18 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP. 



quarters. Some haphazard selecting which I 

 tried- confirmed this view. Then comes the 

 important question, Is this a sign that a 

 mixture of one or more of the various civi- 

 lized races is conducive to form an able off- 

 spring ? No doubt the varied " nurture " due 

 to separate streams of tradition has great 

 influence in awakening original thought, but 

 we are not speaking of this now; the ques- 

 tion is about "nature." On an analysis of 

 the scientific status of the men on my list, 

 it appeared to me that their ability is higher 

 in proportion to their numbers among those 

 of pure race. The Border men and lowland 

 Scotch come out exceedingly well ; the Anglo- 

 Irish and Anglo- Welsh, notwithstanding emi- 

 nent individual exceptions, would as a whole 

 rank last. Owing to my list not being ex- 

 haustive, I hardly like to attempt conclusions 

 as to the precise productiveness of scien- 

 tific ability of the Scotch, English, and Irish 

 severally, but there cannot be a shadow of 

 doubt that its degrees are in the order I 

 have named. 



