1912] on the Use of Pedigrees. 467 



my friend j\Ir. Hiiddleston, of Sawston, and shown in Slides 2, 3 and 

 4, greater interest is shown in females, especially where an heiress 

 brings a new quartering, if not lands and money as well, into the 

 family. Thus the great Nevill heiress, to whom the Huddlestons owe 

 Sawston, is especially emphasized. 



To draw up such pedigrees as these the heralds made periodical 

 visitations of the counties of England. It is said that in Eliza- 

 bethan days the length of the line they were able to trace, and the 

 nobility of the origin they discovered for the family, depended to 

 some extent on the munificence of the entertainment provided for 

 them by that family's existing representative. But no scandal about 

 Queen Elizabeth or her heralds can blind us to the soundness of the 

 underlying idea of the visitations— the idea of a complete genealogical 

 survey of the governing classes of the country. 



In modern times the College of Arms is a stern guardian of 

 genealogical truth, and all confidence may be felt in its work. To 

 the courtesy of one of the officers of the College I owe not only the 

 first slide that I showed, but also the interesting pedigree of his own 

 family illustrated on Slide No. 5. This slide will serve to introduce 

 us to a new use of pedigrees, a use which is the principal subject of 

 this lecture. The family of WoUaston has the great distinction of 

 producing many eminent men of science, no less than seven of whom 

 were Fellows of the Royal Society. Somewhat simiUar is the pedigree 

 of the allied famihes of Darwin, Galton and Wedgewood, where in 

 five generations we see sixteen men of scientific attainments, of whom 

 nine were Fellows of the Royal Society. Another form of ability is 

 traced in the pedigree of Slide No. 6, where the characteristic genius 

 is legal and administrative. In these diagrams the particular quality 

 to be traced is indicated by a clearly marked symbol. 



Such cases could be extended to a great number, but not indefi- 

 nitely ; the stock of such abiUty in the country is large, but not 

 unhmited. 



Now, of course, it is easy to say that some of the famihes we have 

 described had the benefit of a suitable environment. Quite true. 

 But a good environment, though it may develop, cannot create abihty, 

 and a detailed study of the pedigrees we have given, and others like 

 unto them, makes it clear that no amount of " influence " can 

 explain the achievements of the men therein recorded. 



Even where position and opportunities are more or less equal, we 

 find enormous differences between the average value of different 

 families. One of the difficulties of such comparisons lies in the 

 scarcity of records save of those who are highly placed in the world. 

 Hence the advantages which Dr. F. A. Woods found in investigating 

 the history of the Royal Houses of Europe. The great concentration 

 of genius on SUde No. 7 shows the origin of the ability of Frederick 

 the Great, and his remarkable fraternity of brothers and sisters. The 

 ancestry is really abler than the table shows, because the pedigree is 

 Vol. XX. (No. 106) 2 i 



