6oo THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



women per ten million of population, France is not the only nation 

 whose nineteenth century ratio fails to equal that of the eighteenth. 

 Germany, and especially England, have failed signally in this respect. 

 Italy is the only one of the five modern nations which at present shows 

 a gain in ratio of eminent women according to population, in the last 

 century over the previous one. She seems to be rising out of the trough 

 of a curve, the crest of which was reached in her sixteenth century 

 Renaissance. These figures emphasize the promising situation in 

 America, In another half century, it will undoubtedly be seen that 

 while our population increased from 3,930,000 in 1790 to 50,155,783 

 in 1880, there was a corresponding increase in the number of Ameri- 

 can women of ability per ten million of population. No more vital 

 problem in connection with the social and educational life of woman 

 could be propounded than the one revealed by these curves. Is the 

 racial difference an important factor, or must one look to the social con- 

 ditions and educational opportunities of the time for an explanation? 

 Why is it that England, starting in the fifteenth century with the same 

 ratio as Italy (8 eminent women per ten million of population) should 

 rise in the eighteenth century to 73, while Italy fell to 5 ? Or, why has 

 the English curve, which started lower than the French, and equal with 

 the Italian, towered, since the sixteenth century, so far above the re- 

 maining four? How explain the fact that while France was so promi- 

 nent in the eyes of the world in the eighteenth century, and her women 

 had unusual opportunity to come into public notice, the number of 

 eminent women on the basis of population being produced by Germany, 

 and especially by England, was far in advance of the number being 

 produced by France? In America, the youngest of the five nations, 

 what is there to explain our present position above Italy, Germany and 

 France, and second only to England? Or, to be more insistent, what 

 would a comparison of modern English and American conditions reveal 

 that would determine that the latter should be second, instead of first, 

 in the ratio of eminent women per ten million of population? 



Accustomed as we are to thinking of the sphere of woman as a 

 limited one, it is interesting to note that the 868 women became emi- 

 nent in twenty-nine lines of activity, if some of the following classifi- 

 cations can be so designated. The distribution is as follows: Litera- 

 ture 337; Marriage 87; Religion 64; Sovereign 59; Actress 56; Music 

 49; Birth 39; Mistress 29; Scholar 20; Political Influence or Ability 

 19; Artist 17; Philanthropy 12; Tragic Fate 11; Heroine 10; Mother- 

 hood 10; Reformer 9; Dancer 6; Immortalized in Literature 6; Patron 

 of Learning 6 ; Beauty 6 ; Educator 3 ; Revolutionist 2 ; Misfortune 2 ; 

 Traveler 2; Adventuress 2; Physician 2; Fortune Teller 1; Conjugal 

 Devotion 1 ; Criminal 1. 



Of the entire group of women 38.8 per cent, won their eminence by 



