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12 pp. (8vo) string bound wrappers, housed in custom made leather and marbled paper-covered clam shell box with leather cover and spine labels, lettered in gilt. Also Includes:

• Huth, Alfred Henry. An Index to Books and Papers on Marriage Between Near Kin. 22 pp. (8vo) printed wrappers. London: 1879.

From the library of Dr. Henry Bowditch.  "Although it is difficult to identify any specific act or event that precipitated a major attitudinal change towards consanguineous marriage, in 1855 the Reverend Charles Brooks delivered a paper on the subject of consanguinity to the 9th meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Brooks' presentation consisted of a series of anecdotal tales on physical and cognitive problems experienced by the progeny of first-cousin unions, culminating in the declaration: 'The improvement and prosperity of thousands of families depend on its solution: And in a degree the safety and elevation of society.' The paper drew a rapid response from Dr. Samuel Bemiss of Louisville Kentucky, who obtained medical information from medical colleagues in the USA on 873 consanguineous unions ranging from incest to marriages between third cousins. According to his rudimentary analysis of this data, consanguineous unions were indeed harmful and resulted in high rates of cognitive instability and premature death." (Bittes, "The Basis of Western Attitudes to Consanguineous Marriage" in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, Vol. 45: 136-138).