14 



abnormal events as fevers or other illnesses, or by the outer 

 stimuli of particular circumstances of life." 1 



The inheritance of the complexion and quality of the 

 skin is so commonly observed that I need not do more 

 than mention the fact; while, of all that concerns the 

 shape and size of the body, I shall only refer to obesity or 

 corpulence, which is without doubt very frequently hereditary, 

 and the predisposition to it may be derived from either 

 parent. Youth, middle, and old age are, perhaps, equally 

 subject to this condition, but .it occurs more frequently in. 

 females than in males, and in the single oftener than in the 

 married. That nations are prone to it as well as families 

 may be seen in the contrast between, for example, the Dutch 

 and the Americans. As Ribot says : " So truly is obesity 

 the result of an organic predisposition, that it has often been 

 known to make its appearance amid privations, and under 

 all the disadvantages of hard labour and poverty." 



The internal, like the external, structure of the body is 

 alike subject to the influence of heredity, and in the great 

 work of Dr. Prosper Lucas may be found many striking, 

 examples. Thus, in the osseous, digestive, circulatory,* 

 muscular, and nervous systems, in the fluids as well as in,T 

 the solids of the body, the laws of heredity are as rigidly , 

 obeyed as in the external configuration. Ray, and Cuvier 

 after him, went so far as to say that there is even a greater 

 similarity in the internal than in the external structure of" 

 the body. Take, for example, the distribution of the external 

 veins in the hands of two individuals, and they will be found 

 to differ considerably: whereas, the internal veins in two 

 different individuals will be found to closely correspond. 

 The shape, size, and anomalies of the bones are also 

 1 Dr. Maudsley. 



