SOME RESULTS OF A FAMILY HISTORY STUDY 



MORRIS STEGGERDA 



Department of Genetics, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 



One branch of Eugenics concerns human heredity. The author has 

 studied his relatives with a view of collecting measurable traits which could 

 be analyzed genetically. These traits, which include height, weight, arm 

 and leg dimensions, eye and hair color, finger and palm prints and various 

 other characteristics have been described and the descriptive sheets bound 

 as one unit. This collection will serve as the data for several future studies, 

 e.g., the heredity of body dimensions, of head and face measurements, of 

 finger, palm and sole print patterns. These studies will commence as soon 

 as additional standards are prepared for comparison. 



At present several small studies have been completed, some of which have 

 already been published. The completed studies are described briefly as 

 follows : 



Physical Measurements on Dutch Men and Women. American Journal 

 of Physical Anthropology, vol. 16, no. 3, pp 309-337. In this study appear 

 the distributions, means, and statistical analysis of 40 physical measure- 

 ments for 70 adult males and 60 adult females. Some of the essential 

 measurements on the males are given in table 1 along with some compa- 

 rable material. These data show that the stature of the Dutch measured is 

 equal statistically to the statures of Old Americans, Fehmaraners, and Ice- 

 landers. Sitting height, likewise, is about equal for those mentioned. For 

 some of the other measurements differences occur which may be racial or 

 possibly due to differences in technique. These Dutch are mesocephalic, the 

 cephalic index being 79.30 for the males. The relative sitting height for 

 males was 52.28 which was approximately 1 per cent more than that found 

 for Jamaica Negroes and 1 per cent less than that found for Maya Indians. 

 These differences are statistically significant. Attention is called to the 

 other comparisons shown in the data listed above. 



A smaller, and perhaps less significant, study made from data found in the 

 family history deals with the size of the families, sex ratio in the various 

 branches of the family and birth weights in 12 families. 



There were 115 families in this study from which no more children could 

 be expected, judging from the age of the mother. The figures are given in 



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