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Mean urinary taurine excretion in mongolism is significantly less than that of normal controls( 1). This difference is due in part to the fact that a proportion of mongoloids excrete taurine below the lowest level observed among normal subjects. The difference is believed to be genetically controlled and is compatible with an overdose effect ( 2 ) .It was noted that .mongoloids with lowest excretion levels tended to be residents of cottages housing patients who are non-ambulatory, profoundly retarded or both. Cottage placement for individuals without physical disabilities is primarily dependent on level of adaptive behavior which is in part determined by their level of intellectual function. These facts encouraged study of the relationships between taurine excretion and cottage placement and between taurine excretion and I.Q. scores.Methods. The clinical impression of mongolism was confirmed by karyotyping all 41 mongoloid subjects. Accurate 24-hour urines were collected at the infirmary of the Western Carolina Center. Taurine was determined as previously described (3) and creatinine according to Taussky's procedure (4).The results of previous psychological tests were reviewed by a clinical psychologist at Western Carolina Center. Subjects were retested if previous test results were over 2 years old and the subject was less than 16 years old a t time of testing. Tests were also repeated if the previous examiner considered the results invalid or if a range rather than a specific score had been recorded. The Vineland Social Maturity Scale (S.Q.) was used for 11 subjects who were either nm-verbal or had a basal age of less than 2 years according to the Stanford-Binet. The Stanford-Binet (Form LM) was used with the 30 re-*This work was supported in part by U.S.P.H.S.

Rats tested in a two-compartrnent shuttlebox with another rat tethered in one compartment showed strong preference for the compartment with the other rat. Rats given the same test with the addition of intermittent shocks showed no preference for the other rat. This result indicates that fear does not necessarily lead to affiliation in rats and that pain-produced aggression (shocked rats often fought) is not necessarily reinforcing.

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