Social Enznronment and Eugenics 113 



has been clearly shown that success in college 

 goes with success in later life. Van Dyke, wnt- 

 mgmScrihncr's Magazine (September, 1912), 

 shows that 50% of the first honor men from 

 the leading colleges gain a place in Who's Who 

 in America, while of the second honor men 

 33% attain a like place. As has been shown 

 above, 5^% of college men in general attain 

 this distinction.^ Such evidence indicates that 

 the men who are winning the prizes both in col- 

 lege and in after life are in large part from the 

 rising classes who would be the least likely of 

 all to follow blindly an expensive tradition. 

 Considering again that the chances in favor of 

 the college man reach the overwhelmingly high 

 ratio of 196 to i, we cannot avoid the conclu- 

 sion that the colleges, in spite of their admitted 

 imperfections, are a very important environ- 

 mental factor in the attainment of eminence. 



A final question that demands consideration 

 is whether the correlations that already have 

 been set forth, may not be explained — as 

 biologists claim Ward's figures may be ex- 

 plained — by the selective action of favorable 

 environments. That is, may not the city have 



1 A recent more complete study appears in an article 

 entitled " Should Students Study? " by W. T. Foster, in 

 Harper's Magazine, Sept., 1916. 



