ELLEN KEY CHAPTER I ANCESTRY THE significance to the individual of his descent is one of the many riddles left for future generations to solve. Conjectiu'es and probabilities alone form the basis for the hypothesis that our various qualities are coupled to the cells that link the generations together, and yet it is peculiarly interesting to review a family-tree, however briefly, where distinct characteristics, marked in mem- bers of both main branches, are found again in the descendant. Ellen Key represents the latest branch of a family-tree which bears names among the foremost in history, and which has drawn its life from the blood of many different nations. The Key family is of Scotch-Celtic lineage. Day-dreams, art, and poetry are native to the