New-York tribune., 1905-02-05
THE CHILD AND STUDY.
Professor @. Stanley Hall, of Ctark
University, TALKS on Education.

Environment is the greatest OF all schools
said Professor c. Stanley Hall. president OF CLARK
University fl his lecture at Cooper Union last
wednesday night Environment has developed
every form Of life that exists out Of protoplasm
You ana I and every other form Of animal and
vegetable life in existence we're once single cell
stiu the TWO schools that have been fighting over
the respective Importance Of environment aao
heredity in the development Of the child would
have got scsnt confort out Of Dr.. Halls lecture.
After thus eulogizing environment he went on TO
say:
'seredity IS the most precious inheritance in the
world To be well born Is the greatest Of all wealth
Oliver Wendell Holmes said it took three genera
tons 10 make gentleman. say it taxes scores
Of generations 70 make a true man or woman
Then lest some enc should plume himself on
good blood. d.. Hail calmly proceeded 10 quash
the hopes of such misguided Estener;
Each one Of Us had four GRANDPARENTS sale
ne THAT makes eight great gTeat-grandparentS
Counting It hack thus TO the time Of William the
ConQueror il viii be found that every one OF Us hac
about 68Oo G0o00 ancestors back TO that time There
Is probably alive who has not hac
among his ancestors a king and beggar, an
idiot ana a philosopher a saint and a murderer,
ana every other possible type Of humanity.
"And II we reckon into the future as Tar as
wT.iarn the Congueror is in the rear we VIII hno
that every married pair Will. a rule be the
ancestors OF some s.0)00eoo00 descendants We are
tba focal poinrs between this cloud of witnesses
n the past and that to come. And 1t is curious
fact that the best lie, according 20 all the canons
Of virtue and humanity, is the one which, Wnen
analysed. is found 10 oe regulated that 1t most
erfectually transmits this precious inheritance OF
tns uast I hope the day will when surpicut-
ure win be accorded accepted place among the
sciences. and Tennyson's rep-oech TO Englisnmen'
that they knew how 10 breed horses but not men,
VIII longer be true.
PILGRIM DESCENDANTS DECREASING.
'.one of ths saddest things in our American life
to-day Is that among our o,d communities. espe-
cially In the North among the descendants Of the
Pilgrim fathers. the race is dec~easing year by
year. with the assistance Of SIX n leading col
leges gathered the vital statistics OF college men
who had been out OF college twenty years man
Is hardly likely to marry after he has been out o.
college twenty years. We found that at the lowest
estimate 20 per cent Of these men were unmarried.
and the percentage runs as high as S
I'VE also took the statistics OF three women 8
colleges but the conditions in this case were hardly
fair. Women have hardly had colleges Iong enough
TO afford fair field for gathering general statis-
tics and they have hardly had the higher education
long enough for to know exactly what is the
proper form Of higher education for them.
However. from the statistics of these three col
ieges we found that Of the women who grad
uated twenty years ago 50 per cent are unmarried
Now know that the college boys and girls repre-
sent about the best class Of, population. Wha,
these figures then show? They show that 10.
some reason the best class Of population Is
strfcken with srerIlity. Other classes are going
come up and submerge them.
"And that seems 10 be a law Of nature. wher
any portion Of the reaches a certain point Of
advancement It ceases to reproduce itself In suf
eient numbers to maintain Itself. You know thai
certain wild animals viii not breed when dornestt
Gated No matter how carefully they cared
for no matter what experiments are made in thel