In a lecture to a group of physicians of sporting societies the Author presents the phenomenon of the family habit of sporting practice as the signo of the existence of a hereditary basis for sporting proficiency.

Referring to research by other Authors, and especially by Grebe, the Author relates the most significant case histories of family sporting practice afforded by Italian sports.

The hereditary transmission probably takes place through a mechanism of dominance; the Author suggests the method which can be employed in order to enact a genetical study of sports and of athletics.

Drawing is an excellent means of investigating the personality of identical twins. It gives an overt expression of the difficulty of arriving at the consciouness of the self, so frequently found with these persons. Some of this article's drawings illustrate this fact and show the persistence of duality and confusion.

The strength of the tie to the other twin, the wish for indépendance from him, the dominance of one subject in the pair are also made manifest.

Furthermore, the existence of some affective reactions toward the family and the frequent opposition between the types of behavior, found in the two members of a same pair toward the auter world, are shown.

Report of the results of an examination on 34 pairs of same sex twins with special activity in sport. 21 pairs were identical (EZ), 13 non identical (ZZ). While from the 13 identical pairs (EZ) 12 were quite of the same sporting activity as even the same performance (complete concordance, K) and only one pair showed some difference in the favoured kind of sports as in the capacity (KD). From the 13 non identical pairs (ZZ) only 7 were of complete concordance (K). 4 (2 male, 2 female) of the 6 non identical pairs (ZZ) with discordances showed clearer differences in their sporting performance or in the favoured branch of sport (KD). From the last two pairs (1 male, 1 female) only one of the twins was respectively famous in sport (even one German champion!), the other thereover of a complete sporting inactivity.

The distinct differences in concordance and discordance at the examined EZ and ZZ prove, that the genotypus is of undeniable importance for sporting interest and activity as for sporting performance.

In order to confirm or to refute the produced results it seems to be necessary to examine more extended series of non selected twins.

Dupuytren's disease recurs more frequently than generally assumed. 24 typical family trees derived from the literature are analyzed here.

The main conclusions that can be derived are the following:

1) Monogenic heredity is confirmed.

2) The sex ratio in the affected families is 61,2 m: 38,8 f.

3) The sex ratio in unaffected families is 38 m: 43 f.

4) The expressivity of the disease is variable. Penetrance, which is incomplete, varies according to the sex. In our selected material, the penetrance rate is 93,6% in the males and 42,9% in the females.

5) Males transmit the gene in 68% of the cases; females in 32%.

6) Incomplete sex linkage can be excluded.

7) A comparison is made between the really observed values and the theoretical rates for normal and affected men and women for the chance of an auto-somatic dominance. These observations make possible the conclusion that the number of affected females is too low as compared with unaffected females and affected males.

8) A new theory is suggested concerning the mechanism of heredity based on the different statistical values. The responsible factor would be deadly for 60% of the XX affected zygotes. But 60% of the affected X gametes produced by the mother, being identified by an essential incompatibility for the unaffected X spermatozoid, would be electively fecundated by a Y gamate. This machanism would explain the excess of affected males, the small proportion of affected females and the sex-ratio of 61,2: 38,8.

The concordance between the observed values and the theoretically expected values of such a kind seem to convalidate our new theory.

87 affected twins (in 81 pairs) were identified among 3,982 children with pyloric stenosis. The proportion of twins among affected (1 in 46) is about the same as in the general population of births. The incidence of pyloric stenosis in partners of affected twins is 8.6 per cent, considerably higher than in the general population of births (0.3 per cent) but only slightly higher than in subsequent sibs (5.8 per cent).

The frequency of concordance is about the same in MM (4 of 31) and MF (2 of 23) pairs. Of 39 like sexed pairs 4 were concordant; the expected number of monozygotic pairs is 18 (assuming the usual proportion of monozygotic pairs), which suggests that the frequency of concordance among them is not greater than 4 in 18. It is shown that the distribution of MM, FF and MF pairs in the series corresponds closely to the distribution expected in a twin universe which contains the usual proportions of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs.

The « Individuelle Musterwert » is stated 1951 by Brodhage-Wendt. This cipher can easily be computed from the ten fingerprints of a person.

In 100 monozygotic and 100 dizygotic twins and in 348 couples of parents with 991 children is demonstrated, that this cipher is a qualified measure to indicate the heredity of fingerprints. Furthemore the applicability of the « Individuelle Musterwert » in twindiagnosis and paternity tests is shown.

The reported data confirmed the strict linkage of Rh genes among themselves while no evidence of linkage was found between M. E. and Rh factors.

Monozigotic twin-girls 6 8/12 years old, one right-handed girl and the other left-handed, present petit mal seizures, appeared contemporaneusly when the twin-girls were 5 years old. The Eleccal tracing of petit mal with these troencephalogram shows a typicaracteristics: in the left hemisphere of the right-handed girl and in the right of the left-handed girl there is a preponderance of attivity.

One sister of the twis-girls, 8 years old, has a tracing with epilectical activity spike-wawe 3 per second of high voltage; she never had clinical seizures.

The mother's, 34 years old, present a tracing on activation, with teta activity 7 per second of low voltage.

The tracing of the father, 33 years old, is negative.

The tracing of the maternal-grand mother, 67 years old, present on activation, a light dysrithmia in the Pa O. right seat.

The AA take from these dates some considerations about the question of the heredity in the Epilepsy and conclude on the base of their researches that they could favour the conception that existe in the epilepsy a functional miopragie of the brain, on hereditary base. These miopragies are, probably, connected with one functional differentiation deficiency of determined structures of the central-nervous-system.

On the 21st and 22nd of May 1955 a congress of twins took place in Oirschot (Nederland). The initiative for this remarkable assembly came from the secretary of the local Sportsclub Orion, Mr. Louwers, who himself is a half of a twin. In order to add glamour to the anniversary of this club it was thought to achieve this by inviting twins. This gathering was a great success for over 300 twins from different countries took possession for several days of this quiet town in Brabant, The original intention was to offer a programme of social activities including excursions, musical evenings, competitions and dancing. The international Press had given a great deal of publicity to this Congress whiel from a cultural point of view was successful.

The total number of twins which took part was 327 (654 persons). The countries which were represented were as follows:

Holland, 229, Germany 61, Belgium 21, Saarland 4, Austria 4, France 2, Sweden 2, Switzerland 2, Finland 1, Italy 1. The average age of the participants was 29,1 years, the oldest being 82 and the youngest 15. Total number were 167 girls and 155 boys. The number of mixed twins was small (38) so that there as a rather strong tendency towards twins of the same sex. Similarly there was also a tendency for identical twins but this was not certain because not all the twins of the same sex could be actually identified by anthropological methods. After examination it was almost certain that 80 were one-egg twins but most probably there were more. This has strenghtened our opinion that also in the public eye only those twins are considered genuine which are physically and mentally the same. Since 375 twins had unselectively taken part, in the congress, it would have been expected that at least a 100 would have been mixed twins, in fact there were only 38.