Commentary: a Darwin family concern.

observer is biassed by the frequency or rarity of such marriages amongst his immediate surroundings. My own opinion is that the evil has been often much exaggerated, but that there are nevertheless grounds for asserting that various maladies take an easy hold of the offspring of consanguineous marriages. My paper is far from giving anything like a satisfactory solution of the question; but it does, I think, show that the assertion that it has already been set at rest, cannot be substantiated. The subject still demands attention, and I hope that my endeavour may lead more competent investigators to take it up from some other side.