424 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



more important man, is not his education or his opportunities, but 

 the inherent desire for knowledge and power that makes him seek an 

 education in one way or another, while the mediocre man is not willing 

 to have more thrust upon him than his native attention can stand. 



Lehr's 'Genealogy' is a book compiled for purely heraldric pur- 

 poses and traces to the twelfth degree of remoteness eight of the prin- 

 cipal reigning families of northern Europe. Since in going back 

 twelve generations every person has 4,096 ancestral quarterings, the 

 total value of the material brought together in this way is 8 X 4,096 = 

 32,768, an immense field for the study of heredity. Owing to inter- 

 marriages the total number of different persons is considerably less than 

 this, being 3,312, but it makes no difference from the standpoint of 

 science whether we repeat the same person several times in the pedi- 

 gree or whether another of the same characteristics is introduced in his 

 stead, the scientific value of this book is represented by the larger num- 

 ber, 32,768. This is of course ignoring the possibility that inbreeding 

 of itself creates a different value for the stock; but since inbreeding in 

 these families is never very close, and since it is the best scientific opin- 

 ion that inbreeding per se as usually carried on among human beings 

 is of no consequence, other things being equal,* this error, if it be one, 

 may be neglected. 



A group of 32,768 persons, such as we have in the pages of Lehr, pos- 

 sesses several peculiar advantages for the study of the origin of genius. 

 First, it is gathered together in an entirely impersonal way, Lehr 

 having no scientific theory in view. Second, it contains also medioc- 

 rities, so that we may see how many times mediocrity has produced 

 its like before any genius appears. Third, the exact relationship of 

 every person to every other person is known, and the pedigrees are 

 perfectly complete. Fourth, nearly all are of royal or noble birth, very 

 few being below the rank of a count, so that although their environ- 

 ments are very different, their social position is always much the same. 



Among all these 3,312 I found only sixteen worthy of the nine or ten 

 grades here employed. These are given in the list below, the word 

 (new) being appended to those whose immediate ancestry is devoid 

 of others of equal intellectual worth. 



1. (new) Anhalt: Catherine II., Empress of Russia. 



Catherine must be considered as a ' sport ' in more than the popular 

 use of the term, since her ancestry was in no way remarkable. She 

 did not leave any descendants nearly as capable as herself. 



2. Brunswick: Amelia, Duchess of Saxe- Weimar. 



' Distinguished patron of genius and learning.' Friend of Goethe. 

 She was an excellent student, in which she showed ' wonderful 

 perseverance ' and also composed considerable music. Amelia was 

 a niece of Frederick the Great and consequently closely related to 

 about a dozen of the most brilliant of modern royalty. 



* Conf. Huth, ' Marriage of Near Kin.' 8vo. London, 1887. 



