In old wills and other old documents the word _cousin_ is
sometimes used for _nephew_, and thus many errors may occur in
tracing out genealogies. Many curious cases of relationship
will be found to exist by those that investigate the descent of
families, some of which cannot be described by the terms we now
use to designate consanguinity. It is surprising, that among the
many words that have been coined, some new terms have not come
into use as substitutes for the awkward way we now have of naming
some of our relatives; such as great-great-great grandfather,
great-great-great-uncle, &c. The following curious case was taken
from a newspaper; whether the account is correct or not, the
reader may see that it may be true.
"_A man can be his own grandfather._
"A widow and her daughter-in-law and a man and his son--the widow
married the son, the daughter the father; the widow was mother
to her husband's father and grandmother to her husband; they had
a son to whom she was great-grandmother. Now as the son of a
great-grandmother must be either a grandfather or great-uncle,
the boy must be one or the other. This was the case of a boy in
Connecticut."