AMERICAN MEN OF LETTERS 



[46 



work in popularizing, in poetry and in prose writing. These 

 / were the fields of literary activity which the public seemed 

 to consider most appropriate for women. It is noteworthy 

 that, during the last few decades considered, the number of 

 literary women increased only in the fields of acting and 

 prose writing, two of the three fields in which the number 

 of men also increased. 



The fifth of the series of facts best understood in the light 

 of the theory of the influence of the social environment is 

 given in Table VI. The authors are here classified, by period 



TABLE VI 



AMERICAN LITERATI CLASSIFIED AS OF ONE, Two, OR THREE OR MORE 

 FIELDS OF ACTIVITY, BY PERIOD OF BiRTH. 1 



of birth, as of one, two, or three or more fields of activity. 

 It appears that in the period 1841-50 there were relatively 



1 When the percentage figures in this table are added on horizontal 

 lines the totals will not in every case equal 100 because of cumulative 

 error. The inaccuracy, however, is slight. 



