Volume 11

Treasury of human inheritance / edited by Karl Pearson, R.A. Fisher, L.S. Penrose.

Date:
1909-
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Treasury of human inheritance / edited by Karl Pearson, R.A. Fisher, L.S. Penrose. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    38/100 (page 32)
    Plate II. Pig. 7. Rosenthal’s Case. I. 1 died 1847, aged 54, from “Rückenmarkschwindsucht,” according to the church register; his wife died aged 80, having been robust and mentally fresh; there were eight children from this marriage of whom two had chorea; no members of the family can be declared to have been free of the liability to the disease. II. 1-3 died young. II. 5 died, aged 20, in childbirth; she was very delicate and had one very delicate daughter, III. 2, who died at 40, probably from tuber culosis. III. 2 had two daughters, of whom IV. 1 died from pulmonary affection at 17. IV. 2 was very delicate, weak and spiritless, with a weak voice and little hair; she died aged 41, having for some years been repeatedly wakened at night through twitchings in her legs. It is not possible to say definitely whether or no IV. 2 was exhibiting early symptoms of the disease, transmitted through two generations by ancestors who died before developing the disease, but she gave no evidence apparently of the usual progression of symptoms. II. 7 died, aged 50, from “Zitterlähmung ”; he is said to have walked as if he were drunk; his wife died, aged 69, from apoplexy, she and several of her siblings had suffered from articular rheumatism. Of the children of II. 6 and 7, two died from lung disease at the ages of 26 and 23 respectively; III. 4 and 7 died in infancy; III. 6, aged 50, complained of slight giddiness; III. 9 and 11 were healthy. III. 10, Paul E., aged 40 (1927), had never been seriously ill when he enlisted in 1914; in the early war period he had articular rheumatism with fever, also a head wound in 1915; whilst under treatment for this he was noticed to have some weakness and tremor in his legs; in 1917 he was diagnosed as a case of hysterical contractures; chorea was not recognised until 1926, but it was then clear that signs of the disease had been present since 1916. II. 8 died as a young adult. II. 9 died aged 58, having suffered for many years, before his death, from trembling limbs and staggering gait; his wife, II. 10, died, aged 80, from apoplexy. Of the children of II. 9 and 10, III. 13 died from suicide at the age of 34; she was a hermaphrodite, more man than woman, with a manly voice. III. 15, Karl E., was quick tempered as a child; at 30 his increasing lack of energy was noted, also his irritability and jealousy; at 40 he had a “drunken gait,” though no drinker; at 45 his mental condition required institutional care and he was from this time in an asylum until his death at 49; he was diagnosed as a case of chorea; of his five children IV. 7, aged 33, was rather feeble and nervous; she had only been married two months when her husband died in the war. IV. 10, aged 30, suffered much from rheumatism after the war; he had one healthy daughter. IV. 12 was healthy at the age of 21. IV. 8 and 9 died in infancy. III. 17 had a large goitre and latterly cardiac asthma; her two children died in infancy. III. 18 was a normal youth, but later he never worked long in one place and was lost sight of for a time; at 40 he came, in a neglected state, begging at his sister’s house; he is not definitely known to have had chorea, but this history of vagabondage is suggestive of an early stage of the disease. III. 20 was in an asylum at the age of 34 for a slightly stuperose depres sion ; she complained of much headache; she had at this time choreic movements in her arms; later the choreic movements became more marked and increasing idiocy was noted; she died, aged 45, from cancer of the uterus. III. 21 had heart disease from childhood; she died, aged 19, from an accident. III. 23, aged 50, suffered much from rheumatism; he had a large family, seven of whom died in infancy. III. 24 was healthy, she had long been married but had no children. III. 25 was very quarrelsome and quick tempered as a child; in latter years the onset of chorea was noted in her twitching legs and stag gering gait; she knew that she had the family disease, moreover her son, IV. 29, was killed in the war; she was worried about the future and committed suicide. III. 27, aged 48, had occasional epileptic attacks between the ages of 14 and 30, which then ceased; of her four children two died in infancy. Of this sibship III. 15, 17, 20 and 27 had goitre. II. 11 died, aged 45, from tuberculosis; he suffered much from rheumatism; his wife, II. 12, and her sister, II. 14, suffered from migraine. II. 12, her father, I. 3, and her brother, II. 13, died from apoplexy. II. 11 and 12 had live children of whom III. 30, aged 65, was healthy. III. 32, aged 57, had a history of typical severe migrainous attacks every 3-4 weeks for about two years during the climacteric. III. 33 died, aged 13, from congestion of the lungs. III. 34 had chorea which was recognised at the age of 40, but the onset was probably earlier; the chorea was noted eight years after a severe fall on the head, and was attributed to this until the family history became known; this patient also had a history of epileptiform attacks which may have some connection with the migraine on her mother’s side of the family. Bibl. No. 104. Fig. 8. Menzies’ Case. Chorea in seventeen males and eight females of six generations. II. 2 and 3 were known to have had chorea; the former died aged 70, and had before this described the condition in his father, T. 1. III. 1 died before reaching adult life. III. 2 became affected at 40; the condition progressed rapidly and the patient died, aged 44, very feeble and emaciated, thirteen days after admission to Rainhill Asylum. III. 3 lived to the age of 76 unaffected; of his twelve children, ten died young; IV. 3 died, aged 54, unaffected, having had five children who died young or left the district. IV. 4 was unmarried and unaffected at 53. III. 5 became affected at the age of 30; he and most of his children died during a cholera outbreak in Liverpool, others were lost sight of. III. 7 died aged 38, having had chorea since the age of 24; he had five children of whom IV. 5 became affected at 17 and died young. IV. 7 was un-