A FAMILY WITH ABNORMAL HANDS 
The possessor of these hands recently arrived at Ellis Island, N. Y., 
by Asst. Surg. Howard A. Knox of the United States Public Health Service. 
where he was examined 
Inquiry 
showed that his father was normal; the paternal grandmother had webbed fingers on 
both hands, but the fingers involved could not be learned; a paternal male cousin had 
deformities ‘exactly like those shown here, except for the rudimentary digit growing from 
the first finger of the left hand in this case; a sister of this cousin was described as an imbecile. 
The case well illustrates how a stock of rather low mentality is often characterized by 
physical defects, which are evidently due to heredity though not identical in each genera- 
tion. 
Photograph from the United States Public Health Service. 
(Fig. 17.) 
Inheritance of Fertility in Swine 
Study of 3,546 litters of pigs is re- 
ported by Edward N. Wentworth and 
C. E. Aubel in the Journal of Agricul- 
tural Research (March 20, 1916). Previ- 
ous studies had indicated that fecundity 
is to some extent an inherited character, 
although the degree of resemblance 
between parent and off-spring in this 
respect is not large. Cross-breeding 
has given some reason to suspect that a 
number of distinct, inheritable factors 
influence fecundity; it is also certain, 
224 
of course, that fecundity is influenced 
by numerous factors which have nothing 
to do with heredity. The analysis of 
data showed some evidence of the 
presence of three distinct hereditary 
factors, but further research will be 
required before any result can be an- 
nounced with confidence. The study 
is obviously an important one, in view 
of the great value of high fecundity in 
domesticated animals. 
