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320
Hereditary Genius
gitimate son, by Cleopatra, but that son was also murdered for
political reasons when still a boy. Nelson married a widow who had
no children by her former husband, and therefore was probably more
or less infertile, by nature. Napoleon I. was entirely separated from
Marie Louise after she had borne him one son.
Though the great Commanders have but few immediate
descendants, yet the number of their eminent grandsons is as great as
in the other groups. I ascribe this to the superiority of their breed,
which ensures eminence to an unusually large proportion of their
kinsmen.
The next exceptional entry in the table is, the number of eminent
fathers of the great scientific men as compared with that of their
sons, there being only 26 of the former to 60 of the latter, whereas
the average of all the groups gives 31 and 48. I have already
attempted to account for this by showing, first, that scientific men
owe much to the training and to the blood of their mothers; and,
secondly, that the first in a family who has scientific gifts is not nearly
so likely to achieve eminence, as the descendant who is taught to
follow science as a profession, and not to waste his powers on
profitless speculations.
The next peculiarity in the table is, the small number of eminent
fathers, in the group of Poets. This group is too small to make me
attach much importance to the deviation; it may be mere accident.
The Artists are not a much larger group than the Poets, consisting
as they do of only 28 families, but the number of their eminent sons is
enormous and quite exceptional. It is 89, whereas the average of all
the groups is only 48. The remarks I made about the descendant of a
great scientific man prospering in science, more than his ancestor, are
eminently true as regards Artists, for the fairly-gifted son of a great
painter or musician is far more likely to become a professional
celebrity, than another man who has
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