HEREDITARY DYSTROPHY OF THE HAIR AND NAILS

Abstract
A survey of the literature on rare anomalies of the skin and its appendages makes it evident that one of the rarest is congenital alopecia. Congenital dystrophies of the nails of the hands and feet are likewise very unusual. The association of these two defects as a hereditary condition has been reported in only four families. In this paper I record a fifth family group showing this condition. Two members of this family have been examined. REPORT OF CASES Case 1. —B. B., a white girl, aged 7, seen in the outpatient department of the Children's Hospital of Buffalo, Dec. 31, 1926, was an only child. She had been delivered by cesarean section. She developed normally, and had measles, chickenpox, pneumonia and diphtheria, all with good recovery. The child was born without hair, but since birth there had been a sparse but steadily increasing growth of hair on