Up to that time they had never had any
other nourishment than their mother's milk. Their weights at birth were
as follows (reading from left to right): Roberta, 4 pounds; Mona, 4-1/2
pounds; Mary, 4-1/4 pounds; Leota, 3-3/4 pounds. When photographed,
Roberta weighed 16 pounds and each of the others weighed 16-1/4. Their
aunt vouches for the fact that the care of the four is less trouble than
a single baby often makes. The mother has had no previous plural births,
although she has borne four children prior to these. Her own mother had
but two children, a son and a daughter, and there is no record of twins
on the mother's side. The father of the quadruplets is one of twelve
children, among whom is one pair of twins. It is known that twinning is
largely due to inheritance, and it would seem that the appearance of
these quadruplets is due to the hereditary influence of the father
rather than the mother. If this is the case, then the four girls must
all have come from one egg-cell, which split up at an early stage. Note
the uniform shape of the mouth, and the ears, set unusually low on the
head.]
"The following is a typical schoolboy anecdote:
"'Two twins were fond of playing tricks, and complaints were frequently
made; but the boys would never own which was the guilty one, and the
complainants were never certain which of the two it was.
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