550 IV" CONFKliK.NCK IM K.liN \Tlii> ALK llK (;K>Krinl K. 



The school médical oi'ficer kindly iiiteiesled liimself in tlie cnse, but could 

 nol get the boy laiven lo Liverpool for llie piirpose of iiavinj? Ilie liaiids radio- 

 giapiu'd. Ile adds " As regards family liislory 1 coidd only liiid oui (from Ibis 

 l)()v andhis aunt) Ihal Ihe grandi'allier, on llie /W///cr's side liad liie same con- 

 dition ". " As regards Ibe boy. bolii iiands are affecled but I woidd nol liUe to 

 slaledelinilely aboul Ibetoes witiioul anX ra<iiograph. Heis ralber nndersi/.cd. " 

 I am decply graleful lo Ibis médical IViend l'or Ibc Irouble and inleresl he 

 look in Ibis case, bnl am debarred Irom menlioning bira by name, from fear 

 of allracling allenlion lo tbe boy's faniily. 



From Ihe informalion obtaincd, and oblainalile by corrcs|)onden<c. il 

 seemed Ihal bolh tbe boy's parents and ail bis brolhers and sislers were nor- 

 mal, and the only known bracbydaclylons relative was bis parental grandfather. 

 Moreover the parents positively derlined lo bnve eilher a radiograph or a |iho- 

 tograph of the boy's hands taken. 



I mention Ihesc détails in ordcr to point oui tbe necessity of personal ins- 

 pection and investigation in such cases, and il will be shown in this seqnel 

 thaï many of tbe statements were incorrect. 



I bave paid Iwo visils lo this family and their relatives, and llioiigh nn-uc- 

 cessful in Ihe endeavour lo persuade them to do ail 1 wished, 1 bave been able 

 lo o-ather logetber sufficient particulars to make il possible to describe the essen- 

 lial l'calures of Ihe abnornialily, and to indicale ils hereditary bearings. 



I bave interviewed most ni Ibc boy's relatives, including a great grand- 

 mothcr, grandmother, uncles, aunlsand cousins, and bave made several measu- 

 remenls and obtained several radiograpbs and a couple of pholograpbs. This is 

 most satisfaclory considering llie great reluclance of thèse people lo do any- 

 thing which can possibly lead to identification. 



.My besl thanks are due lo Mr C. Thurslon-Holland for tbe excellent radio- 

 grapbs : which are some of the best I bave ever seen. 



The diagram (ligure 1), shows ail Ihal I was able lo lear.n from r<;,'/rs/jr;/i- 

 dence aboul Ibis boys family. 



_1 , 



• I.i-.mImm-^ ;inil sislers ail iicinii:il. 



i représents norma/ ma/e o norma/ fema/s ^ abnarma/ 



\\-i. \— l',lT..ll.'..ns cliMi-l. 



Tbe lower maie is Ibc boy already menlioned. According to this cbarl botb 

 bis parents were normal, and are therefore shown by white circles). and the 

 paternal grandfather was bracbydaclylons. 



(^.ompare tbis cbarl with liial shown in ligme "l wliicli was cnnslrncled 

 from Personal observations and in(|uiries on tbe spot. 



The abnormalily can be traceil Ihrougb five générations. The oldest sur- 

 viving members of the family, amongsl Ihe abnormals, are the man n" ."> and 

 bis sister n" 7 (Tbe ahnormnls only are numbered). No information could be 

 obtained from n" .'>, as he is bordering on s(>iiilc demenlia. 



N" 7 was most reluclanl to give me any information whalcNcr. and ailnallx 

 Iricd lo niislead me aboul Ibc >^ifn'iiùii(/ uicndicrs ol tb<' l'amlly. I\ir cxample. 



