PHYSICAL HEREDITY 2$ 



sons, the younger of whom, judging from a very- 

 fine portrait, bore a very striking resemblance to 

 his great-great-uncle, but was not at all like his 

 father or mother. The celebrated sailor, there- 

 fore, and his great-great-nephew reproduced, with 

 an interval of four generations between them, the 

 features of a common ancestor." ^ This is a case 

 of indirect heredity, or atavism, acting in both 

 branches. 



Among the curiosities of this subject are the 

 examples of anomalies and monstrosities. The 

 case of Edward Lambert is often cited. His 

 " whole body, with the exception of the face, 

 the palms of the hands, and the soles of the 

 feet, was covered with a sort of carapace of horny 

 excrescences, which rattled against each other. 

 He was the father of six children, all of whom 

 from the age of six weeks presented the same 

 singularity," ^ which was kept up through five 

 generations. Sexdigitism is hereditary, and some 

 have declared that even peculiarities of hand- 

 writing are transmitted. The handwriting of 

 Abraham Lincoln, grandson of the martyr-pres- 

 ident, is said to be almost exactly like that of 

 his grandfather; and yet the grandfather died 



1 Heredity^ Ribot, p. 172. 



2 ii)id. p. 7. 



