Social Environment and Eugenics 107 



rural districts with the large cities results in a 

 better showing. It seems, then, that under 

 'American conditions the great scientist is most 

 likely to be born on the farm or in the town 

 that lies within reach of the great city; the next 

 most probable birthplace is the great city itself; 

 while the least probable is the town or district 

 remote from the large cities. 



Attention may now be directed to the educa- 

 tional factors in the environment. While it is 

 not possible to gauge accurately the efficiency 

 of the common schools of a generation ago, 

 material may be gathered from the census of 

 i860 upon which an estimate may be based. 

 The total number of children attending school 

 is given for each state, and this number divided 

 by the number of children of school age^ serves 

 as a measure of the relative amount of elemen- 

 tary education. A second indication of edu- 

 cational efficiency is found in the extent of 

 illiteracy among the native inhabitants, which, 

 though not directly stated, is readily estimated 

 from the census data. In both cases, in defer- 

 ence to the southern states, white population 

 only has been included. Finally, the two meas- 



^ The age groups five to fifteen, both sexes, were 

 added to form this divisor. 



