A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 



373 



A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 



By HAVELOCK ELLIS. 

 IX.— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



BEFOEE summarizing the results of this study and noting a few 

 of the conclusions to which it seems to point, there are still 

 some aspects of British men of genius that the 'Dictionary' serves to 

 make visible. And as these aspects enable us at once both to complete 

 our picture and to confirm some of the impressions we have already 

 obtained, we cannot afford to pass them by. They concern more espe- 

 cially personal appearance and emotional disposition. 



As regards stature we have some information in 281 eases; in 218 

 cases the information is indefinite, in the remaining 63 cases definite. 

 Of the first and largest group, 91 are said to be tall, 53 of average or 

 medium height, while 74 are short. In the smaller group, composed 

 entirely of males, 4 are 5 feet and under ;* 5 are from 5 feet 1 to 5 feet 

 4; 14 are from 5 feet 5 to 5 feet 8 ; 26 are from 5 feet 9 to 6 feet; 14 

 are over 6 feet. The height of the average Englishman at the present 

 day is 5 feet 8. It may be added that among the general population 

 of the British Islands 68 per cent, are between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 

 feet 9 inches in height. But the average height of men of the well- 

 to-do classes, to which our subjects mainly belong, is somewhat above 

 this. If we say that it is 5 feet 9, we shall probably be near the mark. 

 This is confirmed by Galton, who found that the average height of the 

 fathers of his men of science was 5 feet 9i^. But if this is so, it 

 would appear that it is the tendency of our men of genius not only 

 to vary widely, but to be tall more frequently than short, f The center 

 of the group is really occupied by the individuals who are 5 feet 10, 

 since 29 are below this height and 27 above it. 



It must, of course, be recognized that various fallacies would be 

 involved were we to take our data as strictly corresponding to the real 

 facts. The exceptional people are more likely to be mentioned, and 

 the medium-sized to be passed over, while there is always a tendency 

 to describe a person as short or tall, rather than as of average size. It 



* Pope, 4 feet 6, is excluded, as his excessively low stature was the result of 

 deformity. 



1 1 may remark that among the ordinary population there is some reason to 

 suppose that superior intellectual capacity tends to be associated with superior 

 stature; Porter found such an association among school children at St. Louis 

 and Christopher at Chicago. 



