elative who is also distinguished. This ratio
increases to more than one in two when the families of the forty-six
Americans in the Hall of Fame are made the basis of study. If all the
eminent relations of those in the Hall of Fame are counted, they average
more than one apiece. Therefore, they are from five hundred to a
thousand times as much related to distinguished people as the ordinary
mortal is.

To look at it from another point of view, something like 1% of the
population of the country is as likely to produce a man of genius as is
all the rest of the population put together,--the other 99%.

This might still be due in some degree to family influence, to the
prestige of a famous name, or to educational advantages afforded the
sons of successful men. Dr. Woods' study of the royal families of Europe
is more decisive.[11]

In the latter group, the environment must be admitted--on the whole--to
be uniformly favorable. It has varied, naturally, in each case, but
speaking broadly it is certain that all the members of this group have
had the advantage of a good education, of unusual care and attention. If
such things affect achievement, then the achievements of this class
ought to be pretty generally distributed among the whole class. If
opportunity is the cause of a man's success, then most of the members of
this class ought to have succeeded, because to every one of royal blood,
the door of opportunity usually stands open. One would expect the heir
to the throne to show a better record than his younger brothers,
however, because his opportunity to distinguish himself is naturally
greater. This last point will be discussed first.

Dr. Woods divided all the individuals in his study into ten classes for
intellectuality and ten for morality, those most deficient in the
qualities being put in class 1, while the men and women of preeminent
intellectual and moral worth were put in class 10. Now if preeminent
intellect and morality were at all linked with the better chances that
an inheritor of succession has, then heirs to the throne ought to be
more plentiful in the higher grades than in the lower. Actual count
shows this not to be the case. A slightly larger percentage of
inheritors is rather to be found in the lower grades. The younger sons
have made just as good a showing as the sons who succeeded to power; as
one would expect if intellect and morality are due largely to heredity,
but as one would not expect if intel