XVI 



Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



race. He was impressed by the fact that many of those who obtained 

 distinction in the University at Cambridge were related to others who had 

 been similarly distinguished at earlier dates. He therefore made a series of 

 statistical inquiries as to the heritability of genius of all kinds. From first 

 to last these investigations extend over a period of nearly forty years, and 

 are to be found embodied in his works : ' Hereditary Genius/ 1869 ; 

 ' English Men of Science,' 1874 ; ' Human Faculty,' 1883 ; ' Natural 

 Inheritance,' 1889; and ' Noteworthy Families/ 1906. These works estab- 

 lish beyond any doubt the inheritance of mental capacity, as well as of all 

 other physical characteristics. 



Such investigations as these necessarily brought before him the fundamental 

 principles of statistics, and although his mathematical equipment was in- 

 sufficient to enable him to treat his many problems with completeness, yet 

 his grasp of principles enabled him to obtain a remarkably clear insight into 

 that difficult subject. In the hands of Karl Pearson and of others, the impulse 

 given by Galton has led to the formulation of new statistical methods, of 

 which much use has been made in the study of heredity. It would be out 

 of place, in the present article, to give even an outline of such a technical 

 subject, and it must suffice to say that it is now possible to assign a numerical 

 value for the average degree of relationship or " correlation " between any 

 pair of attributes in a large population. In close relationship to the theory 

 of correlation is Galton's conclusion that the average contribution to each 

 individual is \ from each parent, from each grand-parent, and so on for 

 the remoter generations. This conclusion remains but little shaken by 

 the copious criticisms to which it has been subjected by many other 

 investigators. 



It may be well to mention, in passing, that Galton made some interesting 

 experiments on the breeding of rabbits, with a view of testing Darwin's theory 

 of pangenesis. He argued that a copious transfusion of blood between two 

 individuals of different varieties should carry with it some of the reproductive 

 " gemmules," and that the offspring should show some of the characteristics 

 of the variety whose blood had tainted the parents. But the result was 

 negative, for no effect could be traced. 



The conviction that all attributes are heritable naturally led Galton to 

 reflect on the improvement of the human race which might be effected by 

 breeding from the best and restricting the offspring of the worst. He gave 

 the name of Eugenics to this branch of study, and it is probable that it is 

 through Eugenics that he will always be best known to the larger public 

 which cares little for science, but will attend to matters touching every 

 member of the human race. Careful breeding might produce results as 

 remarkable in mankind as it has done with domestic animals, but Galton was 

 under no illusion as to the rapidity with which favourable results will be 

 attained. He foresaw that, in the present condition of society, immediate 

 measures were impracticable, except perhaps in restraints to the breeding 

 from idiots and the feeble-minded, and he thought that education in a knowledge 



