April 5, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



267 



at the points on a scale opposite the height of each parent, and 

 read on another scale the most probable height of son and daugh- 

 ter, as well as the range of variation within and outside of which 

 there is an even chance of his or her appearance. 



At first sight, this law seems opposed to the current conceptions 

 of heredity, by which like breeds like, and qualities gather strength 

 as they are handed down from parent to child ; but, while the ten- 

 dencies of the two laws are opposed, this opposition is not a con- 

 tradiction. There is still room for the appearance of qualities in 

 families, because the exceptional father is still more likely than the 

 mediocre one to have an exceptional son ; only the chances are 

 not in favor of having a son equally as exceptional as he himself is. 

 This is true because the rate of regression towards the mean is a 

 ratio, and affects all alike. However, owing to the far greater 

 number of mediocre parents, it is more likely in a given case that 

 an exceptional son is the exceptional child of " average " parents 

 than the " average " of exceptional parents. The law tells heavily 

 against the continued inheritance of particular traits, both beneficial 

 and pernicious ones, and regards as typical the oft- observed deca- 

 dence of eminent families. 



The variations in eye-color, the presence or absence of the artis- 

 tic temperament, — which is shown to be more prevalent in women 

 than in men, — the tendency towards types of disease, are treated 

 according to the same plan, and the assumption of the validity of 

 the law is found to accord with the facts. Mr. Galton has even 

 attempted an experimental verification. The seeds of sweet-peas 

 diflfering in size were grown, and the numbers of resulting seeds of 



each size were obtained, with the result that the seeds were less 

 e.xceptional in size than the parent-seeds, and also in about the 

 ratio of one-third. 



Besides this chief result, the volume contains a number of minor 

 studies, all of which will be of interest to students in various scien- 

 tific pursuits. The effect of marriage selection in continuing indi- 

 vidual traits ; the distinction between traits that blend, such as the 

 mulatto issue of black and white, and those that do not blend but 

 exist side by side ; the possible shifting of the average result by a 

 general amelioration of the race ; the means of defining quantita- 

 tively nearness of kinship, — these form some of the minor points 

 discussed. 



In leaving the volume, one is impressed with the great value of 

 method in statistical work, with the power of mathematical treat- 

 ment to give clearness to results, with the enormous labor neces- 

 sary to obtain results in this definite form, and with the great pos- 

 sibilities that this study holds out to our posterity as a means of 

 racial and social improvement. 



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