336 



The Journal of Heredity 

 A Pioneer Research in Correlation 



Distribution by School Grades 

 Weights of Boys Aged 9 i 



ALL GOOD QUALITIES ARE CORRELATED 



As far as known, all good qualities 

 are correlated — that is, persons who 

 are superior in one direction are likely 

 to be superior in every other direction, 

 exceptions to the contrary notwith- 

 standing. This law is so important in 

 eugenics and so completely in conflict 

 with popular belief that insistence upon 

 its truth is much needed. The above 

 table, which proves that bright children 

 weigh more than dull children, is re- 

 produced from the transactions of the 

 Academy of Science of St. Louis, March, 

 1893. It is the first table in a research 

 made by Dr. WilHam Townsend Porter 

 on growing school children. The black 

 lines near the center mark the averages 

 and it can be seen that these rise like a 

 perfect flight of stairs. All the boys 

 were nine years old, but superior men- 

 tality was found correlated with physical 

 development. A successive series of 

 grades Hke the above is always a true 

 test of a correlation. A further dis- 

 cussion of correlations within the in- 

 dividual and their relations to eugenics 

 appeared in the Journal of Heredity 

 for February, 1919. 

 "i A few scattering figures relative to very heavy and very light boys are here omitted. 



