146 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



facilities for the accumulation of such data renders it all the more important 

 that the work should be inaugurated and prosecuted persistently, to this 

 specific end, through generations of time, by some suitably organized institu- 

 tion or institutions. 



"There is one part of our social organization in which the normal individual 

 might be studied and accurate records accumulated with the fullness and 

 value shown in many of our institutions for defectives. That is the pubUc- 

 school system, from the kindergarten to the college. As yet, no attempt to 

 utilize these institutions, in any comprehensive way, for the accumulation of 

 complete and systematic records has been made. 



"The present and past records of the schools, while often employed to draw 

 fine quantitative distinctions in the awarding of prizes and determining rank 

 in scholarship, are, nevertheless, very imperfect, unstandardized, and as a 

 rule of much less value than they should be. College records should be 

 better. Harvard University probably possesses the most complete and con- 

 tinuous records extending over the longest period of time of any institution in 

 the country. Advantage was taken of this fact to utiHze these records, as far 

 as possible, and supplement them by a study of the family histories of the 

 individuals represented. As was to be expected, these famihes are prevail- 

 ingly normal and efficient, with a tendency, apparently, to produce superior, 

 rather than inferior, individuals. A remarkable, though not wholly unex- 

 pected, result that has developed is the fact that a large proportion of these 

 selected old Harvard famihes are so intermarried that, as the study is extended, 

 most of them tend to form part of a continuous family network." 



During the past year and a half Dr. Banker has been almost wholly 

 engaged in compiling biographical data of the individuals of one 

 section of this network. This has now included incomplete studies 

 of over 3,000 individuals, of whom nearly 500 are college graduates. 

 It should be remembered that probably half of the total number of 

 individuals are females, for whom, except in the case of a few of the 

 latest generation, there are no college records. Approximately 1,000 

 letter-size pages of notes and citations from more than 400 works 

 have been made, while probably more than four or five times that 

 number of works have been consulted. As near as can be judged, the 

 network has been only about two-thirds covered. No attempt has 

 yet been made to analyze these data, to which additions are still being 

 made. ''A surprisingly large amount of biographical data, more or 

 less satisfactory, concerning the individuals of these families is to be 

 found in various publications. If they did not all get into the colleges," 

 says Dr. Banker, "they did get into the books and papers. Many of 

 the most valuable items are buried in 'Reminiscences' and 'Auto- 

 biographies' of their friends, or enemies, and other works not ostensibly 

 concerning the person sought and, hence, not discoverable through 

 the usual library indexes." 



Meantime, with the work of analyzing the inheritance of the traits 

 of successful men must go hand-in-hand the analysis of personality 

 and a consideration of the "springs of conduct. " A little attention to 

 this matter brings out strongly the fundamental result that it gives us 



