Mendelism in early 20th-century American dermatology.

Now, almost a century ago since Mendel's work was rediscovered, is a propitious time to review the appearance of mendelian concepts in American dermatology. In our world of instantaneous and sometimes overwhelming dissemination of new information and the apparent rapid incorporation of new knowledge into our specialty, it is useful to examine how heredity was incorporated in the dermatologic literature in the first 25 years of the 20th century. The dermatologic literature serves as a surrogate for the thought of the era.