SEXUAL SELECTION, ASSORTATIVE MATING, ETC. 233 



That the marriage rate and the average age of marriage vary 

 considerably according to the social and economic status is a 

 fact the racial influence of which naturally depends upon what 

 degree of correlation exists between the social and economic 

 position of different classes and their heritable qualities. Those 

 who believe that there is no such correlation or that it is insignif- 

 icant in amount will consider that it makes little difference so far 

 as the innate qualities of the race are concerned how marriage 

 rates or birth rates are distributed among the different classes of 

 the population. There is much reason to believe, as I have al- 

 ready contended, that the inherited endowments of human beings 

 constitute, in the long run, a potent factor in determining the 

 place they occupy in our social organization, and if this is true, 

 the marriage rates of different classes becomes a matter of much 

 interest in regard to our biological development. Bertillon has 

 furnished some data on the relation between the marriage rate 

 and economic status in Paris, Berlin and Vienna. These are 

 presented in the following table which gives the number of mar- 

 riages per 1,000 of immarried men of over 20 and of women of 

 over 15 years of age: 



Urban Marriage Rates According to Economic Status 



Character of District 



Very poor.. . 



Poor 



Well off. . .. 

 Very well off 



Rich 



Very rich . . . 



For several reasons this table constitutes only a rough approxi- 

 mation to the true relation between marriage and economic 



