Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 76.djvu/336

332 a certain objective standard of distinction and 3,296 failed to do so. The environmental influences must have been mostly distributed at random throughout the group. Yet this did not cause any random distribution of the distinguished persons. Fifteen out of the sixteen were closely related to other distinguished persons.

The second group of royalty contained all the close connections of twenty-three reigning historical dynasties. This group was obtained by a different method, but in part overlaps the other group. Here detailed analysis was made not only of the question of intellectual distinction but of mental and moral variations. Environment was shown to be of little or no consequence in the production of important differences.

The third research to appear on the problem of nature versus nurture is that of E. L. Thorndike, on the origin of mental differences among children attending the public schools in the city of New York. Thorndike, like Galton, used the records of twins to support his argument, but went into the matter with far greater scientific analysis and published all the details of his measurements. He presents:

In concluding his research Thorndike says:

Thorndike's research appears to be very conclusive and confirmatory as far as it goes. Of course one might contend that after all the