A study was undertaken to examine routinely recorded information on the births, marriages and deaths occurring in an extended population sharing the feature of a common surname. The material was obtained in quote form from the General Registry.

Simple manual analysis revealed a number of localities in which the ‘family’ was to be found and comparisons were made between vital events in each area over the period 1837–1960. An attempt was made to group bearers of the common surname by social class using the currently accepted convention.

Causes of death were coded according to the main headings of the classification introduced by the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1963. Variations in frequency of recording of different causes of death in different localities were found.

It is suggested that a more sophisticated study of populations composed of bearers of a shared surname might demonstrate a predictive value in terms of susceptibility or resistance to disease and thus become a recognized tool in the workshop of the geneticist.

A total of 249 children and 805 adults living in the Asai valley of the New Guinea highlands was examined and measured for height, weight, sitting height and skinfold thickness. Mean ages for groups of children were calculated from regression equations of height on age for different dental stages.

The growth of the Asai child in all measured parameters is slower than that reported from any other world situation. The relationship between the growth of the Asai child and adult size confirms the finding, previously reported for New Guinean populations, that adult stature in a traditional society is proportionally related to, and possibly determined by, the growth rate of children in that society.

Adult stature, which is at the lower end of the range for New Guinean populations, falls slightly with age, due to a decrease in trunk length. Weights and skinfold thickness, in common with other New Guinean populations, show a progressive fall with age.

The role of malnutrition in the slow growth pattern is discussed and evidence is presented from New Guinean and other studies to support the hypothesis that natural selection for slow growth and shorter adult height occurs in conditions of nutritional deprivation.

A sample of 170 Regina school children, divided into subgroups according to family size and socio-economic status, was tested on the Otis Beta Mental Ability Test. The results demonstrated the existence of a definite relationship between intelligence and socio-economic status, but no significant relationship between family size and IQ, except among low socio economic status males. These results, interpreted as reflecting the changing relationship between intelligence and family size, are possibly the outcome of a changing fertility pattern within the various socio-economic status groups.

Haemophilia, one of the oldest known genetic disorders, imposes varying degrees of disability on those affected. A survey of 137 haemophiliacs, seventy-eight adults and fifty-nine children, in the north of England was conducted to discover the extent of social, educational and employment problems created by the disease, while investigation of sixty-nine mothers of patients provided information on its impact on family life.

Some problems are adequately met, others not; those of education and employment are the most serious. Educational deficiencies are due to incomplete and interrupted schooling. Choice of employment is severely restricted for them, and stability of employment is adversely affected by episodes of ill-health. But with improved methods of medical treatment the children are losing less school time than the adults did, fewer of them attend schools for the physically handicapped, and this should result in the attainment of better educational standards, and therefore more hope for permanent and satisfactory employment in the future.

The birth of a haemophilic child markedly affects the family, particularly the mother, but again there is a difference in response between the present and the older generation of mothers.

In this paper an attempt is made to indicate how the number of coloured people in England and Wales might be expected to grow in the future. The best available estimate of the initial distribution by sex and age of the coloured population would appear to be that prepared by the Institute of Race Relations and this has been used by the author. Suitable assumptions are made regarding the fertility of the immigrants and possible rates of immigration. The calculations are illustrative, with the objective of providing a framework within which a discussion of the growth of the coloured immigrant community of Britain can proceed. The results obtained are summarized in Table 3.