Early in the spring of 1913 the desirability of the study of pellagra from the viewpoint of heredity as a causative factor was brought to the attention of the Thompson-McFadden Pellagra Commission by Dr. Charles B. Davenport, Eugenics Record Office, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.
Under the joint patronage of the two offices fieldwork was begun in Spartanburg, June 1, 1913, and continued until Oct. 1, 1913. Through the winter the data collected were carefully reviewed, arranged in family groups and charted. It was found that in many instances more details were necessary, and the Thompson Pellagra Commission in 1914 decided that the results obtained were of sufficient merit to warrant another summer's work. Accordingly, fieldwork was begun May 1, 1914, and continued until Sept. 1, 1914. This year the association of pellagrins with antecedent cases was also carefully noted for comparison.
To study successfully the heredity