Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 82.djvu/614

610 the eminent women not of noble birth, eighteen of the thirty-eight instances are in the first generation between sister and sister. Fifteen cases occur in the second generation, eight between mother and daughter, and seven between aunt and niece. In the third generation, there are four cases, and in the fifth generation, one case. The figures show a marked tendency for the woman in the younger generation to become eminent in the same, or closely allied line of activity as that in which her eminent relative won distinction.

An interesting and suggestive group for consideration is that of the contemporary eminent women. Of these there are 107. The first item of interest is that this group is so large. 12.3 per cent, of the eminent women of history are living at the time this study is made. It required over twenty-five hundred years to produce the remaining 87.7 per cent. This group represents nineteen nationalities, and twelve lines of activity. England, with twenty-two cases, leads in the number of distinguished women of the present generation; Germany and America each claim eighteen; France has twelve, and Italy seven. Austria has six; Sweden, four; Holland, Spain and Hungary, three each; Russia and Poland, two each; and Denmark, Canada, Venezuela, Belgium, Roumania, Scotland and Norway, one each. Canada and Venezuela are represented for the first time in history in the present generation.

In the Old World it is probable that woman will always be able to acquire fame with the wedding ring, and to reign as a sovereign, thus being assured a place in history. If we eliminate those two groups, the fields in which contemporary women are acquiring eminence are, in spite of greater social and educational advantages, and freedom from restriction in many lines, practically limited to three. Fifty-five are writers, twenty are musicians and fourteen are actresses. We wish that we might not have found Jane Addams working alone in the great field of social reform, and that Madame Curie might not have been the only scientist of her generation. In America, where women enjoy greater freedom than in any other part of the globe, there is little evidence of any special results of these advantages. The nation and generation are proud of the achievements of Helen Keller, but one expects that our great educational institutions would produce feminine scholars and teachers of great ability. Possibly, they are in our midst, but like the prophets of old, are without honor in their own generation as well as in their own country.

In order to do justice to this group of eminent women a number of lines of inquiry not yet touched upon deserve to be investigated. Perhaps the most important of these is a study of their children. A knowledge of the number of children born to or reared to maturity by these 634 wives will determine whether in attaining eminence they