192 



rOrULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Galton. Professor Pearson sent cir- 

 culars to a large number of teachers 

 asking them to grade pairs of brothers 

 and sisters for mental and moral traits, 

 such as popularity, conscientiousness, 

 probity, vivacity and general ability. 

 There proved to be a remarkable fra- 

 ternal resemblance, represented by a 

 regression line of one to two, exactly 

 the same as that found for physical 

 traits such as the cephalic index. Pro- 

 fessor Pearson concludes that mental 

 and physical heredity are equally po- 

 tent; mental traits are bred in the 

 bone and are not the result of training. 

 Great Britain could not help its posi- 

 tion among the nations by improving 

 its schools or by increasing technical 

 education. The trouble is that the less 

 able and the less energetic are more 

 fertile than the better stocks. 



Professor Pearson's figures require 

 confirmation. The vi'riter of this note 

 once remarked on the resemblance of 

 some children to their mother; the re- 

 semblance became less obvious when he 

 was informed that she was their step- 

 mother. The fact that two children 

 are brothers may lead a teacher to re- 

 gard them as similar in mental traits. 

 But Professor Pearson's figures in any 

 case appear to be misinterpreted. If 

 the resemblance of brothers in physical 

 and mental traits is alike, we must 

 conclude, contrary to Professor Pear- 

 son, that the inheritance of physical 

 and mental traits is not equal. Asso- 

 ciation and similar home life have 

 some influence, however slight, on 

 traits such as temper and honesty. 

 It would be possible to argue from the 

 figures that mental traits are not 

 hereditary, the efl'ects of similar en- 

 vironment being equal in amount to 

 physical heredity. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 



The American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science with a large 

 number of affiliated societies, including 

 the American Society of Naturalists, 

 The American Chemical Society, The 

 American Physical Society, The As- 

 tronomical and Astrophysical Society 

 of America, the Botanical Society of 

 America, The American Anthropolog- 

 ical Association, The American Psy- 

 chological Association and others, meet 

 at St. Louis in convocation week, be- 

 ginning on December 28. We shall 

 give in the next issue a forecast of the 

 meeting, at present only calling atten- 

 tion to the importance of this meeting 

 and to the admirable arrangements 

 that have been made and urging the 

 privilege and importance of attendance, 

 both for professional scientific men and 

 for those who are interested in the 

 progress of science. 



The Lawrence Scientific School of 

 Harvard University will receive a very 

 large sum, said to be more than $4,000,- 

 000, from the estate of the late Gordon 

 McKay. 



President Schurman, of Cornell 

 University, has proposed the erection 

 of a new building for Sibley College, 

 in memory of the late Professor Thurs- 

 ton, to be known as Thurston Hall.- 

 The students of Sibley College have 

 voted to erect a bronze memorial tablet 

 in honor of Professor Thurston. — An 

 obelisk of unpolished grey granite has 

 been placed over Virchow's grave in 

 the old Matthai graveyard, Berlin. It 

 bears on one side a black marble tab- 

 let, on which is inscribed ' Rudolf 

 Virchow ' and the date of his birth and 

 death. A statue of Virchow will also 

 be erected near the place where his 

 scientific work was conducted. 



