After having rapidly indicated Eugenics' tasks and aims, namely in the field of malformations, the Authors present a number of cases selected from the Mendel Institute Eugenic Counseling. This selection was made in order to show the various simple models of inheritance, while advancing hypotheses about more complex ones in the inheritance of malformations.

General conclusive remarks are made, and the need is stressed of the realization of meetings for the study of the morbid aspects of the various populations, in order to assemble an ever growing number of those notions needed by Eugenics for ever better diagnoses and prognoses.

The AA. have undertaken a study on the familial occurrence of cancer cases in the families of 142 patients with cancer of the biliary ducts, and of 208 patients with cancer of the pancreas, in comparison with the families of equal numbers of healthy persons (controls). On the basis of the collected data, neither for the cases of cancer of the pancreas nor for the cases of cancer of the biliary ducts, a higher incidence of cancer (both same site or all sites) than in the families of the controls has been observed. On the contrary, a significantly higher incidence of cancer of the digestive system has been demonstrated in the families of the two groups of cancer patients taken together.

20 subjects with Morgagni-Turner's syndrome have been extensively investigated for structural or functional abnormalities of the urinary tract. This investigation was planned owing to the observation by Morgagni, who described the first case of gonadal agenesis associated with a congenital anomaly of the kidneys, and in consideration of the embryological connection between the gonadal and the excretory « Anlagen ». Moreover, to this respect, previous investigations have been very indicative. The patients were subjected to conventional X-ray examination of the urinary tract and to radionephrography with 131 I-hyppuran and, when necessary, to renal scintigraphy with 197 Hg-neohydrin. In a group of patients inulin and PAH clearances were also determined. More than half of the patients had important abnormalities: horseshoe kidneys (5 cases), pyeloureteral duplicity (3 cases), unilateral renal aplasia (2 cases), rotation of the kidneys (1 case); seven further cases showed pyelic dilatation and hypotonia associated with frankly abnormal 131 I-hyppuran nephrograms. 3 out of 4 cases, in which clearance studies were performed, showed marked reduction of glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow, even though conventional urography showed no pathological change. It is evident that the urinary tract is very often abnormal in this syndrome; the abnormalities are usually structural, rarely purely functional. Thus, it seems even more justified to indicate the syndrome with both the names of Morgagni and Turner.

The rate of the total urinary 17-ketosteroids has been studied in twins of the two sexes (8 ♂ ♂ and 3 ♀ ♀ MZ, and 4 ♂ ♂ and 3 ♀ ♀ DZ, for a total of 18 twin pairs).

On the basis of this material it could be shown: (i) that the metabolism of the urinary 17-ketosteroids is genetically controlled for a quantum of 43.65%; (ii) that the secretion of the urinary 17-ketosteroids is correlated with age, and (iii) that a quantitative differentiation of the phenomenon exists in the two sexes.