CHAPTER XII. 



RACES OF MEN. 



Galton, in his "Hereditary Genius," earnestly advocates early 

 marriages as a means of rapidly multiplying the better class of the 

 population, and thus raising the general standard of mental ability. 

 He also advocates it on the theory that an early age of reproduction 

 causes more generations to be alive at the same time, and gives more 

 chances for "advantageous variations." Along with this he gives 

 elaborate calculations showing mathematically the advantages of 

 following this system. Also along with this plea for early repro- 

 duction and the mathematical demonstration of its desirability, he 

 gives a table of eminent men and the family rank in which they 

 were born in comparison to their brothers. 



GALTON'S TABLE OF RELATIVE BIRTHS OF EMINENT MEN. 



Only sons 1 1 per cent. 



Eldest sons 17 per cent. 



Second sons 38 per cent 



Third sons 22 per cent. 



Later sons 12 per cent. 



This table shows that 17 per cent of his eminent men (judges in 

 this case) were eldest sons, 38 per cent were second sons, and 22 

 per cent were third sons. It may be considered as axiomatic that 

 the number of second sons born does not exceed the number of 

 eldest sons, and also that the fathers are older when second sons 

 are born than when first sons are born. Where "eldest son" means 

 elder of two sons as well as eldest of a number of sons, as it does 



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