Statintical ImuxtufafionH 419 



even tlie highest ability is to be prcxluctive of really scientific research. 

 Witiiout rciilisiiig these characteristic eli'ments of" (ialtoiiH mi 

 of which I saw cluaely in alter yeaiu — fhf if.idt'r cunnot up] 

 trend of the present corresjjorKlence. 



Clalton at once thouglit inowt carefully over Llio niatUT. I havt- \x' 

 nie the rough n<»te8 hf dratled before he replied. A few evfimts fVuin ii 

 notes emphasising my points may be made. 



J'riifrtiiionihij) iij .><>riii/ .•^rurmticM. 



N(H><I of It {)ri)fett.Hor of tho theory of utAtiatical niethodH and the application of them to 

 (letinito .social prohlenis. 



Higher laws of Htatistics, a niatheniiitical hoad required... Professor will never get a clavi. 

 (Juery hh to Oxford at all? and i|Ui'ry a.s to a profes.sor? Ho will draw a hig salary for certain 

 but that is all you can Ix' Hure of 



Oreiit dirticulty of interrogating Nature etc. aright. One wants a committee for dtHcuftsion. 

 Great lo.s.s of time liy false lines of quest,... A man like Moltke to plan campaign; not neces- 



.sary that he hiins<'lf should work out re.su Its... that might lie done hy special grants The 



hardest task is to frame questions. To ohtain men who shall l)e niasteni not slaves of stati.stics 



and whose hearts shall U" set on the solution of social problem.s Each problem is a separate 



and severe problem to lie attacked in its own way by such facts as are available. . 



This is all true, but it is not the whole truth. I take it that the kernel 

 of Florence Nightingale's propo.sal was the foiuidation of a school of higher 

 statistics, and the production by it of minds keen on applying novel methotls 

 to social problems. It was not till much later that Galton fully realised this, 

 giving up his faith in committees and in work to be done by small grants for 

 essays. The chief factor in that change was, 1 believe, his friendship with a 

 professor of the best type, W. F. R. Weldon, whose energy, idealism and 

 enthusiasm, showed Galton how much could be achieved by the right 

 academic spirit. 



Witli these precursory remarks I give Galton's reply. 



42 Rutland Gate. Feb. 10, '91. 



Dear Miss .N Kinri.Mi.M.K, I think most prvgress may lie made if I send the general ideii-s 

 that your letter suggested to me, rather than by delaying to make a list of subjects suitable for 

 inquiry; the rea-son why will be seen directly. 



In the first place your object of obtaining a supply of men well versed in the appropriate 

 methods of statistics, who shall apply them to the social problems of the day, seems to me a 

 tiiost worthy one, and well deserving a great effort. 



In addition to the problems you specify, such may Iw mentioneil a-s : 



(I) Number of hours' work, and corre.sjwnding amount and value of output in different 

 occu|)ations, whether purely mi-chanical, partly mental or aesthetic. 



(■J) The efiect of town life on the offspring, on their numl>er and on their health. 



(3) What are the contributions of the several cla.sses — as to social (losition and as to resi- 

 dence — to the population of the next generation? Who in short are the proletariat? 



In pursuance of what I have said above I will not multiply instances. 



The real dirticulty in tiwiting thesi> and similar subjects is to specify exactly what is iiime<l 

 at in a way free from all ambiguity, and again in a way to which the statistics that are avail- 

 able will give an answer also free fi-oni ainbiguity. The dithculty of the physicist is to interrogate 

 Nature by fniming searching questions to her, and it is by this method, the applications of which 

 seem so .simple, aft<'r some philosopher has had the ingenuity to think of them, that all physical 

 science is forwaixletl. But there are very few men ca]>able of interrogating Nature aright; those 



