Eugenics as a Creed and the Last Decade of Galton's Life 277

developments at the office, or to suggestions and criticisms touching the biographer's researches. I give three illustrations to show how keenly alive he still remained to all going on in our joint field of work.

42, RUTLAND GATE, S. W. May 31, 1905.

MY DEAR KARL PEARSON, If your timely and most useful article on Dr Diem's material in the Brit. Med. Journ. is intended to start an organised inquiry, towards which I can in any way help, pray command me. It is just one of the things I want to see done. Quere, a reasonable plan would be to reprint your article in a pamphlet form, with tables to show exactly what is wanted, and after preparing the way a little to circulate it judiciously. Is there not an error-at all events the sentence requires explanation-in " Dr Diem's tables show that nervous disorders are more numerous in the parentages of the sane than in those of the insane"? What are "nervous disorders"? Or are sane and insane transposed *? If a pamphlet were circulated the meaning of the phrases 1 to 5 in Dr Diem's and your list should be defined in it. As, for example "want of mental balance"! We are all of us so mad ! How mad must we be to justify the epithet of "unbalanced mind "? Parental and fraternal histories ought to be easily accessible among the insane and feeble-minded, and among the sane still more so. But in the latter case there are often skeletons hid in closets. One seems to want corroboration of what is said by others who have known the family intimately. Biographers fib so much. I have just been reading one that includes two letters praising a man as a gentle angel, whom I recollect as a red pimple-faced obstreperous and most eccentric schoolmaster in my very early days. Where is truth to be found? Ever yours sincerely, FRANCIS GALTON.

This research was not at the time pushed further. What is essential to the effective study of the heredity of insanity is a register of the persons in the kingdom who have at any time in their life been in an asylum (and of course it must state from what type of mental disease) ; at present we can only guess what percentage of the population has been certified at any time as insane.

42, RUTLAND GATE, S.W. July 27, 1905.

MY DEAR KARL PEARSON, I kept your letter the last to open, as I dreaded it would contain a grave and well merited rebuke, but it did not, and the motive for the rebuke is happily dissipated. It was the announcement by Murray that he was about to publish eugenic matter for the University of London before he had received authority to do so. It was a stupid blunder of his, for which he wrote a most penitent letter that was laid before the members of the Senate yesterday, who have condoned it-for their resolution in the University Intelligence, p. 7, of to-day's Times puts all on a solid footing. The material in question consists of 65 Noteworthy Families in Modern Science, and "is to appear as Vol. i of the publications of the Eugenics Record Office." This is a big recognition in my opinion. Murray is pleased to publish on the 2 profit system .... I envy the old biometric teas t, but everything "dehisces." I go north on Saturday towards and then to Westmoreland; Eva Biggs goes south to Devon, and in the 3''d week of August we reunite at Ockham.

Last Monday and Tuesday evenings we spent at that wonderful air-cure Hindhead, where I had the great pleasure of seeing again Mrs Tyndall, who lives in the house her husband (Prof. Tyndall) built.

* If " nervous disorders " be used in the sense of slight nervous troubles,, hysteria, excitability or depression, far short of insanity, the explanation may be that in the case of stocks tainted with insanity, these cases are intensified and the sufferers become actually insane.

t For some years Francis Galton and his niece bad come within reach of the biometric holiday workelts for a few weeks in the summer. We were often some distance from each other as at Bibury, Witney and Oxford. The morning was given to work, then the victories carried our leader and bicycles the remainder of the party to some inn, in a village if possible with a beautiful church, and there was a biometric tea, at which discussion turned not wholly on work.