XII.] A Librarian's Work. 255 



Indeed — to say nothing of the immense number of 

 accidental coincidences — I think we may lay it down 

 as a large comprehensive sort of rule, that any man 

 who has published a volume or pamphlet is sure to 

 have relatives of the same name who have published 

 volumes or pamphlets. Such a fact may have some 

 . value to people, like Mr. Galton, who are interested 

 in the subject of hereditary talent, and who have 

 besides a keen eye for statistics. I have never tabu- 

 lated the statistics of this matter, and am stating 

 only a general impression, gathered from miscel- 

 laneous experience, when I say that the occurrence 

 of almost any name in a list of authors affords a 

 considerable probability of its re-occurrence, asso- 

 ciated with some fact of blood-relationship. One 

 would not be likely to realise this fact in collecting 

 a large private library, because private libraries, how- 

 ever large, are apt to contain only the classical works 

 of quite exceptional men and the less important 

 works which happen to be specially interesting or 

 useful to the owner. But in a public hbrary the 

 treasures and the rubbish of the literary world are 

 alike hoarded ; and the works of exceptional men 

 whom everybody remembers are lumped in with the 

 works of all their less distinguished cousins and 



