8^] ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA g^ 



Although Gallon's first proposition, that *' a man's 

 natural abilities are derived by inheritance, under exactly 

 the same limitations as are the form and physical features 

 of the whole organic world," does not meet with much 

 criticism at the present time, his second proposition, 

 that nature is of much greater influence than nurture, 

 must here be questioned. According to this proposition, 

 able men prove their worth by surmounting all obsta- 

 cles which lie in their path. If the proposition were 

 true, it would follow that American letters declined 

 because the innate literary ability of the American people 

 was diminishing, for if such ability had been present it 

 would have been bound to make itself manifest. There 

 are two reasons for believing, however, that Gallon's 

 proposition is not true. In the first place, it can be 

 questioned simply on the basis of personal experience. 

 To appreciate this fact one need only consider the 

 matter of getting an education. Gallon and men of his 

 school argue that persons who obtain a good education 

 do so simply because of unusual innate ability. They as- 

 sert that the individual who is unable to find or make 

 educational opportunity for himself thereby demonstrates 

 his deficiency in natural ability. The weakness of this 

 theory must be obvious to anyone who ever graduated 

 from a public high school, and still more evident to one 

 who has taught in such an institution. Brilliant and 

 earnest students withdraw from school for financial 

 reasons with disheartening frequency, while dull or in- 

 different sons and daughters of the economically secure 

 continue to cumber the class-room. Thus many persons 

 of mediocre ability enjoy the best schooling, while others 

 of high ability never receive more than the rudiments of 

 an education. There is, therefore little relation between 

 intellectual ability and the acquisition of a high school 

 education, to say nothing of an academic degree. Gallon 



