HEREDITY 499 



SECTION X THE EXCEPTIONAL INDIVIDUAL ARISES 



EITHER FROM MEDIOCRITY OR FROM THE 



EXCEPTIONAL PARENT 



Further inspection of the table of statures shows that of the 

 72 children recorded above six feet in height (see columns 13, 

 14, 15), 42, or over one half, were produced by mid-parents 

 70.5 inches or under; that approximately 22 were produced by 

 mid-parents less than one inch above the mean of the race 1 

 (68.6 inches, see row <?, column 17) ; that no less than 12, or one 

 sixth of all, were produced by mid-parents recorded at or below 

 the mean of the race; and that i was produced by a 6 5. 5 -inch 

 mid-parent. 



From this we see that exceptional individuals may arise either 

 from exceptional or from mediocre parents. The probability, 

 however, is greatly in favor of the former. Six 72.5-inch mid- 

 parents produced 13 exceptional children out of a total of 19, 

 considering everything above six feet as exceptional. Of this 

 number 6, or over 30 per cent, exceed their own parents in 

 height. Though the 69. 5 -inch mid-parents produced a higher 

 number of exceptionally tall children (20), 41 parents were 

 involved instead of 6. This is less than 3 per cent of the total 

 children (183), instead of 68 per cent, as in the case of the 

 progeny of the taller parents. 



It is at this point that the political scientist and the threm- 

 matologist recognize different principles. Both are interested in 

 exceptional individuals. As we have seen, they may be had 

 either from the general population or from a highly selected 

 parentage. The breeder chooses the latter because he cannot 

 afford to support so large a population for so few exceptional 

 individuals. He takes the highly selected parentage because 

 the proportion of extreme excellence is higher, and because its 

 "drag" is less. He is desirous of using minimum numbers for 

 economic reasons. 



The political scientist is limited by no such considerations. 

 If he resort to selection (election) each time a ruler is to be 



1 Including only one half of the offspring produced by parents recorded at 

 69.5- 



