CHAPTER III. 



THE AGE OF PARENTS. 



IN what has gone before we h^ve cited a num- 

 ber of eminent men as the product of slow- 

 ly moving generations. Citing instances is often 

 persuasive, but it is hardly conclusive. What we 

 want is some kind of evidence that it is not pos- 

 sible to find contrary cases to offset the cases 

 given. This we can do by the establishment of 

 standards and the use of statistics. 



When we speak of slowly moving generations 

 we refer not only to the ages of the fathers when 

 the eminent sons were produced, but to the ages 

 of the grandfathers when the parents were pro- 

 duced, and the ages of the great-grandfathers 

 when the grandparents were produced. We also 

 refer to the mothers, and grandmothers, and 

 great-grandfathers, but unfortunatey our human 

 records do not give these facts, and we have to 

 use what we can find. 



Practically every pedigree extended for three 

 or four generations has in it some young parents 



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