Noteworthy Families (Modern Science) | Page 6

Any other reasonable relation between their
influences may be substituted for the purpose of experiment, but the
ultimate conclusion will be much the same.
TABLE I.--COMBINATIONS OF ABILITY AND ENVIRONMENT.
+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | AE. I. | AF. I. | AG. II. |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | BE. I. | BF. II. | BG. III. |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | CE. II. | CF. III. | CG. III. |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
First, suppose Ability and Environment to be entirely independent, A
being as frequently associated with E as it is with F or with G; similarly
as regards B and C, then the nine combinations shown in Table I. will
be equally frequent. These tabular entries fall into three equal groups.
The three that lie in and about the upper left-hand corner contain the
highest constituents--namely, either high combined with high, or one
high with one medium. They produce Successes of Grade I. The three
in the middle diagonal band running between the lower left and the
upper right corners are either one high and one low, or both are
_medium_; they will produce Successes of Grade II. The three in and
about the right-hand corner are either one medium with one low, or both
are _low_; they will produce Successes of Grade III. This is still more
clearly seen by sorting the results into Table II., from which it is clear

that a high grade of Success is statistically associated with a high, but
less, grade of Ability, a medium with a medium, and a low grade of
Success with a low, but less low, grade of Ability.
TABLE II.--ABILITY INDEPENDENT OF ENVIRONMENT.
_________________________________________________________
____________ | | | | | Grades of | | | | Success. | Contributory
Combinations. | Corresponding Abilities. |
|___________|_____________________________|________________
___________| | | | | | | | | | I. | AE | AF | BE | 2 of A | 1 of B | -- | | II. | AG
| BF | CE | 1 of A | 1 of B | 1 of C | | III. | CG | BG | CF | -- | 1 of B | 2 of
C |
|___________|_________|_________|_________|_________|________
|________|
Secondly, suppose A, B, C to be correlated with E, F, G, so that A is
more likely to be associated with E than it is with F, and much more
likely than with G. Similarly, C is most likely to be associated with G,
less likely with F, and least likely with E. The general effect of these
preferences will be well represented by divorcing the couples which
differ by two grades--namely, AG and CE, by re-mating their
constituents as AE and CG, and by re-sorting them, as in Table III. The
couples that differ by no more than one grade are left undisturbed. The
results now fall into five grades of Success, in four of which each grade
contains two-ninths of the whole number, and one, the medium Grade 3,
contains only one-ninth.
As remarked previously, the grades are not supposed to be separated by
equal steps. They are numbered in ordinary numerals to distinguish
them from those in Table II.
TABLE III.--ABILITY CORRELATED WITH ENVIRONMENT.
_________________________________________________________
____________ | | | | | Grades of Success. | Contributory | Corresponding
Abilities. | | | Combinations. | |
|____________________|_______________|_____________________
___________| | | | | | | | | 1 | AE | AE | 2 of A | -- | -- | | 2 | AF | BE | 1 of
A | 1 of B | -- | | 3 | BF | -- | -- | 1 of B | -- | | 4 | BG | CF | -- | 1 of B | 1 of

C | | 5 | CG | CG | -- | -- | 2 of C |
|____________________|_______|_______|__________|__________|_
_________|
It clearly appears from this table that the effect of correlation between
Ability and Environment is to increase, and not to diminish, the
closeness of association between Success and Ability. Indeed, if the
correlation were perfect, Success would become an equal measure both
of Ability and of Favourableness of Environment.
These arguments are true for each and every branch of Success, and are
therefore true for all: Ability being construed as Appropriate Ability,
and Environment as Appropriate Environment.
The general conclusion is that Success is, statistically speaking, a
magnified, but otherwise trustworthy, sign of Ability, high Success
being associated with high, but not an equally high, grade of Ability,
and low with low, but not an equally low. A few instances to the
contrary no more contradict this important general conclusion than a
few cases of death at very early or at very late ages contradict the tables
of expectation of life of a newly-born infant.
CHAPTER VI.
--NOMENCLATURE OF KINSHIP.
Specific kinships are such as "paternal uncle" or "maternal