28 THE LAW OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS 



reverts back towards the mean or average of the race 

 in the next generation. As fertility is subject to the 

 laws of variation, the only child of infertile parents should 

 be less infertile, on the average, than the parents were. 

 There seems to be no escape from the conclusion that 

 the large proportion of sterile marriages among the English 

 nobility is due to the circumstances under which they live. 

 In his work, The Family and the Nation, Dr. Whetham 

 has given figures showing the degree of fertility among 

 " men of specialised ability occupying permanent posts 

 in the University of Cambridge." It appears that in 

 1909 there were forty childless couples who had been 

 married for periods of five years or longer, while seventy 

 married couples whose youngest child was over ten years 

 of age had produced 199 children. Although the way 

 in which the figures are given obscures the proportion, 

 it is evident that there is a remarkably large number 

 of completely sterile couples. Apparently it is con- 

 siderably greater than that shown by the peerage. But 

 there can be no question of heiresses in this case. Shall 

 we then assume that they have used contraceptives 

 from the very marriage eve ? Dr. Whetham admits 

 that " the large proportion of childless couples may 

 indicate that men and women of academic distinction 

 are often not fertile and inclined to late marriages, while 

 the average number (2-84) of children to a marriage 

 which produces any offspring is closely concordant with 

 that in other sections of the educated class, and is probably 

 determined by the same causes." So, while Dr. Whetham 

 is disposed to acquit the completely sterile couples of 

 being so unnaturally selfish as to take the most trouble- 

 some precautions from the very marriage eve to avoid 

 having a single child, yet he assumes that those who 

 have a few children must be limiting their families. But 



