HEREDITY OF NORMAL CHARACTERS. 17 



The remarkable difference that is observed in the 

 fecundity, not only of individuals but of classes and 

 families, is undoubtedly owing to inherited peculiari- 

 ties of the system. As a rule, the lower groups of 

 animals present a greater activity of the reproductive 

 powers than the higher. Among the vertebrates the 

 oviparous classes are more prolific than the viviparous. 

 Certain families are noted for their fecundity, while 

 in others it is rare to find an individual that has many 

 descendants. 



Girou relates the case of a mother who gave birth 

 to twenty-four children, among them five girls, who 

 in turn gave birth to forty-six children in all. The 

 daughter of this woman's son, while still young, gave 

 birth to her sixteenth child. 



In some families inherited fecundity has been ob- 

 served for five or six generations. " The sons, daugh- 

 ters, and grandchildren, of a couple who were the 

 parents of nineteen children, were nearly all gifted," 

 says Lucas, " with the same fecundity." 1 



Those familiar with the various breeds of domestic 

 animals will call to mind many cases that illustrate 

 the heredity of the procreative powers. 



Of the high-bred families of the improved breeds, 

 some are remarkably prolific, while others are almost 

 uniformly deficient in this important quality. 



The imported Short-horn cow, Young Mary, by 

 Jupiter (2170), had fourteen heifer-calves and one 

 bull, and died at the age of twenty-one years. 



Her offspring were almost without exception re- 



1 " Heredity," by Ribot, p. 4 ; " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physi- 

 ology," vol. ii., p. 471. 

 2 



