oteworthiness" is ascribed,
without exception, to all whose names appear in the "Dictionary of
National Biography," but all of these were dead before the date of
the publication of that work and its supplement. Noteworthiness is
also ascribed to those whose biographies appear in the "Encyclopaedia
Britannica" (which includes many who are now alive), and, in other
works, of equivalent authority. As those persons were considered by
editors of the last named publications to be worthy of note, I have
accepted them, on their authority, as noteworthy.

CHAPTER III.--HIGHEST ORDER OF ABILITY.

No attempt is made in this book to deal with the transmission of
ability of the very highest order, as the data in hand do not furnish
the required material, nor will the conclusions be re-examined at
length that I published many years ago in "Hereditary Genius." Still,
some explanation is desirable to show the complexity of the
conditions that are concerned with the hereditary transmission of the
highest ability, which, for the moment, will be considered as the
same thing as the highest fame.

It has often been remarked that the men who have attained pinnacles
of celebrity failed to leave worthy successors, if any. Many
concurrent causes aid in producing this result. An obvious one is
that such persons are apt to be so immersed in their pursuit, and so
wedded to it, that they do not care to be distracted by a wife.
Another is the probable connection between severe mental strain and
fertility. Women who study hard have, as a class--at least, according
to observant caricaturists--fewer of the more obvious feminine
characteristics; but whether this should be considered a cause or a
consequence, or both, it is difficult to say. A third, and I think
the most important, reason why the children of very distinguished
persons fall sometimes lamentably short of their parents in ability
is that the highest order of mind results from a fortunate mixture of
incongruous constituents, and not of such as naturally harmonize.
Those constituents are _negatively_ correlated, and therefore the
compound is unstable in heredity. This is eminently the case in the
typical artistic temperament, which certainly harmonizes with
Bohemianism and passion, and is opposed to the useful qualities of
regularity, foresight, and level common sense. Where these and
certain other incongruous faculties go together in well-adjusted
proportions, they are capable of