3 26Section III.D. C. Gini.
TABLE XXVII.
Physical and Intellectual Development of Children at 6 years of Age
according to the Interval between their Birth and the Preceding Birth.
(Middlesboro\ births 1898-1905.) (1)
Physical charactersIntellectual characters
Interval betweenChildren of parents
between 25 and 35Children belonging to
well-to-do classes
a birth and
the preceding birthNumber of
observa tionsMean stature in
inchesMean weight in
poundsNumber of
observationsPercentage of children
classified as
above the
average
intelligenceNumber of
observationsPercentage of children
classified as
above the
average
intelligence
Less than 2 years15638-637'2r1
2—2-518039' 938-8 ^2173*13737
2-5—317240'339’1I
Three years and more1544Z'739'485328542
(*) Data taken from R. J. Ewart. The influence of parental age on offspring.
(The Eugenics Review, Vol. III., No. 3, October, 1911). Pages 211 and 220.
mental capacity of children at six years of age are more or less sensibly
inferior, as the period elapsing between one birth and another is shorter.
(See Table XXVII.)
It is not wise in any case to exaggerate the benefits which might accrue to
the human race from a long interval between consecutive births : if this
were always greater at two years, mortality in the first year of life would
fall, according to Ansell’s data, from 8*9 to 7*2%, but in the four following
years it would only fall from 5‘i to 5% of survivors at the end of the first
year.NOTES. (1)—Number of survivors at 20 years of age in every 10,000 born in
these counties :—
Table of survival referring
toYears to which the Table
refersSurvivors at age of 20,
on every 10,000 born.
IndiaMales19014516 ,,Females>»4519
Spain1880-844960 Ireland1881-907767 Denmark ...Males1895-9007671 Females997855
Sweden1891-9007816
NorwayMales1891/92-1900/9017770 Females197997
YVest. AustraliaMales1899-9027727
99 99Females>>8075