The present is the day when we are searching for any deviation from the normal type, that we may put it down as a sign of degeneracy, a word that is having a more and more extended meaning, and is already serving an evil purpose as signifying more than is actually warranted. Formerly a degenerate was an individual so different physically and mentally from the average, that he could be set off into a class by himself. We knew him when we saw him, because he was distinct from the average. Now it

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... eeds only some slight imperfection of development in an organ, or tissue, or some slight irregularity of action in the brain as shown in speech, or action, to brand an individual as presenting indications of degeneration.