i.] ANTECEDENTS. 69 



fact or coincidence, that 5 men out of a group 

 of 1,450, or say 1 out of every 300, should be 

 first of his year in the single university of 

 Cambridge, either in mathematics or in classics. 

 This is about the proportion that exists among 

 the men who actually go to Cambridge, and 

 these, as before mentioned, are no chance selec- 

 tions, but include a large part of the annual 

 pick of the intellectual flower of the whole 

 nation. Moreover, these distinguished brothers 

 and cousins of scientific men are themselves 

 inter-related ; the two senior wranglers, Alderson 

 and Woodhouse, being first cousins, and the two 

 classics, Scott and Brodrick, being first cousins 

 also ; both families being, in other respects, rich 

 in ability. 



We may otherwise appreciate the influence 

 of heredity, as distinguished from that of tradi- 

 tion and education, by observing the similarity 

 of disposition that sometimes prevails among 

 numerous scattered branches of the same family. 

 The two following extracts from the replies 

 I have received, are illustrations of what I 

 mean ; 



