1872.] [Mr. F. Galton on Blood-relationship. 



397 



gated, the large Residue is developed (b) into the latent elements contained 

 in the adult individual. All this is summarily expressed in the first two 

 columns of the diagram (fig. 1). I might have inserted vertical arrows to 

 show the minor connexions between the corresponding stages in the two 

 parallel processes, but it would have complicated the figure. 



In what w r ay do the patent and latent adult elements respectively con- 

 tribute representatives towards the structureless stage of the next genera- 

 tion 1 We know that every quality they possess may be transmitted to it, 

 but it does not follow that they are invariably transmitted. The contri- 

 butions from the patent elements cannot be by " Class," because their own 

 original elements have been themselves specialized, and therefore can 

 contain no more than one or a few members of each class (which, it is true, 

 must have been somewhat developed, both in numbers and variety, into 

 what we may call " families "). Their contributions may therefore be justly 

 described as being effected on some principle that has resulted in a " Family 

 representation" though whether in the representation of every family I do 

 not profess to say. 



As regards the large variety of adult latent elements, they cannot all be 

 transmitted, for the following obvious reason — the corresponding qualities 

 of no two parents can be considered exactly alike ; therefore the accumu- 

 lation of subvarieties, if they were all preserved as the generations rolled 

 onwards, would exceed in multitude the wildest flights of rational theory. 

 The heritage of peculiarities through the contributions of 1000 consecutive 

 generations, even supposing a great deal of ancestral intermarriage, must 

 far exceed what could be packed into a single ovum. The contributions 

 from the latent adult elements are therefore no more than Representative ; 

 but they have to furnish all the various members of each Class whence its 

 representatives have afterwards to be drawn. Therefore, bearing in mind what 

 has been just argued, that it is impossible for the elements of every individual 

 quality to be contributed, we are driven to suppose, as in the previous 

 case, a "Family representation" the similar elements contributed by the 

 two parents ranking, of course, as of the same family. It is most impor- 

 tant to bear in mind that this phrase states a fact and not an hypothesis ; it 

 does not mean that each and every Family has just one representative, 

 for it is absolutely reticent on all such matters of detail as those I enume- 

 rated when speaking of Class Representation. To show the importance 

 which I attach to this disclaimer, I may be permitted to mention what 

 appears to me the most probable modus operandi, namely, that it is in 

 reality a large selection made out of larger and not out of smaller consti- 

 tuencies than those I have called "classes," similar to that which would be 

 obtained by an indiscriminate conscription : thus, if a large army be drawn 

 from the provinces of a country by a general conscription, its constitution, 

 according to the laws of chance, will reflect with surprising precision the 

 qualities of the population whence it was taken ; each village will be found 



2 g 2 



