114 THE MENDEL JOURNAL 



necessary, and all information will be regarded as 

 confidential. There is reason to believe that in some 

 cases these marriages are the result of an inherent 

 incapacity upon the part of one of the two partners 

 to make a felicitous choice. An inherent incapacity 

 of this sort would, therefore, because it is inherent 

 or congenital, run through members of the same 

 family, and would be manifested by that family 

 having a larger proportion than usual of such unhappy 

 marriages. If any one of my readers is acquainted 

 with families of this kind, I shall be glad if they 

 will communicate with me. 



In other cases, my present information suggests 

 that these marriages are the result of a too early 

 union. At a certain age, say, from twenty to twenty- 

 five, a pair of individuals may possess temperaments 

 and capacities that are more or less compatible and 

 could harmoniously exist together. But at a certain 

 later age, let us say about twenty-six to thirty, one 

 or both individuals undergo a change in temperament, 

 character, and ideals, perhaps as divergently as it is 

 possible to conceive, and the marital state becomes 

 incompatible and impossible. In this connection, it 

 is a fact of some interest, which I have no doubt 

 others have observed, though perhaps they may have 

 given it no more than passing consideration, that 

 there exist people who instead of becoming wiser with 

 experience, become more foolish, and who instead 

 of becoming more proficient become less so, as 

 they pass on towards their primal years. If such per- 

 sons passably discreet, tactful, and proficient at the 



