22 Minor-Brachydactyhj 



This letter contains three statements which are of interest from the 

 biological standpoint. 



(1) As to the brachydactylous condition of the boy's hands. 



(2) The presence of the same condition in a grand-parent. 



(3) The blood-relationship of the parents. 



Clearly it was a case for further inquiry. I endeavoured to get 

 some more particulars by correspondence with some other people who 

 knew the boy's family but without success. All the information obtain- 

 able was that the boy's parents and all his brothers and sisters were 

 normal (Fig. 1), and the only known brachydactylous member, besides 



i 



I 



(? X ? 



I ■ — — 1 



I I 



^ ' some brothers and sisters 



all normal 

 Fig. 1. Erroneous Chart. 



himself, was his paternal grandfather^ Moreover the parents would 

 not consent to have either a radiograph or photograph of the boy's 

 hands taken. 



I mention these facts in order to point out the un-reliability of 

 second-hand information, for it will be seen in the sequel how erroneous 

 the statements were from all sources. Accurate details can generally 

 only be acquired by personal investigations. I have paid two visits to 

 this boy's family and their relatives and though I have not succeeded 

 in persuading them to do all I wished, I have been able to gather 

 together sufficient particulars to make it possible to describe the essen- 

 tial feature of the abnormality, and so indicate its hereditary bearings. 



I have interviewed most of the boy's relatives including the great- 

 grandmother, grandmother, uncles, aunts, and cousins, and have made 

 several measurements and obtained some radiographs and a couple of 

 photographs. This is most satisfactory considering the great reluctance 

 of these people to do anything which can possibly lead to identification. 



I am greatly indebted to Mr Thurston Holland for the excellent 

 radiographs which are amongst the best I have ever seen. 



The abnormality can be traced through five generations. The 

 oldest surviving members of the family amongst the abnormals are the 

 man No. 5 in the chart (Fig. 2) and his sister No. 7. No information 



1 Three correspondents declared that the boy's parents were normal. 



