[marginalia]A:025-36[end marginalia] April 21, 1928 Mr. [obscured] Metropolitan Building, 260 Tremont Street, [obscured], Mass. Dear Mr. [obscured];- Your letter of April 20th with additional data received. You know our children do not inherit from their parents but from the germ cells that the parents carry. The parents themselves are the phenotype; the genes of the germ cells are the genotype and it is the latter that is inherited. In the case of your children their mother belongs to a strain with a tendency toward great stature, as is shown in her 6' father, in her 5'8 1/2" mother, in her own stature of 5'5", which is 4" above the average of Anglo-Saxon statures. With her brothers at 6' and her sisters at 5'8" we have a strong tendency toward growth far above the average on the maternal side. Your side, to be sure, has less strong tendency toward great growth, nevertheless your father's father, at 5'10" was 2" above the average and your mother's father, at 5'11", is 3" above the average. It seems probable, therefore, that your children have received genes from both sides toward tall stature. It will be interesting if one could understand how you yourself, following your mother, have received the inhibitor to growth. Such inhibitor is generally inherited as a dominant. You carry, as a recessive, however, a capacity for growth to or above the average. Sincerely yours, Chas. B. Davenport, Director. D/G MAY 5 1928