II. This was a boy, Johann P., who was studied mentally first when he was 16 years old. A thoroughly good history was forthcoming. He was brought for examination on account of his extreme changeableness, his failure in several occupations, his tendencies to swindling and his extreme lying. As a young child his mother had to correct him much for prevarications. Soon after he was 9, when both his parents were already dead, he forged a school certificate and was felt to be a bad influence in the home of his guardian. About that time he also stole money from pockets on a number of occasions. In school he was regarded as an undesirable pupil on account of his underhanded behavior, and one teacher who had observed him for long wrote that he showed marked inclination towards lying. At the time he was 15, he was somewhat retarded in school life, but was told he had to decide upon an occupation. After a stormy period he announced he would become a gardener. After doing well for a month or so at his first place he began to tell compromising stories about the wife of his employer. He gave himself out to be the son of a general who was going to inherit a large sum of money. On the strength of this he managed to get hold of expensive articles he desired. A short time afterward he wrote to his guardian he was fitted for higher pursuits than that of gardening. Soon afterward he ran away to a large town. He now wrote that the word freedom sounded like the sweetest music in his ears. He acknowledged that he had started on a career of criminality, but decided to do better. At this time he attempted to make his way by offering his compositions at a newspaper office where they were declined either because his productions were immature or his authorship was doubted. One editor loaned him some money, but he got much more by representing himself to be a collaborator of this editor. He soon failed to make his way and attempted other things, including entrance into the merchant marine. He finally turned up again at his guardian's house, and when his box was opened it was found to contain a very curious lot of material such as money accounts, business cards, letter heads, catalogues. It was at this time that he was placed for observation in an asylum and it was soon found that his alleged compositions were plagiarized. He claimed to suffer from headaches. Outside of that he was in fine physical condition. He frequently wrote sketches in proof of his ability. A general statement was finally made that he showed slight traces of hysteria, was a sufferer from headaches, and showed periodic tendencies to wandering and lying. No special defect in the ethical discriminations was present. He had good insight into his own tendencies. He was finally released to his guardian, and Stemmermann offered the prognosis that Johann might well develop into a typical pathological swindler. He came of a family of