6io THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



tween the eminent women not of noble birth, eighteen of the thirty- 

 eight instances are in the first generation between sister and sister. 

 Fifteen cases occnr in the second generation, eight between mother and 

 daughter, and seven between aunt and niece. In the third generation, 

 there are four cases, and in the fifth generation, one case. The figures 

 show a marked tendency for the woman in the younger generation to 

 become eminent in the same, or closely allied line of activity as that in 

 which her eminent relative won distinction. 



An interesting and suggestive group for consideration is that of the 

 contemporary eminent women. Of these there are 107. The first 

 item of interest is that this group is so large. 12.3 per cent, of the 

 eminent women of history are living at the time this study is made. 

 It required over twenty-five hundred years to produce the remaining 

 87.7 per cent. This group represents nineteen nationalities, and 

 twelve lines of activity. England, with twenty-two cases, leads in the 

 number of distinguished women of the present generation; Germany 

 and America each claim eighteen ; France has twelve, and Italy seven. 

 Austria has six; Sweden, four; Holland, Spain and Hungary, three 

 each; Eussia and Poland, two each; and Denmark, Canada, Venezuela, 

 Belgium, Roumania, Scotland and Norway, one each. Canada and 

 Venezuela are represented for the first time in history in the present 

 generation. 



In the Old World it is probable that woman will always be able to 

 acquire fame with the wedding ring, and to reign as a sovereign, thus 

 being assured a place in history. If we eliminate those two groups, 

 the fields in which contemporary women are acquiring eminence are, 

 in spite of greater social and educational advantages, and freedom from 

 restriction in many lines, practically limited to three. Fifty-five are 

 writers, twenty are musicians and fourteen are actresses. We wish that 

 we might not have found Jane Addams working alone in the great field 

 of social reform, and that Madame Curie might not have been the only 

 scientist of her generation. In America, where women enjoy greater 

 freedom than in any other part of the globe, there is little evidence of 

 any special results of these advantages. The nation and generation 

 are proud of the achievements of Helen Keller, but one expects that 

 our great educational institutions would produce feminine scholars and 

 teachers of great ability. Possibly, they are in our midst, but like the 

 prophets of old, are without honor in their own generation as well as 

 in their own country. 



In order to do justice to this group of eminent women a number of 

 lines of inquiry not yet touched upon deserve to be investigated. Per- 

 haps the most important of these is a study of their children. A 

 knowledge of the number of children born to or reared to maturity by 

 these 634 wives will determine whether in attaining eminence they 



