242 HEREDITY IN RELATION TO EUGENICS 



man who was introduced to me as Mr. Osborn. I said 

 to him 'My mother was an Osborn. I wonder if we are 

 related.' He repUed, 'Let me see if you have the Osborn 

 thumb/ " and she was able to show the family trade-mark. 

 How often a peculiar laugh, a trick of speech or gesture will 

 serve to identify the family of a stranger. Once in a city 

 where my family was well known but where I was a stranger 

 I needed to get a check cashed and went to an office where 

 my father and brother had done business. On explaining 

 my need to the head of the firm he supplied it without 

 hesitation, saying: *' Though I have never seen you before 

 I would know anywhere that you were a Davenport." So 

 wonderfully are details of facial muscles, form of skull bones 

 and nose cartilage stamped in the family blood. Such 

 features as these deserve full treatment in the philosophical 

 family history. 



Many works on genealogy, as I have said, give a little 

 account of family traits. A few of those have been ex- 

 cerpted from the pubhshed works and are reproduced here 

 chiefly to illustrate the specificity of human famihes. Of 

 course, except where there is much consanguineous marriage, 

 not all traits will appear in all or even most individuals of 

 the family, and new traits are being introduced by marriage. 

 But certain characteristics because of their special nature 

 or the frequency with which they occur in certain branches 

 of the family will come to be known as ''family traits." 



Allerton (Allerton, 1888). The great majority of the 

 family to-day, as always, are farmers; have never showed 

 a tendency to city life. Next to farming, machinist is the 

 most favored occupation. Mostly large framed, few 

 blondes, slender and lithe in youth; fleshy in old age. A 

 quick-tempered race; decided, uncommunicative, reserved. 



Balch (MSS.). "Balch spelhng" said to be a recognizable 

 trait. 



