acute observers, and every general statement in regard to it must be fenced by qualifications.
It is tolerably certain, however, that the centre of its distribution in the valley of Aosta is about the centre of the valley. The city of Aosta itself may be regarded as its head-quarters. It is there, and in the neighbouring towns of Gignod, Villeneuve, St. Vincent, and Verrex, and in the villages and upon the high-road between those places, that these distorted, mindless beings, more like brutes than men, commonly excite one's disgust by their hideous, loathsome, and
A CRÉTIN OF AOSTA.uncouth appearance, by their obscene gestures, and by their senseless gabbling. The accompanying portrait of one is by no means overdrawn—some are too frightful for representation.
How can we account for this particular intensity towards the middle of the valley? Why is it that crétins become more and more numerous after Ivrea is passed, attain their highest ratio and lowest degradation at or about the chief town of the valley, and then diminish in numbers as its upper termination is approached? This maximum of intensity must certainly point to a cause, or to a combination of causes, operating about Aosta, which are less powerful at the two extremities of the valley; and if the reason for it could be determined, the springs of crétinism would be exposed.
The disease would be even more puzzling than it is if it were confined to this single locality, and the inquirer were to find not
