350 Life and Letters of Francis Gallon 



the urinary and genital organs, and of the abdominal organH, also from malignant disease and 

 •orofula t 



Are they on the whole comparatively exempt from disease t 



To what affections an* they most liable, and to what morbid inf1ucnco8 are they most suscep- 

 tible! Do any maladies s(*em to have an influence in pi-omoting longevity) What influence 

 opon the longevity of an individual has the age of the parents at his birth ] Do twins or the 

 children of twins often attain grwit age? 



Infonnatioii, though nut positive, yet of much interest and importance, upon these and other 

 pointA, will accrue from the it-plies to the questions on the cards. It need hardly he said that 

 the questions are by no means exhaustive, and that information upon other points which are 

 judged to l>e of interest and importance by those who fill up the cards, will l)e valuable, as also 

 information on any special p<nnts in |>«rticular cases which seem worthy of note. 



Though the questions are such that they may for the most part be answortnl by the jKirsons 

 themselves, or by their friends, it is hoped that in most instances the observations will Ix; made 

 and the information given by medical men ; and the person who fills up the card is in each instance 

 requested to state whether he is a medical man or not. 



It will be an additional advantage if some information can )>e gleaned respecting the succession 

 of maladies in the same person, and in different individuals of the siinie family, or respecting the 

 preservative influence u|)on the system of certain maladies against the inroads of otiiers. 



Something in the Hereditary Problem may be also learned resjK'ctiiig the cross action and 

 modifying influences of certain diswusas. For instance, is there any foundation for the view 

 that chronic gouty affections ret-anl the development of other diseases. 



The strength and enduring quality of the body, like that of a chain, must be measured at 

 its weakest point; and though in it, more than in a chain, the strength and quality of some 

 parts TOAj compensate for deficiency in others, yet the very op|>osite may be the result. The 

 stronger organs may relieve, but they may also opjiress, the weaker members. A strong digestive 

 system may overload a weakly circulation, and prove injurious to the liver, lungs, or kidneys, 

 in fact a disturbing agent to the general nutrition. The requisite for longevity, therefore, we 

 may expect to be not so nmch strength of organs as their enduring quality, a good mutual 

 adjustment, in other words, their good balance. The replies relating to "plethora" and other 

 features of general condition will have an important bearing on this view. 



Another matter about which Galton's mind was much exercised was that 

 of "social stability." He was anxious to know whether and to what extent 

 individual stirps move up and down in the social scale, or whetlier our 

 society is in the main made up of "castes," which stand fast by their grade 

 of occupation and to their social position. To tlirow light on this matter he 

 sought a comparison between the average social position of houseliolders of 

 all classes in the present day and in that of their fathers. He prepared 

 accordingly a schedule — whicn appears never to have lx;en issued — of in- 

 quiries concerning householders and their fathers; the age of the householder, 

 his profession, trade, or employment, his position among men of the same 

 occupation, and the corresponding data for tlie father of the householder were 

 to be recorded, and Galton hoped to get material ample enough to provide 

 a measure of social stability — the frequency with which sons a<lvanced on, 

 remained e<iual to or regre.s.sed from the father in social status. While this 

 8che<lule cleals with social stability in its narrower economic sense, the same 

 dossier contains notes by Galton giving the term social stability a much 

 wider significance; he notes that many view with alarm the progressive 

 disappearance of those ancient landmarks — such as theological ()eliels— by 

 which conduct htvs been traditionally regulated and fear that mankind must 

 sink into brutality. The motives which lead to social stability ought there- 

 fore to Ije measured and analysed, the main f.ict lieing that it is di8coveral)le 



