The maternal grandfather was of Irish-Spanish blood. The maternal grandmother was of Irish descent. No incompetent or dependent relatives are known.
Father. Child B's father was born in Vermont and was 42 years old when B was born. He is a high school graduate and a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He passed the entrance examinations for the latter institution at the age of 16 years and was at that time the youngest student ever admitted to the Academy. He has held posts of extraordinary trust in the pursuit of his profession, and is at the time of this writing an officer of high rank in the United States Army.
Mother. Child B's mother is a graduate of a Catholic parochial high school and of the College of Mount St. Vincent. She was married at an early age and her career has been that of housewife and mother, no profession having been followed previous to marriage. Although she is the mother of seven children and mistress of a large household, B's mother found time to attend courses in law and economics at Columbia University while the family lived in New York. She was 39 years old when B was born.
Noteworthy relatives. Relatives of note in the paternal branch include B's great-grandfather, who was a physician, founder of the Vermont Academy of Medicine in the early years of the nineteenth century, and a professor of surgery there. There are also among relatives an admiral of the United States Navy, [1] a physician of wide reputation, a commander of the United States Navy, [2] and a practical tin- and coppersmith who was an inventor. This family branch as a whole finds its average level of achievement in the professions.
The maternal branch includes a woman of extraordinary business ability, a priest who was a scholar and organizer of marked ability, and a mining engineer of unusual achievement. The performance level of the family lies, on the average, in business and the professions.
Immediate family. B is the sixth born of seven siblings. Of these children, two—the brother born two years before B and the brother born five years after B—have had mental tests. The older brother was measured in the course of the mental survey made by Dr. Malherbe. His IQ (S-B) at the age of 10 years 6 months was 167. This is not a full measure of his brother, as he passed many tests at the highest levels of performance provided by the scale. A still older brother passed the entrance examinations for the Columbia College, from which may be inferred intelligence above the average. The younger brother's IQ (S-B) at the age of 6 years 10 months was 138.
PRESCHOOL HISTORY
The preschool history of B has been elicited from the parents. She cut her first tooth at 7 months. She began to talk at 9 months of age and to walk at 15 months. As soon as she was able to walk out with her nurse or her mother, at about the age of 24 months, B began to notice the letters on billboards and to spell out words. By the time she was in the third year of life she could read fluently in simple books. (The brother whose IQ is referred to above as 167 did not read until he was about 4 years 6 months of age.)
SCHOOL HISTORY
B has always attended private schools. She began her school life in kindergarten, at the age of 3 years, and attended the same school until the age of nearly 9 years. At the age of 8 years 4 months she had reached only the fourth grade, whereas in the battery of educational tests given as a part of the school survey she passed at that age the seventh-grade standards for public schools.