Some Cases of 

 Inheritance of Human Degeneracies. 



By Dr. W. J. RUTHERFURD. 



To no one more than to the medical practitioner do 

 opportunities of tracing the hereditarj' origin of patho- 

 logical defects or physical abnormalities in human 

 subjects present themselves. Almost every week some 

 case comes to his professional notice, which if patiently 

 traced would reveal an example of the inexorableness and 

 inevitableness of the hereditary process. Behind the 

 old adage " that what is bred in the bone comes out 

 in the flesh " lies the eternal truth of inheritance. That 

 this truth has been so long ignored in practical affairs 

 is no doubt due to the existence of a belief in the kindly 

 influence of environment which is based on a mis- 

 conception of the facts. No favourable environment 

 acting on " flesh " can change bad " bone " into good 

 bone. 



But while a medical practitioner may have many 

 chances of observing the hereditary mechanism at 

 work, it is seldom that he can find the time to pursue 

 such observations with that exactitude which scientific 

 treatment demands, and with that detail without which 

 general conclusions can be but tentative at the best. 



A few years ago several interesting cases presented 

 themselves to my notice, and the current circumstances 

 enabled me to make enquiries into the family histories 

 of the patients concerned. I was able to personally 

 diagnose the diseases and to observe the conditions, 

 in man}^ cases, among individuals in two or three of the 

 several generations whose history I was able by enquiry 

 of the patients and their relatives to record. 



An Instance ef the Inheritance of 

 Lenticular Cataract from Both Parents. 



The occurrence in a famiij' group of a transmissible 

 defect of which it can be definitely asserted that the con- 

 dition is shared by both parents is admittedly rare. When 

 it occurs in the human race it is sufficiently important 

 from a biological standpoint to render it advisable 



