cording to him, these individuals come into the world with the stamp
of a hereditary taint, with certain somatic anomalies (ears, palate,
formation of skull, growth of hair, etc.), and already as children show
those psychic characteristics which are decisive for their
individuality. They are, above all, characterized by a marked
hypersensitiveness and by a lack of harmonious relationship between the
various psychic functions. This disharmony finds its expression chiefly
in the predominance of the emotional element over the intellectual and
in the entire subordination of the latter to the former. Their feelings,
furthermore, express themselves in an abnormal manner, both as regards
their intensity and duration. The emotional reaction is either
excessively strong or, on the other hand, disproportionately weak
compared with the stimulus, and in spite of the extravagance of the
expression it quickly passes over or remains with an excessive obduracy
for a disproportionately long time. Notwithstanding the apparent
intensity of the outbreak in the former and its tediousness in the
latter case, these emotional upsets almost always lack real depth. They
are usually very superficial, insufficiently grounded, rather dependent
upon accident; transitions from one extreme to the other make up the
daily experiences of these individuals--from intense love to burning
hatred, from deepest reverence to an irreconcilable disgust, from
unshakable loyalty to brutal treachery. They lack energy and initiative,
are undecided, vacillating, and inclined to self-reproach. The
domination of the emotional sphere and the frequent incongruity and
discord between the various forms of emotional expression frequently
lead to the development of morbid doubts, morbid fears, a morbidly
exaggerated egotism, and sensitiveness which leads them to scent
everywhere personal injury and insult. Finally, they frequently show an
overdevelopment of the sexual instincts and various deviations from
normal sexual development. Many of them seem to lack totally in the
power of reason, but act entirely upon impulse, upon the mere feeling
that this or that proposition is true. Many others show a pronounced
tendency to a metaphysic brooding and day-dreaming and to the
transformation into fact of the dreamed air castles, without any regard
to the iron logic of life which they cannot satisfy, with which they
either will not or do not know how to reckon. Turning their backs upon