NOTE. 



There has been much difficulty in finding dates of births of fathers and 

 mothers, and it is desirable to have these filled out as much as possible in future 

 editions. Those who have carefully read the preceding pages will probably be 

 struck by the fact that eminent men are very frequently descended from youngest 

 sons and youngest daughters, or from sons and daughters having high birth- 

 ranks. It is therefore desirable that dates be obtained for grandparents and 

 great-grandparents as much as possible. 



The phenomenon of mimicry is quite common. Certain insects look like 

 twigs, others take the form of leaves ; animals are gray or green according to 

 the color of their surroundings ; animals living in the arctic regions are often 

 white in semblance of snow; other animals living in jungles or in places where 

 narrow vertical shadows are cast, are often barred in imitation of such shadows. 



From a limited number of cases it appears that the sex of children is influ- 

 enced by the surroundings of the mother. A woman who kept a boarding house 

 patronized exclusively by men, had a son. Another woman who had a house 

 full of sisters and aunts, who saw few men except her husband, and not much 

 of him, had a daughter. A number of other cases of the same character have 

 been observed. This may be mimicry and may possibly be due to a psycho- 

 logical cause. It is desirable that further instances be observed of mothers 

 being similarly situated so that it may be determined whether the observed 

 cases represent an actual law or are only coincidents. 



The statistics relating to pauperism and crime are not so full as desired. 

 It will help greatly if wardens of penitentiaries, overseers of the poor, and per- 

 sons connected with relief organizations would gather statistics as to the birth- 

 ranks of those with whom they have to deal. It is particularly important that 

 the birth-ranks for two or three generations be determined when possible. 



The author will esteem it as a favor if information on any of these points, 

 or on collateral points, be sent to him at the address given below. 



C. L. Redfield, 

 1563 Monadnock Block, Chicago. 

 272 



