one, at the end of a century. The result illustrated is
actually taking place, in various groups of the population of the United
States. Largely for economic reasons, many superior people are
postponing the time of marriage. The diagram shows graphically how they
are losing ground, in comparison with other sections of the population
which marry only a few years earlier, on the average. It is assumed in
the diagram that the two groups contain equal numbers of the two sexes;
that all persons in each group marry; and that each couple produces four
children.]

It will be noted that these studies merely show that the brighter and
prettier girls were preferred by men as a class. If the individual men
whom the girls married had been studied, it would probably have been
found that the mating was also partly assortative.

If the choice of a life partner is to be eugenic, random mating must be
as nearly as possible eliminated, and assortative and preferential
mating for desirable traits must take place.

The concern of the eugenist is, then, (1) to see that young people have
the best ideals, and (2) to see that their matings are actually guided
by these ideals, instead of by caprice and passion alone.

1. In discussing ideals, we shall ask (a) what are the present ideals
governing sexual selection in the United States; (b) is it
psychologically possible to change them; (c) is it desirable that they
be changed, and if so, in what ways?

(a) There are several studies which throw light on the current ideals.
_Physical Culture_ magazine lately invited its women readers to send in
the specifications of an ideal husband, and the results are worth
considering because the readers of that publication are probably less
swayed by purely conventional ideas than are most accessible groups of
women whom one might question. The ideal husband was held by these women
to be made up of the following qualities in the proportions given:

Per cent.

Health 20
Financial success 19
Paternity 18
Appearance 11
Disposition 8
Education 8
Character 6
Housekeeping 7
Dress 3
---
100

Without laying weight on the exact figures, and recognizing that each
woman may have defined the qualities differently, yet one must admit
aside from a low concern for mental a