sometimes saidSir Bryan Donkln either says or clearly implies that the existence cf telepathy would contradict established knowledge. If that were true, it would indeed ,be an absurdity, but telepathy does nothing of the kind; It enlarges and expands, it opens up a new chapter, but It doe3 not contradict. By psychical research our knowledge of fact h supplemented, but In no other way changed. The unwelcome facts will fit into the coherent ccheme of science In due course, and will displace nothing already there, though they will remove some mistaken accretions the beginnings of a premature fence or boundary. If biologists have formulated for themselves a theory that a material mode of access is tho only access to mind, and material methods tho only possible means of psychic intercommunion, that, theory, well founded as It is on the positive side, may have to give way on the negative side and the word only be eliminated from the statement before it Is true. Subject to correction, by further experience, I am ready provisionally to agree that possibly the only way in which mind can act on inorganic matter is through or by the aid of the brain nerve and muscle system of some living animal, and. conversely, that the material unlverso acts, and perhaps only can act, on mind by an inverse process through the senso organs of a living person. At any rate, there is great uniformity of experience in support of

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Dr. Max Gustav Schiapp, Professor of Neuropathology, Post graduate School and Hospital, New York, and Director cf the Clearing Houio for lental defectives.

years or ten years, etc. In scores of cas?3 that come to the Clearing House it would b difficult to tell tho place of an individual in the scale of mentality without these tests. Examinations at mu Cleans House begin at 10 o'clock In the morning. Tho examiner comes Into tho clinic, where the patient3, most of them children, sit with their shawled mothers, waiting. Each has a little ticket which tells his number, and he waits his turn. Nearly every one has also a letter from or is accompanied by a teacher, a nurse, a social worker or a probation officer. The attitude of tho patient toward tho examination makes all the difference in tho world. The idea that an ordeal is at hand must be dispelled. The examiner speaks cheerfully to the patient, calling him or her by name, and inviting him in to "see somo pictures," "play some games," or what not. It is surprising how well this works, especially with the children. It is only the exceptional patient who resists, weeps, and refuses to bo reassured. Almost always ho follows the examiner readily into the little room where the test is to bs made, for the feebleminded aro singularly credulous and confiding. The name and address of the patient, with his clinical number, are all ascertained from the card which ho gets when he enters tho clinic. The examination begins with a question a3 to his birthday, and how old he is. Next he is asked about his school training; $ J -v .-V ' 7 'yy-J- f v t j -f f A New Portrait these commonplace theses. But If I am asked the totally different" question whether it 13 likely that mind can ever directly act on mini, without any material concomitant or int?rvention. I should have to say that I know no fact against it, and should wish to to sirr.pl agno tic on the subject wen? it net for the telepathb evidence which In recent times has cc in 3 to

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Dr. Schlapp's Chart, Showing theAgcs of 1,000 Mentally Deficient Children brought to the Clirin House ly Parents and from Public and Private Schools. It Will Be Seen That

the Periods cf Pu berty and Adole scence Reveal the Highest Pcrcentapo of Mental Deficiency 330 in Every 1,000; Apes, too. When Public School Attendance Is Compulsory, and When Moral jelinquency Is Mcst Apt to Manifest Itself. ""' Ui A ltd eoes ho go to school? If . 1 If noU did ho go to school at ae One. for Low long? Did he go to school in Euro,c. eU. TbU Information is necessary 1 tCl e t never kuuo i E.s-w-. , 4WOivn ferentlv frcm an American Z A L who Is at pre s(: lit In school, may be at the same stage of mental development. . . , . After these facts havo been ascertalnca, either from tho patient or those who accoiapany him, there i3 no stereotyped method of procedure. Almost every case requires a slightly different manner of approach. A feebleminded man twenty-five years old Is apt to fly into a temper If the examiner, estimating his mental age at four years, starts off with the question, "Are you a man or a woman?" Tho retarded child of eleven years collapses in discouragement if the first task set for him is to put dissected sentences together. After long experience, however, one attains an extraordinary degree of facility In estimating a patient and in quickly deciding which questions aro most suitable as an approach to his case. Thu3 the actual order of the questions and tests cannot bo stereotyped, but tho questions themselves are always exactly the same, for the form of each question has been standardized as well as the answer to it, and the timo in which the reply is to be given. V Q-,; -. '7 jpyj! - of Sir Oliver Lodge. cur knowledge. And even then for any Interpretation or demonstration, for any manifestation of the cccjrrence a physiological system of brain nerva and muscle must still be utilized, gincj thij is the essential condition by which we cr.!: obtain a record of tho fact or convey hncwlr jVe c! It to the world. I said this more brley, but I thought clearly enough,

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1 4 y 10 11 12 15 14 15 16 17 Id 13 ZOv YEARS OLD When a test Is parsed successfully. a.Tiiner marks it p!u3 (); when the patlv.ni fails in a test the examiner marks It minus ( ). When t- o patient makes a mlfitaka no Indication cf this fact Is given him. He ! encour-s;ed to reel that he's meeting with ur- - qualiSe-i success. Tho exanilner keep3 going fcrwari into th mere difficult tests till thi patient has failed in all thi tests for a given year; he keei s gcing backward into the easy tests till tho patient has successfully answered ell the questions in r given ago. ThG mental aire i3 then determined by beginning with th ago where all answers are correct, and adding a year cf mental ago for every 2ve pluses beyond that ag. On tho hack of tho Elnet blank the examiner records a summary cf the case, noting the mood of tha patient, whether ho is frightened, amiable, apathetic, cr interested, speech defects, and any peculiarities cf reaction that may be noteworthy. This summary Is taken Into account when tho physician estimates tho Binet t?st as ar. aid In his diagnosis. The most difficult case3 are those of tha feebleminded adults, particularly the foreign adults. They are sometimes inclined to taka a gloomy view of the situation, to bo resentful, feeling that they are suspected of belnff "crazy." These havo to bo handled carcfullr if any results of value aro to bo obtained. But the majority of feebleminded patients, both children and adults, aro quite docile, and co-operato readily in the tests. Our purposo ls to register every ment&l defective in New York. We hope to this end to inaugurate and carry out the system of finger prints, not with any Idea of stamping the Patient as even a potential criminal, but as establishing the absolute Identity of the Individual with his record in the Clearing House. After the mental ago ha3 been established by the Binet Test, a member of tho medical staff, all trained neurologists makes a thorough examination which includes the family history as far back as the patient's parents can possibly recall, a personal history cf the patient and a thorough physical examinatirn. With all this data in mind, a clagnosls is made and a cour-e of treatment decided upon, if in any way medical caro can improve the general condition of tho patient If it is a clear cae rf amentia, for which nothing but Institutional care can avail, tho one most fitted to the degrea lLfm Sdedn"..,s BScd recomtucuueu iae patient's parents and guardians. In my former article I kno that it annoys most ncientlata to see he word "discovery" used of a thing which to them seems impossible, namely, the direct intercommunication between mind and mind! apart from the operation of normal and roco nized sense organs. Put I know what the word discovery means In science, and I take full tf ' f0r ?Hir dIfication and amusement, gibbet myself further, so I go out of my way to say that I qyito expect that the process which wo call telepathy, whoso laws I Ehould be glad to understand, will be found applicable to, and will so to speak explain, or at any rate be closely connected with, those long-testified-to and frequently encountered experience which simulate, and perhaps In some rare cases truly represent, communications from another order of mental existence which is normally dissociated from ordinary matter. To sum up Any one who limits his rango cf Inquiry to the general categories of already acquired knowledge has a sufflcientlv rich and extensive field, and, by surrounding himself with a definite boundary, is In a very stronc position. Entrenched in such a fortress. Sir Ray Lankester and those who think with him look with pitying eyes on us. who, after some exploration inside, have ventured outside the walls, and they regard with contempt any assertions a3 to what lies bpyond the pale. They are like the orthodox mariners of old who limited themselves to the shores of tho Mediterranean. cruiF'ng round its coasts and gradually becoming familiar with every port. The world as known to the ancients was their domain, and it was Impious to sail out through the Pillars of Hercules into the ocean beroni Venturesome explorers who transgressed those limits and from time to timo returned with legends of times and other unusual phenomena were doubtless received with disapprobation and incredulity, stili more so If they ventured to deduce the possible existence of a new continent, which as yet confessedly they had not reached, from evidences derived from drifting logs and a Sargasso Sea. That is my view of the position, and. unless we strangely limit the possibilities of progress before the human race in tho aeons of the future, surely the most advanced and modern man 0? science must admit, in a lucid Interval that posterity will regard him aa cne of the ancients, as one, too, perhaps, uho Is pathetically struggling amid a welter of ignorance to hold fast to his traditions, to secure himself la hi3 fertile little casis of materialistic knowedge, to defend it against the host3 of barbarians, and to resist the unwelcome Incursion of even friendly messengers from alien and distant lands. Mranwhlle. wo aro accused of lying, of megalomania, of folly and of madness. .Let it be so. I for cne am in no hurry. I am not sorry that the present state of ignorance and prejudice surrounding this sucjf-ct in the minds cf a large number of scientif.c men in the year 1313 Ehould be put on record, lamentable though it be, else posterity, familiar with a mass of developed knowleu5 will hardly credit the curious obstruction which picneers In this domain still have to encounter. Srcure in the progress of the human race, we shall bide our time, cultivate our gardens and pass on befort tny wealth of fruits can bo gathered Iz.