THE NON-INHEKITANCE OF SEX IN MAN. 
By FREDERICK ADAMS WOODS, M.D. 
The appearance of several recent articles summarizing our knowledge con- 
cerning sex determination has suggested the possibility of an inheritable influence 
in the distribution of the sex of offspring. According to this view there should be 
some families in which males predominate, and some in which females appear in 
exceptional numbers. Although not presenting satisfactory statistics this belief 
was held by Lorenz (2) (p. S6i), Lenhossek (1) (p. 56), and Orschansky (5) (pp. 18, 
126), who considered sex subject to hereditary influences. Orschansky (p. 126) 
states: " Als Hauptresultat unserer Beobachtungen liber die Entstehung des 
Geschlechts beim Kinde : ergiebt sich, dass die Entstehung des einen oder des 
anderen Geschlechts in gewissen Grenzen eine erbliche morphologisch-physiologische 
Funktion des gesamten Organismus, and hauptsachlich der Sexualorgane der 
Eltern ist." 
If it is true that a purely inherited tendency is of any moment whatever in 
governing sex distribution, then the parents of " fraternities " in which there is a 
marked departure from the normal proportions, should themselves belong to 
" fraternities " which, on the average, sliow something of the same departure. That 
this is not the case and that there is no correlation in sex-producing power between 
mother and daughter, or father and son, I believe to be conclusively proved by the 
following statistics. 
I have used the records contained in l)r K. von Behr's " Genealogie der in 
Europa regierenden Fiirstenhauser. Zweite Auflage," Leipzig, 1870. This large 
and authoritative work contains excellent material for such a research. Within its 
pages is to be found the full genealogical tree of every reigning house in Europe ; 
and the birth and sex of every infant born is recorded with the utmost care. I 
have collected a portion of my material from this book, and within certain rigid 
limits, have included all the individuals mentioned. Taking one family after 
another, I have started with the last generation, the first child of which was born 
before the close of the eighteenth century. A count was made of the number of 
males and of the number of females in this generation. I then looked up the 
record of the mother of these children. She, almost invariably, being also of royal 
blood, was to be found recorded somewhere in the book under the heading of the 
Biometrika v 10 
