MENDELISM IN EARLY-20TH-CENTURY AMERICAN DERMATOLOGY

Now, almost a century ago since Mendel's work was rediscovered, is a p ropitious time to review the appearance of mendelian concepts in Ameri can dermatology. In our world of instantaneous and sometimes overwhelm ing dissemination of new information and the apparent rapid incorporat ion of new knowledge into our specialty, it is useful to examine how h eredity was incorporated in the dermatologic literature in the first 2 5 years of the 20th century. The dermatologic literature serves as a s urrogate for the thought of the era.