in the record, there
is always a strong possibility that there were children of whom the
genealogist has no record. However, of 16 first-cousin marriages of
which the record expressly stated "no issue," or where it was
practically certain that no issue was possible, the average age of the
brides was 34.3 years and that of the grooms was 39 years, showing
that consanguinity could not have been the only cause of their
sterility.

In regard to relative fertility the figures are reliable, but they
fail to indicate any effect of consanguinity upon fertility, as will
be noted in Table XVII.

TABLE XVII.
-------------------------------------------------------------
|No. of | | Ave. to
|fertile | No. of | fertile
Parentage. |marriages.|children.|marriage.
-------------------------------------------------------------
First cousin. Gene. | 125 | 672 | 5.4
First cousin. Cor. | 150 | 759 | 5.1
Double cousins and uncle-niece| 9 | 39 | 4.3
Other consanguineous | 333 | 1605 | 4.8
Non-related | 676 | 3417 | 5.1
Ch. of 1st cousins | 294 | 1395 | 4.7
All consanguineous | 617 | 3075 | 5.0
All non-related | 970 | 4812 | 5.0
-------------------------------------------------------------

The report of Dr. Bemiss, and the report of the Ohio commission[47]
which he quotes, give the following figures:[48]

TABLE XVIII.
-------------------------------------------------------
| No. of | | Ave. to
| fertile | No. of | fertile
Parentage. |marriages.|children.|marriages.
-------------------------------------------------------
1st cousins or nearer[A]| 660 | 3363 | 5.0
More distantly related | 119 | 572 | 4.8
Non-consanguineous | 125 | 837 | 6.7
Ohio consanguineous | 155 | 1021 | 6.6
Ohio non-consanguineous | 200 | 1375 | 6.9
-------------------------------------------------------
[A] Includes double-cousins and uncle-niece marriages.

[Footnote 47: Appointed to ascertain the number of the deaf and dumb,
blind, idiotic and insane within the State.]

[Footnote 48: See Bemiss, in _Tra