HEREDITY 293 



all of which were honourable, and whose biography 

 has since disclosed no skeleton in the cupboard, was 

 almost furious at being questioned. On the other 

 hand, a Cabinet Minister, whom I knew but slightly, 

 gave me full and very interesting information without 

 demur. 



The results of the inquiry showed how largely the 

 aptitude for science was an inborn and not an acquired 

 gift, and therefore apt to be hereditary. But, in not 

 a few instances, the person who replied was a " sport," 

 being the only one of his family who had any care for 

 science, and who had persevered in spite of opposition. 

 The paternal influence generally superseded the mater- 

 nal in early life, though the mother was usually spoken 

 of with much love, and very often described as par- 

 ticularly able. This seemed to afford evidence that 

 the virile, independent cast of mind is more suitable 

 to scientific research than the feminine, which is apt 

 to be biased by the emotions and to obey authority. 

 But I have said my say long since in the book English 

 Men of Science [36], and must not reiterate. 



The dearth of information about the Transmission 

 of Qualities among all the members of a family during 

 two, three, or more generations, induced me in 1884-85 

 to offer a sum of ^500 in prizes to those who most 

 successfully filled up an elaborate list of questions 

 concerning their own families. The questions were 

 contained in a thin quarto volume of several pages, 

 printed and procurable at Macmillan's, cost price, which 

 referred to the Grandparents, Parents, Brothers, Sisters, 

 and Children, with spaces for more distant relatives. 

 A promise was given, and scrupulously kept, that they 

 should be used for statistical purposes only. My offer 



