BLUE BLOOD 1« 



and influential. Yet although constantly refreshed 

 with plebeian blood, either by the marriage of peers 

 outside their own circle, or by the ennobling of 

 commoners, the English peerage has not escaped the 

 def^eneratiug influence of caste. Burke states that all 

 the English dukedoms created from the establishment 

 of the order down to the accession of Charles II are 

 extinct, with the exception of three merged in royalty, 

 and that only eleven earldoms remain out of the 

 many created by the Normans, Plantagenets, and 

 Tudors. Galton believes intermarriage with heiresses 

 to be a notable agent in the extinction of noble 

 families. We believe, on the contrary, that the free 

 alliance of English nobles with commoners has been 

 the salvation of the English aristocracy. As an in- 

 direct proof of the operation of the neuropathic prin- 

 ciple in the privileged classes, it may be remarked 

 that, while unquestionably prone to degenerate, those 

 classes live under conditions apparently conducive to 

 vigour and longevity. Members of noble families, 

 for example, are exempt from much of the wear and 

 tear of ordinary life, and in the event of illness obtain 

 the best medical advice and treatment. Moreover, 

 they are under little or no temptation to limit the 

 numbers of their children. 



