178 NATURAL INHERITANCE. [CHAP.
the part of the mother to transmit consumption, as shown in this Table, until I had selected the cases and nearly finished sorting them. Out of the fourteen families, the mother was described as actually dying of consumption in six cases, of lung complaints in two others, and of having highly consumptive tendencies in another, making a total of nine cases out of the fourteen. On the other hand the Fathers show hardly any consumptive taints. One was described as of a very consumptive fraternity, though he himself died of an accident ; and another who was still alive had suffered from an abscess of the liver that broke through the lungs. Beyond these there is nothing to indicate consumption on the Fathers' side.
Another way of looking at the matter is to compare the ages at death of the Mothers and of the Fathers respectively, as has been done at the side of the Table, when we „,see a notable difference between them, the Mid-age of the Mothers being 58, as against 73 of the Fathers.
The only other group of diseases in my collection, that affords a fair 'number of instances in which fraternities are greatly affected, are those of the Heart. The instances are only nine in number, but I give an analysis of them, not for any value of their own, but in order to bring the peculiarities of the consumptive fraternities more strongly into relief by means of comparison. In one of these there was no actual death from heart disease, though three had weak hearts and two others had rheumatic gout and fever. These nine
