OCR Rendition - approximate

1901.]. MAN. [No. 132. average height was nearly 5 ft. 8 in., the unit of distribution was nearly 14 in., so the class U exceeded 6 ft. 1 in. ; consequently even U overlooks a mob, while V, who exceed 6-ft. 2" in., and much more the higher grades, tower above it in an increasingly eminent degree. Worth of a Child.-Dn. Farr calculated the value at its birth of a baby born of the wife of an Essex labourer, supposing it to be an average specimen of its class in length of life, in cost of maintenance while a child and in old age, and in earnings during youth and manhood. He capitalised with actuarial skill the prospective values at the time of birth, of the outgoings and the incomings, and on balancing the items found the newlyborn infant to be worth 51. A similar process would conceivably bring out to e money value at birth of children destined when they grew up to fall into each of the several classes, and by a different method of appraisement to discover their moral and social worth. As regards the money value of men of the highest class, many found great industries, establish vast undertakings, increase the wealth of multitudes and amass large fortunes for themselves. Others, whether rich or poor, are the guides and light of the nation, raising its tone, enlightening its difficulties and imposing its ideals. The more gifted of these men, members of our yet undefined X class, would be each worth thousands of pounds to the nation at the moment of their birth. Descent in a Population.-The most economical way of producing such men may be inferred from the Table of Descent accompanying the memoir, calculated for an ideal population, on 'the supposition that all marriages are equally fertile, that the statistical distribution of qualities continues unchanged and that the normal law of frequency prevails throughout. In this particular table it was also supposed that both parents were always alike in quality. The diagram that illustrates it shows also very clearly the contributions of each class of parent to each class of the next generation. The V class of parentages number 35 per 10,000, which represents in the 40,000,000 of the population an annual output of 1,300 male youths of that class who attain their majority in the same year. Of the 34 or 35 V sons 6 come from the 35 V-class parents, 10 from the 180 U, 10 from the 672 T, 5 from the 1,614 S, and 3 from the 2,500 R. Therefore V is 3 times richer than U in producing V offspring, 11i times than T, 55 times than S, and 145 times richer than R. Economy of cost and labour in improving the race will therefore depend on confining attention to the best pareutages. The falling off when only one of the parents is of the V class and the other unknown was shown to be a little more than 4-1. In dealing with large numbers the statistical constancy of the result resembles those of a fixed law. The above figures might then be accepted as certainties like those' in tables of mortality, if they are founded on a correct hypothesis. It is not claimed that the hypothesis is more than approximately correct. but ill any case the results will be constant and probably not very different from those given in the table. They showed that 35 marriages of two persons each of class V will produce five adult song and five adult daughters of that same V class. They will also produce ten of each sex of the U class and 12 of the T. A discount will have to be taken off these figures in deducting their significance, because the performance in mature life often falls short of its promise in youth. The lecturer strongly condemned the neglect by educational authorities to investigate the correlation between youthful promise and subsequent performance, by the closeness of which the value of the present huge system of examinations can alone be judged. Augmentation of Favoured Stock.-Enthusiasm to improve our race might express itself by granting diplomas to a select class X of young men and women, by encouraging their intermarriages and by promoting the early marriage of girls of that high class. The means that are available consist in don ries, where a moderate sum is important, help in emergencies, healthy homes, pressure of public opinion, honours, and the intro ( 162 J CIibPDF - www.fastio.com