No. 508] HEREDITY OF HAIR COLOR IN MAN 209 



Table XI. 



Brovvn° Wn 11 4 4 4 23 24 5 

 Dark brown 4 2 2 5 66 25 58 ^6 



the melanic series, the grade of intensity of hair pig- 

 mentation in the offspring does not exceed that of the 

 darker parent. The only exceptions appear in the 

 ' 1 brown" and 1 'dark brown" parentage, where a small 

 percentage of children are represented as of the next 

 darker grade. Many more such cases were in our orig- 

 inal records, but wherever the question was asked of the 

 recorder whether the hair of the child, A, exceeded in 

 darkness that of the darker parent, B, the reply was 

 almost without exception negative. Samples of hair were 

 asked for and these never proved darker in the children 

 than in the parents. A common source of error lies in 

 not disconnecting the effect of a slight grayness in the 

 parent. In one sample of hair from a mother that was 

 reported lighter than the daughter the gray hairs were 

 carefully picked out, when it appeared that the natural 

 color of the hairs of the mother and child were as like 

 as possible. Consequently one is justified in laying no 

 stress on the 11 children out of 600 (less than 2 per cent.) 

 in which the hair color was returned as darker than that 

 of the parents-particularly as despite efforts these re- 

 turns could not be confirmed. It follows, then, that par- 

 be assured that their children will eventually 

 have hair as dark as the darker parent or of a lighter 

 tint, but not darker. Consequently, parents with flaxen 

 or yellow hair will have children all alike and like them- 

 selves in this respect. But parents with black hair may 

 have children with- flaxen hair or with light brown hair 



