16 Exhibit C 43—45.
A disturbance in the normal proportion of the sexes as a symptom
C 44
«C 45of abnormal germ production may also assert itself in the opposite
direction. O. Lorenz has pointed out the frequent occurrence of an
extraordinary increase of male children immediately before the
extinction of a family in the male line. One of the most celebrated
of these cases is the one of the family of the Emperor Max II. He
had six sons and two daughters, who all reached the age of maturity,
but not a single male grandchild in the legitimate male line.
Fresh evidence is exhibited by von den Vdden in Figure C 44.
With the families described by von Riffel, who have died out in the
male line, there is still a great preponderance of boys in the last
generation in which boys have reached the age of sexual maturity,
whereas there is a preponderance of females amongst the brothers
and sisters of the wives of the last male issue of the family.
Families in Process of Extinction.
(From Riffel’s Tables, after v. d. Velden in the Archiv für Rassen- und Gesellschafts-
Biologie, 1909, No. 6.)
Decrease of frequency of Marriage. High mortality of offspring.
Of ico adults there marry
Men :
Women :
Decrease of duration of life.
Average duration of life i/i years
„38.5Of 100 births there died before the 20th year :
*5.5 155.1
Fathers, the only memSons
■■■39bers of their generationGiandchildren
who married.
IfiiArlt'Mothers, with childlessSons
brothers.Grandchildren
Men :
Women:0 33.5
32.0Reversal of proportion of sexes born.
To every ICO girls there are born boys:
In dying-out families : ■■■■■■■ 90
Disturbance to Proportion of Sexes among the
Children.
Normal: i
Generation of sonless fathers :
,, ,, ,, mothers:Normal families.
Families in process of extinction.
In this connection another figure, C 45, by von den Velden ought
to be mentioned. He shows, from investigations made by von Riffel,
that the physical condition of childless couples is on the average
inferior to that of fertile parents. This, however, by no means
holds good in every case. Evidence to the contrary is given by the
pedigree of an aristocratic family which has died out in the male
line. It may be looked upon as typical. One generation (the
second), with three times as many grown up men than women, pro
duces only four Doys (44% of the children), of whom two reach
maturity. With the fourth generation the male issue dies out.
