INFLUENCE OF ORDER OF BIRTH, ETC. 309 
Of the aged individuals studied there were “‘some living and some 
dead.” This is an unfortunate circumstance, since it tends to 
bring an undue relative proportion of the first born in the ad- 
vanced age group. It is fair to assume, since we have no informa- 
tion to the contrary, that some of the aged had younger siblings 
who might also have become aged and hence helped to swell the 
ranks of the later born offspring. Were all the children of the 
families given time to qualify for the advanced age group it is not 
at all evident that the first born would be represented in the 
highest percentage of cases. 
It is in the field of intellectual activity that the first born have 
most often been said to distinguish themselves. The claim is 
made that the first born are more variable than their successors, 
and while they produce a larger number of defectives and crimi- 
nals they also give rise to a larger number of men of genius. Gini 
has shown that the first born predominate among the professors 
in Italian universities. The matter was investigated by sending 
questionnaires to the professors; 445 replies were received of which 
416 related to families of two or more. The distribution of the 
professors according to birth rank may be seen from the following 
table: 
Birth Rank of Italian Professors 
a 
b 100a 
Birth Rank No. of Professors from ted No. | 
Families of 2 or More ae : b 
Tigiioke eeweseae I4I 87.4 161 
Di wndoh soy sada 82 87.4 go 
ee ee eee 53 69.9 83 
Avenue aekeeek 45 54.2 83 
Fug baw ee ete se 5 32 38.7 83 
(i oy At epee enone es 31 44.9 79 
BAO stands oaeraiein 20 19.8 719 
LO xs aise oe ieee s 7 13.4 52 
416 415.7 
