HEREDITY OF WHITE FORE-LOCK 



Blaze in the Hair Transmitted Through Many Generations -Appears to Behave 



as Simple Dominant and to Follow Mendelian Proportions — 



History of an American Case. 



Newton Miller 

 Professor of Biology, Wheaton College, Norton, Mass. 



A 



LBINISM in man has been fre- 

 quently recorded during the last 

 two centuries, but it is only 

 comparatively recent that data 

 have been collected with the object 

 of explaining its behavior in inheritance. 

 A glance at the excellent monograph by 

 Pearson, Nettleship and Usher shows 

 that albinism may appear in almost any 

 degree from a mere colorless spot to a 

 complete lack of pigment in hair, skin 

 and eyes. The former is the condition 

 with which we are at present concerned. 



Rizzoli published in 1877 a record 

 showing a fore-lock of white hair run- 

 ning through six generations of a family 

 comprising 49 individuals in the direct 

 line of descent. A similar account by 

 Harman appearedin 1909. In Harman's 

 case the "flare" cropped out in six suc- 

 cessive generations of a family ntimber- 

 ing 138 members in the direct line. 

 Other colorless patches are said to be 

 found on various parts of the body in this 

 ■ family. Three years later Cane referred 

 to a family of 42 individuals with a 

 white frontal lock appearing in each 

 of the four generations mentioned. The 

 pedigree which I offer is in many respects 

 a duplicate of those cited above. 



I am indebted to Miss Agnes Joynes 

 (IV. 38), a member of the family, for 

 the active part she has taken in the 

 collection of the data for this study and 

 to her is due the greater credit for the 

 record. 



In the year 1821 a Mr. Little with 

 his three daughters immigrated to 

 America from Carlisle, England, and 

 settled on a branch of the St. John 

 river in New Brunswick, Canada. His 

 only son. Dr. WilHam Bell Little (II. 

 3), followed two or three years later 

 and made his home also in New Bruns- 



wick. It is in the dcscendents of Dr. 

 Little that the white lock may be found 

 in the American branch. The family 

 traces its origin back through the 

 Percys, Mortimers, even to Edward III. 

 We are interested in the family of 

 Harry "Hot-Spur" Percy for here, 

 according to a current story, originated 

 the white lock. Harry "Hot-Spur" in 

 a rebellion against Henry IV. was 

 killed in the battle of Shrewsbury, 1403. 

 When the news of his death reached his 

 pregnant wife, she swooned, pressing 

 her hands to her forehead as she did so. 

 The son born a few hours later bore a 

 white patch on his forehead correspond- 

 ing to the spot touched by Lady Percy 

 as she swooned. The mark has since 

 appeared in some members of each and 

 every generation of this child's descen- 

 dants. Dr. Spurgeon Jenkins (IV. 4) has 

 suggested the direction in which explana- 

 tion should rather be sought. While in 

 England he looked up his antecedents 

 and found to his satisfaction that the 

 colorless patch goes back to the Percys, 

 but he found also that Lady Percy was 

 an albino. This of course is no explana- 

 tion, since there is no record of an 

 albino giving rise to spotted individuals 



or spotted to albinos. 



!'■. 



LOCATION OF THE LOCK. k""/''!' 



The white lock located on a whiter 

 patch of skin on or near the median Ijne 

 of the forehead and crown irt. the 

 American family stands out promi- 

 nently in contrast to the black or brown 

 hair adjoining. In addition, other 

 colorless spots are to be found on the 

 bodies of some of the individuals 

 possessing the "flare." The mother of 

 V. 18 describes her son thus — "a white 

 heart-shaped spot on the forehead just 



165 



