Eugenics as a Creed and the Last Decade of Galton's Life 231 



Next Galton refers to the important fact that in each class of a community 

 there is a strong tendency to intermarriage; this not only produces a " marked 

 effect in the richness of brain-power of the more cultured families " but further 

 an effect of another kind in the lowest stratum of civic worth. After citing 

 Charles Booth on this " handful of barbarians*," Galton proceeds as follows : 



" Many who are familiar with the habits of these people do not hesitate to say that it 

 would he an economy and a great benefit to the country if all habitual criminals were resolutely 

 segregated under merciful surveillance and peremptorily denied opportunities for producing 

 offspring. It would abolish a source of suffering and misery to a future generation, and would 

 cause no unwarrantable hardship in this." (p. 532.) 



Galton, in his scheme of Standard Descent on p. 529, makes the assortative 

 mating coefficient perfect. I have replaced it by one [see the opposite page] 

 in which that coefficient has the observed value for stature. He has also 

 supposed his filial arrays to regress from the midpoints of the parental 

 blocks instead of from their means, and used a value lower than I have 

 adopted for the filial regression. I think my diagram emphasises the con- 

 clusions he has drawn above. The fact that the population does not reproduce 

 itself absolutely is due to grouping into blocks instead of dealing with a 

 continuous distribution. 



The following section is headed Diplomas t. Galton considers, and probably 

 correctly, that there would not be a serious difficulty, if a strong enough desire 

 were felt, in picking out young men whose grade was of the V, W or X 

 order. He points out that at any great university the students are in con- 

 tinual competition in studies, in athletics and in public meetings, and that thus 

 their faculties are well known to their tutors and associates; he remarks that 

 civic worth may take various forms, and a considerably high level both 

 intellectually and physically should be required as a qualification for 

 candidature. Galton considers that when a limited number had thus been 

 selected they " might be submitted in some way to the independent votes of 

 fellow students on the one hand and tutors on the other whose ideals of 

 character and merit necessarily differ." Finally he would have an independent 

 committee, who would examine the candidates personally and consider the 

 favourable points of their family histories, making less of the unfavourable 

 points, unless they were " notorious and flagrant," because of the difficulty 

 of ascertaining the real truth about them — a view which is perhaps not wholly 

 to be commended. As examples of successful working of such committees 

 Galton cites the selections made by scientific societies, including, perhaps, 

 the award of their medals, " which the fortunate recipients at least are 

 tempted to consider judicious J " (p. 533). 



* Of this .4-class Charles Booth wrote very curiously : " It is much to be desired and it is 

 to be hoped that this class may become less hereditary in its character ; there appears to be no 

 doubt that it is now hereditary to a very considerable extent." This seems to be a misuse of 

 the word "hereditary." 



t The proposal for diplomas or certificates for eugenically fit young people was first made 

 by Galton in 1873 ; see our Vol. II, pp. 120-1. 



% The reader may be reminded that Galton was to receive the Huxley medal at the con- 

 clusion of this lecture before the Institute. 



