vii.] DISCUSSION OF THE DATA OF STATURE. 85 



their number. The beautiful regularity in the Statures of 

 a population, whenever they are statistically marshalled 

 in the order of their heights, is due to the number 

 of variable and quasi-independent elements of which 

 Stature is the sum. 



Marriage Selection. — Whatever may be the sexual 

 preferences for similarity or for contrast, I find little 

 indication in the average results obtained from a fairly 

 large number of cases, of any single measurable personal 

 peculiarity, whether it be stature, temper, eye-colour, 

 or artistic tastes, in influencing marriage selection to 

 a notable degree. Nor is this extraordinary, for though 

 people may fall in love for trifles, marriage is a serious 

 act, usually determined by the concurrence of numerous 

 motives. Therefore we could hardly expect either 

 shortness or tallness, darkness or lightness in com- 

 plexion, or any other single quality, to have in the 

 long run a large separate influence. 



I was certainly surprised to find how imperceptible 

 was the influence that even good and bad Temper 

 seemed to exert on marriage selection. A list was made 

 (see Appendix D) of the observed frequency of marriages 

 between persons of each of the various classes of Temper, 

 in a group of 111 couples, and I calculated what would 

 have been the relative frequency of intermarriages be- 

 tween persons of the various classes, if the same number 

 of males and females had been paired at random. The 

 result showed that the observed list agreed closely with 

 the calculated list, and therefore that these observations 



