34 THE FAMILY AND THE NATION 



vague mixture of those of all his ancestors, it is clearly 

 inconsistent with Mendelian principles. According to 

 those principles, a personality is made up by the chance 

 conjunction of different unit factors, derived from cer- 

 tain individuals only among the ancestry. The law of 

 ancestral inheritance, whereby every ancestor contri- 

 butes his share in proportion to his nearness in descent, 

 is inapplicable. 



Much discussion of this point has taken place. It 

 seems possible if, instead of one individual, we con- 

 sider large numbers, Mendelian principles would lead 

 to results not far different from those suggested by 

 Galton's law. The frequency of Mendelian dominance 

 would produce, on the average of large numbers, 

 greater resemblances of children to their parents than 

 to their grandparents, and to more distant ancestors. 

 Even on Mendelian principles, something like the law 

 of ancestral inheritance may on the average hold good. 



