236 Inheritance of Artistic mid Musical Ahility 



(DR) as to musical capacity, and might therefore have musical children, 

 but only one in every four according to theory. If three more children 

 are born they should not be musical. 



So that the ajjpearance of V, 4 is unexpected, but is not certainly 

 contrary to the theory that musical ability is recessive. 



(2) Where one parent is musical and the other not, but with 

 musical ancestry. 



In this case 50 per cent, of the children may bo mu.sical, but a 

 larger percentage is not expected. 



In III, 9 we get five musical, and five not musical : this is exactly 

 in accord with the above statement. 



In II, 3 and III, 10 all the children are musical, and some of them 

 are said to be especially talented. These cases do not accord with the 

 theory that musical ability is inherited as a simple Mendelian rece.ssive, 

 for there are far too many musical members. 



(3) If both parents are musical all the children should be so. 

 Generation II is a striking corroboration of the theory in this 



respect : it is seen that all the ten children of the couple shown in 

 Generation I were musical. The same is true of the children of III, 

 3 and 4, IV, 8 and 9, 17 and 18, V, 2, so far as they can be traced. Of 

 twenty-two children, the type of eighteen is known, and they are with- 

 out exception musical. Nothing is known of the other four children, 

 not even the sex. 



The results here are therefore perfectly in accord with Mendelian 

 theory. 



With regard to those mentioned in the last paragraph under (2), 

 where the nnisical members are present in ajjparent excess, it will 

 be observed that the un-musical parent is in every case the mother. 

 The father was a professional musician holding an impoi-tant appoint- 

 ment. His musical status would altogether overshadow and eclipse 

 that of his wife, even if she were musical, and one can imagine that 

 any musical talent she possessed might thus be overlooked. The wife 

 moreover is so much engaged with household duties that she has little 

 time for " accomplishments." 



If one were able to state that these mothers were " musical " with 

 the talent undeveloped, then one would expect all the children to be 

 musical. Blorcover my informant only considers those individuals 

 " musical " who were " performers." Yet there is little doubt that 

 the musical sense may be present without the person learning to play 

 on a nmsical instrument. 



