ONE FIGURE
1NTRODUCTIONThe relative infrequency of quadruple births, which have heen shown by Diddle and Burford ('35) to be but one in every 654,455 labors, seems to justify the description of each new case. The quadruplets dcscrihed in this paper are of particular interest since they were delivered and preserved with all fetal membranes intact. Further, these guadruplets are of interest inasmuch as they contribute to the evidence in favor of an hereditary influence in the occurrence of rriultiple human births.The interest aroused by this set of quadruplets and the varied condition of the literature has prompted the author to collect and tabulate all available data pertaining to the frequency of quadruplets with regard to the number of ova involved in their production, the distribution of sex and the number of previous niultiple births in families bearing quadruplets.
Clinical dataThe mother, colored, age 26 years, had had three previous labors which resulted in two single births and one set of twins. The quadruplets were born, according to the attending physician, approximately 5 months after the last menstrual period. At this time the patient was suffering with pyelitis and the miscarriage occurred shortly after a severe chill.The family liistory revealed that multiple births were quite common. The patient's great grandmother had had twins, her 411