i.] ANTECEDENTS. 19 



The birthplaces of scientific men and of their 

 parents are usually in towns, away from the sea 

 coast. Out of every 5 birthplaces I find that 1 

 lies in London or its suburbs ; 1 in an important 

 town, such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Bir- 

 mingham, Liverpool, or Manchester ; 1 is in a small 

 town ; and 2 either in a village or actually in the 

 country. These returns are given with more 

 detail in the foot-note. 1 The branch of science 

 pursued is often in curious disaccord with the 

 surrounding influence of the birthplace. Mecha- 

 nicians are usually hardy lads born in the country, 

 biologists are frequently pure townsfolk. Partly 

 in consequence of the prevalence of their urban 

 distribution I find that an irregular plot may be 

 marked on the map of England which includes 

 much less than one-half of its area, but more than 

 92 per cent, of the birthplaces of the English 

 scientific men or of their parents. The accom- 

 panying diagram shows its position ; one thin 



1 London, 16 ; suburbs, 5; = 21. Edinburgh and Glasgow, 

 7 ; Cork, Belfast, and Dublin, G ; Birmingham, Liverpool, 

 and Manchester, 5; total = 18. Smaller towns, 21; else- 

 where, 40. General total, 100. 



c 2 



