of them who died in
first 5 years 122 114 118 131 26 511

Per cent. of daughters
who died 52.1 37.5 29.9 19.7 10.5 27.7

LENGTH OF LIFE OF FATHERS AND CHILD-MORTALITY OF THEIR
DAUGHTERS

Year of life in which fathers died At
0-38 39-53 54-68 69-83 84 up all
ages

No. of daughters 105 284 585 797 236 2009

No. of them who died in
first 5 years 51 98 156 177 40 522

Per cent. of daughters
who died 48.6 34.5 26.7 22.2 17.0 26.0

To save space, we do not show the relation between parent and son; it is
similar to that of parent and daughter which is shown in the preceding
tables. In making comparison with the 340 families from the Genealogical
Record Office, above studied, it must be noted that Dr. Ploetz' tables
include one year longer in the period of child mortality, being computed
for the first five years of life instead of the first four. His
percentages would therefore be somewhat lower if computed on the basis
used in the American work.

These various data demonstrate the existence of a considerable
correlation between short life (_brachybioty_, Karl Pearson calls it) in
parent and short life in offspring. Not only is the tendency to live
long inherited, but the tendency _not_ to live long is likewise
inherited.

But perhaps the reader may think they show nothing of the sort. He may
fancy that the early death of a parent left the child without sufficient
care, and that neglect, poverty, or some other factor of euthenics
brought about the child's death. Perhaps it lacked a mother's loving
attention, or perhaps the father's death removed the wage-earner of the
family and the child thenceforth lacked the necessities of life.

Dr. Ploetz has pointed out[192] that this objection is not valid,
because the influence of the parent's death is seen to hold good even to
the point where the child was too old to require any assistance. If the
facts applied only to cases of early death, the supposed objection might
be weighty, but the correlation exists from one end of the age-scale to
the other. It is not credible that a child is going to be deprived of
any necessary maternal care w