XL] LATENT ELEMENTS. 191 



When the " children " in the pedigree are from 40 to 

 55 years of age, their own life-histories are sufficiently 

 advanced to be useful, though they are incomplete, 

 and it is still easy for them to compile good histories 

 of their Parents, Uncles, and Aunts. Friends who 

 knew them all would still be alive, and numerous 

 documents such as near relations or personal friends 

 preserve, but which are mostly destroyed at their 

 decease, would still exist. Jf I were undertaking 

 a fresh inquiry in order to verify and to extend my 

 previous work, it would be on this basis. I should not 

 care to deal with any family that did not number at 

 least six adult children, and the same number of uncles 

 and aunts on both the paternal and maternal sides. 

 Whatever could be learnt about the grandparents 

 and their brothers and sisters, would of course be 

 acceptable, as throwing further light. I should how- 

 ever expect that the peculiarities distributed among 

 any large Fraternity of Uncles and Aunts would fairly 

 indicate the variety of the Latent Elements in the 

 Parent. The complete heritage of the child, on the 

 average of many cases, might then be assigned as 

 follows : One quarter to the personal characteristics of 

 the Father ; one quarter to the average of the personal 

 characteristics of the Fraternity taken as a whole, of 

 whom the Father was one of the members; and similarly 

 as regards the Mother's side. 



