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Our Modern “Eminent Women” Outstripping the Heroines of History
The First Attempt to Standardize the
Abilities and Value to Society of
Distinguished Women of All Periods
PE . e e |
YERY womun, in this dxy of woman's in-
E oressing and admitted fores In the
weorl®s affatrs, will welcome a faithtul
analysis of the«dmims of the women of history
mmmuw* Whoe are e sxib
pent women of history, and how did they ac
quire or achieve that sminencn? Wers they
born to ft, awin the case of certaln cmpresses
and queens? Was eminence reflected upon
them by their emment husgbands, as in the
mamwmumyvm.ar
¥ngland? Or did they achieve eminence by
the ezeroiae of thelr own gentos, as did Har
riat Bescher Stowe, lola Montez or Rosa Bom
heur?
mmu.mmnmomwm
question: How are these eminent women of
history to be graded in respect to their indi
vidnal degree of eminence?
[t is a matter of much satisfaction to be
able to state that such a faithful analysis has
at last been made, and all these quegtions an
gwered in & most canvincing manner 4n the
Jatest publication of the Science Pross, New
York, by Cora Sution Castle, Ph. D, in a vol
ume called, “A Statistical Stody of Eminent
Women.”
Quita appropriatety, Mrs. Castle first estab
lishes her standard of eminence in the case of
women, BShe writes:
“Dr. Franeis Galton, who made the first sfa
tistica) study of distingniehed men, defined his
use of eminent thas: “When | speak of an emi
nent man, | mean one who has achieveda
position that is attained by only 250 persons in
each million of men, or by one! person in sach
4,000
“While my selection 8 closer, mathematical
ly, then Gelton's, among the 868*women whom
1 have designated as eminent, some ars in
cluded because of circumstances over which
they had no comtrol, soch as great beauty, or
congenital miafortune. Many were born w 0
. air positions; to others is due bat little
c.edit for the fact that they married men
sufficlently enrment to accord them a place in
Mstory. Some led spectacular llves and were
potorious ragher than meritorious. Many of
them were women of unusual inteliectual abtl
fty and were emlinent in the ordinary connota
tion of the term.” .
The iist ie seiected and the na o iabulated
sccording to degrees of eminent by a system
that leaves nothing to be desired. The autbor
ities are six standard encyclopedias and bilo
graphical dictionaries recognized by scholars
n America, France, Germany and England.
“1 retained,” writes Mrs. Castle, “for my list
the name of ewery woman noted in any three
out of the six enclyclopedins or dictionaries.
My original intention was to eliminate from
the lower end of the group until [ had 1,000,
a convenlent and suff¥ciently large number wita
which to work. But when [ had discarded the
twenty-three Biblical characters the entire
number was only 868. It {8 a sad commentary
on the sex that from the dawn of history to
tho present day less than 1,000 women have
accomplished amything that history has record
ed as worth while. One cannot evade the
question, I 8 woman tomately so inferfor to man,
or has the attitude of civilization been to close
the avenues of eminence against her?
“IWhen the list of $6B names was completed,
I foilowed Professor Oattell's method of arrang
fng them In order of merit. Counting the num
ber of lines accorded the women of my list
in the diflerent encyclopedias or dictionaries,
the following results were obtained.
Total Number Ave. Lines
Authority. No Lines. off Women. per Womaa,
Lippincott. .. 8,476 727 11.6
1a Rousse., . 13488 704 19.1
Amertcan.... 13,151 b 4 24.1
Brockhaus... 14,804 612 4.1
Meyer....... 15,301 631 24.2
Britanniea... 27,284 616 52.8
“1n order to reduce the results to a common
g'andard, that of ten being wselected in this
cage, It was necesuary In each instance 1o
divide the number of lines accorded a woman
in Lippincott by 1.2; {u La Rousse by 1.9; in
the Americana by 2.4; as aiso in Brockhaus
and Meyer; and in the Britannica by 5.3. By
adding the results from the diffsrent authori
ties a figure was obtained which determined
the position of the woman in the series of 868
The date of birth and death, when known is
added for purposes of identiflcation, as well
a# the figure obtalned as explained above which
determines her position in the order of merit.
Those designated by a star are known to have
Leen married one or more timea those desig:
nated by a dagger have not married. The con
jugal relation of those not dealgnated fa un
known to the writer.”
As an llustration of this method of selection
the first twenty-two entries in Mrs. Castle's
list are here quoted:
Name, No. of Linea,
BAERs Blaket o ol el bhaaieny s BUERT
tJepnne G'ArC .....ccoceevvessesessves 833.72
sVictoria Of BRZIANA . ..ocevmencnssees DRAIS
tEYzaboth of EnZland. . coces s e reees #ALIE
#3and, George Ceose SERM
s3tael-Holsteln, Anne Germaline
Necker de . e ik e DR
soathering IT. of RUSBIA ...copoeseise. 345,60
oMaria Theresa of AustMa. ~ cceevese 269.06
s)arie Antoinette of France,.......... 224.99
vAnne of England A i dasi i BN
«3evigne, Marie de Rabutin-Chantal de 209.61
sMarylL of England ....coceceeene .. 19587
ellliot, George . i amiseevsinss IIN
tChristina of Sweden o AN
sHrowning, Elizabeth Barret ......,.. 18373
eMaintenor, Francois D'Aubigne ...... 182.33
eJosephine, Empress of France ....... 17422
sCatherine de Medict ..... .00 yeess 17009
SCIEODRLTR . i..:ve viesscsnsssvncssves 167.66
eStowe, Harriet Beecher ,ea.. eoooee. 167.40
tßronte, CHALIONE . ...c-icvsvernsisss 16830
ICorday, Charlotte ... .....io.eenivses 14500
From the viewpoint of the average American
reader, Mrs. Castle's “order of merit” contains
some surprises. For example, Ouida 18 No. 187
in the list while Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin
(author of “Frankenstein”) {8 No. 72; Letitia
Bonaparte {(mother of Napoleon 1) {s No. 811
and our own Harriet Martineau No. 52: but
Mary Baker Glover Bddy (founder of Christign
Bcience) i 8 No. 127, while Emma Abbott {5 No.
788
It is neecessary to remembar, however, that
this "order of merit” is founded not upon
aational or local calebrity, but upon intarna
uoasl Ridorical cuolarsiip—upon Lie number
of lines awarded fn amthoritative written his
tory. Upom this point Mrs. Castle says fur
ther: o
“According to our standard of measurement
Mary Stuart {s the most eminent woman of his
tory. She bas no close competitor. Her repu
tation, howewer, ia greatest with English-speak
ing peoples, as is shown by the variation In
the amount of space accorded her by the dif
ferent encyclopedias used. George Sand {s the
most distinguished literary*woman; the chances
are even that position as fifth in order of
merit i 3 correctly determined. The most emi
nent woman of American birth is Mrs. Stows,
who ranks twentieth; the chances are even
that, had additional or different encyclopedias
been used In compiling the list, her position
would be between 17 and 21.
“These twenty women form a diverse group.
They . represent six centuries and nine national
jties. Cleopatra {8 the most distinguished
woman of the pre-Christian era. As far as pre
sminently giftexd women are concerned, the
record is blank from the first century before
Christ until the birth of Jeanne d’Arc in 1411
Pofir of the twenty most eminent women be
long to the sixteenth century, four to the sev
snteenth, flve to'the eighteenth and five to the
uineteenth.
“Half of the twenty most eminent women
were sovereigns, one ruling as a regent, the
others in their own right. Bix became ement
in Iteratre, five of these being prose writers,
and Mrs. Browning, the pre-eminent poetess.
Marle Antoinette, the unfortunate queen of
Louis XVI.,, and Josephine, who might be called
soth the fortupate and unfortunate wife of
Napoleon L, owe their positions to marriage.
Madame de Maintenon is noted for her politi’
eal influence, and Jeanne d’Arc was a religious
enthusiast,
“France and England each produced six of
the twenty most eminent women of history.
Austria, Scotland, Sweden, Italy, Germany,
Russia, Fizypt and America have each one rep
resentative,
“Jeanne d’Are led her people to victory at
Orleans, won a place in the catalogue of the
saints, and was burned at the stake at twenty.
Marie Antoinette at thirty-eight, and Mary
Stuart at forty five, were sent to the guillotine.
Cleopatra committed suicide at sixty-one, and
Mrs. Stowe iived to the ripe old age of eighty
five
“A Nat of this sort makes possible compari
sons which are not ordinarily evident and
conld not otherwise be made, and the known
probable error makes it posgible to determine
within what limits the comparisons are true.
Charlotte Bronte and Charlotte Corday seem.
ingly Hhve nothing fn common, vet their re
spective numder in order of merit are 21 znd
22. Marie Brinvilliers, whoee manfa for poison.
ing makes it impossible to classify her as any
thing but a eriminal, just precedes Genevieve
the patron saint of Paris. Joanna Baillie, the
poet; Mrs. Siddonas, the actress; and Beatrice
Cenci, whose beauty and tragic fate have besn
preserved for us in the colors of Gnldo Reni and
in the lines of Shelley, are numbered 89, 90
and 91 respectively.”
One of the most striking truths brought out
in this compllation 18 the steady increase In
the number of eminent women recorded in
history, century by century, since medieval
times,. The tenth century produced 6, the
twelfth, 12; the fifteenth, 32; the sixteenth, 46:
the seventeenth, £4; tha eighteenth, 213, and
the nineteenth, 335. Of course a large part of
this increase {s due to the impetus which the
invention of movable types and the printing
press gave to the bumsiness of reconding his
tory—the same Infmence which brought about
a 4 pgeneral spread of enlightenment among
women as well as among men. llf Sappho and
A few other eminent women of ancient times
are excepted, eminence by right of personal
achlevement is conflmed to the women who
lived and labored during the last five centuries.
But as an offset to this showing for modern
women, as Mrs, Castia points out, was the con
current inorease in the population of the
Western civilized world—from 45,000,000 in
1480 to 326,260,322,
The distrtbution of eminent women by
nationality and locality affords imteresting com-
FIRST EPISODE. ”
Monday, July 20, Lyric, Rosedale, Miss.
Thursday, July 23, Princess, Washingon, Ga.
SECOND EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Elite, Hartsvlille, 8. C.
Monday, July 20, Lyric, Fayetteviile, N. C.
Thursday, July 23, Grand, Shelby, N. C.
Friday, July 24, Bijou, Biloxi, Miss.
Friday, July 24, Comus, Tupelo, Miss.
Saturday, July 26, Dreamland, New Albany,
Miss.
THIRD EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Alamo, Darlington, 8. C.
Monday, July 20, Opera House, Winona. Miss.
Tuesday, July 21, Palace, Jacksonville, Fla. '
Tuesday, July 21, Victoria, Cuthbert, Ga.
Wednesday, July 22, Famous, Montgomery,Ala.
Wednesday, July 22, Airdome, Winnfield, La.
Thursday, July 23, Princess, Rayfield, La.
Friday, July 24, Grand, Cartersville, Ga.
FOURTH EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Lyric, Ruleville, Miss.
Tuesday, July 21, Electra, Plaquemine, La.
Wednesday, July 22, Electra, Washington, La.
Thursday, July 23, Gem, Union City, Tenn.
Thursday, July 23, Alamo, Darlington, 8. C.
Thursday, July 23, Airdome, Memphis, Tenn.
Friday, July 24, Alamo, Gadsden, Ala.
Friday, July 24, Rex, Memphis, Tenn.
Friday, July 24, Gem, Hattlesburg, Miss,
FIFTH EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Crescent, Biloxi, Miss,
Tuesday, July 21, Pastime, Canton, Miss.
Tuesday, July 21, Kozy, Pass Christian, Miss.
Tuesday, July 21, Grand, Rock Miil, 8. C.
Tuesday, July 21, Dixie, Paris, Tenn.
Wednesday, July 22, Hippodrome, Miami, Fla.
Thursday, July 23. Triumph, New Orleans, La.
Thursday, July 23, Greenwood, Greenwoed,
Miss.
Thursday, July 23, Utopia, Birmingham, Ala.
Thursday, July 23, Piedmont, Morganton, N. C,
HEARST'S SUNDAY AMERICAN., ATLANTA, GA, SUNDAY, JoLy 19, 1914°
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Joan of Aro, Made Eminent by Her Faith
That SBaved France.
parisons. To quote Mrs. Castle:
“England has furnished eight more distin
guished women than France. Germany ranks
third with 114; America, only two centuries
old, {s fourth. Italy produced 60, Rome 41,
Austria 24, and Spain 23 eminent women.
Rusgia clatms 20, Sweden 16, Greece 15 and
Scotland 14. Twelve of the eminent women
belong to the Byzantine Empire, 11 to Holland
and 9 to Ireland. Twenty-seven nations each
produced fewer than ten eminent women.
“Of the 75 American women of ability it
is interesting to note that 20 wete born in
Massachusetts; 15 in New York; 7 in England.
Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Penn
sylvania each claim 4; 3 are natives of South
Carolina and 3 of Ohlo; 2 were born in Illinois.
Ireland, Canada, the Distriet of Columbia, Mary
land, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Alabama
and California each produced one eminent
woman. In other words, New England has
produced 33, or more than twice as many as
~New York; 9 are of foreign birth, and 8§ are
southern women. Only one emment American
woman wag born west of the Mississippi River.
Where You Can See the ‘Perils of Pauline’
Friday, July 24, W. T. Teaboult, New Orleans,
La.
SIXTH EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Trlanon, ‘New Orleans, La.
Monday, July 20, Bijou, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Tuesday, July 21, Trianon, New Orleans, La.
Wednesday, July 22, Columbia, Baton Rouge,
La.
Business Organization.
“Sefence of Organization and Business De
velopment,” by Robert J. Frank (Laird & Lee,
Chicago), which is now running in its fourth
edition, seems destined to become the standard
authority on business organization.
It will be of great value to corporation at
torneys as well as business men, as it is clear
and succinet and covers a meld that has just
heen scratched over by others in generalities.
This, from the introduction, gives a good idea
of the agthor's purpose : ‘“More money has been
lost through the plans adopted for financing,
organizing or reorganizing a business than its
operation; at the same time mistakes in such
plans often prevent well-merited success or oo
casion individual sacrifices.”
‘“The Year of Grace.”
““The Year of Grace,” by George Hodges, of
the Episcopal Theological School, of Cambridge,
Mass, (MacMillan & Co.), is a readable book for
layman as well as minister, It is rather a se
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Harriet Beecher Stowe, Whose Emancipat
ing Novel Ptaced Her High Ameng
History’s Distinguished Women.
Our figures thus accord with those of Professor
Cattell, who found the birth rate of American
scientific men to be 108.8 per million popula
tion in Massachusetts, and 86.9 In Connecticut,
decreasing continually at greater distances
from this centre,
At the present time American women cax
plume themselves on having gained a lead
over the women of other nations that promises
t¢ leave them unrivalled unless some political
or industria] cataclysm eventuates to their dis
advantages, The following table is reprinted
to illustrate this author’s analysis from this
standpoint:
Number of eminemt women per 10,000,000
population—
-1480 1080 1680 1780 1880
England.. 8.1 260 289 73.0 31.5
France.... 104 133 188 219 11.4
HE1Y....0.c 10 9.0 69 5.4 58
Germany.. —— —_— e 293 11.2
America..,. ——— —— — 152 13.3
From the point of view of the number of
eminent women per ten milllon of population,
France is not the only nation whose nineteenth
Wednesday, July 22, New Eufaula, Eufaula, Ala.
Wednesday, July 22, Princess, Georgetown, B.C.
Thursday, July 23, Columbla, Lake Charles, La.
Friday, July 24, American, Memphls, Tenn.
SEVENTH EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Majestic, Memphis, Tenn.
Monday, July 20, Bonita, Columbus, Miss.
Monday, July 20, Elite, Jackson, Tenn.
Book Reviews
ries of refreshing lectures on wern-known Bibli
cal quotations, and there is a certain economic
and advanced thought idea running through
them all, which i 3 particularly pleasing in such
a work. The book is well worth time, and bas
a splendid literary style, as well as original
line of thought.
‘“Wages in the U. 8.”
In “Wages in the United States” (MacMillan
& Co.), Scott Nearing, author of “The Solution
of the Child Labor Problem,” has contributed
another valuable economic work, and a mass of
statistics which are invaluable for research
work., The book is clear and keen in style, read
able and rellable, and does not jump at con
clusions, It comes at a time when it is par
tioularly useful in view of the work of the Na
tional Industrial Commission.
There is nothing soclalistic in Professor Near
ing's latest work, and it commends itseif by
its style and disinterestedness,
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V' PRI S
Above—Charlotte Corday, Supreme Heroine of
the French Revolution. Below—Sarah Bern
hardt, at the Head of the Acting Profession
Among Eminent Women.
century retio fails to equal that of the eigh
teenth. Germany and, especially, England have
failed signally in this respect. Italy is the
only one of the five modern nations which at
present shows a gain i{n ratio of eminent womien
according to population, in the last century
over the previous one. She seems to be rising
out of the trough of a curve, the crest of which
was reached in her sixteenth century Renais
sance,
“These figures emphasize the promising situ
ation in America. In another balf century, it
will undoubtedly be seen that while our popula
tion increased from 3,930,000 in 1790 to 50,155,
783 in 1880, there was a corresponding increase
in the number of American women of ability
Monday, July 20, Callahan, Bainbridge, Ga.
Monday, July 20, Grand, LaGrange, Ga.
Tuesday, July 21, Majestic, Memphls, Tenn.
Tuesday, July 21, Pastime, Monroe, N. C.
Tuesday, July 21, Princess, Columbus, Miss.
Thursday, July 23, Pastime, Monroe, N. C.
Thursday, July 23, Star, Orangeburg, 8. C.
Thursday, July 23, Rose Opera Co. High Point,
N. C.
Thursday, July 23, Opera House, Americus, Ga.
Thursday, July 23, Richards, Lake Providence,
La.
Friday, July 24, Richards, Lake Providence, La.
EIGHTH EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Pastime, Concord, N. C.
Tuesday, July 21, Idle Hour, Laurens, S. C.
Tuesday, July 21, Trianon, Birmingham, Ala.
Tuesday, July 21, Palace, Newnan, Ga.
Wednesday, July 22, Montgomery, Valdosta, Ga.
Wednesday, July 22, Bonita, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Wednesday, July 22, Savey, Anniston, Ala.
Wednesday, July 22, Bijou, Wilmington, N. C,
Thursday, July 23, Pelzer, Mfg. Co., Pelzer, 8. C.
Friday, July 24, Amuse You, Camilia, Ga.
Friday, July 24, Arcade, Newberry, S. C.
Saturday, July 25, Princess, Charlotte, N. C.
NINTH EPISODE.
Monday, July 20, Grand, Palatka, Fla.
Monday, July 20, Star, Tifton, Ga.
Monday, July 20, Lester, Spartanburg, S. C.
Tuesday, July 21, Palace, Dothan, Ala.
Tuesday, July 21, Savoy, Chester, 8. C.
Tuesday, July 21, Bonita, Augusta, Ga.
Tuesday, July 21, Lyric, Waycross, Ga.
Wednesday, July 22, Monroe, Key West, Fla.
Wednesday, July 22, Star, Lancaster, S. C.
Thursday, July 23, Southall, Waynesboro, Ga.
Thursday, July 23, Alamo, Raleigh, N. C,
Friday, July 24, Elite, Athens, Ga, :
per ten million of population. No more vital
problem in connection with the gocial and edw
cational life of woman could be propounded
than the one revealed by these curves. Is the
racial difference an jmportant factor, or must
onme look to the social conditions and edunca
tional opportunities of the time for an explana
tion? Why is it that England, starting in the
fifteenth century with the same ratio as Italy
(8 eminent women per ten million of popula
tion) should rise in the eighteenth century to
73, while Italy fell to 57 Or, why has the Eng
lish carve, which started lower than the French
and equal with the Italian, towered, since the
sixteenth century, so far above the remaining
four? How explain the fact that while France
was so prominent in the eyes of the world in
the eighteenth century, and her women had
unusual opportunity to come into public notice,
the number of eminent women on the basis of
population being produced by Germany, and
especially by England, was far in excess of the
number being produced by France? In Amer
ica, the youngest of the five mations, what is
there to explain our present position above
Italy, Germany and France, and second only to
England? Or, to be more insistent, what
would a comparison of modern English and
American conditions reveal that would deter
mine that the latter should be second instead
of first in the ratio of eminent women per tem
million of population?
Classified by occupation, literature has pro
duced the largest number of eminent women,
and conjugal devotion the smallest number,
Here is Mrs. Castle's table:
Cases. Cases.
Literature .e-e-..... 337 Reformer .c.es.. 9
Marciade .~ -.. 87 Dancer ......cis &
Religlon ..coeeeee- 64 Immortalized in
Sovereign eeeeee-. 59 literature ..... @
ACtTess .....0...... 56 Patron of learning 6
Mials .Lo 49 Peatty s seqieeui 8
Bisth ..., 3 Educalor .ii.cive 8
MlStress ...e..-e... 29 Revolutionist .... 2
Seholar ........... 20 Misfortune ...ces 4
Political inflrence Traveler . . <evsen 8
or ability ........ 19 Adventuress ..... 2
Aetidt .. ....... 17 Phyeiclan ...c.chc 8
Philanthropy ...... 12 Fortune teller .., 1
Tragic fate .e.e... 11 Criminal ........ 1
Heroine ....eeees.. 10 Conjugal devotion. 1
Motherhood ....... 10 e
Totali ... .0...808
Regarding an occupation which formerly
was held In much less disesteem than nowae
days, the author makes this interesting note:
“The mistresses—which group includes the
early Greek courtesans—rank high, and justly
so. Our standards have changed, and while
our moral sense may be offended at seeing
twenty-nine eminent women so classified,” we
are led to believe that, in many instances,
these women, whatever their morals, were in
tellectually among the most capable of their
sex. Restricted by the social customs of thelr
times, ,they found in this relation an oppor
tunity to meet and associate with men of their
own intellectual power. Were it not so, it
scarcely seems probable that mere beauty or
pleasing personality which fascinated some
weak-minded king could have been sufficient
reason for the high degree of merit which
history has accorded them.”
It appears, however, that in modern times
marriage has been of doubtful advantage where
the eminence of women {s concerned. The nine
teenth century produced seventy eminend
women who were unmarried, and the number
of this unmarried group decreases steadily
backward through the centuries. The author
summarizes as follows:
“The 142 unmarried eminent women can not
be said to have won greater eminenca than
those who married; their average length of
life was not longer; 72.5 per cent of the un
married group belong to the last two centuries,
and 59.8 per cent of them are English aund
American,
“29.8 per cent of the eminent women mamr
ried men of sufficient distinction to fall within
our criterion of eminence selected for the
women. Twelve of these men weres married
to more than one of the eminent women, and
twenty-two of the women had more than one
eminent husband. The women with eminent
husabnds were chiefly of French, English, Ger
man, Roman, Italian, Spanish, Byzantine and
Austrian birth. The average eminence of these
women is high, but it is, in part, a glory re
flected from thelr husbands,.since &4, or 32.4
per cent of this group are classifisd under
‘Marriage.’
“Eminent women of the nineteenth century
have married ten years later in life than those
of the twelfth century. There were a few
fifteen-year-old brides in the last century, but
there was also one of sixtyseven. In the
fourtegn;]u cenw‘z!. :e cldest eminert bride
was eigh'cem, at the e
it ffteenin century,
“Reforniers end musicians ma latest in
life. The average ags of emmgt Russian
brides fs 184 years; of American, 27.7 years.
“Pminent women have not, on the whole,
made particularly successful wives, since 11.8
per cent. of the 781 unions of which.we have
record have ended in separation or divorce:
36 qr the 91 cases of dissolution occurred 1;1
familles where both husband and wife were
famous. But since twelve of these women are
classified under ‘Marriage’ and two under
‘Birth,’ the real facts for the women who won
mgir eminence by personal effort are that 9
writers, § actresses, 3 musicians, 2 mothers 1
t;lch\'zlariixll politiclan, and 1 woman famous iog
er religion, were separated from
who were also emlnenxt). e hushasds
“Divorces have been mos
distinguished women of Geru‘lanh?ggterr ;::;,n‘g
in familles of aristocratic exiracdcn divorczg
and separations are recorded oaly ,aince the
seventeenth century. .
“The eminent women have ltved
age age of 60.8 years. There is a t:o:rnel:;::
between degres of eminence and length of life
since the most.eminent third of the group of
women lived to an average of 3.3 years longer
than the least eminent third. Length of life
has Increased through the.centuries the aven
age age in the fourteenth century .belng 487
vears, and in the nineteenth century, 62.7
years. Philanthropists and reformers m y,h'.
only groups whose average length of lifa ex
ceeds the allotted three socore years and ten
“It 1s interesting to know that American
women of ability live on the average 2.8 )}oarl
longer than Scotch women, 3.5 years longer
than German women, 6.4 years longer u’x
1 an
epglish women, and 7.9 years longer than the
eminent women of France, Since we are a youn
nation, we must take into consideration zng
fact that our average is not reduced by earl
deaths in earlier centuries, as is the case
with older countries, but it is also un;meltton.-
ably truse that our position in this tabla reflccts
credit on the physical vigor of the American
people asd;;ll a 8 upon our hygienic znd sank
tary conditions and the skil of Amer