Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-11-11
CONCERNING HEREDiTY
Illustrations of the Law of Transmfss;or
 from Parents to Chiislrer

Illustrations of the Law of Transmfss;o,, | from Parents to Children.
 The strength of the law which deter 1 mlnes tho transmission Of character-phys- ! ical or otnerWise-from m parents to children IS Still far from receiving due attention md recognition, says Chambers Jo,trHcl A striking instance of in uhcritance is often l nailed as wonderful and incxplicable: vet such cases are merely exaggerated exam | pies of q phenomenon of which every fami- Iy-nay, every individual-affords proof. l We all inherit, iii more or less variable 1 degree, tho physical constitution and the mental aputudes of ouS parents; but this 1 law of inheritance is liable to so much mod lhcatlon that frequently it's operations be- comes entirely lost to view. When two l forces act upon a body the resultant is a mean between the two components This mean IS not merely in all cases different from elther component. but 1t is a variable mean, tho variation depending upon the rel atlve strength of the two component forces, Inheritance affords an exact parallel to this elementary law of mechanics. No child is entirely like either parent: and tho inher- ltance of two sets of tendencies which may
 be allied to each other may result in char acters possessed by neither parent. This result Is no breach of law of inheritance, put IS In strict harmony with it's most pre- csc conditions; yet 1t is not surprising that a law subject to such indefinite variation should gain scanty recognition except from those who have made it special study, and can, therefore, readily distinguish
 aH eXpllcable exception to a law from an actual breach oft Cases are on record | Of families whose members are character lzed Dy the possession of a Supernumerary dlSlt on the hands and feet, and this remark able pecullarity has been transmitted through hve generations, showing how l strong is tho force of inheritance in even | such minor detail of structure. still more singular instance is that of Lambert, the Wel[known "porcupine man." whose | skin was thickly covered with warty pro- | Jectons, which were periodically molted. lie had SIX children who were similarly affected and two of his grandsons inherited the strange peculiarity. The writer is ac- qualnted with gentleman who had a marked dropping of the left eyelid. His | son inherits this peculiarty, but in less remarkable degree. One of the most singu- lar instances of inheritance Is that recorded | by Decandolle. Thero was a family in Franco of which the leading representa- tVes could, when youth, pitch several books from his head by the movement of the scalp alone, and he used to win wagers | by performing this feat His father, uncle. | grandfather and his three children pos | sessed tho same power to the same unusual oNSASS. iio 1.ulIiy pcCtilllc ClSQG generations ago into two branches, so that l the head of the aforementioned branch is cousin in the seventh degree to the head of l tho other branch. This distant cousin re- | sided ln another part of France, and on be- | ing asked whether he possessed the same
 faculty immediately exhibited his power.
 Haller, the celebrated physiologist, re-
 cords that the family of the Bentivoglio all
 possessed tumor, which used to swell
 when damp wind blew, and this peculiari-
 ty was transmitted from father to son. The | frequency among tho Romans of surnames
 indicating some physical peculiarity-Naso,
 Labeo, Bucco, Capito-would seem to show | that tho fact Of certain types of features beng transmitted through several genera
 tions had already been remarked. This | fact lies almost unnoticed under many cur
 rent forms of expression. We speak of
 certain type of face being aristocratic or | the reverse, by which we mean that phySi-
 cal features characterizing certain classes
 are transmitted so surely as to become the
 recognized appanage of those classes. The
 arlstocracy of western Europe pride them
 selves upon possessing and transmitting
 small hands, the outward and visible sign
 of long exemption from manual labor The
 arlstocracy of China pride themselves on | the SmalineSS of thelr feet. The implication
 ill each case is the same. We often speak
 of "blue blood" without any clear idea of
 the meaning of the expression. The phrase probably arose from the recognition of
 tho fact that the arstocrat;c and luxuri-
 ous classes, who arc exempt from actual la 1 Dor, [possess fine white skin, through
 which the veins show themselves clearly, and this peculiarity is transmitted from gen
 eratioa to generation. It is a fact of history | that Frederick William I. of Prussia sue
 ceeded in producing stock of gigantic | grenadiers, he matching his tallest soldiers
 with women of similar proportions
 No point of structure is too minute to af- 1 ford instances of the law of inheritance. 4 l little spot on the iris has been transmitted l from parent to child. The possession of a few abnorrla.ly long hairs in the eyebrows | has been known to characterize the various l members of certain families; and the char
 acteristlc of a patch of prcmaturely gray
 hair has been transmitted through several | generations. Many curious records exist of families which possessed and gloried in
 their scars moles and other family marks, | faithfully transmitted from parent to child "a sort of secret hall mark stamped by na- 1 ture to attest the genuineneSs of the line. | In the realm of disease the facts of inhcr- 1 itance are most numerous and are daily ac-
 cumulating. Here they arc no longer, alas, | curious and amusing, but terrible, fateful,
 overwhelming No fact of nature is more | pIcSuituG WILL dNlUl ulediluS ludn luS
 fact of the inheritance of disease. It meets
 the physician on his daily rounds, paralyzing
 his art and filling him with sadness. Can
 cer and scrofula run strongly in families. | Insanity Is hereditary to marked degree;
 but, fortunately, like many other hereditary | diseases, tends to wear itself out, the stock l becoming extinct. Nearly all defects of l sight arc occasionally inherited. Sir Henry | Holland says truly that ''no organ or tex l of inc hoHy iS h, oh
 of being the subject of hereditary disease" l Probably most chronic diseases which per
 manently modify the structure and func-
 tons of the body are more or less liable to | be inherited.
 l Velocity of Electric Signals.
 1 Wheatstones claim of s,SS,O00 miles per
 second as the velocity of electric signals | has never been confirmed. Prof. Gould:s | Investigations show that aerlal telegraph | wires on poles transmit electricity at the
 rate of from 14,000 to 16,000 miles per sec