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diff --git a/11562-0.txt b/11562-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c7050c --- /dev/null +++ b/11562-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11599 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11562 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 11562-h.htm or 11562-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/5/6/11562/11562-h/11562-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/5/6/11562/11562-h.zip) + + + + + +INQUIRIES INTO HUMAN FACULTY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT + +by + +FRANCIS GALTON +F-R-S + + +First issue of this Edition 1907 + + + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +After some years had passed subsequent to the publication of this +book in 1883, its publishers, Messrs. Macmillan, informed me that +the demand for it just, but only just warranted a revised issue. I +shrank from the great trouble of bringing it up to date because it, +or rather many of my memoirs out of which it was built up, had +become starting-points for elaborate investigations both in England +and in America, to which it would be difficult and very laborious to +do justice in a brief compass. So the question of a Second Edition +was then entirely dropped. Since that time the book has by no means +ceased to live, for it continues to be quoted from and sought for, +but is obtainable only with difficulty, and at much more than its +original cost, at sales of second-hand books. Moreover, it became +the starting point of that recent movement in favour of National +Eugenics (see note p. 24 in first edition) which is recognised by +the University of London, and has its home in University College. + +Having received a proposal to republish the book in its present +convenient and inexpensive form, I gladly accepted it, having first +sought and received an obliging assurance from Messrs. Macmillan +that they would waive all their claims to the contrary in my favour. + +The following small changes are made in this edition. The +illustrations are for the most part reduced in size to suit the +smaller form of the volume, the lettering of the composites is +rearranged, and the coloured illustration is reproduced as closely +as circumstances permit. Two chapters are omitted, on "Theocratic +Intervention" and on the "Objective Efficacy of Prayer." The earlier +part of the latter was too much abbreviated from the original memoir +in the _Fortnightly Review_, 1872, and gives, as I now perceive, a +somewhat inexact impression of its object, which was to investigate +certain views then thought orthodox, but which are growing obsolete. +I could not reinsert these omissions now with advantage, unless +considerable additions were made to the references, thus giving more +appearance of personal controversy to the memoirs than is desirable. +After all, the omission of these two chapters, in which I find +nothing to recant, improves, as I am told, the general balance of the +book. FRANCIS GALTON. + + + +LIST OF WORKS. + +The Teletype: a printing Electric Telegraph, 1850; +The Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa, 1853, + in "Minerva Library of Famous Books," 1889; +Notes on Modern Geography (Cambridge Essays, 1855, etc.); +Arts of Campaigning: an Inaugural Lecture delivered at Aldershot, 1855; +The Art of Travel, or Shifts and Contrivances available in Wild Countries, + 1855, 1856, 1860 (1859); + fourth edition, recast and enlarged, 1867, 1872; +Vacation Tourists and Notes on Travel, 1861, 1862, 1864; +Meteorographica, or Methods of Mapping the Weather, 1863; +Hereditary Genius: an Enquiry into its Laws and Consequences, 1869; +English Men of Science: their Nature and Nurture, 1874; +Address to the Anthropological Departments of the British Association + (Plymouth, 1877); +Generic Images: with Autotype Illustrations + (from the Proceedings of the Royal Institution), 1879; +Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development, 1883; +Record of Family Faculties, 1884; Natural Inheritance, 1889; +Finger-Prints, 1892; +Decipherments of Blurred Finger-Prints + (supplementary chapters to former work), 1893; +Finger-Print Directories, 1895; +Introduction to Life of W. Cotton Oswell, 1900; +Index to Achievements of Near Kinsfolk + of some of the Fellows of the Royal Society, 1904; +Eugenics: its Definition, Scope, and Aims + (Sociological Society Papers, vols. I. and II.), 1905; +Noteworthy Families (Modern Science); +And many papers in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, + Journals of the Geographical Society and the Anthropological Institute, + the Reports of the British Association, the Philosophical Magazine, + and Nature. + +Galton also edited: +Hints to Travellers, 1878; +Life-History Album (British Medical Association), 1884, + second edition, 1902; +Biometrika (edited in consultation with F.G. and W.F.R. Weldon), 1901, + etc.; + and under his direction was designed a + Descriptive List of Anthropometric Apparatus, etc., 1887. + + + +LIST OF MEMOIRS. + +The following Memoirs by the author have been freely made use of in +the following pages:-- + +1863: The First Steps towards the Domestication of Animals + (_Journal of Ethnological Society_); +1871: Gregariousness in Cattle and in Men + (_Macmillan's Magazine_); +1872: Statistical Inquiries into the Efficacy of Prayer + (_Fortnightly Review_); +1873: Relative Supplies from Town and Country Families + to the Population of Future Generations + (_Journal of Statistical Society_); +Hereditary Improvement (_Fraser's Magazine_); +Africa for the Chinese (_Times_, June 6); +1875: Statistics by Intercomparison (_Philosophical Magazine_); +Twins, as a Criterion of the Relative Power of Nature and Nurture + (_Fraser's Magazine_, and + _Journal of Anthropological Institute_); +1876: Whistles for Determining the Upper Limits of Audible Sound + (_S. Kensington Conferences_, in connection with the + Loan Exhibition of Scientific Instruments, p. 61); +1877: Presidential Address to the Anthropological Department + of the British Association at Plymouth + (_Report of British Association_); +1878: Composite Portraits (_Nature_, May 23, and + _Journal of Anthropological Institute_); +1879: Psychometric Experiments (_Nineteenth Century_, + and _Brain_, part vi.); +Generic Images (_Nineteenth Century; Proceedings of + Royal Institution_, with plates); +Geometric Mean in Vital and Social Statistics (_Proceedings + of Royal Society_); +1880: Visualised Numerals (_Nature_, Jan. 15 and March 25, and + _Journal of Anthropological Institute_); +Mental Imagery (_Fortnightly Review; Mind_); +1881: Visions of Sane Persons (_Fortnightly Review_, and + _Proceedings of Royal Institution_); +Composite Portraiture (_Journal of Photographical Society + of Great Britain_, June 24); +1882: Physiognomy of Phthisis (_Guy's Hospital Reports_, vol. xxv.); +Photographic Chronicles from Childhood to Age (_Fortnightly Review_); +The Anthropometric Laboratory (_Fortnightly Review_); +1883: Some Apparatus for Testing the Delicacy of the Muscular + and other Senses (_Journal of Anthropological Institute_, + 1883, etc.). + + +_Memoirs in Eugenics_. + +1901: Huxley Lecture, Anthropological Institute (_Nature,_ Nov. 1901); +Smithsonian Report for 1901 (_Washington_, p. 523); +1904: Eugenics, its Definition, Scope and Aims + (Sociological Paper, vol. i., _Sociological Institute_); +1905: Restrictions in Marriage, Studies in National Eugenics, + Eugenics as a Factor in Religion (Sociological Papers, vol. ii.); +1907: Herbert Spencer Lecture, University of Oxford, + on Probability the Foundation of Eugenics. + +The following books by the author have been referred or alluded to +in the following pages:-- + +1853: Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South-Western Africa + (_Murray)_; +1854: Art of Travel (several subsequent editions, + the last in 1872, _Murray_); +1869: Hereditary Genius, its Laws and Consequences + (_Macmillan_); +1874: English Men of Science, their Nature and their Nurture + (_Macmillan_). + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION + +INTRODUCTION + + Origin and object of book. + +VARIETY OF HUMAN NATURE + + Many varieties may each be good of its kind; advantage + of variety; some peculiarities are, however, harmful. + +FEATURES + + Large number of elements in the human expression; of + touches in a portrait; difficulty of measuring the separate + features; or of selecting typical individuals; the typical + English face; its change at different historical periods; + colour of hair of modern English; caricatures. + +COMPOSITE PORTRAITURE + + (See Appendix for three Memoirs describing successive + stages of the method).--Object and principle of the process; + description of the plate--composites of medals; of family + portraits; of the two sexes and of various ages; of Royal + Engineers; the latter gives a clue to one direction in which + the English race might be improved; of criminals; of the + consumptive; ethnological application of the process. + +BODILY QUALITIES + + Anthropometric Committee; statistical anomalies in stature + as dependent on age; town and rural population; athletic + feats now and formerly; increase of stature of middle classes; + large number of weakly persons; some appearances of weakness + may be fallacious; a barrel and a wheel; definition + of word "eugenic." + +ENERGY + + It is the attribute of high races; useful stimuli to activity; + fleas, etc.; the preservation of the weakly as exercises for + pity; that of foxes for sport. + +SENSITIVITY + + Sensation and pain; range and grades of sensation; + idiots; men and women; the blind; reading by touch; + sailors; paucity of words to express gradation. + +SEQUENCE OF TEST WEIGHTS + + (See also Appendix, p. 248).--Geometric series of + weights; method of using them; the same principle is + applicable to other senses; the tests only measure the state + of faculties at time of trial; cautions in constructing the + test weights; multiplicity of the usual perceptions. + +WHISTLES FOR AUDIBILITY OF SHRILL NOTES + + (See also Appendix, p. 252).--Construction of them; loss + of power of hearing high notes as age advances; trials upon + animals; sensitivity of cats to high notes; of small dogs and + ponies. + +ANTHROPOMETRIC REGISTERS + + Want of anthropometric laboratories; of family records; + opportunities in schools; Admiralty records of life of each + seaman; family registers (see also 220); autotypes; medical + value of ancestral life-histories (see also 220); of their + importance to human eugenics. + +UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF PECULIARITIES + + Colour blindness usually unsuspected; unconsciousness of + high intellectual gifts; of peculiarities of mental imagery; + heredity of colour blindness in Quakers; Young and Dalton. + +STATISTICAL METHODS + + Objects of statistical science; constancy and continuity + of statistical results; groups and sub-groups; augival or + ogival curves; wide application of the ogival; method; + example; first method of comparing two ogival groups; + centesimal grades; example; second method of comparing + ogival groups; statistical records easily made with a + pricker. + +CHARACTER + + Caprice and coyness of females; its cause; observations + of character at schools; varieties of likings and antipathies; + horror of snakes is by no means universal; the horror of + blood among cattle is variable. + +CRIMINALS AND THE INSANE + + Peculiarities of criminal character; some of them are + normal and not morbid; their inheritance as in the Jukes + family; epileptics and their nervous instability; insanity; + religious rapture; strange views of the insane on individuality; + their moody segregation; the religious discipline of + celibacy, fasting and solitude (see also 125); large field of + study among the insane and idiotic. + +GREGARIOUS AND SLAVISH INSTINCTS + + Most men shrink from responsibility; study of gregarious + animals: especially of the cattle of the Damaras; fore-oxen + to waggon teams; conditions of safety of herds; cow and + young calf when approached by lions; the most effective + size of herd; corresponding production of leaders; similarly + as regards barbarian tribes and their leaders; power of + tyranny vested in chiefs; political and religious persecutions; + hence human servility; but society may flourish without + servility; its corporate actions would then have statistical + constancy; nations who are guided by successive orators, + etc., must be inconstant; the romantic side of servility; free + political life. + +INTELLECTUAL DIFFERENCES + + Reference to _Hereditary Genius_. + +MENTAL IMAGERY + + Purport of inquiry; circular of questions (see Appendix + for this); the first answers were from scientific men, + and were negative; those from persons in general society + were quite the reverse; sources of my materials; they are + mutually corroborative. Analysis of returns from 100 + persons mostly of some eminence; extracts from replies of + those in whom the visualising faculty is highest; those in + whom it is mediocre; lowest; conformity between these + and other sets of haphazard returns; octile, median, etc., + values; visualisation of colour; some liability to exaggeration; + blindfold chess-players; remarkable instances of visualisation; + the faculty is not necessarily connected with keen sight or + tendency to dream; comprehensive imagery; the faculty in different + sexes and ages; is strongly hereditary; seems notable among + the French; Bushmen; Eskimo; prehistoric men; admits of being + educated; imagery usually fails in flexibility; special and generic + images (see also Appendix); use of the faculty. + +NUMBER-FORMS + + General account of the peculiarity; mutually corroborative + statements; personal evidence given at the Anthropological + Institute; specimens of a few descriptions and + illustrative woodcuts; great variety in the Forms; their + early origin; directions in which they run; bold conceptions + of children concerning height and depth; historical + dates, months, etc.; alphabet; derivation of the Forms + from the spoken names of numerals; fixity of the Form + compared to that of the handwriting; of animals working + in constant patterns; of track of eye when searching for + lost objects; occasional origin from figures on clock; from + various other sources; the non-decimal nomenclature of + numerals; perplexity caused by it. Description of figures + in Plate I.; Plate II.; Plate III.; Plate IV. Colours + assigned to numerals (see 105); personal characters; sex; + frequency with which the various numerals are used in the + Talmud. + +COLOUR ASSOCIATIONS + + (Description of Plate IV. continued) Associations with + numerals; with words and letters; illustrations by Dr. J. + Key; the scheme of one seer unintelligible to other seers; + mental music, etc. + +VISIONARIES + + Sane persons often see visions; the simpler kinds of + visions; unconsciousness of seers, at first, of their + peculiarity; subsequent dislike to speak about it; imagery + connected with words; that of Mrs. Haweis; automatic changes + in dark field of eye; my own experiences; those of Rev. G. Henslow; + visions frequently unlike vivid visualisations; phantasmagoria; + hallucinations; simile of a seal in a pond; dreams and partial + sensitiveness of brain; hallucinations and illusions, their causes; + "faces in the fire," etc.; sub-conscious picture-drawing; visions + based on patched recollections; on blended recollections; hereditary + seership; visions caused by fasting, etc.; by spiritual discipline + (see also 47); star of Napoleon I.; hallucinations of + great men; seers commoner at some periods than at others; + reasons why. + +NURTURE AND NATURE + + Their effects are difficult to separate; the same character + has many phases; Renaissance; changes owing merely to + love of change; feminine fashions; periodical sequences of + changed character in birds; the interaction of nurture and + nature. + +ASSOCIATIONS + + Derived from experience; especially from childish recollections + (see 141); abstract ideas; cumulative ideas, like composite + portraits (see also Appendix, "Generic Images," p. 229); + their resemblance even in details. + +PSYCHOMETRIC EXPERIMENTS + + Difficulty of watching the mind in operation; how it may + be overcome; irksomeness of the process; tentative experiments; + method used subsequently; the number of recurrent + associations; memory; ages at which associations are + formed; similarity of the associations in persons of the same + country and class of society; different descriptions of + associations, + classified; their relative frequency; abstract ideas are + slowly formed; multifariousness of sub-conscious operations. + +ANTECHAMBER OF CONSCIOUSNESS + + Act of thinking analysed; automatic mental work; fluency + of words and of imagery; processes of literary composition; + fluency of spiritual ideas; visionary races of men; morbid + ideas of inspiration (see Enthusiasm). + +EARLY SENTIMENTS + + Accidents of education, religion, country, etc.; deaf-mutes + and religious ritual; religion in its essentials; all religious + teachers preach faith and instil prejudices; origin of the + faculty of conscience; evolution is always behindhand; + good men of various faiths; the fear of death; terror is + easily taught; gregarious animals (see also 47); suspiciousness + in the children of criminals; Dante and contemporary + artists on the terrors of hell; aversion is easily taught, + Eastern ideas of clean and unclean acts; the foregoing + influences affect entire classes. + +HISTORY OF TWINS + + It supplies means of comparing the effects of nurture and + nature; physiological signification of twinship; replies to + a circular of inquiries; eighty cases of close resemblance + between twins; the points in which their resemblance was + closest; extracts from the replies; interchangeableness of + likeness; cases of similar forms of insanity in both twins; + their tastes and dispositions; causes of growing dissimilarity + mainly referred to illness; partly to gradual development of + latent elements of dissimilarity; effect of childish illnesses + in permanently checking growth of head; parallel lives and + deaths among twins; necessitarianism; twenty cases of great + dissimilarity; extracts from the replies; evidence of slight + exaggeration; education is almost powerless to diminish + natural difference of character; simile of sticks floating + down a brook; depth of impressions made in childhood; + they are partly due to the ease with which parents and + children understand one another; cuckoos forget the teachings + of their foster-mothers. + +DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS + + Alternative hypotheses of the prehistoric process of + domestication; savages rear captive animals; instances in + North America; South America; North Africa; Equatorial + Africa; South Africa; Australia; New Guinea Group; + Polynesia; ancient Syria. Sacred animals; menageries + and shows in amphitheatres; instances in ancient Egypt; + Assyria; Rome; Mexico; Peru; Syria and Greece. + Domestication is only possible when the species has certain + natural faculties, viz.--great hardiness; fondness for man; + desire of comfort; usefulness to man; fertility; being easy + to tend. Habitual selection of the tamest to breed from. + Exceptions; summary. + +THE OBSERVED ORDER OF EVENTS + + Steady improvement in the birthright of successive generations; + our ignorance of the origin and purport of all existence; + of the outcome of life on this earth; of the conditions + of consciousness; slow progress of evolution and its + system of ruthless routine; man is the heir of long bygone + ages; has great power in expediting the course of evolution; + he might render its progress less slow and painful; + does not yet understand that it may be his part to do so. + +SELECTION AND RACE + + Difference between the best specimens of a poor race and + the mediocre ones of a high race; typical centres to which + races tend to revert; delicacy of highly-bred animals; their + diminished fertility; the misery of rigorous selection; it is + preferable to replace poor races by better ones; strains of + emigrant blood; of exiles. + +INFLUENCE OF MAN UPON RACE + + Conquest, migrations, etc.; sentiment against extinguishing + races; is partly unreasonable; the so-called "aborigines"; + on the variety and number of different races + inhabiting the same country; as in Spain; history of the + Moors; Gypsies; the races in Damara Land; their recent + changes; races in Siberia; Africa; America; West Indies; + Australia and New Zealand; wide diffusion of Arabs and + Chinese; power of man to shape future humanity. + +POPULATION + + Over-population; Malthus--the danger of applying his + prudential check; his originality; his phrase of misery check + is in many cases too severe; decaying races and the cause + of decay. + +EARLY AND LATE MARRIAGES + + Estimate of their relative effects on a population in a few + generations; example. + +MARKS FOR FAMILY MERIT + + On the demand for definite proposals how to improve + race; the demand is not quite fair, and the reasons why; + nevertheless attempt is made to suggest the outline of one; + on the signs of superior race; importance of giving weight + to them when making selections from candidates who are + personally equal; on families that have thriven; that are + healthy and long-lived; present rarity of our knowledge + concerning family antecedents; Mr. F.M. Hollond on the + superior morality of members of large families; Sir William + Gull on their superior vigour; claim for importance of + further inquiries into the family antecedents of those who + succeed in after life; probable large effect of any system + by which marks might be conferred on the ground of family + merit. + +ENDOWMENTS + + These have frequently been made in order to furnish + marriage portions; they, as well as the adoption of gifted + children of gifted families, may hereafter become common; + college statutes enjoining celibacy on Fellows; reverse effect + to that for which prizes at races were established; the recent + reform of those statutes and numerous marriages in consequence; + the English race has yet to be explored for its + natural wealth; those who are naturally gifted would be + disinclined to squander their patrimony; social consideration; + honest pride in goodness of race. + +CONCLUSION + + Epitome of data; the apparent place of man in nature; + he should look upon himself as a freeman; he should assist + in furthering evolution; his present ability to do so; the + certainty that his ability of doing so will increase; importance + of life-histories; brief summary. + + +APPENDIX + +A. COMPOSITE PORTRAITURE + + I. Extract of Memoir read in 1878 before the Anthropological + Institute; + II. Generic Images, extract from Lecture in 1879 to Royal + Institution; + III. Memoir read in 1881 before the Photographic Society. + +B. THE RELATIVE SUPPLIES FROM TOWN AND COUNTRY FAMILIES + TO THE POPULATION OF FUTURE GENERATIONS + + Memoir read in 1873 before the Statistical Society. + +C. AN APPARATUS FOR TESTING THE DELICACY WITH WHICH WEIGHTS + CAN BE DISCRIMINATED BY HANDLING THEM + + Memoir read in 1882 before the Anthropological Institute. + +D. WHISTLES FOR TESTING THE UPPER LIMITS OF AUDIBLE SOUND + IN DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS + + Read in 1876 at the South Kensington Conferences in + connection with the Loan Exhibition of Scientific Instruments. + +E. QUESTIONS ON VISUALISING AND OTHER ALLIED FACULTIES + + Circulated in 1880. + + + + + +PLATES + + +SPECIMENS OF COMPOSITE PORTRAITURE + +EXAMPLES OF NUMBER-FORMS + +EXAMPLES OF NUMBER-FORMS + +EXAMPLES OF NUMBER FORMS, HEREDITARY + +COLOUR ASSOCIATIONS AND MENTAL IMAGERY + +INQUIRIES INTO HUMAN FACULTY + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +Since the publication of my work on _Hereditary Genius_ in 1869, I +have written numerous memoirs, of which a list is given in an +earlier page, and which are scattered in various publications. They +may have appeared desultory when read in the order in which they +appeared, but as they had an underlying connection it seems worth +while to bring their substance together in logical sequence into a +single volume. I have revised, condensed, largely re-written, +transposed old matter, and interpolated much that is new; but traces +of the fragmentary origin of the work still remain, and I do not +regret them. They serve to show that the book is intended to be +suggestive, and renounces all claim to be encyclopedic. I have indeed, +with that object, avoided going into details in not a few cases +where I should otherwise have written with fulness, especially in +the Anthropometric part. My general object has been to take note of +the varied hereditary faculties of different men, and of the great +differences in different families and races, to learn how far +history may have shown the practicability of supplanting inefficient +human stock by better strains, and to consider whether it might not +be our duty to do so by such efforts as may be reasonable, thus +exerting ourselves to further the ends of evolution more rapidly and +with less distress than if events were left to their own course. The +subject is, however, so entangled with collateral considerations +that a straightforward step-by-step inquiry did not seem to be the +most suitable course. I thought it safer to proceed like the +surveyor of a new country, and endeavour to fix in the first +instance as truly as I could the position of several cardinal points. +The general outline of the results to which I finally arrived became +more coherent and clear as this process went on; they are brieflv +summarised in the concluding chapter. + + + + +VARIETY OF HUMAN NATURE. + +We must free our minds of a great deal of prejudice before we can +rightly judge of the direction in which different races need to be +improved. We must be on our guard against taking our own instincts +of what is best and most seemly, as a criterion for the rest of +mankind. The instincts and faculties of different men and races +differ in a variety of ways almost as profoundly as those of animals +in different cages of the Zoological Gardens; and however diverse and +antagonistic they are, each may be good of its kind. It is obviously +so in brutes; the monkey may have a horror at the sight of a snake, +and a repugnance to its ways, but a snake is just as perfect an +animal as a monkey. The living world does not consist of a +repetition of similar elements, but of an endless variety of them, +that have grown, body and soul, through selective influences into +close adaptation to their contemporaries, and to the physical +circumstances of the localities they inhabit. The moral and +intellectual wealth of a nation largely consists in the multifarious +variety of the gifts of the men who compose it, and it would be the +very reverse of improvement to make all its members assimilate to a +common type. However, in every race of domesticated animals, and +especially in the rapidly-changing race of man, there are elements, +some ancestral and others the result of degeneration, that are of +little or no value, or are positively harmful. We may, of course, be +mistaken about some few of these, and shall find in our fuller +knowledge that they subserve the public good in some indirect manner; +but, notwithstanding this possibility, we are justified in roundly +asserting that the natural characteristics of every human race admit +of large improvement in many directions easy to specify. + +I do not, however, offer a list of these, but shall confine myself +to directing attention to a very few hereditary characteristics of a +marked kind, some of which are most desirable and others greatly the +reverse; I shall also describe new methods of appraising and +defining them. Later on in the book I shall endeavour to define the +place and duty of man in the furtherance of the great scheme of +evolution, and I shall show that he has already not only adapted +circumstance to race, but also, in some degree and often +unconsciously, race to circumstance; and that his unused powers in +the latter direction are more considerable than might have been +thought. + +It is with the innate moral and intellectual faculties that the book +is chiefly concerned, but they are so closely bound up with the +physical ones that these must be considered as well. It is, moreover, +convenient to take them the first, so I will begin with the features. + + + + +FEATURES. + +The differences in human features must be reckoned great, inasmuch +as they enable us to distinguish a single known face among those of +thousands of strangers, though they are mostly too minute for +measurement. At the same time, they are exceedingly numerous. The +general expression of a face is the sum of a multitude of small +details, which are viewed in such rapid succession that we seem to +perceive them all at a single glance. If any one of them disagrees +with the recollected traits of a known face, the eye is quick at +observing it, and it dwells upon the difference. One small +discordance overweighs a multitude of similarities and suggests a +general unlikeness; just as a single syllable in a sentence +pronounced with a foreign accent makes one cease to look upon the +speaker as a countryman. If the first rough sketch of a portrait be +correct so far as it goes, it may be pronounced an excellent likeness; +but a rough sketch does not go far; it contains but few traits for +comparison with the original. It is a suggestion, not a likeness; it +must be coloured and shaded with many touches before it can really +resemble the face, and whilst this is being done the maintenance of +the likeness is imperilled at every step. I lately watched an able +artist painting a portrait, and endeavoured to estimate the number +of strokes with his brush, every one of which was thoughtfully and +firmly given. During fifteen sittings of three working hours +each--that is to say, during forty-five hours, or two thousand four +hundred minutes--he worked at the average rate of ten strokes of the +brush per minute. There were, therefore, twenty-four thousand +separate traits in the completed portrait, and in his opinion some, +I do not say equal, but comparably large number of units of +resemblance with the original. + +The physiognomical difference between different men being so +numerous and small, it is impossible to measure and compare them +each to each, and to discover by ordinary statistical methods the +true physiognomy of a race. The usual way is to select individuals +who are judged to be representatives of the prevalent type, and to +photograph them; but this method is not trustworthy, because the +judgment itself is fallacious. It is swayed by exceptional and +grotesque features more than by ordinary ones, and the portraits +supposed to be typical are likely to be caricatures. One fine Sunday +afternoon I sat with a friend by the walk in Kensington Gardens that +leads to the bridge, and which on such occasions is thronged by +promenaders. It was agreed between us that whichever first caught +sight of a typical John Bull should call the attention of the other. +We sat and watched keenly for many minutes, but neither of us found +occasion to utter a word. + +The prevalent type of English face has greatly changed at different +periods, for after making large allowance for the fashion in +portrait painting of the day, there remains a great difference +between the proportion in which certain casts of features are to be +met with at different dates. I have spent some time in studying the +photographs of the various portraits of English worthies that have +been exhibited at successive loan collections, or which are now in +the National Portrait Gallery, and have traced what appear to be +indisputable signs of one predominant type of face supplanting +another. For instance, the features of the men painted by and about +the time of Holbein have usually high cheekbones, long upper lips, +thin eyebrows, and lank dark hair. It would be impossible, I think, +for the majority of modern Englishmen so to dress themselves and +clip and arrange their hair, as to look like the majority of these +portraits. + +Englishmen are now a fair and reddish race, as may be seen from the +Diagram, taken from the Report of the Anthropometric Committee to +the British Association in 1880 and which gives the proportion in +which the various colours of hair are found among our professional +classes. + +[Illustration: ] + +I take the professional classes because they correspond with the +class of English worthies better than any of the others from which +returns have been collected. The Diagram, however, gives a fair +representation of other classes of the community. For instance, I +have analysed the official records of the very carefully-selected +crews of H.M. S. _Alert_ and _Discovery_ in the Arctic Expedition of +1875-6, and find the proportion of various shades of hair to be the +same among them as is shown in the Diagram. Seven-tenths of the +crews had complexions described as light, fair, fresh, ruddy or +freckled, and the same proportion had blue or gray eyes. They would +have contrasted strongly with Cromwell's regiment of Ironsides, who +were recruited from the dark-haired men of the fen districts, and +who are said to have left the impression on contemporary observers +as being men of a peculiar breed. They would also probably have +contrasted with any body of thoroughgoing Puritan soldiers taken at +haphazard; for there is a prevalence of dark hair among men of +atrabilious and sour temperament. + +If we may believe caricaturists, the fleshiness and obesity of many +English men and women in the earlier years of this century must have +been prodigious. It testifies to the grosser conditions of life in +those days, and makes it improbable that the types best adapted to +prevail then would be the best adapted to prevail now. + + + + +COMPOSITE PORTRAITURE. + +As a means of getting over the difficulty of procuring really +representative faces, I contrived the method of composite portraiture, +which has been explained of late on many occasions, and of which a +full account will be found in Appendix A. The principle on which the +composites are made will best be understood by a description of my +earlier and now discarded method; it was this--(1) I collected +photographic portraits of different persons, all of whom had been +photographed in the same aspect (say full face), and under the same +conditions of light and shade (say with the light coming from the +right side). (2) I reduced their portraits photographically to the +same size, being guided as to scale by the distance between any two +convenient points of reference in the features; for example, by the +vertical distance between two parallel lines, one of which passed +through the middle of the pupils of the eyes and the other between +the lips. (3) I superimposed the portraits like the successive +leaves of a book, so that the features of each portrait lay as +exactly as the case admitted, in front of those of the one behind it, +eye in front of eye and mouth in front of mouth. This I did by +holding them successively to the light and adjusting them, then by +fastening each to the preceding one with a strip of gummed paper +along one of the edges. Thus I obtained a book, each page of which +contained a separate portrait, and all the portraits lay exactly in +front of one another. (4) I fastened the book against the wall in +such a way that I could turn over the pages in succession, leaving +in turn each portrait flat and fully exposed. (5) I focused my +camera on the book fixed it firmly, and put a sensitive plate inside +it. (6) I began photographing, taking one page after the other in +succession without moving the camera, but putting on the cap whilst I +was turning over the pages, so that an image of each of the +portraits in succession was thrown on the same part of the +sensitised plate. + +Only a fraction of the exposure required to make a good picture was +allowed to each portrait. Suppose that period was twenty seconds, +and that there were ten portraits, then an exposure of two seconds +would be allowed for each portrait, making twenty seconds in all. +This is the principle of the process, the details of that which I +now use are different and complex. They are fully explained in the +Appendix for the use of those who may care to know about them. + +The effect of composite portraiture is to bring into evidence all +the traits in which there is agreement, and to leave but a ghost of +a trace of individual peculiarities. There are so many traits in +common in all faces that the composite picture when made from many +components is far from being a blur; it has altogether the look of +an ideal composition. + +It may be worth mentioning that when I take any small bundle of +portraits, selected at hazard, I have generally found it easy to +sort them into about five groups, four of which have enough +resemblance among themselves to make as many fairly clear composites, +while the fifth consists of faces that are too incongruous to be +grouped in a single class. In dealing with portraits of brothers and +sisters, I can generally throw most of them into a single group, with +success. + +In the small collection of composites given in the Plate facing p. 8, +I have purposely selected many of those that I have previously +published, and whose originals, on a larger scale, I have at various +times exhibited, together with their components, in order to put the +genuineness of the results beyond doubt. Those who see them for the +first time can hardly believe but that one dominant face has +overpowered the rest, and that they are composites only in name. When, +however, the details are examined, this objection disappears. It is +true that with careless photography one face may be allowed to +dominate, but with the care that ought to be taken, and with the +precautions described in the Appendix, that does not occur. I have +often been amused when showing composites and their components to +friends, to hear a strong expression of opinion that the +predominance of one face was evident, and then on asking which face +it was, to discover that they disagreed. I have even known a +composite in which one portrait seemed unduly to prevail, to be +remade without the component in question, and the result to be much +the same as before, showing that the reason of the resemblance was +that the rejected portrait had a close approximation to the ideal +average picture of the rest. + +These small composites give a better notion of the utmost capacity +of the process than the larger ones, from which they are reduced. +In the latter, the ghosts of individual peculiarities are more +visible, and usually the equal traces left by every member of a +moderately-sized group can be made out by careful inspection; but it +is hardly possible to do this in the pictures in the Plate, except +in a good light and in a very few of the cases. On the other hand, +the larger pictures do not contain more detail of value than the +smaller ones. + + +DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPOSITES. + +The medallion of Alexander the Great was made by combining the +images of six different medals, with a view of obtaining the type of +features that the makers of those medals concurred in desiring to +ascribe to him. The originals were kindly selected for me by Mr. R. +Stuart Poole from the collection in the British Museum. This +composite was one of the first I ever made, and is printed together +with its six components in the _Journal of the Royal Institution_, +in illustration of a lecture I gave there in April 1879. It seems to +me that it is possible on this principle to obtain a truer likeness +of a man than in any other way. Every artist makes mistakes; but by +combining the conscientious works of many artists, their separate +mistakes disappear, and what is common to all of their works remains. +So as regards different photographs of the same person, those +accidental momentary expressions are got rid of, which an ordinary +photograph made by a brief exposure cannot help recording. On the +other hand, any happy sudden trait of expression is lost. The +composite gives the features in repose. + +The next pair of composites (full face and profile) on the Plate has +not been published before. The interest of the pair lies chiefly in +their having been made from only two components, and they show how +curiously even two faces that have a moderate family likeness will +blend into a single one. That neither of these predominated in the +present case will be learned from the following letter by the father +of the ladies, who is himself a photographer:-- + +"I am exceedingly obliged for the very curious and interesting +composite portraits of my two children. Knowing the faces so well, +it caused me quite a surprise when I opened your letter. I put one +of the full faces on the table for the mother to pick up casually. +She said, 'When did you do this portrait of A? how _like_ she is to B! +Or _is_ it B? I never thought they were so like before.' It has +puzzled several people to say whether the profile was intended for A +or B. Then I tried one of them on a friend who has not seen the +girls for years. He said, 'Well, it is one of the family for certain, +but I don't know which.'" + +[Illustration: ] + +I have made several other family portraits, which to my eye seem +great successes, but must candidly own that the persons whose +portraits are blended together seldom seem to care much for the +result, except as a curiosity. We are all inclined to assert our +individuality, and to stand on our own basis, and to object to being +mixed up indiscriminately with others. The same feeling finds +expression when the resident in a suburban street insists on calling +his house a villa with some fantastic name, and refuses, so long as +he can, to call it simply Number so and so in the street. + +The last picture in the upper row shows the easy way in which young +and old, male and female, combine to form an effective picture. The +components consist in this case of the father and mother, two sons, +and two daughters. I exhibited the original of this, together with +the portraits from which it was taken, at the Loan Photographic +Exhibition at the Society of Arts in February 1882. I also sent +copies of the original of this same composite to several amateur +photographers, with a circular letter asking them to get from me +family groups for the purpose of experiments, to see how far the +process was suitable for family portraiture. + +The middle row of portraits illustrates health, disease, and +criminality. For health, I have combined the portraits of twelve +officers of the Royal Engineers with about an equal number of +privates, which were taken for me by Lieutenant Darwin, R.E. The +individuals from whom this composite was made, which has not come +out as clearly as I should have liked, differed considerably in +feature, and they came from various parts of England. The points they +had in common were the bodily and mental qualifications required for +admission into their select corps, and their generally British +descent. The result is a composite having an expression of +considerable vigour, resolution, intelligence, and frankness. I have +exhibited both this and others that were made respectively from the +officers, from the whole collection of privates--thirty-six in +number--and from that selected portion of them that is utilised in +the present instance. + +This face and the qualities it connotes probably gives a clue to the +direction in which the stock of the English race might most easily +be improved. It is the essential notion of a race that there should +be some ideal typical form from which the individuals may deviate in +all directions, but about which they chiefly cluster, and towards +which their descendants will continue to cluster. The easiest +direction in which a race can be improved is towards that central +type, because nothing new has to be sought out. It is only necessary +to encourage as far as practicable the breed of those who conform +most nearly to the central type, and to restrain as far as may be +the breed of those who deviate widely from it. Now there can hardly +be a more appropriate method of discovering the central +physiognomical type of any race or group than that of composite +portraiture. + +As a contrast to the composite of the Royal Engineers, I give those +of two of the coarse and low types of face found among the criminal +classes. The photographs from which they were made are taken from +two large groups. One are those of men undergoing severe sentences +for murder and other crimes connected with violence; the other of +thieves. They were reprints from those taken by order of the prison +authorities for purposes of identification. I was allowed to obtain +copies for use in my inquiries by the kind permission of Sir Edmund +Du Cane, H.M. Director of Prisons. The originals of these and their +components have frequently been exhibited. It is unhappily a fact +that fairly distinct types of criminals breeding true to their kind +have become established, and are one of the saddest disfigurements +of modern civilisation. To this subject I shall recur. + +I have made numerous composites of various groups of convicts, which +are interesting negatively rather than positively. They produce +faces of a mean description, with no villainy written on them. The +individual faces are villainous enough, but they are villainous in +different ways, and when they are combined, the individual +peculiarities disappear, and the common humanity of a low type is all +that is left. + +The remaining portraits are illustrations of the application of the +process to the study of the physiognomy of disease. They were +published a year ago with many others, together with several of +the portraits from which they were derived, in a joint memoir by +Dr. Mahomed and myself, in vol. xxv. of the _Guy's Hospital Reports_. +The originals and all the components have been exhibited on several +occasions. + +In the lower division of the Plate will be found three composites, +each made from a large number of faces, unselected, except on the +ground of the disease under which they were suffering. When only few +portraits are used, there must be some moderate resemblance between +them, or the result would be blurred; but here, dealing with as many +as 56, 100, and 50 cases respectively, the combination of any medley +group results in an ideal expression. + +It will be observed that the composite of 56 female faces is made by +the blending of two other composites, both of which are given. The +history was this--I took the 56 portraits and sorted them into two +groups; in the first of these were 20 portraits that showed a +tendency to thin features, in the other group there were 36 that +showed a tendency to thickened features. I made composites of each +of them as shown in the Plate. Now it will be remarked that, +notwithstanding the attempt to make two contrasted groups, the +number of mediocre cases was so great that the composities of the +two groups are much alike. If I had divided the 56 into two +haphazard groups, the results would have been closely alike, as I +know from abundant experience of the kind. The co-composite of the +two will be observed to have an intermediate expression. The test +and measure of statistical truth lies in the degree of accordance +between results obtained from different batches of instances of the +same generic class. It will be gathered from these instances that +composite portraiture may attain statistical constancy, within +limits not easily distinguished by the eye, after some 30 haphazard +portraits of the same class have been combined. This at least has +been my experience thus far. + +The two faces illustrative of the same type of tubercular disease +are very striking; the uppermost is photographically interesting as +a case of predominance of one peculiarity, happily of no harm to the +effect of the ideal wan face. It is that one of the patients had a +sharply-checked black and white scarf, whose pattern has asserted +itself unduly in the composite. In such cases I ought to throw the +too clearly defined picture a little out of focus. The way in which +the varying brightness of different pictures is reduced to a uniform +standard of illumination is described in the Appendix. + +It must be clearly understood that these portraits do not profess to +give the whole story of the physiognomy of phthisis. I have not room +to give illustrations of other types--namely, that with coarse and +blunted features, or the strumous one, nor any of the intermediates. +These have been discussed chiefly by Dr. Mahomed in the memoir +alluded to above. + +In the large experience I have had of sorting photographs, literally +by the thousand, while making experiments with composites, I have +been struck by certain general impressions. The consumptive patients +consisted of many hundred cases, including a considerable proportion +of very ignoble specimens of humanity. Some were scrofulous and +misshapen, or suffered from various loathsome forms of inherited +disease; most were ill nourished. Nevertheless, in studying their +portraits the pathetic interest prevailed, and I returned day after +day to my tedious work of classification, with a liking for my +materials. It was quite otherwise with the criminals. I did not +adequately appreciate the degradation of their expressions for some +time; at last the sense of it took firm hold of me, and I cannot now +handle the portraits without overcoming by an effort the aversion +they suggest. + +I am sure that the method of composite portraiture opens a fertile +field of research to ethnologists, but I find it very difficult to +do much single-handed, on account of the difficulty of obtaining the +necessary materials. As a rule, the individuals must be specially +photographed. The portraits made by artists are taken in every +conceivable aspect and variety of light and shade, but for the +purpose in question the aspect and the shade must be the same +throughout. Group portraits would do to work from, were it not for +the strong out-of-door light under which they are necessarily taken, +which gives an unwonted effect to the expression of the faces. Their +scale also is too small to give a sufficiently clear picture when +enlarged. I may say that the scale of the portraits need not be +uniform, as my apparatus enlarges or reduces as required, at the +same time that it superposes the images; but the portraits of the +heads should never be less than twice the size of that of the Queen +on a halfpenny piece. + +I heartily wish that amateur photographers would seriously take up +the subject of composite portraiture as applied to different +sub-types of the varying races of men. I have already given more +time to perfecting the process and experimenting with it than I can +well spare. + + + +BODILY QUALITIES. + +The differences in the bodily qualities that are the usual subjects +of anthropometry are easily dealt with, and are becoming widely +registered in many countries. We are unfortunately destitute of +trustworthy measurements of Englishmen of past generations to enable +us to compare class with class, and to learn how far the several +sections of the English nation may be improving or deteriorating. We +shall, however, hand useful information concerning our own times to +our successors, thanks principally to the exertions of an +Anthropometric Committee established five years ago by the British +Association, who have collected and partly classified and published +a large amount of facts, besides having induced several institutions, +such as Marlborough College, to undertake a regular system of +anthropometric record. I am not, however, concerned here with the +labours of this committee, nor with the separate valuable +publications of some of its members, otherwise than in one small +particular which appears to show that the English population as a +whole, or perhaps I should say the urban portion of it, is in some +sense deteriorating. It is that the average stature of the older +persons measured by or for the committee has not been found to +decrease steadily with their age, but sometimes the reverse.[1] This +contradicts observations made on the heights of the same men at +different periods, whose stature after middle age is invariably +reduced by the shrinking of the cartilages. The explanation offered +was that the statistical increase of stature with age should be +ascribed to the survival of the more stalwart. On reconsideration, I +am inclined to doubt the adequacy of the explanation, and partly to +account for the fact by a steady, slight deterioration of stature in +successive years; in the urban population owing to the conditions of +their lives, and in the rural population owing to the continual +draining away of the more stalwart of them to the towns. + +It cannot be doubted that town life is harmful to the town population. +I have myself investigated its effect on fertility (see Appendix B), +and found that taking on the one hand a number of rural parishes, +and on the other hand the inhabitants of a medium town, the former +reared, nearly twice as many adult grandchildren as the latter. The +vital functions are so closely related that an inferiority in the +production of healthy children very probably implies a loss of +vigour generally, one sign of which is a diminution of stature. + +Though the bulk of the population may deteriorate, there are many +signs that the better housed and fed portion of it improves. In the +earlier years of this century the so-called manly sports of boxing +and other feats of strength ranked high among the national amusements. +A man who was [1] successful in these became the hero of a large and +demonstrative circle of admirers, and it is to be presumed that the +best boxer, the best pedestrian, and so forth, was the best adapted +to succeed, through his natural physical gifts. If he was not the +most gifted man in those respects in the whole kingdom, he was +certainly one of the most gifted of them. It therefore does no +injustice to the men of that generation to compare the feats of +their foremost athletes with those of ours who occupy themselves in +the same way. The comparison would probably err in their favour, +because the interest in the particular feats in which our +grandfathers and great-grandfathers delighted are not those that +chiefly interest the present generation, and notwithstanding our +increased population, there are fewer men now who attempt them. In +the beginning of this century there were many famous walking matches, +and incomparably the best walker was Captain Barclay of Ury. His +paramount feat, which was once very familiar to the elderly men of +the present time, was that of walking a thousand miles in a thousand +hours, but of late years that feat has been frequently equalled and +overpassed. I am willing to allow much influence to the modern +conditions of walking under shelter and subject to improved methods +of training (Captain Barclay himself originated the first method, +which has been greatly improved since his time); still the fact +remains that in executing this particular feat, the athletes of the +present day are more successful than those who lived some eighty +years ago. I may be permitted to give an example bearing on the +increased stature of the better housed and fed portion of the nation, +in a recollection of my own as to the difference in height between +myself and my fellow-collegians at Trinity College, Cambridge, in +1840-4. My height is 5 feet 9-3/4 inches, and I recollect perfectly +that among the crowd of undergraduates I stood somewhat taller than +the majority. I generally looked a little downward when I met their +eyes. In later years, whenever I have visited Cambridge, I have +lingered in the ante-chapel and repeated the comparison, and now I +find myself decidedly shorter than the average of the students. I +have precisely the same kind of recollection and the same present +experience of the height of crowds of well-dressed persons. I used +always to get a fair view of what was going on over or between their +heads; I rarely can do so now. + +[Footnote 1: _Trans. Brit. Assoc_., 1881, Table V., p. 242; and +remarks by Mr. Roberts, p. 235.] + + +The athletic achievements at school and college are much superior to +what they used to be. Part is no doubt due to more skilful methods +of execution, but not all. I cannot doubt that the more wholesome +and abundant food, the moderation in drink, the better cooking, the +warmer wearing apparel, the airier sleeping rooms, the greater +cleanliness, the more complete change in holidays, and the healthier +lives led by the women in their girlhood, who become mothers +afterwards, have a great influence for good on the favoured portion +of our race. + +The proportion of weakly and misshapen individuals is not to be +estimated by those whom we meet in the streets; the worst cases are +out of sight. We should parade before our mind's eye the inmates of +the lunatic, idiot, and pauper asylums, the prisoners, the patients +in hospitals, the sufferers at home, the crippled, and the +congenitally blind, and that large class of more or less wealthy +persons who flee to the sunnier coasts of England, or expatriate +themselves for the chance of life. There can hardly be a sadder +sight than the crowd of delicate English men and women with narrow +chests and weak chins, scrofulous, and otherwise gravely affected, +who are to be found in some of these places. Even this does not tell +the whole of the story; if there were a conscription in England, we +should find, as in other countries, that a large fraction of the men +who earn their living by sedentary occupations are unfit for +military service. Our human civilised stock is far more weakly +through congenital imperfection than that of any other species of +animals, whether wild or domestic. + +It is, however, by no means the most shapely or the biggest +personages who endure hardship the best. Some very shabby-looking +men have extraordinary stamina. Sickly-looking and puny residents in +towns may have a more suitable constitution for the special +conditions of their lives, and may in some sense be better knit and +do more work and live longer than much haler men imported to the +same locality from elsewhere. A wheel and a barrel seem to have the +flimsiest possible constitutions; they consist of numerous separate +pieces all oddly shaped, which, when lying in a heap, look +hopelessly unfitted for union; but put them properly together, +compress them with a tire in the one case and with hoops in the other, +and a remarkably enduring organisation will result. A wheel with a +ton weight on the top of it in the waggons of South Africa will jolt +for thousands of miles over stony, roadless country without +suffering harm; a keg of water may be strapped on the back of a +pack-ox or a mule, and be kicked off and trampled on, and be +otherwise misused for years, without giving way. + +I do not propose to enter further into the anthropometric +differences of race, for the subject is a very large one, and this +book does not profess to go into detail. Its intention is to touch +on various topics more or less connected with that of the +cultivation of race, or, as we might call it, with "eugenic" [1] +questions, and to present the results of several of my own separate +investigations. + + + + +ENERGY. + +Energy is the capacity for labour. It is consistent with all the +robust virtues, and makes a large practice of them possible. It is +the measure of fulness of life; the more energy the more abundance +of it; no energy at all is death; idiots are feeble and listless. In +the inquiries I made on the antecedents of men of science no points +came out more strongly than that the leaders of scientific thought +were generally gifted with remarkable energy, and that they had +[2] inherited the gift of it from their parents and grandparents. I +have since found the same to be the case in other careers. + +[Footnote 2: That is, with questions bearing on what is termed in +Greek, _eugenes_, namely, good in stock, hereditarily endowed with +noble qualities. This, and the allied words, _eugeneia_, etc., are +equally applicable to men, brutes, and plants. We greatly want a +brief word to express the science of improving stock, which is by no +means confined to questions of judicious mating, but which, +especially in the case of man, takes cognisance of all influences +that tend in however remote a degree to give to the more suitable +races or strains of blood a better chance of prevailing speedily +over the less suitable than they otherwise would have had. The word +_eugenics_ would sufficiently express the idea; it is at least a +neater word and a more generalised one than _viriculture_, which I +once ventured to use.] + +Energy is an attribute of the higher races, being favoured beyond +all other qualities by natural selection. We are goaded into +activity by the conditions and struggles of life. They afford +stimuli that oppress and worry the weakly, who complain and bewail, +and it may be succumb to them, but which the energetic man welcomes +with a good-humoured shrug, and is the better for in the end. + +The stimuli may be of any description: the only important matter is +that all the faculties should be kept working to prevent their +perishing by disuse. If the faculties are few, very simple stimuli +will suffice. Even that of fleas will go a long way. A dog is +continually scratching himself, and a bird pluming itself, whenever +they are not occupied with food, hunting, fighting, or love. In +those blank times there is very little for them to attend to besides +their varied cutaneous irritations. It is a matter of observation +that well washed and combed domestic pets grow dull; they miss the +stimulus of fleas. If animals did not prosper through the agency of +their insect plagues, it seems probable that their races would long +since have been so modified that their bodies should have ceased to +afford a pasture-ground for parasites. + +It does not seem to follow that because men are capable of doing +hard work they like it. Some, indeed, fidget and fret if they cannot +otherwise work off their superfluous steam; but on the other hand +there are many big lazy fellows who will not get up their steam to +full pressure except under compulsion. Again, the character of the +stimulus that induces hard work differs greatly in different persons; +it may be wealth, ambition, or other object of passion. The solitary +hard workers, under no encouragement or compulsion except their +sense of duty to their generation, are unfortunately still rare +among us. + +It may be objected that if the race were too healthy and energetic +there would be insufficient call for the exercise of the pitying and +self-denying virtues, and the character of men would grow harder in +consequence. But it does not seem reasonable to preserve sickly +breeds for the sole purpose of tending them, as the breed of foxes +is preserved solely for sport and its attendant advantages. There is +little fear that misery will ever cease from the land, or that the +compassionate will fail to find objects for their compassion; but at +present the supply vastly exceeds the demand: the land is +overstocked and overburdened with the listless and the incapable. + +In any scheme of eugenics, energy is the most important quality to +favour; it is, as we have seen, the basis of living action, and it +is eminently transmissible by descent. + + + + +SENSITIVITY. + +The only information that reaches us concerning outward events +appears to pass through the avenue of our senses; and the more +perceptive the senses are of difference, the larger is the field +upon which our judgment and intelligence can act. Sensation mounts +through a series of grades of "just perceptible differences." It +starts from the zero of consciousness, and it becomes more intense +as the stimulus increases (though at a slower rate) up to the point +when the stimulus is so strong as to begin to damage the nerve +apparatus. It then yields place to pain, which is another form of +sensation, and which continues until the nerve apparatus is destroyed. +Two persons may be equally able just to hear the same faint sound, +and they may equally begin to be pained by the same loud sound, and +yet they may differ as to the number of intermediate grades of +sensation. The grades will be less numerous as the organisation is +of a lower order, and the keenest sensation possible to it will in +consequence be less intense. An artist who is capable of +discriminating more differences of tint than another man is not +necessarily more capable of seeing clearly in twilight, or more or +less intolerant of sunshine. A musician is not necessarily able to +hear very faint sounds, nor to be more startled by loud sounds than +others are. A mechanic who works hard with heavy tools and has rough +and grimy thumbs, insensible to very slight pressures, may yet have +a singularly discriminating power of touch in respect to the +pressures that he can feel. + +The discriminative faculty of idiots is curiously low; they hardly +distinguish between heat and cold, and their sense of pain is so +obtuse that some of the more idiotic seem hardly to know what it is. +In their dull lives, such pain as can be excited in them may +literally be accepted with a welcome surprise. During a visit to +Earlswood Asylum I saw two boys whose toe-nails had grown into the +flesh and had been excised by the surgeon. This is a horrible +torture to ordinary persons, but the idiot lads were said to have +shown no distress during the operation; it was not necessary to hold +them, and they looked rather interested at what was being done. +[1] I also saw a boy with the scar of a severe wound on his wrist; +the story being that he had first burned himself slightly by accident, +and, liking the keenness of the new sensation, he took the next +opportunity of repeating the experience, but, idiot-like, he overdid +it. + +The trials I have as yet made on the sensitivity of different +persons confirms the reasonable expectation that it would on the +whole be highest among the intellectually ablest. At first, owing to +my confusing the quality of which I am speaking with that of nervous +irritability, I fancied that women of delicate nerves who are +distressed by noise, sunshine, etc., would have acute powers of +discrimination. But this I found not to be the case. In morbidly +sensitive persons both pain and sensation are induced by lower +stimuli than in the healthy, but the number of just perceptible +grades of sensation between them is not necessarily different. + +I found as a rule that men have more delicate powers of +discrimination than women, and the business experience of life seems +to confirm this view. The tuners of pianofortes are men, and so I +understand are the tasters of tea and wine, the sorters of wool, and +the like. These latter occupations are well salaried, because it is +of the first moment to the merchant that he should be rightly advised +on the real value of what he is about to purchase or to sell. If the +sensitivity of women were superior to that of men, the self-interest +of merchants would lead to their being [3] always employed; but as +the reverse is the case, the opposite supposition is likely to be +the true one. + +[Footnote 3: See "Remarks on Idiocy," by E.W. Graham, M. D., +_Medical Journal_, January 16, 1875.] + +Ladies rarely distinguish the merits of wine at the dinner-table, +and though custom allows them to preside at the breakfast-table, men +think them on the whole to be far from successful makers of tea and +coffee. + +Blind persons are reputed to have acquired in compensation for the +loss of their eyesight an increased acuteness in their other senses; +I was therefore curious to make some trials with my test apparatus, +which I will describe in the next chapter. I was permitted to do so +on a number of boys at a large educational blind asylum, but found +that, although they were anxious to do their best, their performances +were by no means superior to those of other boys. It so happened +that the blind lads who showed the most delicacy of touch and won +the little prizes I offered to excite emulation, barely reached the +mediocrity of the various sighted lads of the same age whom I had +previously tested. I have made not a few observations and inquiries, +and find that the guidance of the blind depends mainly on the +multitude of collateral indications to which they give much heed, +and not in their superior sensitivity to any one of them. Those who +see do not care for so many of these collateral indications, and +habitually overlook and neglect several of them. I am convinced also +that not a little of the popular belief concerning the sensitivity +of the blind is due to exaggerated claims on their part that have +not been verified. Two instances of this have fallen within my own +experience, in both of which the blind persons claimed to have the +power of judging by the echo of their voice and by certain other +feelings, the one when they were approaching objects, even though +the object was so small as a handrail, and the other to tell how far +the door of the room in which he was standing was open. I used all +the persuasion I could to induce each of these persons to allow me +to put their assertions to the test; but it was of no use. The one +made excuses, the other positively refused. They had probably the +same tendency that others would have who happened to be defective in +any faculty that their comrades possessed, to fight bravely against +their disadvantage, and at the same time to be betrayed into some +overvaunting of their capacities in other directions. They would be +a little conscious of this, and would therefore shrink from being +tested. + +The power of reading by touch is not so very wonderful. A former +Lord Chancellor of England, the late Lord Hatherley, when he was +advanced in years, lost his eyesight for some time owing to a +cataract, which was not ripe to be operated on. He assured me that +he had then learned and practised reading by touch very rapidly. +This fact may perhaps also serve as additional evidence of the +sensitivity of able men. + +Notwithstanding many travellers' tales, I have thus far been +unsuccessful in obtaining satisfactory evidence of any general large +superiority of the senses of savages over those of civilised men. My +own experience, so far as it goes, of Hottentots, Damaras, and some +other wild races, went to show that their sense discrimination was +not superior to those of white men, even as regards keenness of +eyesight. An offhand observer is apt to err by assigning to a single +cause what is partly due to others as well. Thus, as regards eyesight, +a savage who is accustomed to watch oxen grazing at a distance +becomes so familiar with their appearance and habits that he can +identify particular animals and draw conclusions as to what they are +doing with an accuracy that may seem to strangers to be wholly +dependent on exceptional acuteness of vision. A sailor has the +reputation of keen sight because he sees a distant coast when a +landsman cannot make it out; the fact being that the landsman +usually expects a different appearance to what he has really to look +for, such as a very minute and sharp outline instead of a large, +faint blur. In a short time a landsman becomes quite as quick as a +sailor, and in some test experiments[1] he was found on the average +to be distinctly the superior. It is not surprising that this should +be so, as sailors in vessels of moderate size have hardly ever the +practice of focussing their eyes sharply upon objects farther off +than the length of the vessel or the top of the mast, say at a +distance of fifty paces. The horizon itself as seen from the deck, +[4] and under the most favourable circumstances, is barely four +miles off, and there is no sharpness of outline in the intervening +waves. Besides this, the life of a sailor is very unhealthy, as +shown by his growing old prematurely, and his eyes must be much +tried by foul weather and salt spray. + +[Footnote 4: Gould's _Military and Anthropological Statistics_, p. +530. New York, 1869.] + +We inherit our language from barbarous ancestors, and it shows +traces of its origin in the imperfect ways by which grades of +difference admit of being expressed. Suppose a pedestrian is asked +whether the knapsack on his back feels heavy. He cannot find a reply +in two words that cover more varieties than (1) very heavy, (2) +rather heavy, (3) moderate, (4) rather light, (5) very light. I once +took considerable pains in the attempt to draw up verbal scales of +more than five orders of magnitude, using those expressions only +that every cultivated person would understand in the same sense; but +I did not succeed. A series that satisfied one person was not +interpreted in the same sense by another. + +The general intention of this chapter has been to show that a +delicate power of sense discrimination is an attribute of a high race, +and that it has not the drawback of being necessarily associated +with nervous irritability. + + + + +SEQUENCE OF TEST WEIGHTS. + +I will now describe an apparatus I have constructed to test the +delicacy with which weights may be discriminated by handling them. I +do so because the principle on which it is based may be adopted in +apparatus for testing other senses, and its description and the +conditions of its use will illustrate the desiderata and +difficulties of all such investigations. + +A series of test weights is a simple enough idea--the difficulty +lies in determining the particular sequence of weights that should +be employed. Mine form a geometric series, for the reason that when +stimuli of all kinds increase by geometric grades the sensations +they give rise to will increase by arithmetic grades, so long as the +stimulus is neither so weak as to be barely felt, nor so strong as +to excite fatigue. My apparatus, which is explained more fully in the +Appendix, consists of a number of common gun cartridge cases filled +with alternate layers of shot, wool, and wadding, and then closed in +the usual way. They are all identical in appearance, and may be said +to differ only in their specific gravities. They are marked in +numerical sequence with the register numbers, 1, 2, 3, etc., but +their weights are proportioned to the numbers of which 1, 2, 3, etc., +are the logarithms, and consequently run in a geometric series. +Hence the numbers of the weights form a scale of equal degrees of +sensitivity. If a person can just distinguish between the weights +numbered 1 and 3, he can also just distinguish between 2 and 4, 3 and +5, and any other pair of weights of which the register number of +the one exceeds that of the other by 2. Again, his coarseness of +discrimination is exactly double of that of another person who can +just distinguish pairs of weights differing only by 1, such as 1 and +2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and so on. The testing is performed by handing +pairs of weights to the operatee until his power of discrimination +is approximately made out, and then to proceed more carefully. It is +best now, for reasons stated in the Appendix, to hand to the +operatee sequences of three weights at a time, after shuffling them. +These he has to arrange in their proper order, with his eyes shut, +and by the sense of their weight alone. The operator finally records +the scale interval that the operatee can just appreciate, as being +the true measure of the coarseness (or the inverse measure of the +delicacy) of the sensitivity of the operatee. + +It is somewhat tedious to test many persons in succession, but any +one can test his own powers at odd and end times with ease and nicety, +if he happens to have ready access to suitable apparatus. + +The use of tests, which, objectively speaking, run in a geometric +series, and subjectively in an arithmetic one, may be applied to +touch, by the use of wire-work of various degrees of fineness; to +taste, by stock bottles of solutions of salt, etc., of various +strengths; to smell, by bottles of attar of rose, etc., in various +degrees of dilution. + +The tests show the sensitivity at the time they are made, and give +an approximate measure of the discrimination with which the operatee +habitually employs his senses. It does not measure his capacity for +discrimination, because the discriminative faculty admits of much +education, and the test results always show increased delicacy after +a little practice. However, the requirements of everyday life +educate all our faculties in some degree, and I have not found the +performances with test weights to improve much after a little +familiarity with their use. The weights have, as it were, to be +played with at first, then they must be tried carefully on three or +four separate occasions. + +I did not at first find it at all an easy matter to make test +weights so alike as to differ in no other appreciable respect than +in their specific gravity, and if they differ and become known apart, +the knowledge so acquired will vitiate future judgments in various +indirect ways. Similarity in outward shape and touch was ensured by +the use of mechanically-made cartridge cases; dissimilarity through +any external stain was rendered of no hindrance to the experiment by +making the operatee handle them in a bag or with his eyes shut. Two +bodies may, however, be alike in weight and outward appearance and +yet behave differently when otherwise mechanically tested, and, +consequently, when they are handled. For example, take two eggs, one +raw and the other hard boiled, and spin them on the table; press the +finger for a moment upon either of them whilst it is still spinning: +if it be the hard-boiled egg it will stop as dead as a stone: if it +be the raw egg, after a little apparent hesitation, it will begin +again to rotate. The motion of its shell had alone been stopped; the +internal part was still rotating and this compelled the shell to +follow it. Owing to this cause, when we handle the two eggs, the one +feels "quick" and the other does not. Similarly with the cartridges, +when one is rather more loosely packed than the others the +difference is perceived on handling them. Or it may have one end +heavier than the other, or else its weight may not be equally +distributed round its axis, causing it to rest on the table with the +same part always lowermost; differences due to these causes are also +easily perceived when handling the cartridges. Again, one of two +similar cartridges may balance perfectly in all directions, but the +weight of one of them may be disposed too much towards the ends, as +in a dumb-bell, or gathered too much towards the centre. The period +of oscillation will differ widely in the two cases, as may be shown +by suspending the cartridges by strings round their middle so that +they shall hang horizontally, and then by a slight tap making them +spin to and fro round the string as an axis. + +The touch is very keen in distinguishing all these peculiarities. I +have mentioned them, and might have added more, to show that +experiments on sensitivity have to be made in the midst of pitfalls +warily to be avoided. Our apparently simplest perceptions are very +complex. We hardly ever act on the information given by only one +element of one sense, and our sensitivity in any desired direction +cannot be rightly determined except by carefully-devised apparatus +judiciously used. + + + + +WHISTLES FOR AUDIBILITY OF SHRILL NOTES. + +I contrived a small whistle for conveniently ascertaining the upper +limits of audible sound in different persons, which Dr. Wollaston +had shown to vary considerably. He used small pipes, and found much +difficulty in making them. I made a very small whistle from a brass +tube whose internal diameter was less than one-tenth of an inch in +diameter. A plug was fitted into the lower end of the tube, which +could be pulled out or pushed in as much as desired, thereby causing +the length of the bore of the whistle to be varied at will. When the +bore is long the note is low; when short, it is high. The plug was +graduated, so that the precise note produced by the whistle could be +determined by reading off the graduations and referring to a table. +(See Appendix.) + +On testing different persons, I found there was a remarkable falling +off in the power of hearing high notes as age advanced. The persons +themselves were quite unconscious of their deficiency so long as +their sense of hearing low notes remained unimpaired. It is an only +too amusing experiment to test a party of persons of various ages, +including some rather elderly and self-satisfied personages. They +are indignant at being thought deficient in the power of hearing, yet +the experiment quickly shows that they are absolutely deaf to shrill +notes which the younger persons hear acutely, and they commonly +betray much dislike to the discovery. Every one has his limit, and +the limit at which sounds become too shrill to be audible to any +particular person can be rapidly determined by this little instrument. +Lord Rayleigh and others have found that sensitive flames are +powerfully affected by the vibrations of whistles that are too rapid +to be audible to ordinary ears. + +I have tried experiments with all kinds of animals on their +powers of hearing shrill notes. I have gone through the whole +of the Zoological Gardens, using an apparatus arranged for the +purpose. It consists of one of my little whistles at the end of a +walking-stick--that is, in reality, a long tube; it has a bit of +india-rubber pipe under the handle, a sudden squeeze upon which +forces a little air into the whistle and causes it to sound. I hold +it as near as is safe to the ears of the animals, and when they are +quite accustomed to its presence and heedless of it, I make it sound; +then if they prick their ears it shows that they hear the whistle; if +they do not, it is probably inaudible to them. Still, it is very +possible that in some cases they hear but do not heed the sound. Of +all creatures, I have found none superior to cats in the power of +hearing shrill sounds; it is perfectly remarkable what a faculty +they have in this way. Cats, of course, have to deal in the dark +with mice, and to find them out by their squealing. Many people +cannot hear the shrill squeal of a mouse. Some time ago, singing +mice were exhibited in London, and of the people who went to hear +them, some could hear nothing, whilst others could hear a little, and +others again could hear much. Cats are differentiated by natural +selection until they have a power of hearing all the high notes made +by mice and other little creatures that they have to catch. A cat +that is at a very considerable distance, can be made to turn its ear +round by sounding a note that is too shrill to be audible by almost +any human ear. Small dogs also hear very shrill notes, but large +ones do not. I have walked through the streets of a town with an +instrument like that which I used in the Zoological Gardens, and +made nearly all the little dogs turn round, but not the large ones. +At Berne, where there appear to be more large dogs lying idly about +the streets than in any other town in Europe, I have tried the +whistle for hours together, on a great many large dogs, but could +not find one that heard it. Ponies are sometimes able to hear very +high notes. I once frightened a pony with one of these whistles in +the middle of a large field. My attempts on insect hearing have been +failures. + + + + +ANTHROPOMETRIC REGISTERS. + +When shall we have anthropometric laboratories, where a man may, +when he pleases, get himself and his children weighed, measured, and +rightly photographed, and have their bodily faculties tested by the +best methods known to modern science? The records of growth of +numerous persons from childhood to age are required before it can be +possible to rightly appraise the effect of external conditions upon +development, and records of this kind are at present non-existent. +The various measurements should be accompanied by photographic +studies of the features in full face and in profile, and on the same +scale, for convenience of comparison. + +We are all lazy in recording facts bearing on ourselves, but parents +are glad enough to do so in respect to their children, and they +would probably be inclined to avail themselves of a laboratory where +all that is required could be done easily and at small cost. These +domestic records would hereafter become of considerable biographical +interest. Every one of us in his mature age would be glad of a series +of pictures of himself from childhood onwards, accompanied by +physical records, and arranged consecutively with notes of current +events by their sides. Much more would he be glad of similar +collections referring to his father, mother, grandparents, and other +near relatives. It would be peculiarly grateful to the young to +possess likenesses of their parents and those whom they look upon as +heroes, taken when they were of the same age as themselves. Boys are +too apt to think of their parents as having always been elderly men, +because they have insufficient data to construct imaginary pictures +of them as they were in their youth. + +The cost of taking photographs in batches is so small, and the time +occupied is so brief, when the necessary preparations have been made +and the sitters are ready at hand, that a practice of methodically +photographing schoolboys and members of other large institutions +might easily be established. I, for one, should dearly prize the +opportunity of visiting the places where I have been educated, and +of turning over pages showing myself and my companions as we were in +those days. But no such records exist; the institutions last and +flourish, the individuals who pass through them are dispersed and +leave few or no memorials behind. It seems a cruel waste of +opportunity not to make and keep these brief personal records in a +methodical manner. The fading of ordinary photographic prints is no +real objection to keeping a register, because they can now be +reproduced at small charge in permanent printers' ink, by the +autotype and other processes. + +I have seen with admiration, and have had an opportunity of availing +myself of, the newly-established library of well-ordered folios at +the Admiralty, each containing a thousand pages, and each page +containing a brief summary of references to the life of a particular +seaman. There are already 80,000 pages, and owing to the excellent +organisation of the office it is a matter of perfect ease to follow +out any one of these references, and to learn every detail of the +service of any seaman. A brief register of measurements and events in +the histories of a large number of persons, previous to their +entering any institution and during their residence in it, need not +therefore be a difficult matter to those who may take it in hand +seriously and methodically. + +The recommendation I would venture to make to my readers is to +obtain photographs and ordinary measurements periodically of +themselves and their children, making it a family custom to do so, +because, unless driven by some custom, the act will be postponed +until the opportunity is lost. Let those periodical photographs be +full and side views of the face on an adequate scale, adding any +others that may be wished, but not omitting these. As the portraits +accumulate have collections of them autotyped. Keep the prints +methodically in a family register, writing by their side careful +chronicles of illness and all such events as used to find a place on +the fly-leaf of the Bible of former generations, and inserting other +interesting personal facts and whatever anthropometric data can be +collected. + +Those who care to initiate and carry on a family chronicle +illustrated by abundant photographic portraiture, will produce a +work that they and their children and their descendants in more +remote generations will assuredly be grateful for. The family tie +has a real as well as a traditional significance. The world is +beginning to awaken to the fact that the life of the individual is +in some real sense a prolongation of those of his ancestry. His +vigour, his character, and his diseases are principally derived from +theirs; sometimes his faculties are blends of ancestral qualities; +but more frequently they are mosaics, patches of resemblance to one +or other of them showing now here and now there. The life-histories +of our relatives are prophetic of our own futures; they are far more +instructive to us than those of strangers, far more fitted to +encourage and to forewarn us. If there be such a thing as a natural +birthright, I can conceive of none superior to the right of the +child to be informed, at first by proxy through his guardians, and +afterwards personally, of the life-history, medical and other, of +his ancestry. The child is thrust into existence without his having +any voice at all in the matter, and the smallest amend that those +who brought him here can make, is to furnish him with all the +guidance they can, including the complete life-histories of his near +progenitors. + +The investigation of human eugenics--that is, of the conditions +under which men of a high type are produced--is at present extremely +hampered by the want of full family histories, both medical and +general, extending over three or four generations. There is no such +difficulty in investigating animal eugenics, because the generations +of horses, cattle, dogs, etc., are brief, and the breeder of any +such stock lives long enough to acquire a large amount of experience +from his own personal observation. A man, however, can rarely be +familiar with more than two or three generations of his +contemporaries before age has begun to check his powers; his working +experience must therefore be chiefly based upon records. Believing, +as I do, that human eugenics will become recognised before long as a +study of the highest practical importance, it seems to me that no +time ought to be lost in encouraging and directing a habit of +compiling personal and family histories. If the necessary materials +be brought into existence, it will require no more than zeal and +persuasiveness on the part of the future investigator to collect as +large a store of them as he may require. + + + + +UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF PECULIARITIES. + +The importance of submitting our faculties to measurement lies in +the curious unconsciousness in which we are apt to live of our +personal peculiarities, and which our intimate friends often fail to +remark. I have spoken of the ignorance of elderly persons of their +deafness to high notes, but even the existence of such a peculiarity +as colour blindness was not suspected until the memoir of Dalton in +1794. That one person out of twenty-nine or thereabouts should be +unable to distinguish a red from a green, without knowing that he +had any deficiency of colour sense, and without betraying his +deficiency to his friends, seems perfectly incredible to the other +twenty-eight; yet as a matter of fact he rarely does either the one +or the other. It is hard to convince the colour-blind of their own +infirmity. I have seen curious instances of this: one was that of a +person by no means unpractised in physical research, who had been +himself tested in matching colours. He gave me his own version of +the result, to the effect that though he might perhaps have fallen a +little short of perfection as judged by over-refined tests, his +colour sense was for all practical purposes quite good. On the other +hand, the operator assured me that when he had toned the intensities +of a pure red and a pure green in a certain proportion, the person +ceased to be able to distinguish between them! Colour blindness is +often very difficult to detect, because the test hues and tints may +be discriminated by other means than by the normal colour sense. +Ordinary pigments are never pure, and the test colours may be +distinguished by those of their adventitious hues to which the +partly colour-blind man may be sensitive. We do not suspect +ourselves to be yellow-blind by candle light, because we enjoy +pictures in the evening nearly or perhaps quite as much as in the day +time; yet we may observe that a yellow primrose laid on the white +table-cloth wholly loses its colour by candle light, and becomes as +white as a snowdrop. + +In the inquiries I made on the hereditary transmission of capacity, +I was often amused by the naïve remark of men who had easily +distanced their competitors, that they ascribed their success to +their own exertions. They little recognised how much they owed to +their natural gifts of exceptional capacity and energy on the one +hand, and of exceptional love for their special work on the other. + +In future chapters I shall give accounts of persons who have unusual +mental characteristics as regards imagery, visualised numerals, +colours connected with sounds and special associations of ideas, +being unconscious of their peculiarities; but I cannot anticipate +these subjects here, as they all require explanation. It will be +seen in the end how greatly metaphysicians and psychologists may err, +who assume their own mental operations, instincts, and axioms to be +identical with those of the rest of mankind, instead of being +special to themselves. The differences between men are profound, and +we can only be saved from living in blind unconsciousness of our own +mental peculiarities by the habit of informing ourselves as well as +we can of those of others. Examples of the success with which this +can be done will be found farther on in the book. + +I may take this opportunity of remarking on the well-known +hereditary character of colour blindness in connection with the fact, +that it is nearly twice as prevalent among the Quakers as among the +rest of the community, the proportions being as 5.9 to 3.5 per cent. +[1] We might have expected an even larger ratio. Nearly every Quaker +is descended on both sides solely from members of a group of men and +women who segregated themselves from the rest of the world five or +six generations ago; one of their strongest opinions being that the +fine arts were worldly snares, and their most conspicuous practice +being to dress in drabs. A born artist could never have consented to +separate himself from his fellows on such grounds; he would have +felt the profession of those opinions [5] and their accompanying +practices to be a treason to his aesthetic nature. Consequently few +of the original stock of Quakers are likely to have had the +temperament that is associated with a love for colour, and it is in +consequence most reasonable to believe that a larger proportion of +colour-blind men would have been found among them than among the +rest of the population. + +[Footnote 5: _Trans. Ophthalmological Soc_., 1881, p. 198.] + +Again, Quakerism is a decreasing sect, weakened by yearly desertions +and losses, especially as the act of marriage with a person who is +not a member of the Society is necessarily followed by exclusion +from it. It is most probable that a large proportion of the +deserters would be those who, through reversion to some bygone +ancestor, had sufficient artistic taste to make a continuance of +Quaker practices too irksome to be endured. Hence the existing +members of the Society of Friends are a race who probably contained +in the first instance an unduly large proportion of colour-blind men, +and from whose descendants many of those who were not born colour +blind have year by year been drafted away. Both causes must have +combined with the already well-known tendency of colour blindness to +hereditary transmission, to cause it to become a characteristic of +their race. Dalton, who first discovered its existence, as a +personal peculiarity of his own, was a Quaker to his death; Young, +the discoverer of the undulatory theory of light, and who wrote +specially on colours, was a Quaker by birth, but he married outside +the body and so ceased to belong to it. + + + + + +STATISTICAL METHODS. + +The object of statistical science is to discover methods of +condensing information concerning large groups of allied facts into +brief and compendious expressions suitable for discussion. The +possibility of doing this is based on the constancy and continuity +with which objects of the same species are found to vary. That is to +say, we always find, after sorting any large number of such objects +in the order (let us suppose) of their lengths, beginning with the +shortest and ending with the tallest, and setting them side by side +like a long row of park palings between the same limits, their upper +outline will be identical. Moreover, it will run smoothly and not in +irregular steps. The theoretical interpretation of the smoothness of +outline is that the individual differences in the objects are caused +by different combinations of a large number of minute influences; and +as the difference between any two adjacent objects in a long row +must depend on the absence in one of them of some single influence, +or of only a few such, that were present in the other, the amount of +difference will be insensible. Whenever we find on trial that the +outline of the row is not a flowing curve, the presumption is that +the objects are not all of the same species, but that part are +affected by some large influence from which the others are free; +consequently there is a confusion of curves. This presumption is +never found to be belied. + +It is unfortunate for the peace of mind of the statistician that the +influences by which the magnitudes, etc., of the objects are +determined can seldom if ever be roundly classed into large and small, +without intermediates. He is tantalised by the hope of getting hold +of sub-groups of sufficient size that shall contain no individuals +except those belonging strictly to the same species, and he is almost +constantly baffled. In the end he is obliged to exercise his +judgment as to the limit at which he should cease to subdivide. If +he subdivides very frequently, the groups become too small to have +statistical value; if less frequently, the groups will be less truly +specific. + +A species may be defined as a group of objects whose individual +differences are wholly due to different combinations of the same set +of minute causes, no one of which is so powerful as to be able by +itself to make any sensible difference in the result. A well-known +mathematical consequence flows from this, which is also universally +observed as a fact, namely, that in all species the number of +individuals who differ from the average value, up to any given amount, +is much greater than the number who differ more than that amount, +and up to the double of it. In short, if an assorted series be +represented by upright lines arranged side by side along a +horizontal base at equal distances apart, and of lengths +proportionate to the magnitude of the quality in the corresponding +objects, then their shape will always resemble that shown in Fig. 1. + +The form of the bounding curve resembles that which is called in +architectural language an ogive, from "augive," an old French word +for a cup, the figure being not unlike the upper half of a cup lying +sideways with its axis horizontal. In consequence of the multitude +of mediocre values, we always find that on either side of the +middlemost ordinate _Cc_, which is the median value and may be +accepted as the average, there is a much less rapid change of height +than elsewhere. If the figure were pulled out sideways to make it +accord with such physical conceptions as that of a row of men +standing side by side, the middle part of the curve would be +apparently horizontal. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.] + +The mathematical conception of the curve is best expressed in Fig. 2, +where PQ represents any given deviation from the average value, and +the ratio of PO to AB represents the relative probability of its +occurrence. The equation to the curve and a discussion of its +properties will be found in the _Proceedings of the Royal Society_, +No. 198, 1879, by Dr. M'Alister. The title of the paper is the +"Law of the Geometric Mean," and it follows one by myself on +"The Geometric Mean in Vital and Social Statistics." + +We can lay down the ogive of any quality, physical or mental, +whenever we are capable of judging which of any two members of the +group we are engaged upon has the larger amount of that quality. I +have called this the method of statistics by intercomparison. There +is no bodily or mental attribute in any race of individuals that can +be so dealt with, whether our judgment in comparing them be guided +by common-sense observation or by actual measurement, which cannot +be gripped and consolidated into an ogive with a smooth outline, and +thenceforward be treated in discussion as a single object. + +It is easy to describe any given ogive which has been based upon +measurements, so that it may be drawn from the description with +approximate truth. Divide AB into a convenient number of fractional +parts, and record the height of the ordinates at those parts. In +reproducing the ogive from these data, draw a base line of any +convenient length, divide it in the same number of fractional parts, +erect ordinates of the stated lengths at those parts, connect their +tops with a flowing line, and the thing is done. The most convenient +fractional parts are the middle (giving the median), the outside +quarters (giving the upper and lower quartiles), and similarly the +upper and lower octiles or deciles. This is sufficient for most +purposes. It leaves only the outer eighths or tenths of the cases +undescribed and undetermined, except so far as may be guessed by, +the run of the intermediate portion of the curve, and it defines all +of the intermediate portion with as close an, approximation as is +needed for ordinary or statistical purposes. + +Thus the heights of all but the outer tenths of the whole body of +adult males of the English professional classes may be derived from +the five following ordinates, measured in inches, of which the outer +pair are deciles:-- + + 67.2; 67.5; 68.8; 70.3; 71.4. + +Many other instances will be found in the Report of the +Anthropometric Committee of the British Association in 1881, +pp. 245-257. + +When we desire to compare any two large statistical groups, we may +compare median with median, quartiles with quartiles, and octiles +with octiles; or we may proceed on the method to be described in the +next paragraph but one. + +We are often called upon to define the position of an individual in +his own series, in which case it is most conformable to usage to +give his centesimal grade--that is, his place on the base line +AB--supposing it to be graduated from 0° to 100°. In reckoning this, +a confusion ought to be avoided between "graduation" and "rank," +though it leads to no sensible error in practice. The first of the +"park palings" does not stand at A, which is 0°, nor does the +hundredth stand at B, which is 100°, for that would make 101 of them: +but they stand at 0°.5 and 99°.5 respectively. Similarly, all +intermediate _ranks_ stand half a degree short of the _graduation_ +bearing the same number. When the class is large, the value of half +a place becomes extremely small, and the rank and graduation may be +treated as identical. + +Examples of method of calculating a centesimal position:-- + +1. A child A is classed after examination as No. 5 in a class of 27 +children; what is his centesimal graduation? + +_Answer_.--If AB be divided into 27 graduations, his rank of No. 5 +will correspond to the graduation 4°.5; therefore if AB be graduated +afresh into 100 graduations, his centesimal grade, x, will be found +by the Rule of Three, thus-- + +x : 4°.5 :: 100:27; x = 450°/27 = 16°.6. + +2. Another child B is classed No. 13 in a class of 25 _Answer_.--If +AB be divided into 25 graduations, the rank of No. 13 will +correspond to graduation 12°.5, whence as before-- + +x : 12°.5 :: 100 : 25; x = 1250°/25 = 50°; _i.e._ B is the median. + +The second method of comparing two statistical groups, to which I +alluded in the last paragraph but one, consists in stating the +centesimal grade in the one group that corresponds with the median +or any other fractional grade in the other. This, it will be remarked, +is a very simple method of comparison, absolutely independent of any +theory, and applicable to any statistical groups whatever, whether of +physical or of mental qualities. Wherever we can sort in order, +there we can apply this method. Thus, in the above examples, suppose +A and B had been selected because they were equal when compared +together, then we can concisely express the relative merits of the +two classes to which they respectively belong, by saying that 16°.6 +in the one is equal to 50° (the median) in the other. + +I frequently make statistical records of form and feature, in the +streets or in company, without exciting attention, by means of a +fine pricker and a piece of paper. The pricker is a converted silver +pencil-case, with the usual sliding piece; it is a very small one, +and is attached to my watch chain. The pencil part has been taken +out and replaced by a fine short needle, the open mouth of the case +is covered with a hemispherical cap having a hole in the centre, and +the adjustments are such that when the slide is pushed forward as +far as it can go, the needle projects no more than one-tenth of an +inch. If I then press it upon a piece of paper, held against the +ball of my thumb, the paper is indelibly perforated with a fine hole, +and the thumb is not wounded. The perforations will not be found to +run into one another unless they are very numerous, and if they +happen to do so now and then, it is of little consequence in a +statistical inquiry. The holes are easily counted at leisure, by +holding the paper against the light, and any scrap of paper will +serve the purpose. It will be found that the majority of inquiries +take the form of "more," "equal to," or "less," so I arrange the +paper in a way to present three distinct compartments to the pricker, +and to permit of its being held in the correct position and used by +the sense of touch alone. I do so by tearing the paper into the form +of a cross--that is, maimed in one of its arms--and hold it by the +maimed part between the thumb and finger, the head of the cross +pointing upward. The head of the cross receives the pricks referring +to "more"; the solitary arm that is not maimed, those meaning +"the same"; the long foot of the cross those meaning "less." It is +well to write the subject of the measurement on the paper before +beginning to use it, then more than one set of records can be kept +in the pocket at the same time, and be severally added to as occasion +serves, without fear of mistaking one for the other. + +[Illustration: ] + + + + +CHARACTER. + +The fundamental and intrinsic differences of character that exist in +individuals are well illustrated by those that distinguish the two +sexes, and which begin to assert themselves even in the nursery, +where all the children are treated alike. One notable peculiarity in +the character of the woman is that she is capricious and coy, and +has less straightforwardness than the man. It is the same in the +female of every sex about the time of pairing, and there can be +little doubt as to the origin of the peculiarity. If any race of +animals existed in whom the sexual passions of the female were as +quickly and as directly stirred as those of the male, each would +mate with the first who approached her, and one essential condition +of sexual selection would be absent. There would be no more call for +competition among the males for the favour of each female; no more +fighting for love, in which the strongest male conquers; no more +rival display of personal charms, in which the best-looking or +best-mannered prevails. The drama of courtship, with its prolonged +strivings and doubtful success, would be cut quite short, and the +race would degenerate through the absence of that sexual selection +for which the protracted preliminaries of love-making give +opportunity. The willy-nilly disposition of the female in matters of +love is as apparent in the butterfly as in the man, and must have +been continuously favoured from the earliest stages of animal +evolution down to the present time. It is the factor in the great +theory of sexual selection that corresponds to the insistence and +directness of the male. Coyness and caprice have in consequence +become a heritage of the sex, together with a cohort of allied +weaknesses and petty deceits, that men have come to think venial and +even amiable in women, but which they would not tolerate among +themselves. + +Various forms of natural character and temperament would no doubt be +found to occur in constant proportions among any large group of +persons of the same race, but what those proportions may be has +never yet been investigated. It is extremely difficult to estimate +it by observations of adults, owing to their habit of restraining +natural ill tendencies, and to their long-practised concealment of +those they do not restrain but desire to hide. The necessary +observations ought, however, to be easily made on young children in +schools, whose manifestations of character are conspicuous, who are +simultaneously for months and years under the eye of the same master +or mistress, and who are daily classed according to their various +merits. I have occasionally asked the opinion of persons well +qualified to form them, and who have had experience of teaching, as +to the most obvious divisions of character to be found among school +children. The replies have differed, but those on which most stress +was laid were connected with energy, sociability, desire to attract +notice, truthfulness, thoroughness, and refinement. + +The varieties of the emotional constitution and of likings and +antipathies are very numerous and wide. I may give two instances +which I have not seen elsewhere alluded to, merely as examples of +variation. One of them was often brought to my notice at the time +when the public were admitted to see the snakes fed at the +Zoological Gardens. Rabbits, birds, and other small animals were +dropped in the different cages, which the snakes, after more or less +serpentine action, finally struck with their poison fangs or crushed +in their folds. I found it a horrible but a fascinating scene. We +lead for the most part such an easy and carpeted existence, screened +from the stern realities of life and death, that many of us are +impelled to draw aside the curtain now and then, and gaze for a +while behind it. This exhibition of the snakes at their feeding-time, +which gave to me, as it doubtless did to several others, a sense of +curdling of the blood, had no such effect on many of the visitors. I +have often seen people--nurses, for instance, and children of all +ages--looking unconcernedly and amusedly at the scene. Their +indifference was perhaps the most painful element of the whole +transaction. Their sympathies were absolutely unawakened. I quote +this instance, partly because it leads to another very curious fact +that I have noticed as regards the way with which different persons +and races regard snakes. I myself have a horror of them, and can +only by great self-control, and under a sense of real agitation, +force myself to touch one. A considerable proportion of the English +race would feel much as I do; but the remainder do not. I have +questioned numbers of persons of both sexes, and have been +astonished at the frequency with which I have been assured that they +had no shrinking whatever from the sight of the wriggling mysterious +reptile. Some persons, as is well known, make pets of them; moreover, +I am told that there is no passage in Greek or Latin authors +expressive of that form of horror which I myself feel, and which may +be compared to what is said to be felt by hydrophobic sufferers at +the undulating movements of water. There are numerous allusions in +the classics to the venom fang or the crushing power of snakes, but +not to an aversion inspired by its form and movement. It was the +Greek symbol of Hippocrates and of healing. There is nothing of the +kind in Hebrew literature, where the snake is figured as an +attractive tempter. In Hindu fables the cobra is the ingenious and +intelligent animal, corresponding to the fox in ours. Serpent worship +was very widely spread. I therefore doubt whether the antipathy to +the snake is very common among mankind, notwithstanding the +instinctive terror that their sight inspires in monkeys. + +The other instance I may adduce is that of the horror of blood which +is curiously different in animals of the same species and in the +same animals at different times. I have had a good deal of +experience of the behaviour of oxen at the sight of blood, and found +it to be by no means uniform. In my South African travels I relied +chiefly on half-wild slaughter oxen to feed my large party, and +occasionally had to shoot one on every second day. Usually the rest +of the drove paid no particular heed to the place of blood, but at +other rare times they seemed maddened and performed a curious sort +of war-dance at the spot, making buck-leaps, brandishing their horns, +and goring at the ground. It was a grotesque proceeding, utterly +unlike the usual behaviour of cattle. I only witnessed it once +elsewhere, and that was in the Pyrenees, where I came on a herd that +was being driven homewards. Each cow in turn, as it passed a +particular spot, performed the well-remembered antics. I asked, and +learned that a cow had been killed there by a bear a few days +previously. The natural horror at blood, and it may be the +consequent dislike of red, is common among mankind; but I have seen +a well-dressed child of about four years old poking its finger with +a pleased innocent look into the bleeding carcase of a sheep hung up +in a butcher's shop, while its nurse was inside. + +The subject of character deserves more statistical investigation +than it has yet received, and none have a better chance of doing it +well than schoolmasters; their opportunities are indeed most enviable. +It would be necessary to approach the subject wholly without +prejudice, as a pure matter of observation, just as if the children +were the fauna and flora of hitherto undescribed species in an +entirely new land. + + + + +CRIMINALS AND THE INSANE. + +Criminality, though not very various in its development, is +extremely complex in its origin; nevertheless certain general +conclusions are arrived at by the best writers on the subject, among +whom Prosper Despine is one of the most instructive. The ideal +criminal has marked peculiarities of character: his conscience is +almost deficient, his instincts are vicious, his power of +self-control is very weak, and he usually detests continuous labour. +The absence of self-control is due to ungovernable temper, to passion, +or to mere imbecility, and the conditions that determine the +particular description of crime are the character of the instincts +and of the temptation. + +The deficiency of conscience in criminals, as shown by the absence +of genuine remorse for their guilt, astonishes all who first become +familiar with the details of prison life. Scenes of heartrending +despair are hardly ever witnessed among prisoners; their sleep is +broken by no uneasy dreams--on the contrary, it is easy and sound; +they have also excellent appetites. But hypocrisy is a very common +vice; and all my information agrees as to the utter untruthfulness +of criminals, however plausible their statements may be. + +We must guard ourselves against looking upon vicious instincts as +perversions, inasmuch as they may be strictly in accordance with the +healthy nature of the man, and, being transmissible by inheritance, +may become the normal characteristics of a healthy race, just as the +sheep-dog, the retriever, the pointer, and the bull-dog, have their +several instincts. There can be no greater popular error than the +supposition that natural instinct is a perfectly trustworthy guide, +for there are striking contradictions to such an opinion in +individuals of every description of animal. The most that we are +entitled to say in any case is, that the prevalent instincts of each +race are trustworthy, not those of every individual. But even this +is saying too much, because when the conditions under which the race +is living have recently been changed, some instincts which were +adapted to the old state of things are sure to be fallacious guides +to conduct in the new one. A man who is counted as an atrocious +criminal in England, and is punished as such by English law in social +self-defence, may nevertheless have acted in strict accordance with +instincts that are laudable in less civilised societies. The ideal +criminal is, unhappily for him, deficient in qualities that are +capable of restraining his unkindly or inconvenient instincts; he +has neither sympathy for others nor the sense of duty, both of which +lie at the base of conscience; nor has he sufficient self-control to +accommodate himself to the society in which he has to live, and so to +promote his own selfish interests in the long-run. He cannot be +preserved from criminal misadventure, either by altruistic +sentiments or by intelligently egoistic ones. + +The perpetuation of the criminal class by heredity is a question +difficult to grapple with on many accounts. Their vagrant habits, +their illegitimate unions, and extreme untruthfulness, are among the +difficulties of the investigation. It is, however, easy to show that +the criminal nature tends to be inherited; while, on the other hand, +it is impossible that women who spend a large portion of the best +years of their life in prison can contribute many children to the +population. The true state of the case appears to be that the +criminal population receives steady accessions from those who, +without having strongly-marked criminal natures, do nevertheless +belong to a type of humanity that is exceedingly ill suited to play +a respectable part in our modern civilisation, though it is well +suited to flourish under half-savage conditions, being naturally +both healthy and prolific. These persons are apt to go to the bad; +their daughters consort with criminals and become the parents of +criminals. An extraordinary example of this is afforded by the +history of the infamous Jukes family in America, whose pedigree has +been made out, with extraordinary care, during no less than seven +generations, and is the subject of an elaborate memoir printed in +the Thirty-first Annual Report of the Prison Association of New York, +1876. It includes no less than 540 individuals of Jukes blood, of +whom a frightful number degraded into criminality, pauperism, or +disease. + +It is difficult to summarise the results in a few plain figures, but +I will state those respecting the fifth generation, through the +eldest of the five prolific daughters of the man who is the common +ancestor of the race. The total number of these was 123, of whom +thirty-eight came through an illegitimate granddaughter, and +eighty-five through legitimate grandchildren. Out of the thirty-eight, +sixteen have been in jail, six of them for heinous offences, one of +these having been committed no less than nine times; eleven others +led openly disreputable lives or were paupers; four were notoriously +intemperate; the history of three had not been traced, and only four +are known to have done well. The great majority of the women +consorted with criminals. As to the eighty-five legitimate +descendants, they were less flagrantly bad, for only five of them +had been in jail, and only thirteen others had been paupers. Now the +ancestor of all this mischief, who was born about the year 1730, is +described as having been a jolly companionable man, a hunter, and a +fisher, averse to steady labour, but working hard and idling by turns, +and who had numerous illegitimate children, whose issue has not been +traced. He was, in fact, a somewhat good specimen of a half-savage, +without any seriously criminal instincts. The girls were apparently +attractive, marrying early and sometimes not badly; but the +gipsy-like character of the race was unsuited to success in a +civilised country. So the descendants went to the bad, and such +hereditary moral weaknesses as they may have had, rose to the +surface and worked their mischief without check. Cohabiting with +criminals, and being extremely prolific, the result was the +production of a stock exceeding 500 in number, of a prevalent +criminal type. Through disease and intemperance the breed is now +rapidly diminishing; the infant mortality has of late been horrible, +but fortunately the women of the present generation bear usually but +few children, and many of them are altogether childless. + +The criminal classes contain a considerable portion of epileptics +and other persons of instable, emotional temperament, subject to +nervous explosions that burst out at intervals and relieve the system. +The mad outbreaks of women in convict prisons is a most curious +phenomenon. Some of them are apt from time to time to have a +gradually increasing desire that at last becomes irresistible, to +"break out," as it is technically called; that is, to smash and tear +everything they can within reach, and to shriek, curse, and howl. At +length the fit expends itself; the devil, as it were, leaves them, +and they begin to behave again in their ordinary way. The highest +form of emotional instability exists in confirmed epilepsy, where +its manifestations have often been studied; it is found in a high +but somewhat less extraordinary degree in the hysterical and allied +affections. In the confirmed epileptic constitution the signs of +general instability of nervous action are muscular convulsions, +irregularities of bodily temperature, mobile intellectual activity, +and extraordinary oscillations between opposed emotional states. I +am assured by excellent authority that instable manifestations of +extreme piety and of extreme vice are almost invariably shown by +epileptics, and should be regarded as a prominent feature of their +peculiar constitution. These unfortunate beings see no incongruity +between the pious phrases that they pour out at one moment and their +vile and obscene language in the next; neither do they show +repentance for past misconduct when they are convicted of crimes, +however abominable these may be. They are creatures of the moment, +possessing no inhibitory check upon their desires and emotions, which +drive them headlong hither and thither. + +Madness is often associated with epilepsy; in all cases it is a +frightful and hereditary disfigurement of humanity, which appears, +from the upshot of various conflicting accounts, to be on the +increase. The neurotic constitution from which it springs is however +not without its merits, as has been well pointed out, since a large +proportion of the enthusiastic men and women to whose labour the +world is largely indebted, have had that constitution, judging from +the fact that insanity existed in their families. + +The phases of extreme piety and extreme vice which so rapidly +succeed one another in the same individual among the epileptics, are +more widely separated among those who are simply insane. It has been +noticed that among the morbid organic conditions which accompany the +show of excessive piety and religious rapture in the insane, none are +so frequent as disorders of the sexual organisation. Conversely, the +frenzies of religious revivals have not unfrequently ended in gross +profligacy. The encouragement of celibacy by the fervent leaders of +most creeds, utilises in an unconscious way the morbid connection +between an over-restraint of the sexual desires and impulses towards +extreme devotion. + +Another remarkable phase among the insane consists in strange views +about their individuality. They think that their body is made of +glass, or that their brains have literally disappeared, or that +there are different persons inside them, or that they are somebody +else, and so forth. It is said that this phase is most commonly +associated with morbid disturbance of the alimentary organs. So in +many religions fasting has been used as an agent for detaching the +thoughts from the body and for inducing ecstasy. + +There is yet a third peculiarity of the insane which is almost +universal, that of gloomy segregation. Passengers nearing London by +the Great Western Railway must have frequently remarked the unusual +appearance of the crowd of lunatics when taking their exercise in +the large green enclosure in front of Hanwell Asylum. They almost +without exception walk apart in moody isolation, each in his own way, +buried in his own thoughts. It is a scene like that fabled in +Vathek's hall of Eblis. I am assured that whenever two are seen in +company, it is either because their attacks of madness are of an +intermittent and epileptic character and they are temporarily sane, +or otherwise that they are near recovery. Conversely, the curative +influence of social habits is fully recognised, and they are promoted +by festivities in the asylums. On the other hand, the great teachers +of all creeds have made seclusion a prominent religious exercise. In +short, by enforcing celibacy, fasting, and solitude, they have done +their best towards making men mad, and they have always largely +succeeded in inducing morbid mental conditions among their followers. + +Floods of light are thrown upon various incidents of devotee life, +and also upon the disgusting and not otherwise intelligible +character of the sanctimonious scoundrel, by the everyday +experiences of the madhouse. No professor of metaphysics, psychology, +or religion can claim to know the elements of what he teaches, +unless he is acquainted with the ordinary phenomena of idiocy, +madness, and epilepsy. He must study the manifestations of disease +and congenital folly, as well as those of sanity and high intellect. + + + + +GREGARIOUS AND SLAVISH INSTINCTS. + +I propose in this chapter to discuss a curious and apparently +anomalous group of base moral instincts and intellectual deficiencies, +that are innate rather than acquired, by tracing their analogies in +the world of brutes and examining the conditions through which they +have been evolved. They are the slavish aptitudes from which the +leaders of men are exempt, but which are characteristic elements in +the disposition of ordinary persons. The vast majority of persons of +our race have a natural tendency to shrink from the responsibility +of standing and acting alone; they exalt the _vox populi_, even when +they know it to be the utterance of a mob of nobodies, into the +_vox Dei_, and they are willing slaves to tradition, authority, +and custom. The intellectual deficiencies corresponding to these +moral flaws are shown by the rareness of free and original thought as +compared with the frequency and readiness with which men accept the +opinions of those in authority as binding on their judgment. I shall +endeavour to prove that the slavish aptitudes in man are a direct +consequence of his gregarious nature, which itself is a result of +the conditions both of his primeval barbarism and of the forms of +his subsequent civilisation. My argument will be, that gregarious +brute animals possess a want of self-reliance in a marked degree; +that the conditions of the lives of these animals have made a want +of self-reliance a necessity to them, and that by the law of natural +selection the gregarious instincts and their accompanying slavish +aptitudes have gradually become evolved. Then I shall argue that our +remote ancestors have lived under parallel conditions, and that +other causes peculiar to human society have acted up to the present +day in the same direction, and that we have inherited the gregarious +instincts and slavish aptitudes which have been needed under past +circumstances, although in our advancing civilisation they are +becoming of more harm than good to our race. + +It was my fortune, in earlier life, to gain an intimate knowledge of +certain classes of gregarious animals. The urgent need of the camel +for the close companionship of his fellows was a never-exhausted +topic of curious admiration to me during tedious days of travel +across many North African deserts. I also happened to hear and read +a great deal about the still more marked gregarious instincts of the +llama; but the social animal into whose psychology I am conscious of +having penetrated most thoroughly is the ox of the wild parts of +western South Africa. It is necessary to insist upon the epithet +"wild," because an ox of tamed parentage has different natural +instincts; for instance, an English ox is far less gregarious than +those I am about to describe, and affords a proportionately less +valuable illustration to my argument. The oxen of which I speak +belonged to the Damaras, and none of the ancestry of these cattle +had ever been broken to harness. They were watched from a distance +during the day, as they roamed about the open country, and at night +they were driven with cries to enclosures, into which they rushed +much like a body of terrified wild animals driven by huntsmen into a +trap. Their scared temper was such as to make it impossible to lay +hold of them by other means than by driving the whole herd into a +clump, and lassoing the leg of the animal it was desired to seize, +and throwing him to the ground with dexterous force. With oxen and +cows of this description, whose nature is no doubt shared by the +bulls, I spent more than a year in the closest companionship. + +I had nearly a hundred of the beasts broken in for the waggon, for +packs, and for the saddle. I travelled an entire journey of +exploration on the back of one of them, with others by my side, +either labouring at their tasks or walking at leisure; and with +others again who were wholly unbroken, and who served the purpose of +an itinerant larder. At night, when there had been no time to erect +an enclosure to hold them, I lay down in their midst, and it was +interesting to observe how readily they then availed themselves of +the neighbourhood of the camp fire and of man, conscious of the +protection they afforded from prowling carnivora, whose cries and +roars, now distant, now near, continually broke upon the stillness. +These opportunities of studying the disposition of such peculiar +cattle were not wasted upon me. I had only too much leisure to think +about them, and the habits of the animals strongly attracted my +curiosity. The better I understood them, the more complex and worthy +of study did their minds appear to be. But I am now concerned only +with their blind gregarious instincts, which are conspicuously +distinct from the ordinary social desires. In the latter they are +deficient; thus they are not amiable to one another, but show on the +whole more expressions of spite and disgust than of forbearance or +fondness. They do not suffer from an ennui, which society can remove, +because their coarse feeding and their ruminant habits make them +somewhat stolid. Neither can they love society, as monkeys do, for +the opportunities it affords of a fuller and more varied life, +because they remain self-absorbed in the middle of their herd, while +the monkeys revel together in frolics, scrambles, fights, loves, and +chatterings. Yet although the ox has so little affection for, or +individual interest in, his fellows, he cannot endure even a +momentary severance from his herd. If he be separated from it by +stratagem or force, he exhibits every sign of mental agony; he +strives with all his might to get back again, and when he succeeds, +he plunges into its middle to bathe his whole body with the comfort +of closest companionship. This passionate terror at segregation is a +convenience to the herdsman, who may rest assured in the darkness or +in the mist that the whole herd is safe whenever he can get a +glimpse of a single ox. It is also the cause of great inconvenience +to the traveller in ox-waggons, who constantly feels himself in a +position towards his oxen like that of a host to a company of +bashful gentlemen at the time when he is trying to get them to move +from the drawing-room to the dinner-table, and no one will go first, +but every one backs and gives place to his neighbour. The traveller +finds great difficulty in procuring animals capable of acting the +part of fore-oxen to his team, the ordinary members of the wild herd +being wholly unfitted by nature to move in so prominent and isolated +a position, even though, as is the custom, a boy is always in front +to persuade or pull them onwards. Therefore, a good fore-ox is an +animal of an exceptionally independent disposition. Men who break in +wild cattle for harness watch assiduously for those who show a +self-reliant nature, by grazing apart or ahead of the rest, and +these they break in for fore-oxen. The other cattle may be +indifferently devoted to ordinary harness purposes, or to slaughter; +but the born leaders are far too rare to be used for any less +distinguished service than that which they alone are capable of +fulfilling. But a still more exceptional degree of merit may +sometimes be met with among the many thousands of Damara cattle. It +is possible to find an ox who may be ridden, not indeed as freely as +a horse, for I have never heard of a feat like that, but at all +events wholly apart from the companionship of others; and an +accomplished rider will even succeed in urging him out at a trot +from the very middle of his fellows. With respect to the negative +side of the scale, though I do not recollect definite instances, I +can recall general impressions of oxen showing a deficiency from the +average ox standard of self-reliance, about equal to the excess of +that quality found in ordinary fore-oxen. Thus I recollect there +were some cattle of a peculiarly centripetal instinct, who ran more +madly than the rest into the middle of the herd when they were +frightened; and I have no reason to doubt from general recollections +that the law of deviation from an average would be as applicable to +independence of character among cattle as one might expect it +theoretically to be. The conclusion to which we are driven is, that +few of the Damara cattle have enough originality and independence of +disposition to pass unaided through their daily risks in a tolerably +comfortable manner. They are essentially slavish, and seek no better +lot than to be led by any one of their number who has enough +self-reliance to accept that position. No ox ever dares to act +contrary to the rest of the herd, but he accepts their common +determination as an authority binding on his conscience. + +An incapacity of relying on oneself and a faith in others are +precisely the conditions that compel brutes to congregate and live +in herds; and, again, it is essential to their safety in a country +infested by large carnivora, that they should keep closely together +in herds. No ox grazing alone could live for many days unless he +were protected, far more assiduously and closely than is possible to +barbarians. The Damara owners confide perhaps 200 cattle to a couple +of half-starved youths, who pass their time in dozing or in grubbing +up roots to eat. The owners know that it is hopeless to protect the +herd from lions, so they leave it to take its chance; and as regards +human marauders they equally know that the largest number of cattle +watchers they could spare could make no adequate resistance to an +attack; they therefore do not send more than two, who are enough to +run home and give the alarm to the whole male population of the +tribe to run in arms on the tracks of their plundered property. +Consequently, as I began by saying, the cattle have to take care of +themselves against the wild beasts, and they would infallibly be +destroyed by them if they had not safeguards of their own, which are +not easily to be appreciated at first sight at their full value. We +shall understand them better by considering the precise nature of +the danger that an ox runs. When he is alone it is not simply that he +is too defenceless, but that he is easily surprised. A crouching +lion fears cattle who turn boldly upon him, and he does so with +reason. The horns of an ox or antelope are able to make an ugly +wound in the paw or chest of a springing beast when he receives its +thrust in the same way that an over-eager pugilist meets his +adversary's "counter" hit. Hence it is that a cow who has calved by +the wayside, and has been temporarily abandoned by the caravan, is +never seized by lions. The incident frequently occurs, and as +frequently are the cow and calf eventually brought safe to the camp; +and yet there is usually evidence in footprints of her having +sustained a regular siege from the wild beasts; but she is so +restless and eager for the safety of her young that no beast of prey +can approach her unawares. This state of exaltation is of course +exceptional; cattle are obliged in their ordinary course of life to +spend a considerable part of the day with their heads buried in the +grass, where they can neither see nor smell what is about them. A +still larger part of their time must be spent in placid rumination, +during which they cannot possibly be on the alert. But a herd of +such animals, when considered as a whole, is always on the alert; at +almost every moment some eyes, ears, and noses will command all +approaches, and the start or cry of alarm of a single beast is a +signal to all his companions. To live gregariously is to become a +fibre in a vast sentient web overspreading many acres; it is to +become the possessor of faculties always awake, of eyes that see in +all directions, of ears and nostrils that explore a broad belt of air; +it is also to become the occupier of every bit of vantage ground +whence the approach of a wild beast might be overlooked. The +protective senses of each individual who chooses to live in +companionship are multiplied by a large factor, and he thereby +receives a maximum of security at a minimum cost of restlessness. +When we isolate an animal who has been accustomed to a gregarious +life, we take away his sense of protection, for he feels himself +exposed to danger from every part of the circle around him, except +the one point on which his attention is momentarily fixed; and he +knows that disaster may easily creep up to him from behind. +Consequently his glance is restless and anxious, and is turned in +succession to different quarters; his movements are hurried and +agitated, and he becomes a prey to the extremest terror. There can +be no room for doubt that it is suitable to the well-being of cattle +in a country infested with beasts of prey to live in close +companionship, and being suitable, it follows from the law of +natural selection that the development of gregarious and therefore +of slavish instincts must be favoured in such cattle. It also +follows from the same law that the degree in which those instincts +are developed is on the whole the most conducive to their safety. If +they were more gregarious they would crowd so closely as to +interfere with each other when grazing the scattered pasture of +Damara land; if less gregarious, they would be too widely scattered +to keep a sufficient watch against the wild beasts. + +I now proceed to consider more particularly why the range of +deviation from the average is such that we find about one ox out of +fifty to possess sufficient independence of character to serve as a +pretty good fore-ox. Why is it not one in five or one in five hundred? +The reason undoubtedly is that natural selection tends to give but +one leader to each suitably-sized herd, and to repress superabundant +leaders. There is a certain size of herd most suitable to the +geographical and other conditions of the country; it must not +be too large, or the scattered puddles which form their only +watering-places for a great part of the year would not suffice; and +there are similar drawbacks in respect to pasture. It must not be +too small, or it would be comparatively insecure; thus a troop of +five animals is far more easy to be approached by a stalking +huntsman than one of twenty, and the latter than one of a hundred. We +have seen that it is the oxen who graze apart, as well as those who +lead the herd, who are recognised by the trainers of cattle as +gifted with enough independence of character to become fore-oxen. +They are even preferred to the actual leaders of the herd; they dare +to move more alone, and therefore their independence is undoubted. +The leaders are safe enough from lions, because their flanks and rear +are guarded by their followers; but each of those who graze apart, +and who represent the superabundant supply of self-reliant animals, +have one flank and the rear exposed, and it is precisely these whom +the lions take. Looking at the matter in a broad way, we may justly +assert that wild beasts trim and prune every herd into compactness, +and tend to reduce it into a closely-united body with a single +well-protected leader. That the development of independence of +character in cattle is thus suppressed below its otherwise natural +standard by the influence of wild beasts, is shown by the greater +display of self-reliance among cattle whose ancestry for some +generations have not been exposed to such danger. + +What has been said about cattle, in relation to wild beasts, applies +with more or less obvious modifications to barbarians in relation to +their neighbours, but I insist on a close resemblance in the +particular circumstance, that many savages are so unamiable and +morose as to have hardly any object in associating together, besides +that of mutual support. If we look at the inhabitants of the very +same country as the oxen I have described, we shall find them +congregated into multitudes of tribes, all more or less at war with +one another. We shall find that few of these tribes are very small, +and few very large, and that it is precisely those that are +exceptionally large or small whose condition is the least stable. A +very small tribe is sure to be overthrown, slaughtered, or driven +into slavery by its more powerful neighbour. A very large tribe +falls to pieces through its own unwieldiness, because, by the nature +of things, it must be either deficient in centralisation or +straitened in food, or both. A barbarian population is obliged to +live dispersedly, since a square mile of land will support only a +few hunters or shepherds; on the other hand, a barbarian government +cannot be long maintained unless the chief is brought into frequent +contact with his dependants, and this is geographically impossible +when his tribe is so scattered as to cover a great extent of +territory. The law of selection must discourage every race of +barbarians which supplies self-reliant individuals in such large +numbers as to cause tribes of moderate size to lose their blind +desire of aggregation. It must equally discourage a breed that is +incompetent to supply such men in sufficiently abundant ratio to the +rest of the population to ensure the existence of tribes of not too +large a size. It must not be supposed that gregarious instincts are +equally important to all forms of savage life; but I hold, from what +we know of the clannish fighting habits of our forefathers, that +they were every whit as applicable to the earlier ancestors of our +European stock as they are still to a large part of the black +population of Africa. + +There is, moreover, an extraordinary power of tyranny invested in +the chiefs of tribes and nations of men, that so vastly outweighs +the analogous power possessed by the leaders of animal herds as to +rank as a special attribute of human society, eminently conducive to +slavishness. If any brute in a herd makes itself obnoxious to the +leader, the leader attacks him, and there is a free fight between the +two, the other animals looking on the while. But if a man makes +himself obnoxious to his chief, he is attacked, not by the chief +single-handed, but by the overpowering force of his executive. The +rebellious individual has to brave a disciplined host; there are +spies who will report his doings, a local authority who will send a +detachment of soldiers to drag him to trial; there are prisons ready +built to hold him, civil authorities wielding legal powers of +stripping him of all his possessions, and official executioners +prepared to torture or kill him. The tyrannies under which men have +lived, whether under rude barbarian chiefs, under the great +despotisms of half-civilised Oriental countries, or under some of +the more polished but little less severe governments of modern days, +must have had a frightful influence in eliminating independence of +character from the human race. Think of Austria, of Naples, and even +of France under Napoleon III. It was stated[1] in 1870 that, +according to papers found at the Tuileries, 26,642 persons had been +arrested in France for political offences since 2nd December, 1851, +and that 14,118 had been transported, exiled, or detained in prison. + +I have already spoken in _Hereditary Genius_ of the large effects of +religious persecution in comparatively recent years, on the natural +character of races, and shall not say more about it here; but it +must not be omitted from the list of steady influences continuing +through ancient historical times down, in some degree, to the +present day, in destroying the self-reliant, and therefore the +nobler races of men. + +I hold that the blind instincts evolved under these long-continued +conditions have been ingrained into our breed, and that they are a +bar to our enjoying the freedom which the forms of modern +civilisation are otherwise capable of giving us. A really +intelligent nation might be held together by far stronger forces +than are derived from the purely gregarious instincts. A nation need +not be a mob of slaves, clinging to one another through fear, and +for the most part incapable of self-government, and begging to be led; +but it might consist of vigorous self-reliant men, knit to one +[6] another by innumerable ties, into a strong, tense, and elastic +organisation. + +[Footnote 6: _Daily News_, 17th October, 1870.] + + * * * * * + +The character of the corporate action of a nation in which each man +judges for himself, might be expected to possess statistical +constancy. It would be the expression of the dominant character of a +large number of separate members of the same race, and ought +therefore to be remarkably uniform. Fickleness of national character +is principally due to the several members of the nation exercising +no independent judgment, but allowing themselves to be led hither and +thither by the successive journalists, orators, and sentimentalists +who happen for the time to have the chance of directing them. + +Our present natural dispositions make it impossible for us to attain +the ideal standard of a nation of men all judging soberly for +themselves, and therefore the slavishness of the mass of our +countrymen, in morals and intellect, must be an admitted fact in all +schemes of regenerative policy. + +The hereditary taint due to the primeval barbarism of our race, and +maintained by later influences, will have to be bred out of it +before our descendants can rise to the position of free members of +an intelligent society: and I may add that the most likely nest at +the present time for self-reliant natures is to be found in States +founded and maintained by emigrants. + +Servility has its romantic side, in the utter devotion of a slave to +the lightest wishes and the smallest comforts of his master, and in +that of a loyal subject to those of his sovereign; but such devotion +cannot be called a reasonable self-sacrifice; it is rather an +abnegation of the trust imposed on man to use his best judgment, and +to act in the way he thinks the wisest. Trust in authority is a +trait of the character of children, of weakly women, and of the sick +and infirm, but it is out of place among members of a thriving +resolute community during the fifty or more years of their middle +life. Those who have been born in a free country feel the atmosphere +of a paternal government very oppressive. The hearty and earnest +political and individual life which is found when every man has a +continual sense of public responsibility, and knows that success +depends on his own right judgment and exertion, is replaced under a +despotism by an indolent reliance upon what its master may direct, +and by a demoralising conviction that personal advancement is best +secured by solicitations and favour. + + + + +INTELLECTUAL DIFFERENCES. + +It is needless for me to speak here about the differences in +intellectual power between different men and different races, or +about the convertibility of genius as shown by different members of +the same gifted family achieving eminence in varied ways, as I have +already written at length on these subjects in _Hereditary Genius_ +and in _Antecedents of English Men of Science_. It is, however, well +to remark that during the fourteen years that have elapsed since the +former book was published, numerous fresh instances have arisen of +distinction being attained by members of the gifted families whom I +quoted as instances of heredity, thus strengthening my arguments. + + + + +MENTAL IMAGERY. + +Anecdotes find their way into print, from time to time, of persons +whose visual memory is so clear and sharp as to present mental +pictures that may be scrutinised with nearly as much ease and +prolonged attention as if they were real objects. I became +interested in the subject and made a rather extensive inquiry into +the mode of visual presentation in different persons, so far as +could be gathered from their respective statements. It seemed to me +that the results might illustrate the essential differences between +the mental operations of different men, that they might give some +clue to the origin of visions, and that the course of the inquiry +might reveal some previously unnoticed facts. It has done all this +more or less, and I will explain the results in the present and in +the three following chapters. + +It is not necessary to trouble the reader with my earlier tentative +steps to find out what I desired to learn. After the inquiry had +been fairly started it took the form of submitting a certain number +of printed questions to a large number of persons (see Appendix E). +There is hardly any more difficult task than that of framing +questions which are not likely to be misunderstood, which admit of +easy reply, and which cover the ground of inquiry. I did my best in +these respects, without forgetting the most important part of +all--namely, to tempt my correspondents to write freely in fuller +explanation of their replies, and on cognate topics as well. These +separate letters have proved more instructive and interesting by far +than the replies to the set questions. + +The first group of the rather long series of queries related to the +illumination, definition, and colouring of the mental image, and +were framed thus:-- + +"Before addressing yourself to any of the Questions on the +opposite page, think of some definite object--suppose it is +your breakfast-table as you sat down to it this morning--and +consider carefully the picture that rises before your mind's eye." + +1. _Illumination_.--Is the image dim or fairly clear? Is its +brightness comparable to that of the actual scene? + +2. _Definition_.--Are all the objects pretty well defined at the +same time, or is the place of sharpest definition at any one moment +more contracted than it is in a real scene? + +3. _Colouring_.--Are the colours of the china, of the toast, +bread-crust, mustard, meat, parsley, or whatever may have been on +the table, quite distinct and natural? + +The earliest results of my inquiry amazed me. I had begun by +questioning friends in the scientific world, as they were the most +likely class of men to give accurate answers concerning this faculty +of visualising, to which novelists and poets continually allude, +which has left an abiding mark on the vocabularies of every language, +and which supplies the material out of which dreams and the +well-known hallucinations of sick people are built. + +To my astonishment, I found that the great majority of the men of +science to whom I first applied protested that mental imagery was +unknown to them, and they looked on me as fanciful and fantastic in +supposing that the words "mental imagery" really expressed what I +believed everybody supposed them to mean. They had no more notion of +its true nature than a colour-blind man, who has not discerned his +defect, has of the nature of colour. They had a mental deficiency of +which they were unaware, and naturally enough supposed that those +who affirmed they possessed it, were romancing. To illustrate their +mental attitude it will be sufficient to quote a few lines from the +letter of one of my correspondents, who writes:-- + +"These questions presuppose assent to some sort of a proposition +regarding the 'mind's eye,' and the 'images' which it sees.... This +points to some initial fallacy.... It is only by a figure of speech +that I can describe my recollection of a scene as a 'mental image' +which I can 'see' with my 'mind's eye.' ... I do not see it ... any +more than a man sees the thousand lines of Sophocles which under due +pressure he is ready to repeat. The memory possesses it, etc." + +Much the same result followed inquiries made for me by a friend +among members of the French Institute. + +On the other hand, when I spoke to persons whom I met in general +society, I found an entirely different disposition to prevail. Many +men and a yet larger number of women, and many boys and girls, +declared that they habitually saw mental imagery, and that it was +perfectly distinct to them and full of colour. The more I pressed +and cross-questioned them, professing myself to be incredulous, the +more obvious was the truth of their first assertions. They described +their imagery in minute detail, and they spoke in a tone of surprise +at my apparent hesitation in accepting what they said. I felt that I +myself should have spoken exactly as they did if I had been +describing a scene that lay before my eyes, in broad daylight, to a +blind man who persisted in doubting the reality of vision. Reassured +by this happier experience, I recommenced to inquire among +scientific men, and soon found scattered instances of what I sought, +though in by no means the same abundance as elsewhere. I then +circulated my questions more generally among my friends and through +their hands, and obtained the replies that are the main subject of +this and of the three next chapters. They were from persons of both +sexes, and of various ages, and in the end from occasional +correspondents in nearly every civilised country. + +I have also received batches of answers from various educational +establishments both in England and America, which were made after +the masters had fully explained the meaning of the questions, and +interested the boys in them. These have the merit of returns derived +from a general census, which my other data lack, because I cannot +for a moment suppose that the writers of the latter are a haphazard +proportion of those to whom they were sent. Indeed I know of some who, +disavowing all possession of the power, and of many others who, +possessing it in too faint a degree to enable them to express what +their experiences really were, in a manner satisfactory to themselves, +sent no returns at all. Considerable statistical similarity was, +however, observed between the sets of returns furnished by the +schoolboys and those sent by my separate correspondents, and I may +add that they accord in this respect with the oral information I +have elsewhere obtained. The conformity of replies from so many +different sources which was clear from the first, the fact of their +apparent trustworthiness being on the whole much increased by +cross-examination (though I could give one or two amusing instances +of break-down), and the evident effort made to give accurate answers, +have convinced me that it is a much easier matter than I had +anticipated to obtain trustworthy replies to psychological questions. +Many persons, especially women and intelligent children, take +pleasure in introspection, and strive their very best to explain +their mental processes. I think that a delight in self-dissection +must be a strong ingredient in the pleasure that many are said to +take in confessing themselves to priests. + +Here, then, are two rather notable results: the one is the proved +facility of obtaining statistical insight into the processes of +other persons' minds, whatever _à priori_ objection may have been +made as to its possibility; and the other is that scientific men, as +a class, have feeble powers of visual representation. There is no +doubt whatever on the latter point, however it may be accounted for. +My own conclusion is, that an over-ready perception of sharp mental +pictures is antagonistic to the acquirement of habits of +highly-generalised and abstract thought, especially when the steps +of reasoning are carried on by words as symbols, and that if the +faculty of seeing the pictures was ever possessed by men who think +hard, it is very apt to be lost by disuse. The highest minds are +probably those in which it is not lost, but subordinated, and is +ready for use on suitable occasions. I am, however, bound to say, +that the missing faculty seems to be replaced so serviceably by other +modes of conception, chiefly, I believe, connected with the +incipient motor sense, not of the eyeballs only but of the muscles +generally, that men who declare themselves entirely deficient in the +power of seeing mental pictures can nevertheless give life-like +descriptions of what they have seen, and can otherwise express +themselves as if they were gifted with a vivid visual imagination. +They can also become painters of the rank of Royal Academicians. + +The facts I am now about to relate are obtained from the returns of +100 adult men, of whom 19 are Fellows of the Royal Society, mostly +of very high repute, and at least twice, and I think I may say three +times, as many more are persons of distinction in various kinds of +intellectual work. As already remarked, these returns taken by +themselves do not profess to be of service in a general statistical +sense, but they are of much importance in showing how men of +exceptional accuracy express themselves when they are speaking of +mental imagery. They also testify to the variety of experiences to +be met with in a moderately large circle. I will begin by giving a +few cases of the highest, of the medium, and of the lowest order of +the faculty of visualising. The hundred returns were first +classified according to the order of the faculty, as judged to the +best of my ability from the whole of what was said in them, and of +what I knew from other sources of the writers; and the number +prefixed to each quotation shows its place in the class-list. + + +VIVIDNESS OF MENTAL IMAGERY. + +(From returns, furnished by 100 men, at least half of whom are +distinguished in science or in other fields of intellectual work.) + +_Cases where the faculty is very high_. + +1. Brilliant, distinct, never blotchy. + +2. Quite comparable to the real object. I feel as though I was +dazzled, _e.g._ when recalling the sun to my mental vision. + +3. In some instances quite as bright as an actual scene. + +4. Brightness as in the actual scene. + +5. Thinking of the breakfast-table this morning, all the objects in +my mental picture are as bright as the actual scene. + +6. The image once seen is perfectly clear and bright. + +7. Brightness at first quite comparable to actual scene. + +8. The mental image appears to correspond in all respects with +reality. I think it is as clear as the actual scene. + +9. The brightness is perfectly comparable to that of the real scene. + +10. I think the illumination of the imaginary image is nearly equal +to that of the real one. + +11. All clear and bright; all the objects seem to me well defined at +the same time. + +12. I can see my breakfast-table or any equally familiar thing with +my mind's eye, quite as well in all particulars as I can do if the +reality is before me. + +_Cases where the faculty is mediocre_. + +46. Fairly clear and not incomparable in illumination with that of +the real scene, especially when I first catch it. Apt to become +fainter when more particularly attended to. + +47. Fairly clear, not quite comparable to that of the actual scene. +Some objects are more sharply defined than others, the more familiar +objects coming more distinctly in my mind. + +48. Fairly clear as a general image; details rather misty. + +49. Fairly clear, but not equal to the scene. Defined, but not +sharply; not all seen with equal clearness. + +50. Fairly clear. Brightness probably at least one-half to +two-thirds of original. [The writer is a physiologist.] Definition +varies very much, one or two objects being much more distinct than +the others, but the latter come out clearly if attention be paid to +them. + +51. Image of my breakfast-table fairly clear, but not quite so +bright as the reality. Altogether it is pretty well defined; the +part where I sit and its surroundings are pretty well so. + +52. Fairly clear, but brightness not comparable to that of the +actual scene. The objects are sharply defined; some of them are +salient, and others insignificant and dim, but by separate efforts I +can take a visualised inventory of the whole table. + +53. Details of breakfast-table _when the scene is reflected on_ are +fairly defined and complete, but I have had a familiarity of many +years with my own breakfast-table, and the above would not be the +case with a table seen casually unless there were some striking +peculiarity in it, + +54. I can recall any single object or group of objects, but not the +whole table at once. The things recalled are generally clearly +defined. Our table is a long one; I can in my mind pass my eyes all +down the table and see the different things distinctly, but not the +whole table at once. + +_Cases where the faculty is at the lowest_. + +89. Dim and indistinct, yet I can give an account of this morning's +breakfast-table; split herrings, broiled chickens, bacon, rolls, +rather light-coloured marmalade, faint green plates with stiff pink +flowers, the girls' dresses, etc. etc. I can also tell where all the +dishes were, and where the people sat (I was on a visit). But my +imagination is seldom pictorial except between sleeping and waking, +when I sometimes see rather vivid forms. + +90. Dim and not comparable in brightness to the real scene. Badly +defined with blotches of light; very incomplete. + +91. Dim, poor definition; could not sketch from it. I have a +difficulty in seeing two images together. + +92. Usually very dim. I cannot speak of its brightness, but only of +its faintness. Not well defined and very incomplete. + +93. Dim, imperfect. + +94. I am very rarely able to recall any object whatever with any +sort of distinctness. Very occasionally an object or image will +recall itself, but even then it is more like a generalised image +than an individual image. I seem to be almost destitute of +visualising power, as under control. + +95. No power of visualising. Between sleeping and waking, in illness +and in health, with eyes closed, some remarkable scenes have +occasionally presented themselves, but I cannot recall them when +awake with eyes open, and by daylight, or under any circumstances +whatever when a copy could be made of them on paper. I have drawn +both men and places many days or weeks after seeing them, but it was +by an effort of memory acting on study at the time, and assisted by +trial and error on the paper or canvas, whether in black, yellow, or +colour, afterwards. + +96. It is only as a figure of speech that I can describe my +recollection of a scene as a "mental image" which I can "see" with +my "mind's eye." ... The memory possesses it, and the mind can at +will roam over the whole, or study minutely any part. + +97. No individual objects, only a general idea of a very uncertain +kind. + +98. No. My memory is not of the nature of a spontaneous vision, +though I remember well where a word occurs in a page, how furniture +looks in a room, etc. The ideas not felt to be mental pictures, but +rather the symbols of facts. + + +99. Extremely dim. The impressions are in all respects so dim, vague, +and transient, that I doubt whether they can reasonably be called +images. They are incomparably less than those of dreams. + +100. My powers are zero. To my consciousness there is almost no +association of memory with objective visual impressions. I recollect +the breakfast-table, but do not see it. + +These quotations clearly show the great variety of natural powers of +visual representation, and though the returns from which they are +taken have, as I said, no claim to be those of 100 Englishmen taken +at haphazard, nevertheless, to the best of my judgment, they happen +to differ among themselves in much the same way that such returns +would have done. I cannot procure a strictly haphazard series for +comparison, because in any group of persons whom I may question +there are always many too indolent to reply, or incapable of +expressing themselves, or who from some fancy of their own are +unwilling to reply. Still, as already mentioned, I have got together +several groups that approximate to what is wanted, usually from +schools, and I have analysed them as well as I could, and the general +result is that the above returns may be accepted as a fair +representation of the visualising powers of Englishmen. Treating +these according to the method described in the chapter of statistics, +we have the following results, in which, as a matter of interest, I +have also recorded the highest and the lowest of the series:-- + +_Highest_.--Brilliant, distinct, never blotchy. + + * * * * * + +_First Suboctile_.--The image once seen is perfectly clear and +bright. + +_First Octile_.--I can see my breakfast-table or any equally +familiar thing with my mind's eye quite as well in all particulars +as I can do if the reality is before me. + +_First Quartile_--Fairly clear; illumination of actual scene is +fairly represented. Well defined. Parts do not obtrude themselves, +but attention has to be directed to different points in succession +to call up the whole. + +_Middlemost_.--Fairly clear. Brightness probably at least from +one-half to two-thirds of the original. Definition varies very much, +one or two objects being much more distinct than the others, but the +latter come out clearly if attention be paid to them. + +_Last Quartile_.--Dim, certainly not comparable to the actual scene. +I have to think separately of the several things on the table to +bring them clearly before the mind's eye, and when I think of some +things the others fade away in confusion. + +_Last Octile_.--Dim and not comparable in brightness to the real +scene. Badly defined, with blotches of light; very incomplete; very +little of one object is seen at one time. + +_Last Suboctile_.--I am very rarely able to recall any object +whatever with any sort of distinctness. Very occasionally an object +or image will recall itself, but even then it is more like a +generalised image than an individual one. I seem to be almost +destitute of visualising power as under control. + +_Lowest_.--My powers are zero. To my consciousness there is almost +no association of memory with objective visual impressions. I +recollect the table, but do not see it. + +I next proceed to colour, as specified in the third of my questions, +and annex a selection from the returns classified on the same +principle as in the preceding paragraph. + + +COLOUR REPRESENTATION. + +_Highest_.--Perfectly distinct, bright, and natural. + +_First Suboctile_.--White cloth, blue china, argand coffee-pot, +buff stand with sienna drawing, toast--all clear. + +_First Octile_.--All details seen perfectly. + +_First Quartile_.--Colours distinct and natural till I begin to +puzzle over them. + +_Middlemost_.--Fairly distinct, though not certain that they are +accurately recalled. + +_Last Quartile_.--Natural, but very indistinct. + +_Last Octile_.--Faint; can only recall colours by a special effort +for each. + +_Last Suboctile_.--Power is nil. + +_Lowest_.--Power is nil. + +It may seem surprising that one out of every sixteen persons who are +accustomed to use accurate expressions should speak of their mental +imagery as perfectly clear and bright; but it is so, and many +details are added in various returns emphasising the assertion. One +of the commonest of these is to the effect, "If I could draw, I am +sure I could draw perfectly from my mental image." That some artists, +such as Blake, have really done so is beyond dispute, but I have +little doubt that there is an unconscious exaggeration in these +returns. My reason for saying so is that I have also returns from +artists, who say as follows: "My imagery is so clear, that if I had +been unable to draw I should have unhesitatingly said that I could +draw from it." A foremost painter of the present day has used that +expression. He finds deficiencies and gaps when he tries to draw +from his mental vision. There is perhaps some analogy between these +images and those of "faces in the fire." One may often fancy an +exceedingly well-marked face or other object in the burning coals, +but probably everybody will find, as I have done, that it is +impossible to draw it, for as soon as its outlines are seriously +studied, the fancy flies away. + +Mr. Flinders Petrie, a contributor of interesting experiments on +kindred subjects to _Nature_, informs me that he habitually works +out sums by aid of an imaginary sliding rule, which he sets in the +desired way and reads off mentally. He does not usually visualise +the whole rule, but only that part of it with which he is at the +moment concerned (see Plate II. Fig. 34, where, however, the artist +has not put in the divisions very correctly). I think this is one of +the most striking cases of accurate visualising power it is possible +to imagine. + +I have a few returns from chess-players who play games blindfolded; +but the powers of such men to visualise the separate boards with +different sets of men on the different boards, some ivory, some wood, +and so forth, are well known, and I need not repeat them. I will +rather give the following extract from an article in the _Pall Mall +Gazette_, 27th June 1882, on the recent chess tournament at Vienna:-- + +"The modern feats of blindfold play (without sight of board) greatly +surpass those of twenty years ago. Paul Morphy, the American, was +the first who made an especial study of this kind of display, +playing some seven or eight games blindfold and simultaneously +against various inferior opponents, and making lucrative exhibitions +in this way. His abilities in this line created a scare among other +rivals who had not practised this test of memory. Since his day many +chess-players who are gifted with strong and clear memory and power +of picturing to the mind the ideal board and men, have carried this +branch of exhibition play far beyond Morphy's pitch; and, +contemporaneously with this development, it has become acknowledged +that skill in blindfold play is not an absolute test of similarly +relative powers over the board: _e.g._ Blackburne and Zukertort can +play as many as sixteen, or even twenty, blindfold games at a time, +and win about 80 per cent of them at least. Steinitz, who beats them +both in match play, does not essay more than six blindfold at a time. +Mason does not, to our knowledge, make any _spécialité_ at all of +this sort." + +I have many cases of persons mentally reading off scores when +playing the pianoforte, or manuscript when they are making speeches. +One statesman has assured me that a certain hesitation in utterance +which he has at times, is due to his being plagued by the image of +his manuscript speech with its original erasures and corrections. He +cannot lay the ghost, and he puzzles in trying to decipher it. + +Some few persons see mentally in print every word that is uttered; +they attend to the visual equivalent and not to the sound of the +words, and they read them off usually as from a long imaginary strip +of paper, such as is unwound from telegraphic instruments. The +experiences differ in detail as to size and kind of type, colour of +paper, and so forth, but are always the same in the same person. + +A well-known frequenter of the Royal Institution tells me that he +often craves for an absence of visual perceptions, they are so +brilliant and persistent. The Rev. George Henslow speaks of their +extreme restlessness; they oscillate, rotate, and change. + +It is a mistake to suppose that sharp sight is accompanied by clear +visual memory. I have not a few instances in which the independence +of the two faculties is emphatically commented on; and I have at +least one clear case where great interest in outlines and accurate +appreciation of straightness, squareness, and the like, is +unaccompanied by the power of visualising. Neither does the faculty +go with dreaming. I have cases where it is powerful, and at the same +time where dreams are rare and faint or altogether absent. One +friend tells me that his dreams have not the hundredth part of the +vigour of his waking fancies. + +The visualising and the identifying powers are by no means +necessarily combined. A distinguished writer on meta-physical topics +assures me that he is exceptionally quick at recognising a face that +he has seen before, but that he cannot call up a mental image of any +face with clearness. + +Some persons have the power of combining in a single perception more +than can be seen at any one moment by the two eyes. It is needless +to insist on the fact that all who have two eyes see stereoscopically, +and therefore somewhat round a corner. Children, who can focus their +eyes on very near objects, must be able to comprise in a single +mental image much more than a half of any small object they are +examining. Animals such as hares, whose eyes are set more on the +side of the head than ours, must be able to perceive at one and the +same instant more of a panorama than we can. I find that a few +persons can, by what they often describe as a kind of touch-sight, +visualise at the same moment all round the image of a solid body. +Many can do so nearly, but not altogether round that of a +terrestrial globe. An eminent mineralogist assures me that he is +able to imagine simultaneously all the sides of a crystal with which +he is familiar. I may be allowed to quote a curious faculty of my +own in respect to this. It is exercised only occasionally and in +dreams, or rather in nightmares, but under those circumstances I am +perfectly conscious of embracing an entire sphere in a single +perception. It appears to lie within my mental eyeball, and to be +viewed centripetally. + +This power of comprehension is practically attained in many cases by +indirect methods. It is a common feat to take in the whole +surroundings of an imagined room with such a rapid mental sweep as +to leave some doubt whether it has not been viewed simultaneously. +Some persons have the habit of viewing objects as though they were +partly transparent; thus, if they so dispose a globe in their +imagination as to see both its north and south poles at the same time, +they will not be able to see its equatorial parts. They can also +perceive all the rooms of an imaginary house by a single mental +glance, the walls and floors being as if made of glass. A fourth +class of persons have the habit of recalling scenes, not from the +point of view whence they were observed, but from a distance, and +they visualise their own selves as actors on the mental stage. By +one or other of these ways, the power of seeing the whole of an +object, and not merely one aspect of it, is possessed by many persons. + +The place where the image appears to lie, differs much. Most persons +see it in an indefinable sort of way, others see it in front of the +eye, others at a distance corresponding to reality. There exists a +power which is rare naturally, but can, I believe, be acquired +without much difficulty, of projecting a mental picture upon a piece +of paper, and of holding it fast there, so that it can be outlined +with a pencil. To this I shall recur. + +Images usually do not become stronger by dwelling on them; the first +idea is commonly the most vigorous, but this is not always the case. +Sometimes the mental view of a locality is inseparably connected +with the sense of its position as regards the points of the compass, +real or imaginary. I have received full and curious descriptions +from very different sources of this strong geographical tendency, +and in one or two cases I have reason to think it allied to a +considerable faculty of geographical comprehension. + +The power of visualising is higher in the female sex than in the male, +and is somewhat, but not much, higher in public schoolboys than in +men. After maturity is reached, the further advance of age does not +seem to dim the faculty, but rather the reverse, judging from +numerous statements to that effect; but advancing years are +sometimes accompanied by a growing habit of hard abstract thinking, +and in these cases--not uncommon among those whom I have +questioned--the faculty undoubtedly becomes impaired. There is +reason to believe that it is very high in some young children, who +seem to spend years of difficulty in distinguishing between the +subjective and objective world. Language and book-learning certainly +tend to dull it. + +The visualising faculty is a natural gift, and, like all natural +gifts, has a tendency to be inherited. In this faculty the tendency +to inheritance is exceptionally strong, as I have abundant evidence +to prove, especially in respect to certain rather rare peculiarities, +of which I shall speak in the next chapter, and which, when they +exist at all, are usually found among two, three, or more brothers +and sisters, parents, children, uncles and aunts, and cousins. + +Since families differ so much in respect to this gift, we may +suppose that races would also differ, and there can be no doubt that +such is the case. I hardly like to refer to civilised nations, +because their natural faculties are too much modified by education +to allow of their being appraised in an off-hand fashion. I may, +however, speak of the French, who appear to possess the visualising +faculty in a high degree. The peculiar ability they show in +prearranging ceremonials _fêtes_ of all kinds, and their undoubted +genius for tactics and strategy, show that they are able to foresee +effects with unusual clearness. Their ingenuity in all technical +contrivances is an additional testimony in the same direction, and +so is their singular clearness of expression. Their phrase, +"figurez-vous," or "picture to yourself," seems to express their +dominant mode of perception. Our equivalent of "imagine" is ambiguous. + +It is among uncivilised races that natural differences in the +visualising faculty are most conspicuous. Many of them make carvings +and rude illustrations, but only a few have the gift of carrying a +picture in their mind's eye, judging by the completeness and +firmness of their designs, which show no trace of having been +elaborated in that step-by-step manner which is characteristic of +draughtsmen who are not natural artists. + +Among the races who are thus gifted are the commonly despised, but, +as I confidently maintain from personal knowledge of them, the much +underrated Bushmen of South Africa. They are no doubt deficient in +the natural instincts necessary to civilisation, for they detest a +regular life, they are inveterate thieves, and are incapable of +withstanding the temptation of strong drink. On the other hand, they +have few superiors among barbarians in the ingenious methods by +which they supply the wants of a difficult existence, and in the +effectiveness and nattiness of their accoutrements. One of their +habits is to draw pictures on the walls of caves of men and animals, +and to colour them with ochre. These drawings were once numerous, +but they have been sadly destroyed by advancing colonisation, and +few of them, and indeed few wild Bushmen, now exist. Fortunately a +large and valuable collection of facsimiles of Bushman art was made +before it became too late by Mr. Stow, of the Cape Colony, who has +very lately sent some specimens of them to this country, in the hope +that means might be found for the publication of the entire series. +Among the many pictures of animals in each of the large sheets full +of them, I was particularly struck with one of an eland as giving a +just idea of the precision and purity of their best work. Others, +again, were exhibited last summer at the Anthropological Institute +by Mr. Hutchinson. + +The method by which the Bushmen draw is described in the following +extract from a letter written to me by Dr. Mann, the well-known +authority on South African matters of science. The boy to whom he +refers belonged to a wild tribe living in caves in the Drakenberg, +who plundered outlying farms, and were pursued by the neighbouring +colonists. He was wounded and captured, then sent to hospital, and +subsequently taken into service. He was under Dr. Mann's observation +in the year 1860, and has recently died, to the great regret of his +employer, Mr. Proudfoot, to whom he became a valuable servant. + +Dr. Mann writes as follows:-- + +"This lad was very skilful in the proverbial Bushman art of +drawing animal figures, and upon several occasions I induced +him to show me how this was managed among his people. He +invariably began by jotting down upon paper or on a slate a +number of isolated dots which presented no connection or trace +of outline of any kind to the uninitiated eye, but looked like +the stars scattered promiscuously in the sky. Having with much +deliberation satisfied himself of the sufficiency of these dots, +he forthwith began to run a free bold line from one to the other, +and as he did so the form of an animal--horse, buffalo, elephant, +or some kind of antelope--gradually developed itself. This was +invariably done with a free hand, and with such unerring accuracy +of touch, that no correction of a line was at any time attempted. +I understood from the lad that this was the plan which was invariably +pursued by his kindred in making their clever pictures." + +It is impossible, I think, for a drawing to be made on this method +unless the artist had a clear image in his mind's eye of what he was +about to draw, and was able, in some degree, to project it on the +paper or slate. + +Other living races have the gift of drawing, but none more so than +the Eskimo. I will therefore speak of these and not of the +Australian and Tasmanian pictures, nor of the still ruder +performances of the old inhabitants of Guiana, nor of those of some +North American tribes, as the Iroquois. The Eskimos are geographers +by instinct, and appear to see vast tracts of country mapped out in +their heads. From the multitude of illustrations of their +map-drawing powers, I may mention one of those included in the +journals of Captain Hall, at p. 224, which were published in 1879 by +the United States Government, under the editorship of Professor J. E. +Nourse. It is the facsimile of a chart drawn by an Eskimo who was a +thorough barbarian in the accepted sense of the word; that is to say, +he spoke no language besides his own uncouth tongue, he was wholly +uneducated according to our modern ideas, and he lived in what we +should call a savage fashion. This man drew from memory a chart of +the region over which he had at one time or another gone in his canoe. +It extended from Pond's Bay, in lat. 73°, to Fort Churchill, in lat. +58°44', over a distance in a straight line of more than 960 nautical, +or 1100 English miles, the coast being so indented by arms of the +sea that its length is six times as great. On comparing this rough +Eskimo outline with the Admiralty chart of 1870, their accordance is +remarkable. I have seen many MS. route maps made by travellers a few +years since, when the scientific exploration of the world was much +less advanced than it is now, and I can confidently say that I have +never known of any traveller, white or brown, civilised or +uncivilised, in Africa, Asia, or Australia, who, being unprovided +with surveying instruments, and trusting to his memory alone, has +produced a chart comparable in extent and accuracy to that of this +barbarous Eskimo. The aptitude of the Eskimos to draw, is abundantly +shown by the numerous illustrations in Rink's work, all of which +were made by self-taught men, and are thoroughly realistic. + +So much for the wild races of the present day; but even the Eskimo +are equalled in their power of drawing by the men of old times. In +ages so far gone by, that the interval that separates them from our +own may be measured in perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, when +Europe was mostly icebound, a race who, in the opinion of all +anthropologists, was closely allied to the modern Eskimo, lived in +caves in the more habitable places. Many broken relics of that race +have been found; some few of these are of bone engraved with flints +or carved into figures, and among these are representations of the +mammoth, elk, and reindeer, which, if made by an English labourer +with the much better implements at his command, would certainly +attract local attention and lead to his being properly educated, and +in much likelihood to his becoming a considerable artist if he had +intellectual powers to match. + +It is not at all improbable that these prehistoric men had the same +geographical instincts as the modern Eskimo, whom they closely +resemble in every known respect. If so, it is perfectly possible +that scraps of charts scratched on bone or stone, of prehistoric +Europe, when the distribution of land, sea, and ice was very +different to what it is now, may still exist, buried underground, +and may reward the zeal of some future cave explorer. + +There is abundant evidence that the visualising faculty admits of +being developed by education. The testimony on which I would +lay especial stress is derived from the published experiences of +M. Lecoq de Boisbaudran, late director of the École Nationale de Dessein, +in Paris, which are related in his _Education de la M. émoire +Pittoresque_ [1] He trained his pupils with extraordinary success, +beginning with the simplest figures. They were made to study the +models thoroughly before they tried to draw them from memory. One +favourite expedient was to associate the sight memory with the +muscular memory, by making his pupils follow at a distance the +outlines of the figures with a pencil held in their hands. After +three or four months' practice, their visual memory became greatly +strengthened. They had no difficulty in summoning images at will, in +holding them steady, and in drawing them. Their copies [7] were +executed with marvellous fidelity, as attested by a commission of +the Institute, appointed in 1852 to inquire into the matter, of +which the eminent painter Horace Vernet was a member. The present +Slade Professor of Fine Arts at University College, M. Légros, was a +pupil of M. de Boisbaudran. He has expressed to me his indebtedness +to the system, and he has assured me of his own success in teaching +others in a somewhat similar way. + +[Footnote 7: Republished in an 8vo, entitled _Enseignment +Artistique_. Morel et Cie. Paris, 1879.] + +Colonel Moncrieff informs me that, when wintering in 1877 near Fort +Garry in North America, young Indians occasionally came to his +quarters, and that he found them much interested in any pictures or +prints that were put before them. On one of these occasions he saw +an Indian tracing the outline of a print from the _Illustrated News_ +very carefully with the point of his knife. The reason he gave for +this odd manoeuvre was, that he would remember the better how to +carve it when he returned home. + +I could mention instances within my own experience in which the +visualising faculty has become strengthened by practice; notably one +of an eminent electrical engineer, who had the power of recalling +form with unusual precision, but not colour. A few weeks after he +had replied to my questions, he told me that my inquiries had +induced him to practise his colour memory, and that he had done so +with such success that he was become quite an adept at it, and that +the newly-acquired power was a source of much pleasure to him. + +A useful faculty, easily developed by practice, is that of retaining +a retinal picture. A scene is flashed upon the eye; the memory of it +persists, and details, which escaped observation during the brief +time when it was actually seen, may be analysed and studied at +leisure in the subsequent vision. + +The memories we should aim at acquiring are, however, such as are +based on a thorough understanding of the objects observed. In no +case is this more surely effected than in the processes of +mechanical drawing, where the intended structure has to be portrayed +so exactly in plan, elevation, side view, and sections, that the +workman has simply to copy the drawing in metal, wood, or stone, as +the case may be. It is undoubtedly the fact that mechanicians, +engineers, and architects usually possess the faculty of seeing +mental images with remarkable clearness and precision. + +A few dots like those used by the Bushmen give great assistance in +creating an imaginary picture, as proved by our general habit of +working out ideas by the help of marks and rude lines. The use of +dolls by children also testifies to the value of an objective +support in the construction of mental images. The doll serves as a +kind of skeleton for the child to clothe with fantastic attributes, +and the less individuality the doll has, the more it is appreciated +by the child, who can the better utilise it as a lay figure in many +different characters. The chief art of strengthening visual, as well +as every other form of memory, lies in multiplying associations; the +healthiest memory being that in which all the associations are +logical, and toward which all the senses concur in their due +proportions. It is wonderful how much the vividness of a +recollection is increased when two or more lines of association are +simultaneously excited. Thus the inside of a known house is much +better visualised when we are looking at its outside than when we +are away from it, and some chess-players have told me that it is +easier for them to play a game from memory when they have a blank +board before them than when they have not. + +There is an absence of flexibility in the mental imagery of most +persons. They find that the first image they have acquired of any +scene is apt to hold its place tenaciously in spite of subsequent +need of correction. They find a difficulty in shifting their mental +view of an object, and examining it at pleasure in different +positions. If they see an object equally often in many positions the +memories combine and confuse one another, forming a "composite" blur, +which they cannot dissect into its components. They are less able to +visualise the features of intimate friends than those of persons of +whom they have caught only a single glance. Many such persons have +expressed to me their grief at finding themselves powerless to +recall the looks of dear relations whom they had lost, while they +had no difficulty in recollecting faces that were uninteresting to +them. + +Others have a complete mastery over their mental images. They can +call up the figure of a friend and make it sit on a chair or stand +up at will; they can make it turn round and attitudinise in any way, +as by mounting it on a bicycle or compelling it to perform gymnastic +feats on a trapeze. They are able to build up elaborate geometric +structures bit by bit in their mind's eye, and add, subtract, or +alter at will and at leisure. This free action of a vivid +visualising faculty is of much importance in connection with the +higher processes of generalised thought, though it is commonly put +to no such purpose, as may be easily explained by an example. Suppose +a person suddenly to accost another with the following words:-- +"I want to tell you about a boat." What is the idea that the word +"boat" would be likely to call up? I tried the experiment with this +result. One person, a young lady, said that she immediately saw the +image of a rather large boat pushing off from the shore, and that it +was full of ladies and gentlemen, the ladies being dressed in white +and blue. It is obvious that a tendency to give so specific an +interpretation to a general word is absolutely opposed to philosophic +thought. Another person, who was accustomed to philosophise, said +that the word "boat" had aroused no definite image, because he had +purposely held his mind in suspense. He had exerted himself not to +lapse into any one of the special ideas that he felt the word boat +was ready to call up, such as a skiff, wherry, barge, launch, punt, +or dingy. Much more did he refuse to think of any one of these with +any particular freight or from any particular point of view. A habit +of suppressing mental imagery must therefore characterise men who +deal much with abstract ideas; and as the power of dealing easily +and firmly with these ideas is the surest criterion of a high order +of intellect, we should expect that the visualising faculty would be +starved by disuse among philosophers, and this is precisely what I +found on inquiry to be the case. + +But there is no reason why it should be so, if the faculty is free +in its action, and not tied to reproduce hard and persistent forms; +it may then produce generalised pictures out of its past experiences +quite automatically. It has no difficulty in reducing images to the +same scale, owing to our constant practice in watching objects as +they approach or recede, and consequently grow or diminish in +apparent size. It readily shifts images to any desired point of the +field of view, owing to our habit of looking at bodies in motion to +the right or left, upward or downward. It selects images that +present the same aspect, either by a simple act of memory or by a +feat of imagination that forces them into the desired position, and +it has little or no difficulty in reversing them from right to left, +as if seen in a looking-glass. In illustration of these generalised +mental images, let us recur to the boat, and suppose the speaker to +continue as follows:--"The boat was a four-oared racing-boat, it was +passing quickly to the left just in front of me, and the men were +bending forward to take a fresh stroke." Now at this point of the +story the listener ought to have a picture well before his eye. It +ought to have the distinctness of a real four-oar going to the left, +at the moment when many of its details still remained unheeded, such +as the dresses of the men and their individual features. It would be +the generic image of a four-oar formed by the combination into a +single picture of a great many sight memories of those boats. + +In the highest minds a descriptive word is sufficient to evoke +crowds of shadowy associations, each striving to manifest itself. +When they differ so much from one another as to be unfitted for +combination into a single idea, there will be a conflict, each being +prevented by the rest from obtaining sole possession of the field of +consciousness. There could, therefore, be no definite imagery so +long as the aggregate of all the pictures that the word suggested of +objects presenting similar aspects, reduced to the same size, and +accurately superposed, resulted in a blur; but a picture would +gradually evolve as qualifications were added to the word, and it +would attain to the distinctness and vividness of a generic image +long before the word had been so restricted as to be individualised. +If the intellect be slow, though correct in its operations, the +associations will be few, and the generalised image based on +insufficient data. If the visualising power be faint, the +generalised image will be indistinct. + +I cannot discover any closer relation between high visualising power +and the intellectual faculties than between verbal memory and those +same faculties. That it must afford immense help in some professions +stands to reason, but in ordinary social life the possession of a +high visualising power, as of a high verbal memory, may pass quite +unobserved. I have to the last failed in anticipating the character +of the answers that my friends would give to my inquiries, judging +from my previous knowledge of them; though I am bound to say that, +having received their answers, I could usually persuade myself that +they were justified by my recollections of their previous sayings +and conduct generally. + +The faculty is undoubtedly useful in a high degree to inventive +mechanicians, and the great majority of those whom I have questioned +have spoken of their powers as very considerable. They invent their +machines as they walk, and see them in height, breadth, and depth as +real objects, and they can also see them in action. In fact, a +periodic action of any kind appears to be easily recalled. But the +powers of other men are considerably less; thus an engineer officer +who has himself great power of visual memory, and who has +superintended the mathematical education of cadets, doubts if one in +ten can visualise an object in three dimensions. I should have +thought the faculty would be common among geometricians, but many of +the highest seem able somehow to get on without much of it. There is +a curious dictum of Napoleon I. quoted in Hume's _Précis of Modern +Tactics_, p. 15, of which I can neither find the original authority +nor do I fully understand the meaning. He is reported to have said +that "there are some who, from some physical or moral peculiarity of +character, form a picture (_tableau_) of everything. No matter what +knowledge, intellect, courage, or good qualities they may have, +these men are unfit to command." It is possible that "tableau" +should be construed rather in the sense of a pictorial composition, +which, like an epigrammatic sentence, may be very complete and +effective, but not altogether true. + +There can, however, be no doubt as to the utility of the visualising +faculty when it is duly subordinated to the higher intellectual +operations. A visual image is the most perfect form of mental +representation wherever the shape, position, and relations of +objects in space are concerned. It is of importance in every +handicraft and profession where design is required. The best workmen +are those who visualise the whole of what they propose to do, before +they take a tool in their hands. The village smith and the carpenter +who are employed on odd jobs employ it no less for their work than +the mechanician, the engineer, and the architect. The lady's maid +who arranges a new dress requires it for the same reason as the +decorator employed on a palace, or the agent who lays out great +estates. Strategists, artists of all denominations, physicists who +contrive new experiments, and in short all who do not follow routine, +have need of it. The pleasure its use can afford is immense. I have +many correspondents who say that the delight of recalling beautiful +scenery and great works of art is the highest that they know; they +carry whole picture galleries in their minds. Our bookish and wordy +education tends to repress this valuable gift of nature. A faculty +that is of importance in all technical and artistic occupations, +that gives accuracy to our perceptions, and justness to our +generalisations, is starved by lazy disuse, instead of being +cultivated judiciously in such a way as will on the whole bring the +best return. I believe that a serious study of the best method of +developing and utilising this faculty, without prejudice to the +practice of abstract thought in symbols, is one of the many pressing +desiderata in the yet unformed science of education. + + + + +NUMBER-FORMS. + +Persons who are imaginative almost invariably think of _numerals_ in +some form of visual imagery. If the idea of _six_ occurs to them, +the word "six" does not sound in their mental ear, but the figure 6 +in a written or printed form rises before their mental eye. The +clearness of the images of numerals, and the number of them that can +be mentally viewed at the same time, differs greatly in different +persons. The most common case is to see only two or three figures at +once, and in a position too vague to admit of definition. There are +a few persons in whom the visualising faculty is so low that they +can mentally see neither numerals nor anything else; and again there +are a few in whom it is so high as to give rise to hallucinations. +Those who are able to visualise a numeral with a distinctness +comparable to reality, and to behold it as if it were before their +eyes, and not in some sort of dreamland, will define the direction in +which it seems to lie, and the distance at which it appears to be. +If they were looking at a ship on the horizon at the moment that the +figure 6 happened to present itself to their minds, they could say +whether the image lay to the left or right of the ship, and whether +it was above or below the line of the horizon; they could always +point to a definite spot in space, and say with more or less +precision that that was the direction in which the image of the +figure they were thinking of, first appeared. + +Now the strange psychological fact to which I desire to draw +attention, is that among persons who visualise figures clearly there +are many who notice that the image of the same figure invariably +makes its first appearance in the same direction, and at the same +distance. Such a person would always see the figure when it first +appeared to him at (we may suppose) one point of the compass to the +left of the line between his eye and the ship, at the level of the +horizon, and at twenty feet distance. Again, we may suppose that he +would see the figure 7 invariably half a point to the left of the +ship, at an altitude equal to the sun's diameter above the horizon, +and at thirty feet distance; similarly for all the other figures. +Consequently, when he thinks of the series of numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, +etc., they show themselves in a definite pattern that always +occupies an identical position in his field of view with respect to +the direction in which he is looking. + +Those who do not see figures with the same objectivity, use +nevertheless the same expressions with reference to their mental +field of view. They can draw what they see in a manner fairly +satisfactory to themselves, but they do not locate it so strictly in +reference to their axis of sight and to the horizontal plane that +passes through it. It is with them as in dreams, the imagery is +before and around, but the eyes during sleep are turned inwards and +upwards. + +The pattern or "Form" in which the numerals are seen is by no means +the same in different persons, but assumes the most grotesque +variety of shapes, which run in all sorts of angles, bends, curves, +and zigzags as represented in the various illustrations to this +chapter. The drawings, however, fail in giving the idea of their +apparent size to those who see them; they usually occupy a wider +range than the mental eye can take in at a single glance, and compel +it to wander. Sometimes they are nearly panoramic. + +These Forms have for the most part certain characteristics in common. +They are stated in all cases to have been in existence, so far as +the earlier numbers in the Form are concerned, as long back as the +memory extends; they come into view quite independently of the will, +and their shape and position, at all events in the mental field of +view, is nearly invariable. They have other points in common to +which I shall shortly draw attention, but first I will endeavour to +remove all doubt as to the authenticity and trustworthiness of these +statements. + +I see no "Form" myself, and first ascertained that such a thing +existed through a letter from Mr. G. Bidder, Q.C., in which he +described his own case as a very curious peculiarity. I was at the +time making inquiries about the strength of the visualising faculty +in different persons, and among the numerous replies that reached me +I soon collected ten or twelve other cases in which the writers +spoke of their seeing numerals in definite forms. Though the +information came from independent sources, the expressions used were +so closely alike that they strongly corroborated one another. Of +course I eagerly followed up the inquiry, and when I had collected +enough material to justify publication, I wrote an account which +appeared in _Nature_ on 15th January 1880, with several illustrations. +This has led to a wide correspondence and to a much-increased store +of information, which enables me to arrive at the following +conclusions. The answers I received whenever I have pushed my +questions, have been straightforward and precise. I have not +unfrequently procured a second sketch of the Form even after more +than two years' interval, and found it to agree closely with the +first one. I have also questioned many of my own friends in general +terms as to whether they visualise numbers in any particular way. +The large majority are unable to do so. But every now and then I +meet with persons who possess the faculty, and I have become +familiar with the quick look of intelligence with which they receive +my question. It is as though some chord had been struck which had +not been struck before, and the verbal answers they give me are +precisely of the same type as those written ones of which I have now +so many. I cannot doubt of the authenticity of independent statements +which closely confirm one another, nor of the general accuracy of +the accompanying sketches, because I find now that my collection is +large enough for classification, that they might be arranged in an +approximately continuous series. I am often told that the +peculiarity is common to the speaker and to some near relative, and +that they had found such to be the case by accident. I have the +strongest evidence of its hereditary character after allowing, and +over-allowing, for all conceivable influences of education and +family tradition. + +Last of all, I took advantage of the opportunity afforded by a +meeting of the Anthropological Institute to read a memoir there on +the subject, and to bring with me many gentlemen well known in the +scientific world, who have this habit of seeing numerals in Forms, +and whose diagrams were suspended on the walls. Amongst them are +Mr. G. Bidder, Q.C., the Rev. Mr. G. Henslow, the botanist; +Prof. Schuster, F.R.S., the physicist; Mr. Roget, Mr. Woodd Smith, +and Colonel Yule, C.B., the geographer. These diagrams are given +in Plate I. Figs. 20-24. I wished that some of my foreign +correspondents could also have been present, such as M. Antoine +d'Abbadie, the well-known French traveller and Membre de l'Institut, +and Baron v. Osten Sacken, the Russian diplomatist and entomologist, +for they had given and procured me much information. + +I feel sure that I have now said enough to remove doubts as to the +authenticity of my data. Their trustworthiness will, I trust, be +still more apparent as I proceed; it has been abundantly manifest to +myself from the internal evidences in a large mass of correspondence, +to which I can unfortunately do no adequate justice in a brief memoir. +It remains to treat the data in the same way as any other scientific +facts and to extract as much meaning from them as possible. + +The peculiarity in question is found, speaking very roughly, in about +1 out of every 30 adult males or 15 females. It consists in the +sudden and automatic appearance of a vivid and invariable "Form" in +the mental field of view, whenever a numeral is thought of, in which +each numeral has its own definite place. This Form may consist of a +mere line of any shape, of a peculiarly arranged row or rows of +figures, or of a shaded space. + +I give woodcuts of representative specimens of these Forms, and very +brief descriptions of them extracted from the letters of my +correspondents. Sixty-three other diagrams on a smaller scale will +be found in Plates I., II. and III., and two more which are coloured +are given in Plate IV. + +[Illustration: ] + +D.A. "From the very first I have seen numerals up to nearly 200, +range themselves always in a particular manner, and in thinking of a +number it always takes its place in the figure. The more attention I +give to the properties of numbers and their interpretations, the +less I am troubled with this clumsy framework for them, but it is +indelible in my mind's eye even when for a long time less +consciously so. The higher numbers are to me quite abstract and +unconnected with a shape. This rough and untidy [8] production is +the best I can do towards representing what I see. There was a +little difficulty in the performance, because it is only by catching +oneself at unawares, so to speak, that one is quite sure that what +one sees is not affected by temporary imagination. But it does not +seem much like, chiefly because the mental picture never seems +_on_ the flat but _in_ a thick, dark gray atmosphere deepening in +certain parts, especially where 1 emerges, and about 20. How I get +from 100 to 120 I hardly know, though if I could require these +figures a few times without thinking of them on purpose, I should +soon notice. About 200 I lose all framework. I do not see the actual +figures very distinctly, but what there is of them is distinguished +from the dark by a thin whitish tracing. It is the place they take +and the shape they make collectively which is invariable. Nothing +more definitely takes its place than a person's age. The person is +usually there so long as his age is in mind." + +[Footnote 8: The engraver took much pains to interpret the meaning +of the rather faint but carefully made drawing, by strengthening +some of the shades. The result was very very satisfactory, judging +from the author's own view of it, which is as follows:--"Certainly +if the engraver has been as successful with all the other +representations as with that of my shape and its accompaniments, +your article must be entirely correct."] + +T. M. "The representation I carry in my mind of the numerical series +is quite distinct to me, so much so that I cannot think of any +number but I at once see it (as it were) in its peculiar place in +the diagram. My remembrance of dates is also nearly entirely +dependent on a clear mental vision of their _loci_ in the diagram. +This, as nearly as I can draw it, is the following:--" + +[Illustration: ] + +"It is only approximately correct (if the term 'correct' be at all +applicable). The numbers seem to approach more closely as I ascend +from 10 to 20, 30, 40, etc. The lines embracing a hundred numbers +also seem to approach as I go on to 400, 500, to 1000. Beyond 1000 I +have only the sense of an infinite line in the direction of the arrow, +losing itself in darkness towards the millions. Any special number +of thousands returns in my mind to its position in the parallel +lines from 1 to 1000. The diagram was present in my mind from early +childhood; I remember that I learnt the multiplication table by +reference to it at the age of seven or eight. I need hardly say that +the impression is not that of perfectly straight lines, I have +therefore used no ruler in drawing it." + +J.S. "The figures are about a quarter of an inch in length, and in +ordinary type. They are black on a white ground. The numeral 200 +generally takes the place of 100 and obliterates it. There is no +light or shade, and the picture is invariable." + +[Illustration: ] + + + etc. etc. + 120+--------------- + | + | + |110 + | + 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 | + / + 20| + | + | + 10| + | + 1| + + +In some cases, the mental eye has to travel along the faintly-marked +and blank paths of a Form, to the place where the numeral that is +wanted is known to reside, and then the figure starts into sight. In +other cases all the numerals, as far as 100 or more, are faintly +seen at once, but the figure that is wanted grows more vivid than its +neighbours; in one of the cases there is, as it were, a chain, and +the particular link rises as if an unseen hand had lifted it. The +Forms are sometimes variously coloured, occasionally very +brilliantly (see Plate IV.). In all of these the definition and +illumination vary much in different parts. Usually the Forms fade +away into indistinctness after 100; sometimes they come to a dead +stop. The higher numbers very rarely fill so large a space in the +Forms as the lower ones, and the diminution of space occupied by +them is so increasingly rapid that I thought it not impossible they +might diminish according to some geometrical law, such as that which +governs sensitivity. I took many careful measurements and averaged +them, but the result did not justify the supposition. + +It is beyond dispute that these forms originate at an early age; +they are subsequently often developed in boyhood and youth so as to +include the higher numbers, and, among mathematical students, the +negative values. + +Nearly all of my correspondents speak with confidence of their Forms +having been in existence as far back as they recollect. One states +that he knows he possessed it at the age of four; another, that he +learnt his multiplication table by the aid of the elaborate mental +diagram he still uses. Not one in ten is able to suggest any clue as +to their origin. They cannot be due to anything written or printed, +because they do not simulate what is found in ordinary writings or +books. + +About one-third of the figures are curved to the left, two-thirds to +the right; they run more often upward than downward. They do not +commonly lie in a single plane. Sometimes a Form has twists as well +as bends, sometimes it is turned upside down, sometimes it plunges +into an abyss of immeasurable depth, or it rises and disappears in +the sky. My correspondents are often in difficulties when trying to +draw them in perspective. One sent me a stereoscopic picture +photographed from a wire that had been bent into the proper shape. +In one case the Form proceeds at first straightforward, then it +makes a backward sweep high above head, and finally recurves into +the pocket, of all places! It is often sloped upwards at a slight +inclination from a little below the level of the eye, just as +objects on a table would appear to a child whose chin was barely +above it. + +It may seem strange that children should have such bold conceptions +as of curves sweeping loftily upward or downward to immeasurable +depths, but I think it may be accounted for by their much larger +personal experience of the vertical dimension of space than adults. +They are lifted, tossed and swung, but adults pass their lives very +much on a level, and only judge of heights by inference from the +picture on their retina. Whenever a man first ventures up in a +balloon, or is let, like a gatherer of sea-birds' eggs, over the +face of a precipice, he is conscious of having acquired a much +extended experience of the third dimension of space. + +The character of the forms under which historical dates are +visualised contrast strongly with the ordinary Number-Forms. They +are sometimes copied from the numerical ones, but they are more +commonly based both clearly and consciously on the diagrams used in +the schoolroom or on some recollected fancy. + +The months of the year are usually perceived as ovals, and they as +often follow one another in a reverse direction to those of the +figures on the clock, as in the same direction. It is a common +peculiarity that the months do not occupy equal spaces, but those +that are most important to the child extend more widely than the rest. +There are many varieties as to the topmost month; it is by no means +always January. + +The Forms of the letters of the alphabet, when imaged, as they +sometimes are, in that way, are equally easy to be accounted for, +therefore the ordinary Number-Form is the oldest of all, and +consequently the most interesting. I suppose that it first came into +existence when the child was learning to count, and was used by him +as a natural mnemonic diagram, to which he referred the spoken words +"one," "two," "three," etc. Also, that as soon as he began to read, +the visual symbol figures supplanted their verbal sounds, and +permanently established themselves on the Form. It therefore existed +at an earlier date than that at which the child began to learn to +read; it represents his mental processes at a time of which no other +record remains; it persists in vigorous activity, and offers itself +freely to our examination. + +The teachers of many schools and colleges, some in America, have +kindly questioned their pupils for me; the results are given in the +two first columns of Plate I. It appears that the proportion of +young people who see numerals in Forms is greater than that of adults. +But for the most part their Forms are neither well defined nor +complicated. I conclude that when they are too faint to be of +service they are gradually neglected, and become wholly forgotten; +while if they are vivid and useful, they increase in vividness and +definition by the effect of habitual use. Hence, in adults, the two +classes of seers and non-seers are rather sharply defined, the +connecting link of intermediate cases which is observable in +childhood having disappeared. + +These Forms are the most remarkable existing instances of what is +called "topical" memory, the essence of which appears to lie in the +establishment of a more exact system of division of labour in the +different parts of the brain, than is usually carried on. Topical +aids to memory are of the greatest service to many persons, and +teachers of mnemonics make large use of them, as by advising a +speaker to mentally associate the corners, etc., of a room with the +chief divisions of the speech he is about to deliver. Those who feel +the advantage of these aids most strongly are the most likely to +cultivate the use of numerical forms. I have read many books on +mnemonics, and cannot doubt their utility to some persons; to myself +the system is of no avail whatever, but simply a stumbling-block, +nevertheless I am well aware that many of my early associations are +fanciful and silly. + +The question remains, why do the lines of the Forms run in such +strange and peculiar ways? the reply is, that different persons have +natural fancies for different lines and curves. Their handwriting +shows this, for handwriting is by no means solely dependent on the +balance of the muscles of the hand, causing such and such strokes to +be made with greater facility than others. Handwriting is greatly +modified by the fashion of the time. It is in reality a compromise +between what the writer most likes to produce, and what he can +produce with the greatest ease to himself. I am sure, too, that I +can trace a connection between the general look of the handwritings +of my various correspondents and the lines of their Forms. If a +spider were to visualise numerals, we might expect he would do so in +some web-shaped fashion, and a bee in hexagons. The definite +domestic architecture of all animals as seen in their nests and +holes shows the universal tendency of each species to pursue their +work according to certain definite lines and shapes, which are to +them instinctive and in no way, we may presume, logical. The same is +seen in the groups and formations of flocks of gregarious animals +and in the flights of gregarious birds, among which the wedge-shaped +phalanx of wild ducks and the huge globe of soaring storks are as +remarkable as any. + +I used to be much amused during past travels in watching the +different lines of search that were pursued by different persons in +looking for objects lost on the ground, when the encampment was +being broken up. Different persons had decided idiosyncracies, so +much so that if their travelling line of sight could have scored a +mark on the ground, I think the system of each person would have +been as characteristic as his Number-Form. + +Children learn their figures to some extent by those on the clock. I +cannot, however, trace the influence of the clock on the Forms in +more than a few cases. In two of them the clock-face actually appears, +in others it has evidently had a strong influence, and in the rest +its influence is indicated, but nothing more. I suppose that the +complex Roman numerals in the clock do not fit in sufficiently well +with the simpler ideas based upon the Arabic ones. + +The other traces of the origin of the Forms that appear here and +there, are dominoes, cards, counters, an abacus, the fingers, +counting by coins, feet and inches (a yellow carpenter's rule +appears in one case with 56 in large figures upon it), the country +surrounding the child's home, with its hills and dales, objects in +the garden (one scientific man sees the old garden walk and the +numeral 7 at a tub sunk in the ground where his father filled his +watering-pot). Some associations seem connected with the objects +spoken of in the doggerel verses by which children are often taught +their numbers. + +But the paramount influence proceeds from the names of the numerals. +Our nomenclature is perfectly barbarous, and that of other civilised +nations is not better than ours, and frequently worse, as the French +"quatre-vingt dix-huit," or "four score, ten and eight," instead of +ninety-eight. We speak of ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, etc., in +defiance of the beautiful system of decimal notation in which we +write those numbers. What we see is one-naught, one-one, one-two, etc., +and we should pronounce on that principle, with this proviso, that +the word for the "one" having to show both the place and the value, +should have a sound suggestive of "one" but not identical with it. +Let us suppose it to be the letter _o_ pronounced short as in +"on," then instead of ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, etc., we might +say _on-naught, on-one, on-two, on-three_, etc. + +The conflict between the two systems creates a perplexity, to which +conclusive testimony is borne by these numerical forms. In most of +them there is a marked hitch at the 12, and this repeats itself at +the 120. The run of the lines between 1 and 20 is rarely analogous +to that between 20 and 100, where it usually first becomes regular. +The 'teens frequently occupy a larger space than their due. It is not +easy to define in words the variety of traces of the difficulty and +annoyance caused by our unscientific nomenclature, that are +portrayed vividly, and, so to speak, painfully in these pictures. +They are indelible scars that testify to the effort and ingenuity +with which a sort of compromise was struggled for and has finally +been effected between the verbal and decimal systems. I am sure that +this difficulty is more serious and abiding than has been suspected, +not only from the persistency of these twists, which would have long +since been smoothed away if they did not continue to subserve some +useful purpose, but also from experiments on my own mind. I find I +can deal mentally with simple sums with much less strain if I +audibly conceive the figures as on-naught, on-one, etc., and I can +both dictate and write from dictation with much less trouble when +that system or some similar one is adopted. I have little doubt that +our nomenclature is a serious though unsuspected hindrance to the +ready adoption by the public of a decimal system of weights and +measures. Three quarters of the Forms bear a duodecimal impress. + +I will now give brief explanations of the Number-Forms drawn in +Plates I., II., and III., and in the two front figures in Plate IV. + +DESCRIPTION OF PLATE I. + +Fig. 1 is by Mr. Walter Larden, science-master of Cheltenham College, +who sent me a very interesting and elaborate account of his own case, +which by itself would make a memoir; and he has collected other +information for me. The Number-Forms of one of his colleagues and of +that gentleman's sister are given in Figs. 53, 54, Plate III. I +extract the following from Mr. Larden's letter--it is all for which +I can find space:-- + +[Illustration: PLATE I. _Examples of Number-Forms_.] + +"All numbers are to me as images of figures in general; I see them +in ordinary Arabic type (except in some special cases), and they +have definite positions in space (as shown in the Fig.). Beyond 100 +I am conscious of coming down a dotted line to the position of 1 +again, and of going over the same cycle exactly as before, _e.g._ +with 120 in the place of 20, and so on up to 140 or 150. With higher +numbers the imagery is less definite; thus, for 1140, I can only say +that there are no new positions, I do not see the entire number in +the place of 40; but if I think of it as 11 hundred and 40, I see 40 +in its place, 11 in its place, and 100 in its place; the picture is +not single though the ideas combine. I seem to stand near 1. I have +to turn somewhat to see from 30-40, and more and more to see from +40-100; 100 lies high up to my right and behind me. I see no shading +nor colour in the figures." + +Figs. 2 to 6 are from returns collected for me by the Rev. A.D. Hill, +science-master of Winchester College, who sent me replies from 135 +boys of an average age of 14-15. He says, speaking of their replies +to my numerous questions on visualising generally, that they +"represent fairly those who could answer anything; the boys +certainly seemed interested in the subject; the others, who had no +such faculty either attempting and failing, or not finding any +response in their minds, took no interest in the inquiry." A very +remarkable case of hereditary colour association was sent to me by +Mr. Hill, to which I shall refer later. The only five good cases of +Number-Forms among the 135 boys are those shown in the Figs. I need +only describe Fig. 2. The boy says:--"Numbers, except the first +twenty, appear in waves; the two crossing-lines, 60-70, 140-150, +never appear at the _same time_. The first twelve are the image of a +clock, and 13-20 a continuation of them." + +Figs. 7, 8, are sent me by Mr. Henry F. Osborn of Princeton in the +United States, who has given cordial assistance in obtaining +information as regards visualising generally. These two are the only +Forms included in sixty returns that he sent, 34 of which were from +Princeton College, and the remaining 26 from Vassar (female) College. +Figs. 9-19 and Fig. 28 are from returns communicated by Mr. W.H. +Poole, science-master of Charterhouse College, which are very +valuable to me as regards visualising power generally. He read my +questions before a meeting of about 60 boys, who all consented to +reply, and he had several subsequent volunteers. All the answers +were short, straightforward, and often amusing. Subsequently the +inquiry extended, and I have 168 returns from him in all, containing +12 good Number-Forms, shown in Figs. 9-19, and in Fig. 28. The +first Fig. is that of Mr. Poole himself; he says, "The line only +represents position; it does not exist in my mind. After 100, I +return to my old starting-place, _e.g._ 140 occupies the same +position as 40." + +The gross statistical result from the schoolboys is as follows: +--Total returns, 337: viz. Winchester 135, Princeton 34, Charterhouse +168; the number of these that contained well-defined Number-Forms +are 5, 1, and 12 respectively, or total 18--that is, one in twenty. +It may justly be said that the masters should not be counted, +because it was owing to the accident of their seeing the Number-Forms +themselves that they became interested in the inquiry; if this +objection be allowed, the proportion would become 16 in 337, or one +in twenty-one. Again, some boys who had no visualising faculty at +all could make no sense out of the questions, and wholly refrained +from answering; this would again diminish the proportion. The +shyness in some would help in a statistical return to neutralise the +tendency to exaggeration in others, but I do not think there is much +room for correction on either head. Neither do I think it requisite +to make much allowance for inaccurate answers, as the tone of the +replies is simple and straightforward. Those from Princeton, where +the students are older and had been specially warned, are remarkable +for indications of self-restraint. The result of personal inquiries +among adults, quite independent of and prior to these, gave me the +proportion of 1 in 30 as a provisional result for adults. This is as +well confirmed by the present returns of 1 in 21 among boys and +youths as I could have expected. + +I have not a sufficient number of returns from girls for useful +comparison with the above, though I am much indebted to Miss Lewis +for 33 reports, to Miss Cooper of Edgbaston for 10 reports from the +female teachers at her school, and to a few other schoolmistresses, +such as Miss Stones of Carmarthen, whose returns I have utilised in +other ways. The tendency to see Number-Forms is certainly higher in +girls than in boys. + +Fig. 20 is the Form of Mr. George Bidder, Q.C.; it is of much +interest to myself, because it was, as I have already mentioned, +through the receipt of it and an accompanying explanation that my +attention was first drawn to the subject. Mr. G. Bidder is son of +the late well-known engineer, the famous "calculating boy" of the +bygone generation, whose marvellous feats in mental arithmetic were +a standing wonder. The faculty is hereditary. Mr. G. Bidder himself +has multiplied mentally fifteen figures by another fifteen figures, +but with less facility than his father. It has been again transmitted, +though in an again reduced degree, to the third generation. He says: +-- + +"One of the most curious peculiarities in my own case is the +arrangement of the arithmetical numerals. I have sketched this to +the best of my ability. Every number (at least within the first +thousand, and afterwards thousands take the place of units) is +always thought of by me in its own definite place in the series, +where it has, if I may say so, a home and an individuality. I should, +however, qualify this by saying that when I am multiplying together +two large numbers, my mind is engrossed in the operation, and the +idea of locality in the series for the moment sinks out of prominence." + +Fig. 21 is that of Prof. Schuster, F.R.S., whose visualising powers +are of a very high order, and who has given me valuable information, +but want of space compels me to extract very briefly. He says to the +effect:-- + +"The diagram of numerals which I usually see has roughly the shape +of a horse-shoe, lying on a slightly inclined plane, with the open +end towards me. It always comes into view in front of me, a little +to the left, so that the right hand branch of the horse-shoe, at the +bottom of which I place 0, is in front of my left eye. When I move +my eyes without moving my head, the diagram remains fixed in space +and does not follow the movement of my eye. When I move the head the +diagram unconsciously follows the movement, but I can, by an effort, +keep it fixed in space as before. I can also shift it from one part +of the field to the other, and even turn it upside down. I use the +diagram as a resting-place for the memory, placing a number on it +and finding it again when wanted. A remarkable property of the +diagram is a sort of elasticity which enables me to join the two +ends of the horse-shoe together when I want to connect 100 with 0. +The same elasticity causes me to see that part of the diagram on +which I fix my attention larger than the rest." + +Mr. Schuster makes occasional use of a simpler form of diagram, +which is little more than a straight line variously divided, and +which I need not describe in detail. + +Fig. 22 is by Colonel Yule, C.B.; it is simpler than the others, and +he has found it to become sensibly weaker in later years; it is now +faint and hard to fix. + +Fig. 23. Mr. Woodd Smith:-- + +"Above 200 the form becomes vague and is soon lost, except that 999 +is always in a corner like 99. My own position in regard to it is +generally nearly opposite my own age, which is fifty now, at which +point I can face either towards 7-12, or towards 12-20, or 20-7, but +never (I think) with my back to 12-20." + +Fig. 24. Mr. Roget. He writes to the effect that the first twelve +are clearly derived from the spots in dominoes. After 100 there is +nothing clear but 108. The form is so deeply engraven in his mind +that a strong effort of the will was required to substitute any +artificial arrangement in its place. His father, the late Dr. Roget +(well known for many years as secretary of the Royal Society), had +trained him in his childhood to the use of the _memoria technica_ of +Feinagle, in which each year has its special place in the walls of a +particular room, and the rooms of a house represent successive +centuries, but he never could locate them in that way. They _would_ +go to what seemed their natural homes in the arrangement shown in +the figure, which had come to him from some unknown source. + +The remaining Figs., 25-28, in Plate I., sufficiently express +themselves. The last belongs to one of the Charterhouse boys, the +others respectively to a musical critic, to a clergyman, and to a +gentleman who is, I believe, now a barrister. + + +DESCRIPTION OF PLATE II. + +Plate II. contains examples of more complicated Forms, which +severally require so much minuteness of description that I am in +despair of being able to do justice to them separately, and must +leave most of them to tell their own story. + +Fig. 34 is that of Mr. Flinders Petrie, to which I have already +referred (p. 66). + +Fig. 37 is by Professor Herbert McLeod, F.R.S. I will quote his +letter almost in full, as it is a very good example:-- + +"When your first article on visualised numerals appeared in _Nature_, +I thought of writing to tell you of my own case, of which I had +never previously spoken to any one, and which I never contemplated +putting on paper. It becomes now a duty to me to do so, for it is a +fourth case of the influence of the clock-face. [In my article I had +spoken of only three cases known to me.--F. G.] The enclosed paper +will give you a rough notion of the apparent positions of numbers in +my mind. That it is due to learning the clock is, I think, proved by +my being able to tell the clock certainly before I was four, and +probably when little more than three, but my mother cannot tell me +the exact date. I had a habit of arranging my spoon and fork on my +plate to indicate the positions of the hands, and I well remember +being astonished at seeing an old watch of my grandmother's which +had ordinary numerals in place of Roman ones. All this happened +before I could read, and I have no recollection of learning the +numbers unless it was by seeing numbers stencilled on the barrels in +my father's brewery. + +"When learning the numbers from 12 to 20, they appeared to be +vertically above the 12 of the clock, and you will see from the +enclosed sketch that the most prominent numbers which I have +underlined all occur in the multiplication table. Those doubly +underlined are the most prominent [the lithographer has not rendered +these correctly.--F. G.], and just now I caught myself doing what I +did not anticipate--after doubly underlining some of the numbers, I +found that all the multiples of 12 except 84 are so marked. In the +sketch I have written in all the numbers up to 30; the others are +not added merely for want of space; they appear in their +corresponding positions. You will see that 21 is curiously placed, +probably to get a fresh start for the next 10. The loops gradually +diminish in size as the numbers rise, and it seems rather curious +that the numbers from 100 to 120 resemble in form those from 1 to 20. +Beyond 144 the arrangement is less marked, and beyond 200 they +entirely vanish, although there is some hazy recollection of a +futile attempt to learn the multiplication table up to 20 times 20." + +[Illustration: PLATE II. _Examples of Number Forms_.] + +"Neither my mother nor my sister is conscious of any mental +arrangement of numerals. I have not found any idea of this kind +among any of my colleagues to whom I have spoken on the subject, and +several of them have ridiculed the notion, and possibly think me a +lunatic for having any such feeling. I was showing the scheme to G., +shortly after your first article appeared, on the piece of paper I +enclose, and he changed the diagram to a sea-serpent [most amusingly +and grotesquely drawn.--F. G.], with the remark, 'If you were a rich +man, and I knew I was mentioned in your will, I should destroy that +piece of paper, in case it should be brought forward as an evidence +of insanity!' I mention this in connection with a paragraph in your +article." + +Fig. 40 is, I think, the most complicated form I possess. It was +communicated to me by Mr. Woodd Smith as that of Miss L. K., a lady +who was governess in a family, whom he had closely questioned both +with inquiries of his own and by submitting others subsequently sent +by myself. It is impossible to convey its full meaning briefly, and +I am not sure that I understand much of the principle of it myself. +A shows part only (I have not room for more) of the series 2, 3, 5, 7, +10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, each as two sides of a square,--that is, +larger or smaller according to the magnitude of the number; 1 does +not appear anywhere. C similarly shows part of the series (all +divisible by 3) of 6, 9, 15, 21, 27, 30, 33, 39, 60, 63, 66, 69, 90, +93, 96. B shows the way in which most numbers divisible by 4 appear. +D shows the form of the numbers 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, +29, 41, 42-49, 81-83, 85-87, 89, 101-103, 105-107, and 109. E shows +that of 31, 33-35, 37-39. The other numbers are not clear, viz. 50, +51, 53-55, 57-59. Beyond 100 the arrangement becomes hazy, except +that the hundreds and thousands go on again in complete, consecutive, +and proportional squares indefinitely. The groups of figures are not +seen together, but one or other starts up as the number is thought of. +The form has no background, and is always seen _in front_. No Arabic +or other figures are seen with it. Experiments were made as to the +time required to get these images well in the mental view, by +reading to the lady a series of numbers as fast as she could +visualise them. The first series consisted of twenty numbers of two +figures each--thus, 17, 28, 13, 52, etc.; these were gone through on +the first trial in 22 seconds, on the second in 16, and on the third +in 26. The second series was more varied, containing numbers of one, +two, and three figures--thus 121, 117, 345, 187, 13, 6, 25, etc., +and these were gone through in three trials in 25, 25, and 22 seconds +respectively, forming a general result of 23 seconds for twenty +numbers, or 2-1/3 seconds per number. A noticeable feature in this +case is the strict accordance of the scale of the image with the +magnitude of the number, and the geometric regularity of the figures. +Some that I drew, and sent for the lady to see, did not at all +satisfy her eye as to their correctness. + +I should say that not a few mental calculators work by bulks rather +than by numerals; they arrange concrete magnitudes symmetrically in +rank and file like battalions, and march these about. I have one +case where each number in a Form seems to bear its own _weight_. + +Fig. 45 is a curious instance of a French Member of the Institute, +communicated to me by M. Antoine d'Abbadie (whose own Number-Form is +shown in Fig. 44):-- + +"He was asked, why he puts 4 in so conspicuous a place; he replied, +'You see that such a part of my name (which he wishes to withhold) +means 4 in the south of France, which is the cradle of my family; +consequently _quatre est ma raison d'être_.'" + +Subsequently, in 1880, M. d'Abbadie wrote:-- + +"I mentioned the case of a philosopher whose, 4, 14, 24, etc., all +step out of the rank in his mind's eye. He had a haze in his mind +from 60, I believe [it was 50.--F.G.], up to 80; but latterly 80 has +sprung out, not like the sergeants 4, 14, 24, but like a captain, +farther out still, and five or six times as large as the privates 1, +2, 3, 5, 6, etc. 'Were I superstitious,' said he, 'I should +conclude that my death would occur in the 80th year of the century.' +The growth of 80 was _sudden_, and has remained constant ever since." + +This is the only case known to me of a new stage in the development +of a Number-Form being suddenly attained. + + +DESCRIPTION OF PLATE III. + +Plate III. is intended to exhibit some instances of heredity. I have +no less than twenty-two families in which this curious tendency is +hereditary, and there may be many more of which I am still ignorant. +I have found it to extend in at least eight of these beyond the near +degrees of parent and child, and brother and sister. Considering that +the occurrence is so rare as to exist in only about one in every +twenty-five or thirty males, these results are very remarkable, and +their trustworthiness is increased by the fact that the hereditary +tendency is on the whole the strongest in those cases where the +Number-Forms are the most defined and elaborate. I give four +instances in which the hereditary tendency is found, not only in +having a Form at all, but also in some degree in the shape of the +Form. + +Figs. 46-49 are those of various members of the Henslow family, +where the brothers, sisters, and some children of a sister have the +peculiarity. + +Figs. 53-54 are those of a master of Cheltenham College and his +sister. + +Figs. 55-56 are those of a father and son; 57 and 58 belong to the +same family. + +Figs. 59-60 are those of a brother and sister. + +The lower half of the Plate explains itself. The last figure of all, +Fig. 65, is of interest, because it was drawn for an intelligent +little girl of only 11 years old, after she had been closely +questioned by the father, and it was accompanied by elaborate +coloured illustrations of months and days of the week. I thought +this would be a good test case, so I let the matter drop for two +years, and then begged the father to question the child casually, +and to send me a fresh account. I asked at the same time if any +notes had been kept of the previous letter. Nothing could have come +out more satisfactorily. No notes had been kept; the subject +had passed out of mind, but the imagery remained the same, with some +trifling and very interesting metamorphoses of details. + +[Illustration: PLATE III. _Examples of an Hereditary Tendency to see +Number-Forms_, _4 Instances where the Number Forms in same family +are alike_ _3 Instances where the Number-Forms in same family are +unlike_] + + +DESCRIPTION OF PLATE IV. + +I can find room in Plate IV. for only two instances of coloured +Number-Forms, though others are described in Plate III. Fig. 64 is +by Miss Rose G. Kingsley, daughter of the late eminent writer the Rev. +Charles Kingsley, and herself an authoress. She says:-- + +"Up to 30 I see the numbers in clear white; to 40 in gray; 40-50 in +flaming orange; 50-60 in green; 60-70 in dark blue; 70 I am not sure +about; 80 is reddish, I think; and 90 is yellow; but these latter +divisions are very indistinct in my mind's eye." + +She subsequently writes:-- + +"I now enclose my diagram; it is very roughly done, I am afraid, not +nearly as well as I should have liked to have done it. My great fear, +has been that in thinking it over I might be led to write down +something more than what I actually see, but I hope I have avoided +this." + +Fig. 65 is an attempt at reproducing the form sent by Mr. George F. +Smythe of Ohio, an American correspondent who has contributed much +of interest. He says:-- + +"To me the numbers from 1 to 20 lie on a level plane, but from 20 +they slope up to 100 at an angle of about 25°. Beyond 100 they are +generally all on a level, but if for any reason I have to think of +the numbers from 100 to 200, or from 200 to 300, etc., then the +numbers, between these two hundreds, are arranged just as those from +1 to 100 are. I do not, when thinking of a number, picture to +myself the figures which represent it, but I do think instantly of +the place which it occupies along the line. Moreover, in the case of +numbers from 1 to 20 (and, indistinctly, from 20 up to 28 or 30), I +always picture the number--not the figures--as occupying a +right-angled parallelogram about twice as long as it is broad. These +numbers all lie down flat and extend in a straight line from 1 to 12 +over an unpleasant, arid, sandy plain. At 12 the line turns abruptly +to the right, passes into a pleasanter region where grass grows, and +so continues up to 20. At 20 the line turns to the left, and passes +up the before-described incline to 100. This figure will help you in +understanding my ridiculous notions. The asterisk (*) marks the +place where I commonly seem to myself to stand and view the line. At +times I take other positions, but never any position to the left of +the (*), nor to the right of the line from 20 upwards. I do not +associate colours with numbers, but there is a great difference in +the illumination which different numbers receive. If a traveller +should start at 1 and walk to 100, he would be in an intolerable +glare of light until near 9 or 10. But at 11 he would go into a land +of darkness and would have to feel his way. At 12 light breaks in +again, a pleasant sunshine, which continues up to 19 or 20, where +there is a sort of twilight. From here to 40 the illumination is +feeble, but still there is considerable light. At 40 things light up, +and until one reaches 56 or 57 there is broad daylight. Indeed the +tract from 48 to 50 is almost as bad as that from 1 to 9. Beyond 60 +there is a fair amount of light up to about 97, From this point to +100 it is rather cloudy." + +In a subsequent letter he adds:-- + +"I enclose a picture in perspective and colour of my 'form.' I have +taken great pains with this, but am far from satisfied with it. I +know nothing about drawing, and consequently am unable to put upon +the paper just what I see. The faults which I find with the picture +are these. The rectangles stand out too distinctly, as something +lying on the plane instead of being, as they ought, a part of the +plane. The view is taken of necessity from an unnatural stand-point, +and some way or other the region 1-12 does not look right. The +landscape is altogether too distinct in its features. I rather +_know that there is_ grass, and that there are trees in the +distance, than _see_ them. But the grass within a few feet of the +line I see distinctly. I cannot make the hill at the right slope +down to the plane as it ought. It is too steep. I have had my poor +success in indicating my notion of the darkness which overhangs the +region of eleven. In reality it is not a cloud at all, but a darkness. + +"My sister, a married lady, thirty-eight years of age, sees numerals +much as I do, but very indistinctly. She cannot draw a figure which +is not by far too distinct." + +Most of those who associate colours with numerals do so in a vague +way, impossible to convey with truth in a painting. Of the few who +see them with more objectivity, many are unable to paint or are +unwilling to take the trouble required to match the precise colours +of their fancies. A slight error in hue or tint always dissatisfies +them with their work. + +Before dismissing the subject of numerals, I would call attention to +a few other associations connected with them. They are often +personified by children, and characters are assigned to them, it may +be on account of the part they play in the multiplication table, or +owing to some fanciful association with their appearance or their +sound. To the minds of some persons the multiplication table appears +dramatised, and any chance group of figures may afford a plot for a +tale. I have collated six full and trustworthy accounts, and find a +curious dissimilarity in the personifications and preferences; thus +the number 3 is described as (1) disliked; (2) a treacherous sneak; +(3) a good old friend; (4) delightful and amusing; (5) a female +companion to 2; (6) a feeble edition of 9. In one point alone do I +find any approach to unanimity, and that is in the respect paid to 12, +as in the following examples:--(1) important and influential; +(2) good and cautious--so good as to be almost noble; (3) a more +beautiful number than 10, from the many multiples that make it +up--in other words, its kindly relations to so many small numbers; +(4) a great love for 12, a large-hearted motherly person because of +the number of little ones that it takes, as it were, under its +protection. The decimal system seemed to me treason against this +motherly 12.--All this concurs with the importance assigned for +other reasons to the number 12 in the Number-Form. + +There is no agreement as to the sex of numbers; I myself had +absurdly enough fancied that _of course_ the even numbers would be +taken to be of the male sex, and was surprised to find that they +were not. I mention this as an example of the curious way in which +our minds may be unconsciously prejudiced by the survival of some +forgotten early fancies. I cannot find on inquiring of philologists +any indications of different sexes having been assigned in any +language to different numbers. + +Mr. Hershon has published an analysis of the Talmud, on the odd +principle of indexing the various passages according to the number +they may happen to contain; thus such a phrase as "there were three +men who," etc., would be entered under the number 3. I cannot find +any particular preferences given there to especial numbers; even 7 +occurs less often than 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10. Their respective +frequency being 47, 54, 53, 64, 54, 51; 12 occurs only sixteen times. +Gamblers have not unfrequently the silliest ideas concerning numbers, +their heads being filled with notions about lucky figures and +beautiful combinations of them. There is a very amusing chapter in +_Rome Contemporaine_, by E. About, in which he speaks of this in +connection with the rage for lottery tickets. + + + + +COLOUR ASSOCIATIONS. + +Numerals are occasionally seen in Arabic or other figures, not +disposed in any particular Form, but coloured. An instance of this +is represented in Fig. 69 towards the middle part of the column, but +as I shall have shortly to enter at length into the colour +associations of the author, I will pass over this portion of them, +and will quote in preference from the letter of another correspondent. + +Baron von Osten Sacken, of whom I have already spoken, writes:-- + +"The localisation of numerals, peculiar to certain persons, is +foreign to me. In my mind's eye the figures appear _in front_ of me, +within a limited space. My peculiarity, however, consists in the +fact that the numerals from 1 to 9 are differently coloured; (1) +black, (2) yellow, (3) pale brick red, (4) brown, (5) blackish gray, +(6) reddish brown, (7) green, (8) bluish, (9) reddish brown, +somewhat like 6. These colours appear very distinctly when I think +of these figures separately; in compound figures they become less +apparent. But the most remarkable manifestation of these colours +appears in my recollections of chronology. When I think of the +events of a given century they invariably appear to me on a +background coloured like the principal figure in the dates of that +century; thus events of the eighteenth century invariably appear to +me on a greenish ground, from the colour of the figure 7. This habit +clings to me most tenaciously, and the only hypothesis I can form +about its origin is the following:--My tutor, when I was ten to +twelve years old, taught me chronology by means of a diagram on +which the centuries were represented by squares, subdivided in 100 +smaller squares; the squares representing centuries had _narrow +coloured borders_; it may be that in this way the recollection of +certain figures became associated with certain colours. I venture +this explanation without attaching too much importance to it, because +it seems to me that if it was true, my _direct_ recollection of those +coloured borders would have been stronger than it is; still, the +strong association of my chronology with colour seems to plead in +favour of that explanation." + +Figs. 66, 67. These two are selected out of a large collection +of coloured Forms in which the months of the year are visualised. +They will illustrate the gorgeousness of the mental imagery of +some favoured persons. Of these Fig. 66 is by the wife of an able +London physician, and Fig. 67 is by Mrs. Kempe Welch, whose sister, +Miss Bevington, a well-known and thoughtful writer, also sees +coloured imagery in connection with dates. This Fig. 67 was one +of my test cases, repeated after the lapse of two years, and quite +satisfactorily. The first communication was a descriptive account, +partly in writing, partly by word of mouth; the second, on my asking +for it, was a picture which agreed perfectly with the description, +and explained much that I had not understood at the time. The small +size of the Fig. in the Plate makes it impossible to do justice to +the picture, which is elaborate and on a large scale, with a +perspective of similar hills stretching away to the far distance, +and each standing for a separate year. She writes:-- + +"It is rather difficult to give it fully without making it too +definite; on each side there is a total blank." + +The instantaneous association of colour with sound characterises a +small percentage of adults, and it appears to be rather common, +though in an ill-developed degree, among children. I can here appeal +not only to my own collection of facts, but to those of others, for +the subject has latterly excited some interest in Germany. The first +widely known case was that of the brothers Nussbaumer, published in +1873 by Professor Bruhl of Vienna, of which the English reader will +find an account in the last volume of Lewis's _Problems of Life and +Mind_ (p. 280). Since then many occasional notices of similar +associations have appeared. A pamphlet containing numerous cases was +published in Leipsic in 1881 by two Swiss investigators, Messrs. +Bleuler and Lehmann.[9] One of the authors had the faculty very +strongly, and the other had not; so they worked conjointly with +advantage. They carefully tabulated the particulars of sixty-two +cases. As my present object is to subordinate details to the general +impression that I wish to convey of the peculiarities of different +minds, I will simply remark--First, that the persistence of the +colour association with sounds is fully as remarkable as that of the +Number-Form with numbers. Secondly, that the vowel sounds chiefly +evoke them. Thirdly, that the seers are invariably most minute in +their description of the precise tint and hue of the colour. They +are never satisfied, for instance, with saying "blue," but will take +a great deal of trouble to express or to match the particular blue +they mean. Fourthly, that no two people agree, or hardly ever do so, +as to the colour they associate with the same sound. Lastly, that +the tendency is very hereditary. The publications just mentioned +absolve me from the necessity of giving many extracts from the +numerous letters I have received, but I am particularly anxious to +bring the brilliancy of these colour associations more vividly +before the reader than is possible by mere description. I have +therefore given the elaborately-coloured diagrams in Plate IV., which +were copied by the artist directly from the original drawings, and +which have been printed by the superimposed impressions of different +colours from different lithographic stones. They have been, on the +whole, very faithfully executed, and will serve as samples of the +most striking cases. Usually the sense of colour is much too vague +to enable the seer to reproduce the various tints so definitely as +those in this Plate. But this is by no means universally the case. + +Fig. 68 is an excellent example of the occasional association of +colours with letters. It is by Miss Stones, the head teacher in a +high school for girls, who, as I have already mentioned, obtained +useful information for me, and has contributed several suggestive +remarks of her own. She says:-- + +"The vowels of the English language always appear to me, when I +think of them, as possessing certain colours, of which I enclose a +diagram. Consonants, when thought of by themselves, are of a +purplish black; but when I think of a whole word, the colour of the +consonants tends towards the colour of the vowels. For example, in +the word 'Tuesday,' when I think of each letter separately, the +consonants are purplish-black, _u_ is a light dove colour, _e_ is a +pale emerald green, and _a_ is yellow; but when I think of the whole +word together, the first part is a light gray-green, and the latter +part yellow. Each word is a distinct whole. I have always associated +the same colours with the same letters, and no effort will change +the colour of one letter, transferring it to another. Thus the word +'red' assumes a light-green tint, while the word 'yellow' is +light-green at the beginning and red at the end. Occasionally, when +uncertain how a word should be spelt, I have considered what colour +it ought to be, and have decided in that way. I believe this has +often been a great help to me in spelling, both in English and +foreign languages. The colour of the letters is never smeared or +blurred in any way. I cannot recall to mind anything that should +have first caused me to associate colours with letters, nor can my +mother remember any alphabet or reading-book coloured in the way I +have described, which I might have used as a child. I do not +associate any idea of colour with musical notes at all, nor with any +of the other senses." + +She adds:-- + +"Perhaps you may be interested in the following account from my +sister of her visual peculiarities: 'When I think of Wednesday I see +a kind of oval flat wash of yellow emerald green; for Tuesday, a +gray sky colour; for Thursday, a brown-red irregular polygon; and a +dull yellow smudge for Friday.'" + +[Footnote 9: Zwangmässige Lichtempfindungen durch Schall und +verwandte Erscheinungen, von E. Bleuler und K. Lehmann. Leipsig, Fues' +Verlag (R. Reisland), 1881.] + +The latter quotation is a sample of many that I have; I give it +merely as another instance of hereditary tendency. + +I will insert just one description of other coloured letters than +those represented in the Plate. It is from Mrs. H., the married +sister of a well-known man of science, who writes:-- + +"I do not know how it is with others, but to me the colours of +vowels are so strongly marked that I hardly understand their +appearing of a different colour, or, what is nearly as bad, +colourless to any one. To me they are and always have been, as long +as I have known them, of the following tints:--" + +A, pure white, and like china in texture. + +E, red, not transparent; vermilion, with china-white would represent +it. + +I, light bright yellow; gamboge. + +O, black, but transparent; the colour of deep water seen through +thick clear ice. + +U, purple. + +Y, a dingier colour than I. + +"The shorter sounds of the vowels are less vivid and pure in colour. +Consonants are almost or quite colourless to me, though there is +some blackness about M. + +"Some association with U in the words blue and purple may account +for that colour, and possibly the E in red may have to do with that +also; but I feel as if they were independent of suggestions of the +kind. + +"My first impulse is to say that the association lies solely in the +sound of the vowels, in which connection I certainly feel it the +most strongly; but then the thought of the distinct redness of such +a [printed or written] word as '_great_' shows me that the relation +must be visual as well as aural. The meaning of words is so +unavoidably associated with the sight of them, that I think this +association rather overrides the primitive impression of the colour +of the vowels, and the word '_violet_' reminds me of its proper +colour until I look at the word as a mere collection of letters. + +"Of my two daughters, one sees the colours quite differently from +this (A, blue; E, white; I, black; O, whity-brownish; U, opaque brown). +The other is only heterodox on the A and O; A being with her black, +and O white. My sister and I never agreed about these colours, and I +doubt whether my two brothers feel the chromatic force of the vowels +at all." + +I give this instance partly on account of the hereditary interest. I +could add cases from at least three different families in which the +heredity is quite as strongly marked. + +Fig. 69 fills the whole of the middle column of Plate IV., and +contains specimens from a large series of coloured illustrations, +accompanied by many pages of explanation from a correspondent, +Dr. James Key of Montagu, Cape Colony. The pictures will tell their +own tale sufficiently well. I need only string together a few brief +extracts from his letters, as follows:-- + +"I confess my inability to understand visualised numerals; it is +otherwise, however, with regard to colour associations with letters. +Ever since childhood these have been distinct and unchanging in my +consciousness; sometimes, although very seldom, I have mentioned them, +to the amazement of my teachers and the scorn of my comrades. A is +brown. I say it most dogmatically, and nothing will ever have the +effect, I am convinced, of making it appear otherwise! I can imagine +no explanation of this association. [He goes into much detail as to +conceivable reasons connected with his childish life to show that +none of these would do.] Shades of brown accompany to my mind the +various degrees of openness in pronouncing A. I have never been +destitute in all my conscious existence of a conviction that E is a +clear, cold, light-gray blue. I remember daubing in colours, when +quite a little child, the picture of a jockey, whose shirt received +a large share of E, as I said to myself while daubing it with grey. +[He thinks that the letter I may possibly be associated with black +because it contains no open space, and O with white because it does.] +The colour of R has been invariably of a copper colour, in which a +swarthy blackness seems to intervene, visually corresponding to the +trilled pronunciation of R. This same appearance exists also in J, X, +and Z." + +The upper row of Fig. 69 shows the various shades of brown, +associated with different pronunciations of the letter A, as in +"fame," "can," "charm," and "all" respectively. The second, third +and fourth rows similarly refer to the various pronunciations of the +other vowels. Then follow the letters of the alphabet, grouped +according to the character of the appearance they suggest. After +these come the numerals. Then I give three lines of words such as +they appear to him. The first is my own name, the second is +"London," and the third is "Visualisation." Proceeding conversely, +Dr. Key collected scraps of various patterns of wall paper, and sent +them together with the word that the colour of the several patterns +suggested to him. Specimens of these are shown in the three bottom +lines of the Fig. I have gone through the whole of them with care, +together with his descriptions and reasons, and can quite understand +his meaning, and how exceedingly complex and refined these +associations are. The patterns are to him like words in poetry, +which call up associations that any substituted word of a like +dictionary meaning would fail to do. It would not, for example, be +possible to print words by the use of counters coloured like those +in Fig. 69, because the tint of each influences that of its +neighbours. It must be understood that my remarks, though based on +Dr. Key's diagrams and statements as on a text, do not depend, by +any means, wholly upon them, but on numerous other letters from +various quarters to the same effect. At the same time I should say +that Dr. Key's elaborate drawings and ample explanations, to which I +am totally unable to do justice in a moderate space, are the most +full and striking of any I have received. His illustrations are on a +large scale, and are ingeniously arranged so as to express his +meaning. + +Persons who have colour associations are unsparingly critical. To +ordinary individuals one of these accounts seems just as wild and +lunatic as another, but when the account of one seer is submitted to +another seer, who is sure to see the colours in a different way, the +latter is scandalised and almost angry at the heresy of the former. +I submitted this very account of Dr. Key to a lady, the wife of an +ex-governor of one of the most important British possessions, who +has vivid colour associations of her own, and who, I had some reason +to think, might have personal acquaintance with the locality where +Dr. Key lives. She could not comprehend his account at all, his +colours were so entirely different to those that she herself saw. + +I have now completed as much as I propose to say about the quaint +phenomena of Visualised Forms of numbers and of dates, and of +coloured associations with letters. I shall not extend my remarks to +such subjects as a musician hearing mental music, of which I have +many cases, nor to fancies concerning the other senses, as none of +these are so noteworthy. I am conscious that the reader may desire +even more assurance of the trustworthiness of the accounts I have +given than the space now at my disposal admits, or than I could +otherwise afford without wearisome iteration of the same tale, by +multiplying extracts from my large store of material. I feel, too, +that it may seem ungracious to many obliging correspondents not to +have made more evident use of what they have sent than my few and +brief notices permit. Still their end and mine will have been gained, +if these remarks and illustrations succeed in leaving a just +impression of the vast variety of mental constitution that exists in +the world, and how impossible it is for one man to lay his mind +strictly alongside that of another, except in the rare instances of +close hereditary resemblance. + + + + +VISIONARIES. + +In the course of my inquiries into visual memory, I was greatly +struck by the frequency of the replies in which my informants +described themselves as subject to "visions." Those of whom I speak +were sane and healthy, but were subject notwithstanding to visual +presentations, for which they could not account, and which in a few +cases reached the level of hallucinations. This unexpected +prevalence of a visionary tendency among persons who form a part of +ordinary society seems to me suggestive and well worthy of being put +on record. The images described by different persons varied greatly +in distinctness, some were so faint and evanescent as to appear +unworthy of serious notice; others left a deep impression, and +others again were so vivid as actually to deceive the judgment. All +of these belong to the same category, and it is the assurance of +their common origin that affords justification for directing +scientific attention to what many may be inclined to contemptuously +disregard as the silly vagaries of vacant minds. + +The lowest order of phenomena that admit of being classed as visions +are the "Number-Forms" to which I have just drawn attention. They +are in each case absolutely unchangable, except through a gradual +development in complexity. Their diversity is endless, and the +Number-Forms of different persons are mutually unintelligible. These +strange "visions," for such they must be called, are extremely vivid +in some cases, but are almost incredible to the vast majority of +mankind, who would set them down as fantastic nonsense; nevertheless, +they are familiar parts of the mental furniture of the rest, in +whose imaginations they have been unconsciously formed, and where +they remain unmodified and unmodifiable by teaching. I have received +many touching accounts of their childish experiences from persons +who see the Number-Forms, and other curious visions of which I have +spoken or shall speak. As is the case with the colour-blind, so with +these seers. They imagined at first that everybody else had the same +way of regarding things as themselves. Then they betrayed their +peculiarities by some chance remark that called forth a stare of +surprise, followed by ridicule and a sharp scolding for their +silliness, so that the poor little things shrank back into themselves, +and never ventured again to allude to their inner world. I will +quote just one of many similar letters as a sample. I received it, +together with much interesting information, immediately after a +lecture I gave to the British Association at Swansea, in which I had +occasion to speak of the Number-Forms. The writer says:-- + +"I had no idea for many years that every one did not imagine numbers +in the same positions as those in which they appear to me. One +unfortunate day I spoke of it, and was sharply rebuked for my +absurdity. Being a very sensitive child I felt this acutely, but +nothing ever shook my belief that, absurd or not, I always saw +numbers in this particular way. I began to be ashamed of what I +considered a peculiarity, and to imagine myself, from this and +various other mental beliefs and states, as somewhat isolated and +peculiar. At your lecture the other night, though I am now over +twenty-nine, the memory of my childish misery at the dread of being +peculiar came over me so strongly that I felt I must thank you for +proving that, in this particular at any rate, my case is most common." + +The next sort of vision that flashes unaccountably into existence is +the instant association in some persons of colour with sound, which +was spoken of in the last chapter, and on which I need not say more +now. + +A third curious and abiding fantasy of certain persons is invariably +to connect visualised pictures with words, the same picture to the +same word. These are perceived by many in a vague, fleeting, and +variable way, but to a few they appear strangely vivid and permanent. +I have collected many cases of this peculiarity, and am much +indebted to the authoress, Mrs. Haweis, who sees these pictures, for +her kindness in sketching some of them for me, and for permitting me +to use her name in guarantee of their genuineness. She says:-- + +"Printed words have always had faces to me; they had definite +expressions, and certain faces made me think of certain words. The +words had _no_ connection with these except sometimes by accident. +The instances I give are few and ridiculous. When I think of the +word Beast, it has a face something like a gargoyle. The word Green +has also a gargoyle face, with the addition of big teeth. The word +Blue blinks and looks silly, and turns to the right. The word +Attention has the eyes greatly turned to the left. It is difficult +to draw them properly because, like Alice's 'Cheshire cat,' which at +times became a grin without a cat, these faces have expression +without features. The expression of course" [note the _naïve_ phrase +"of course."--F.G.] "depends greatly on those of the letters, which +have likewise their faces and figures. All the little a's turn their +eyes to the left, this determines the eyes of Attention. Ant, however, +looks a little down. Of course these faces are endless as words are, +and it makes my head ache to retain them long enough to draw." + +Some of the figures are very quaint. Thus the interrogation +"what?" always excites the idea of a fat man cracking a long whip. +They are not the capricious creations of the fancy of the moment, +but are the regular concomitants of the words, and have been so as +far back as the memory is able to recall. + +When in perfect darkness, if the field of view be carefully watched, +many persons will find a perpetual series of changes to be going on +automatically and wastefully in it. I have much evidence of this. I +will give my own experience the first, which is striking to me, +because I am very unimpressionable in these matters. I visualise +with effort; I am peculiarly inapt to see "after-images," "phosphenes," +"light-dust," and other phenomena due to weak sight or sensitiveness; +and, again, before I thought of carefully trying, I should have +emphatically declared that my field of view in the dark was +essentially of a uniform black, subject to an occasional +light-purple cloudiness and other small variations. Now, however, +after habituating myself to examine it with the same sort of strain +that one tries to decipher a signpost in the dark, I have found out +that this is by no means the case, but that a kaleidoscopic change +of patterns and forms is continually going on, but they are too +fugitive and elaborate for me to draw with any approach to truth. I +am astonished at their variety, and cannot guess in the remotest +degree the cause of them. They disappear out of sight and memory the +instant I begin to think about anything, and it is curious to me +that they should often be so certainly present and yet be habitually +overlooked. If they were more vivid, the case would be very different, +and it is most easily conceivable that some very slight +physiological change, short of a really morbid character, would +enhance their vividness. My own deficiencies, however, are well +supplied by other drawings in my possession. These are by the Rev. +George Henslow, whose visions are far more vivid than mine. His +experiences are not unlike those of Goethe, who said, in an +often-quoted passage, that whenever he bent his head and closed his +eyes and thought of a rose, a sort of rosette made its appearance, +which would not keep its shape steady for a moment, but unfolded +from within, throwing out a succession of petals, mostly red but +sometimes green, and that it continued to do so without change in +brightness and without causing him any fatigue so long as he cared to +watch it. Mr. Henslow, when he shuts his eyes and waits, is sure in +a short time to see before him the clear image of some object or +other, but usually not quite natural in its shape. It then begins to +change from one form to another, in his case also for as long a time +as he cares to watch it. Mr. Henslow has zealously made repeated +experiments on himself, and has drawn what he sees. He has also tried +how far he is able to mould the visions according to his will. In +one case, after much effort, he contrived to bring the imagery back +to its starting-point, and thereby to form what he terms a "visual +cycle." The following account is extracted and condensed from his +very interesting letter, and will explain the illustrations copied +from his drawings that are given in Plate IV. + +Fig. 70. The first image that spontaneously presented itself was a +cross-bow (1); this was immediately provided with an arrow (2), +remarkable for its pronounced barb and superabundance of feathering. +Some person, but too indistinct to recognise much more of him than +the hands, appeared to shoot the arrow from the bow. The single +arrow was then accompanied by a flight of arrows from right to left, +which completely occupied the field of vision. These changed into +falling stars, then into flakes of a heavy snowstorm; the ground +gradually appeared as a sheet of snow where previously there had +been vacant space. Then a well-known rectory, fish-ponds, walls, etc., +all covered with snow, came into view most vividly and clearly +defined. This somehow suggested another view, impressed on his mind +in childhood, of a spring morning, brilliant sun, and a bed of red +tulips: the tulips gradually vanished except one, which appeared now +to be isolated and to stand in the usual point of sight. It was a +single tulip, but became double. The petals then fell off rapidly in +a continuous series until there was nothing left but the pistil +(3), but (as is almost invariably the case with his objects) that +part was greatly exaggerated. The stigmas then changed into three +branching brown horns (4); then into a knob (5), while the stalk +changed into a stick. A slight bend in it seems to have suggested a +centre-bit (6); this passed into a sort of pin passing through a +metal plate (7), this again into a lock (8), and afterwards into a +nondescript shape (9), distantly suggestive of the original cross-bow. +Here Mr. Henslow endeavoured to force his will upon the visions, and +to reproduce the cross-bow, but the first attempt was an utter +failure. The figure changed into a leather strap with loops (10), but +while he still endeavoured to change it into a bow the strap broke, +the two ends were separated, but it happened that an imaginary +string connected them (11). This was the first concession of his +automatic chain of thoughts to his will. By a continued effort the +bow came (12), and then no difficulty was felt in converting it into +the cross-bow, and thus returning to the starting-point. Fig. 71. +Mr. Henslow writes:-- + +"Though I can usually summon up any object thought of, it not only +is somewhat different from the real thing, but it rapidly changes. +The changes are in many cases clearly due to a suggestiveness in the +article of something else, but not always so, as in some cases +hereafter described. It is not at ail necessary to think of any +particular object at first, as something is sure to come +spontaneously within a minute or two. Some object having once +appeared, the automatism of the brain will rapidly induce the series +of changes. The images are sometimes very numerous, and very rapid +in succession: very frequently of great beauty and highly brilliant. +Cut glass (far more elaborate than I am conscious of ever having seen), +highly chased gold and silver filigree ornaments; gold and silver +flower-stands, etc.; elaborate coloured patterns of carpets in +brilliant tints are not uncommon. + +"Another peculiarity resides in the extreme restlessness of my +visual objects. It is often very difficult to keep them still, as +well as from changing in character. They will rapidly oscillate or +else rotate to a most perplexing degree, and when the characters +change at the same time a critical examination is almost impossible. +When the process is in full activity, I feel as if I were a mere +spectator at a diorama of a very eccentric kind, and was in no way +concerned with the getting up of the performance. + +"When a succession of images has been passing, I sometimes _determine_ +to introduce an object, say a watch. Very often it is next to +impossible to succeed. There is an evident struggle. The watch, +pure and simple, will not come; but some hybrid structure +appears--something round, perhaps--but it lapses into a warming-pan +or other unexpected object. + +"This practice has brought to my mind very clearly the distinction +between at least one form of automatism of the brain and volition; +but the strength of the former is enormous, for the visual objects, +when in full career of the change, are _imperative_ in their refusal +to be interfered with. + +"I will now describe the cases illustrated. Fig. 71. I thought of a +gun. The _stock_ came into view, the metal plate on the end very +distinct towards the left (1). The wood was elaborately carved. I +cannot recall the pattern. As I scrutinised it, the stock oscillated +up and down, and _crumpled up_. The metallic plate sank inwards: and +the stock contracted so that it looked not unlike a tuning-fork +(2). I gave up the stock and proceeded cautiously to examine the lock. +I got it well into view, but no more of the gun. It turned out to be +an old-fashioned flint-lock. It immediately began to nod backwards +and forwards in a manner suggestive of the beak of a bird pecking. +Consequently it forthwith became converted into the head of a bird +with a long curved beak, the knob on the lock (3) becoming the head +of the bird. I then looked to the right expecting to find the barrel, +but the snout of a saw-fish with the tip _distinctly_ broken off +appeared instead. I had not thought either of a _flint_-lock or of a +saw-fish: both came spontaneously. + +"Fig. 72. I have several times thought of a rosebud, as Goethe is +said to have been able to see one at will, and to observe it expand. +The following are some of the results:--The bud appeared +unexpectedly a moss rosebud. Its only abnormal appearance was the +inordinately elongated sepals (1). I tried to _force_ it to expand. +It enlarged but only partially opened (2), when all of a sudden it +burst open and the petals became reflexed (3).[10] + +"Fig. 73. The spontaneous appearance of a poppy capsule (1) +dehiscing as usual by 'pores,' but with inordinately long and +arching valves over the pores. These valves were eminently +suggestive of hooded flowers. Hence they changed to a whorl of +_salvias_ (2). Each blossom now gyrated rapidly in a vertical plane. +Concentrating observation on _one_ rotating flower, it became a +'rotating haze,' as the rapid motion rendered the flower totally +indistinct. The 'haze' now shaped itself into a circle of moss with +a deep funnel-like cavity. This was suggestive of a bird's nest. It +became lined with _hair_, but the nest was a _deep_, pointed cavity. +A nest was suggestive of eggs. Hence a series appeared (4); the two +rows meeting in one at the apex appears to have arisen from the +_perspective_ view of the nest. The eggs all disappeared but one +(5), which increased in size; the bright point of light now shone +with great intensity like a star; then it gradually grew dimmer and +dimmer till it disappeared into the usual hazy obscurity into which +all [my] visual objects ultimately vanish." + +I have a sufficient variety of cases to prove the continuity between +all the forms of visualisation, beginning with an almost total +absence of it, and ending with a complete hallucination. The +continuity is, however, not simply that of varying degrees of +intensity, but of variations in the character of the process itself, +so that it is by no means uncommon to find two very different forms +of it concurrent in the same person. There are some who visualise +well, and who also are seers of visions, who declare that the vision +is not a vivid visualisation, but altogether a different phenomenon. +In short, if we please to call all sensations due to external +impressions "_direct"_ and all others "_induced_" then there are +many channels through which the "_induction_" of the latter may +take place, and the channel of ordinary visualisation in the persons +just mentioned is different from that through which their visions +arise. + +The following is a good instance of this condition. A friend writes: +-- + +"These visions often appear with startling vividness, and so far +from depending on any voluntary effort of the mind, [10] they remain +when I often wish them very much to depart, and no effort of the +imagination can call them up. I lately saw a framed portrait of a +face which seemed more lovely than any painting I have ever seen, +and again I often see fine landscapes which bear no resemblance to +any scenery I have ever looked upon. I find it difficult to define +the difference between a waking vision and a mental image, although +the difference is very apparent to myself. I think I can do it best +in this way. If you go into a theatre and look at a scene--say of a +forest by moonlight--at the back part of the stage you see every +object distinctly and sufficiently illuminated (being thus unlike a +mere act of memory), but it is nevertheless vague and shadowy, and +you might have difficulty in telling afterwards all the objects you +have seen. This resembles a mental image in point of clearness. The +waking vision is like what one sees in the open street in broad +daylight, when every object is distinctly impressed on the memory. +The two kinds of imagery differ also as regards voluntariness, the +image being entirely subservient to the will, the visions entirely +independent of it. They differ also in point of suddenness, the +images being formed comparatively slowly as memory recalls each +detail, and fading slowly as the mental effort to retain them is +relaxed, the visions appearing and vanishing in an instant. The +waking visions seem quite close, filling as it were the whole head, +while the mental image seems farther away in some far-off recess of +the mind." + +[Footnote 10: The details and illustrations of four other +experiments with the image of a rosebud have been given me. They all +vary in detail.] + +The number of sane persons who see visions no less distinctly than +this correspondent is much greater than I had any idea of when I +began this inquiry. I have received an interesting sketch of one, +prefaced by a description of it by Mrs. Haweis. She says:-- + +"All my life long I have had one very constantly-recurring vision, a +sight which came whenever it was dark or darkish, in bed or otherwise. +It is a flight of pink roses floating in a mass from left to right, +and this cloud or mass of roses is presently effaced by a flight of +'sparks' or gold speckles across them. The sparks totter or vibrate +from left to right, but they fly distinctly upwards; they are like +tiny blocks, half gold, half black, rather symmetrically placed +behind each other, and they are always in a hurry to efface the roses; +sometimes they have come at my call, sometimes by surprise, but they +are always equally pleasing. What interests me most is that, when a +child under nine, the flight of roses was light, slow, soft, close +to my eyes, roses so large and brilliant and palpable that I tried to +touch them; the _scent_ was overpowering, the petals perfect, with +leaves peeping here and there, texture and motion all natural. They +would stay a long time before the sparks came, and they occupied a +large area in black space. Then the sparks came slowly flying, and +generally, not always, effaced the roses at once, and every effort +to retain the roses failed. Since an early age the flight of roses +has annually grown smaller, swifter, and farther off, till by the +time I was grown up my vision had become a speck, so instantaneous +that I had hardly time to realise that it was there before the +fading sparks showed that it was past. This is how they still come. +The pleasure of them is past, and it always depresses me to speak of +them, though I do not now, as I did when a child, connect the vision +with any elevated spiritual state. But when I read Tennyson's +_Holy Grail_, I wondered whether anybody else had had my vision, +'Rose-red, with beatings in it.' I may add, I was a London child who +never was in the country but once, and I connect no particular +flowers with that visit. I may almost say that I had never seen a +rose, certainly not a quantity of them together." + +A common form of vision is a phantasmagoria, or the appearance of a +crowd of phantoms, sometimes hurrying past like men in a street. It +is occasionally seen in broad daylight, much more often in the dark; +it may be at the instant of putting out the candle, but it generally +comes on when the person is in bed, preparing to sleep, but by no +means yet asleep. I know no less than three men, eminent in the +scientific world, who have these phantasmagoria in one form or +another. It will seem curious, but it is a fact that I know of no +less than five editors of very influential newspapers who experience +these night visitations in a vivid form. Two of them have described +the phenomena very forcibly in print, but anonymously, and two +others have written on cognate experiences. + +A near relative of my own saw phantasmagoria very frequently. She +was eminently sane, and of such good constitution that her faculties +were hardly impaired until near her death at ninety. She frequently +described them to me. It gave her amusement during an idle hour to +watch these faces, for their expression was always pleasing, though +never strikingly beautiful. No two faces were ever alike, and no +face ever resembled that of any acquaintance. When she was not well +the faces usually came nearer to her, sometimes almost suffocatingly +close. She never mistook them for reality, although they were very +distinct. This is quite a typical case, similar in most respects to +many others that I have.[1] + +A notable proportion of sane persons have had not only visions, but +actual hallucinations of sight, sound, or other sense, at one or +more periods of their lives. I have a considerable packet of +instances contributed by my personal friends, besides a large number +communicated to me by other correspondents. One lady, a +distinguished authoress, who was at the time a little fidgeted, but +in no way overwrought or ill, assured me that she once saw the +principal character of one of her novels glide through the door +straight up to her. It was about the size of a large doll, and it +disappeared as suddenly as it came. Another lady, the daughter of an +eminent musician, often imagines she hears her father playing. The +day she told me of it the incident had again occurred. She was +sitting in her room with her maid, and she asked the maid to open +the door that she might hear the music better. The moment the maid +got up the hallucination disappeared. Again, another lady, +apparently in vigorous health, and belonging to a vigorous family, +told me that during some past months she had been plagued by voices. +The words were at first simple nonsense; then the word "pray" was +frequently repeated; this was followed by some more or less coherent +sentences of little import, and finally the voices left her. In short, +the familiar hallucinations of the insane are to be met with far +more frequently than is commonly supposed, among people moving in +society and in good working health. + +I have now nearly done with my summary of facts; it remains to make +a few comments on them. + +The weirdness of visions lies in their sudden appearance, in their +vividness while present, and in their sudden departure. An incident +in the Zoological Gardens struck me as a helpful simile. I happened +to walk to the seal-pond at a moment when a sheen rested on the +unbroken surface of the water. After waiting a while I became +suddenly aware of the head of a seal, black, conspicuous, [12] and +motionless, just as though it had always been there, at a spot on +which my eye had rested a moment previously and seen nothing. Again, +after a while my eye wandered, and on its returning to the spot the +seal was gone. The water had closed in silence over its head without +leaving a ripple, and the sheen on the surface of the pond was as +unbroken as when I first reached it. Where did the seal come from, +and whither did it go? This could easily have been answered if the +glare had not obstructed the view of the movements of the animal +under water. As it was, a solitary link in a continuous chain of +actions stood isolated from all the rest. So it is with the visions; +a single stage in a series of mental processes emerges into the +domain of consciousness. All that precedes and follows lies outside +of it, and its character can only be inferred. We see in a general +way that a condition of the presentation of visions lies in the +over-sensitiveness of certain tracks or domains of brain action and +the under-sensitiveness of others, certain stages in a mental +process being represented very vividly in consciousness while the +other stages are unfelt; also that individualism is changed to +dividualism. + +[Footnote 12: See some curious correspondence on this subject in +the _St. James' Gazette_, Feb. 10, 15, and 20, 1882.] + +I do not recollect seeing it remarked that the ordinary phenomena of +dreaming seem to show that partial sensitiveness is a normal +condition during sleep. They do so because one of the most marked +characteristics of the dreamer is the absence of common sense. He +accepts wildly incongruous visions without the slightest scepticism. +Now common sense consists in the comprehension of a large number of +related circumstances, and implies the simultaneous working of many +parts of the brain. On the other hand, the brain is known to be +imperfectly supplied with blood during sleep, and cannot therefore +be at full work. It is probable enough, from hydraulic analogies, +that imperfect irrigation would lead to partial irrigation, and +therefore to suppression of action in some parts of the brain, and +that this is really the case seems to be proved by the absence of +common sense during dreams. + +A convenient distinction is made between hallucinations and illusions. +Hallucinations are defined as appearances wholly due to fancy; +illusions, as fanciful perceptions of objects actually seen. There +is also a hybrid case which depends on fanciful visions fancifully +perceived. The problems we have to consider are, on the one hand, +those connected with "_induced_" vision, and, on the other hand, +those connected with the interpretation of vision, whether the +vision be _direct_ or _induced_. + +It is probable that much of what passes for hallucination proper +belongs in reality to the hybrid case, being an illusive +interpretation of some induced visual cloud or blur. I spoke of the +ever-varying patterns in the optical field; these, under some slight +functional change, may become more consciously present, and be +interpreted into fantasmal appearances. Many cases could be adduced +to support this view. + +I will begin with illusions. What is the process by which they are +established? There is no simpler way of understanding it than by +trying, as children often do, to see "faces in the fire," and to +carefully watch the way in which they are first caught. Let us call +to mind at the same time the experience of past illnesses, when the +listless gaze wandered over the patterns on the wall-paper and the +shadows of the bed-curtains, and slowly evoked the appearances of +faces and figures that were not easily laid again. The process of +making the faces is so rapid in health that it is difficult to +analyse it without the recollection of what took place more slowly +when we were weakened by illness. The first essential element in +their construction is, I believe, the smallness of the area covered +by the glance at any instant, so that the eye has to travel over a +long track before it has visited every part of the object towards +which the attention is directed generally. It is as with a plough, +that must travel many miles before the whole of a small field can be +tilled, but with this important difference--the plough travels +methodically up and down in parallel furrows; the eye wanders in +devious curves, with abrupt bends, and the direction of its course +at any instant depends on four causes: (1) on the easiest sequence +of muscular motion, speaking in a general sense, (2) on idiosyncrasy, +(3) on the mood, and (4) on the associations current at the moment. +The effect of idiosyncrasy ft excellently illustrated by the +"Number-Forms," where we observe that a very special sharply-defined +track of mental vision is preferred by each individual who sees them. +The influence of the mood of the moment is shown in the curves that +are felt appropriate to the various emotions, as the lank drooping +lines of grief, which make the weeping willow so fit an emblem of it. +In constructing fire-faces it seems to me that the eye in its +wanderings tends to follow a favourite course, and it especially +dwells upon the marks that happen to coincide with that course. It +feels its way, easily diverted by associations based on what has +just been noticed, until at last, by the unconscious practice of a +system of "trial and error," it hits upon a track that will +suit--one that is easily run over and that strings together +accidental marks in a way that happens to form a well-connected +picture. This fancy picture is then dwelt upon; all that is +incongruous with it becomes disregarded, while all deficiencies in +it are supplied by the fantasy. The latest stages of the process +might be represented by a diorama. Three lanterns would converge on +the same screen. The first throws an image of what the imagination +will discard, the second of that which it will retain, the third of +that which it will supply. Turn on the first and second, and the +picture on the screen will be identical with that which fell on the +retina. Shut off the first and turn on the third, and the picture +will be identical with the illusion. + +Turner the painter made frequent use of a practice analogous to that +of looking for fire-faces in the burning coals; he was known to give +colours to children to daub in play on paper, while he keenly +watched for suggestive but accidental combinations. + +I have myself had frequent experience of the automatic construction +of fantastic figures, through a practice I have somewhat encouraged +for the purpose, of allowing my hand to scribble at its own will, +while I am giving my best attention to what is being said by others, +as at small committees. It is always a surprise to me to see the +result whenever I turn my thoughts on what I have been subconsciously +doing. I can rarely recollect even a few of the steps by which the +drawings were made; they grew piece-meal, with some almost forgotten +notice, from time to time, of the sketch as a whole. I can trace no +likeness between what I draw and the images that present themselves +to me in dreams, and I find that a very trifling accident, such as a +chance dot on the paper, may have great influence on the general +character of any one of these automatic sketches. + +Visions, like dreams, are often mere patchworks built up of bits of +recollections. The following is one of these:-- + +"When passing a shop in Tottenham Court Road, I went in to order a +Dutch cheese, and the proprietor (a bullet-headed man whom I had +never seen before) rolled a cheese on the marble slab of his counter, +asking me if that one would do. I answered 'Yes,' left the shop, and +thought no more of the incident. The following evening, on closing +my eyes, I saw a head detached from the body rolling about slightly +on a white surface. I recognised the face, but could not remember +where I had seen it, and it was only after thinking about it for +some time that I identified it as that of the cheesemonger who had +sold me the cheese on the previous day. I may mention that I have +often seen the man since, and that I found the vision I saw was +exactly like him, although if I had been asked to describe the man +before I saw the vision I should have been unable to do so." + +Recollections need not be combined like mosaic work; they may be +blended, on the principle of composite portraiture. I suspect that +the phantasmagoria may be in some part due to blended memories; the +number of possible combinations would be practically endless, and +each combination would give a new face. There would thus be no limit +to the dies in the coinage of the brain. + +I have found that the peculiarities of visualisation, such as the +tendency to see Number-Forms, and the still rarer tendency to +associate colour with sound, is strongly hereditary, and I should +infer, what facts seem to confirm, that the tendency to be a seer of +visions is equally so. Under these circumstances we should expect +that it would be unequally developed in different races, and that a +large natural gift of the visionary faculty might become +characteristic not only of certain families, as among the +second-sight seers of Scotland, but of certain races, as that of the +Gipsies. + +It happens that the mere acts of fasting, of want of sleep, and of +solitary musing, are severally conducive to visions. I have myself +been told of cases in which persons accidentally long deprived of +food became for a brief time subject to them. One was of a pleasure +party driven out to sea, and not being able to reach the coast till +nightfall, at a place where they got shelter but nothing to eat. +They were mentally at ease and conscious of safety, but all were +troubled with visions that were half dreams and half hallucinations. +The cases of visions following protracted wakefulness are well known, +and I have collected a few of them myself. I have already spoken of +the maddening effect of solitariness: its influence may be inferred +from the recognised advantages of social amusements in the treatment +of the insane. It follows that the spiritual discipline undergone +for purposes of self-control and self-mortification, have also the +incidental effect of producing visions. It is to be expected that +these should often bear a close relation to the prevalent subjects +of thought, and although they may be really no more than the +products of one portion of the brain, which another portion of the +same brain is engaged in contemplating, they often, through error, +receive a religious sanction. This is notably the case among +half-civilised races. + +The number of great men who have been once, twice, or more frequently, +subject to hallucinations is considerable. A list, to which it would +be easy to make large additions, is given by Brierre de Boismont +(_Hallucinations_, etc., 1862), from whom I translate the following +account of the star of the first Napoleon, which he heard, +second-hand, from General Rapp:-- + +"In 1806 General Rapp, on his return from the siege of Dantzic, +having occasion to speak to the Emperor, entered his study without +being announced. He found him so absorbed that his entry was +unperceived. The General seeing the Emperor continue motionless, +thought he might be ill, and purposely made a noise. Napoleon +immediately roused himself, and without any preamble, seizing Rapp +by the arm, said to him, pointing to the sky, 'Look there, up there.' +The General remained silent, but on being asked a second time, he +answered that he perceived nothing. 'What!' replied the Emperor, +'you do not see it? It is my star, it is before you, brilliant;' +then animating by degrees, he cried out, 'it has never abandoned me, +I see it on all great occasions, it commands me to go forward, and +it is a constant sign of good fortune to me.'" + +Napoleon was no doubt a consummate actor, ready and unscrupulous in +imposing on others, but I see no reason to distrust the genuineness +of this particular outburst, seeing that it is not the only instance +of his referring to the guidance of his star, as a literal vision +and not as a mere phrase, and that his belief in destiny was +notorious. + +It appears that stars of this kind, so frequently spoken of in +history, and so well known as a metaphor in language, are a common +hallucination of the insane. Brierre de Boismont has a chapter on +the stars of great men. I cannot doubt that visions of this +description were in some cases the basis of that firm belief in +astrology, which not a few persons of eminence formerly entertained. + +The hallucinations of great men may be accounted for in part by +their sharing a tendency which we have seen to be not uncommon in +the human race, and which, if it happens to be natural to them, is +liable to be developed in their overwrought brains by the isolation +of their lives. A man in the position of the first Napoleon could +have no intimate associates; a great philosopher who explores ways +of thought far ahead of his contemporaries must have an inner world +in which he passes long and solitary hours. Great men may be even +indebted to touches of madness for their greatness; the ideas by +which they are haunted, and to whose pursuit they devote themselves, +and by which they rise to eminence, having much in common with the +monomania of insanity. Striking instances of great visionaries may +be mentioned, who had almost beyond doubt those very nervous seizures +with which the tendency to hallucinations is intimately connected. +To take a single instance, Socrates, whose _daimon_ was an audible +not a visual appearance, was, as has been often pointed out, subject +to cataleptic seizure, standing all night through in a rigid attitude. + +It is remarkable how largely the visionary temperament has +manifested itself in certain periods of history and epochs of +national life. My interpretation of the matter, to a certain extent, +is this--That the visionary tendency is much more common among sane +people than is generally suspected. In early life, it seems to be a +hard lesson to an imaginative child to distinguish between the real +and visionary world. If the fantasies are habitually laughed at and +otherwise discouraged, the child soon acquires the power of +distinguishing them; any incongruity or nonconformity is quickly +noted, the visions are found out and discredited, and are no further +attended to. In this way the natural tendency to see them is +blunted by repression. Therefore, when popular opinion is of a +matter-of-fact kind, the seers of visions keep quiet; they do not +like to be thought fanciful or mad, and they hide their experiences, +which only come to light through inquiries such as these that I have +been making. But let the tide of opinion change and grow favourable +to supernaturalism, then the seers of visions come to the front. The +faintly-perceived fantasies of ordinary persons become invested by +the authority of reverend men with a claim to serious regard; they +are consequently attended to and encouraged, and they increase in +definition through being habitually dwelt upon. We need not suppose +that a faculty previously non-existent has been suddenly evoked, but +that a faculty long smothered by many in secret has been suddenly +allowed freedom to express itself, and to run into extravagance +owing to the removal of reasonable safeguards. + + + + +NURTURE AND NATURE. + +Man is so educable an animal that it is difficult to distinguish +between that part of his character which has been acquired through +education and circumstance, and that which was in the original grain +of his constitution. His character is exceedingly complex, even in +members of the simplest and purest savage race; much more is it so in +civilised races, who have long since been exempted from the full +rigour of natural selection, and have become more mongrel in their +breed than any other animal on the face of the earth. Different +aspects of the multifarious character of man respond to different +calls from without, so that the same individual, and, much more, the +same race, may behave very differently at different epochs. There +may have been no fundamental change of character, but a different +phase or mood of it may have been evoked by special circumstances, +or those persons in whom that mood is naturally dominant may through +some accident have the opportunity of acting for the time as +representatives of the race. The same nation may be seized by a +military fervour at one period, and by a commercial one at another; +they may be humbly submissive to a monarch, or become outrageous +republicans. The love of art, gaiety, adventure, science, religion +may be severally paramount at different times. + +One of the most notable changes that can come over a nation is from +a state corresponding to that of our past dark ages into one like +that of the Renaissance. In the first case the minds of men are +wholly taken up with routine work, and in copying what their +predecessors have done; they degrade into servile imitators and +submissive slaves to the past. In the second case, some circumstance +or idea has finally discredited the authorities that impeded +intellectual growth, and has unexpectedly revealed new possibilities. +Then the mind of the nation is set free, a direction of research is +given to it, and all the exploratory and hunting instincts are +awakened. These sudden eras of great intellectual progress cannot be +due to any alteration in the natural faculties of the race, because +there has not been time for that, but to their being directed in +productive channels. Most of the leisure of the men of every nation +is spent in rounds of reiterated actions; if it could be spent in +continuous advance along new lines of research in unexplored regions, +vast progress would be sure to be made. It has been the privilege of +this generation to have had fresh fields of research pointed out to +them by Darwin, and to have undergone a new intellectual birth under +the inspiration of his fertile genius. + +A pure love of change, acting according to some law of contrast as +yet imperfectly understood, especially characterises civilised man. +After a long continuance of one mood he wants to throw himself into +another for the pleasure of setting faculties into action that have +been long disused, but not yet paralysed by disuse, and which have +become fidgety for employment. He has so many opportunities for +procuring change, and has so complex a nature that he easily learns +to neglect a more deeply-seated feeling that innovation is wicked, +and which is manifest in children and barbarians. To a civilised man +the varied interests of civilisation are temptations in as many +directions; changes in dress and appliances of all kinds are +comparatively inexpensive to him owing to the cheapness of +manufactures and their variety; change of scene is easy from the +conveniences of locomotion. But a barbarian has none of these +facilities: his interests are few; his dress, such as it is, is +intended to stand the wear and tear of years, and all weathers; it +is relatively very costly, and is an investment, one may say, of his +capital rather than of his income; the invention of his people is +sluggish, and their arts are few, consequently he is perforce taught +to be conservative, his ideas are fixed, and he becomes scandalised +even at the suggestion of change. + +The difficulty of indulging in variety is incomparably greater among +the rest of the animal world. If a pea-hen should take it into her +head that bars would be prettier than eyes in the tail of her spouse, +she could not possibly get what she wanted. It would require +hundreds of generations in which the pea-hens generally concurred in +the same view before sexual selection could effect the desired +alteration. The feminine delight of indulging her caprice in matters +of ornament is a luxury denied to the females of the brute world, +and the law that rules changes in taste, if studied at all, can only +be ascertained by observing the alternations of fashion in civilised +communities. + +There are long sequences of changes in character, which, like the +tunes of a musical snuff-box, are regulated by internal mechanism. +They are such as those of Shakespeare's "Seven Ages," and others due +to the progress of various diseases. The lives of birds are +characterised by long chains of these periodic sequences. They are +mostly mute in winter, after that they begin to sing; some species +are seized in the early part of the year with so strong a passion +for migrating that if confined in a cage they will beat themselves +to death against its bars; then follow courtship and pairing, +accompanied by an access of ferocity among the males and severe +fighting for the females. Next an impulse seizes them to build nests, +then a desire for incubation, then one for the feeding of their young. +After this a newly-arisen tendency to gregariousness groups them +into large flocks, and finally they fly away to the place whence they +came, goaded by a similar instinct to that which drove them forth a +few months previously. These remarkable changes are mainly due to +the conditions of their natures, because they persist with more or +less regularity under altered circumstances. Nevertheless, they are +not wholly independent of circumstance, because the period of +migration, though nearly coincident in successive years, is modified +to some small extent by the weather and condition of the particular +year. + +The interaction of nature and circumstance is very close, and it is +impossible to separate them with precision. Nurture acts before birth, +during every stage of embryonic and pre-embryonic existence, causing +the potential faculties at the time of birth to be in some degree +the effect of nurture. We need not, however, be hypercritical about +distinctions; we know that the bulk of the respective provinces of +nature and nurture are totally different, although the frontier +between them may be uncertain, and we are perfectly justified in +attempting to appraise their relative importance. + +I shall begin with describing some of the principal influences that +may safely be ascribed to education or other circumstances, all of +which I include under the comprehensive term of Nurture. + + + + +ASSOCIATIONS. + +The furniture of a man's mind chiefly consists of his recollections +and the bonds that unite them. As all this is the fruit of experience, +it must differ greatly in different minds according to their +individual experiences. I have endeavoured to take stock of my own +mental furniture in the way described in the next chapter, in which +it will be seen how large a part consists of childish recollections, +testifying to the permanent effect of many of the results of early +education. The same fact has been strongly brought out by the +replies from correspondents whom I had questioned on their mental +imagery. It was frequently stated that the mental image invariably +evoked by certain words was some event of childish experience or +fancy. Thus one correspondent, of no mean literary and philosophical +power, recollects the left hand by a mental reference to the +rocking-horse which always stood by the side of the nursery wall +with its head in the same direction, and had to be mounted from the +side next the wall. Another, a politician, historian, and scholar, +refers all his dates to the mental image of a nursery diagram of the +history of the world, which has since developed huge bosses to +support his later acquired information. + +Our abstract ideas being mostly drawn from external experiences, +their character also must depend upon the events of our individual +histories. For example, the spoken words house and home must awaken +ideas derived from the houses and the homes with which the hearer is, +in one way or other, acquainted, and these could not be the same to +persons of various social positions and places of residence. The +character of our abstract ideas, therefore, depends, to a +considerable degree, on our nurture. + +I doubt, however, whether "abstract idea" is a correct phrase in +many of the cases in which it is used, and whether "cumulative idea" +would not be more appropriate. The ideal faces obtained by the +method of composite portraiture appear to have a great deal in +common with these so-called abstract ideas. The composite portraits +consist, as was explained, of numerous superimposed pictures, +forming a cumulative result in which the features that are common to +all the likenesses are clearly seen; those that are common to a few +are relatively faint and are more or less overlooked, while those +that are peculiar to single individuals leave no sensible trace at +all. + +This analogy, which I pointed out in a Memoir on Generic Images, +[11] has been extended and confirmed by subsequent experience of the +process. One objection to my view was that our so-called +generalisations are commonly no more than representative cases, our +recollections being apt to be unduly influenced by particular events, +and not by the totality of what we have seen; that the reason why +some one recollection has prevailed is that the case was sharply +defined, or had something unusual about it, or that our frame of +mind was at the time of observation susceptible to that particular +kind of impression. I have had exactly the same difficulties with +the composites. If one of the individual portraits has sharp outlines, +or if it is unlike the rest, or if the illumination is temporarily +strong, it will assert itself unduly in the result. The cases seem +to me exactly analogous. I get over my photographic difficulty very +easily by throwing the sharp portrait a little out of focus, by +eliminating such portraits as have exceptional features, and by +toning down the illumination to a standard intensity. + +[Footnote 11: "Generic Images," _Proc. Royal Institute_, Friday, +April 25, 1879, partly reprinted in the Appendix.] + + + + +PSYCHOMETRIC EXPERIMENTS. + +When we attempt to trace the first steps in each operation of our +minds, we are usually baulked by the difficulty of keeping watch, +without embarrassing the freedom of its action. The difficulty is +much more than the common and well-known one of attending to two +things at once. It is especially due to the fact that the elementary +operations of the mind are exceedingly faint and evanescent, and +that it requires the utmost painstaking to watch them properly. It +would seem impossible to give the required attention to the +processes of thought, and yet to think as freely as if the mind had +been in no way preoccupied. The peculiarity of the experiments I am +about to describe is that I have succeeded in evading this difficulty. +My method consists in allowing the mind to play freely for a very +brief period, until a couple or so of ideas have passed through it, +and then, while the traces or echoes of those ideas are still +lingering in the brain, to turn the attention upon them with a +sudden and complete awakening; to arrest, to scrutinise them, and to +record their exact appearance. Afterwards I collate the records at +leisure, and discuss them, and draw conclusions. It must be +understood that the second of the two ideas was never derived from +the first, but always directly from the original object. This was +ensured by absolutely withstanding all temptation to reverie. I do +not mean that the first idea was of necessity a simple elementary +thought; sometimes it was a glance down a familiar line of +associations, sometimes it was a well-remembered mental attitude or +mode of feeling, but I mean that it was never so far indulged in as +to displace the object that had suggested it from being the primary +topic of attention. + +I must add, that I found the experiments to be extremely trying and +irksome, and that it required much resolution to go through with them, +using the scrupulous care they demanded. Nevertheless the results +well repaid the trouble. They gave me an interesting and unexpected +view of the number of the operations of the mind, and of the obscure +depths in which they took place, of which I had been little +conscious before. The general impression they have left upon me is +like that which many of us have experienced when the basement of our +house happens to be under thorough sanitary repairs, and we realise +for the first time the complex system of drains and gas and water +pipes, flues, bell-wires, and so forth, upon which our comfort +depends, but which are usually hidden out of sight, and with whose +existence, so long as they acted well, we had never troubled +ourselves. + +The first experiments I made were imperfect, but sufficient to +inspire me with keen interest in the matter, and suggested the form +of procedure that I have already partly described. My first +experiments were these. On several occasions, but notably on one +when I felt myself unusually capable of the kind of effort required, +I walked leisurely along Pall Mall, a distance of 450 yards, during +which time I scrutinised with attention every successive object that +caught my eyes, and I allowed my attention to rest on it until one +or two thoughts had arisen through direct association with that +object; then I took very brief mental note of them, and passed on to +the next object. I never allowed my mind to ramble. The number of +objects viewed was, I think, about 300, for I had subsequently +repeated the same walk under similar conditions and endeavoured to +estimate their number, with that result. It was impossible for me to +recall in other than the vaguest way the numerous ideas that had +passed through my mind; but of this, at least, I am sure, that +samples of my whole life had passed before me, that many bygone +incidents, which I never suspected to have formed part of my stock +of thoughts, had been glanced at as objects too familiar to awaken +the attention. I saw at once that the brain was vastly more active +than I had previously believed it to be, and I was perfectly amazed +at the unexpected width of the field of its everyday operations. +After an interval of some days, during which I kept my mind from +dwelling on my first experiences, in order that it might retain as +much freshness as possible for a second experiment, I repeated the +walk, and was struck just as much as before by the variety of the +ideas that presented themselves, and the number of events to which +they referred, about which I had never consciously occupied myself +of late years. But my admiration at the activity of the mind was +seriously diminished by another observation which I then made, namely, +that there had been a very great deal of repetition of thought. The +actors in my mental stage were indeed very numerous, but by no means +so numerous as I had imagined. They now seemed to be something like +the actors in theatres where large processions are represented, who +march off one side of the stage, and, going round by the back, come +on again at the other. I accordingly cast about for means of laying +hold of these fleeting thoughts, and, submitting them to statistical +analysis, to find out more about their tendency to repetition and +other matters, and the method I finally adopted was the one already +mentioned. I selected a list of suitable words, and wrote them on +different small sheets of paper. Taking care to dismiss them from my +thoughts when not engaged upon them, and allowing some days to +elapse before I began to use them, I laid one of these sheets with +all due precautions, under a book, but not wholly covered by it, so +that when I leaned forward I could see one of the words, being +previously quite ignorant of what the word would be. Also I held a +small chronograph, which I started by pressing a spring the moment +the word caught my eye, and which stopped of itself the instant I +released the spring; and this I did so soon as about a couple of +ideas in direct association with the word had arisen in my mind. I +found that I could not manage to recollect more than two ideas with +the needed precision, at least not in a general way; but sometimes +several ideas occurred so nearly together that I was able to record +three or even four of them, while sometimes I only managed one. The +second ideas were, as I have already said, never derived from the +first, but always direct from the word itself, for I kept my +attention firmly fixed on the word, and the associated ideas were +seen only by a half glance. When the two ideas had occurred, + +I stopped the chronograph and wrote them down, and the time they +occupied. I soon got into the way of doing all this in a very +methodical and automatic manner, keeping the mind perfectly calm and +neutral, but intent and, as it were, at full cock and on hair trigger, +before displaying the word. There was no disturbance occasioned by +thinking of the forthcoming revulsion of the mind the moment before +the chronograph was stopped. My feeling before stopping it was +simply that I had delayed long enough, and this in no way interfered +with the free action of the mind. I found no trouble in ensuring the +complete fairness of the experiment, by using a number of little +precautions, hardly necessary to describe, that practice quickly +suggested, but it was a most repugnant and laborious work, and it +was only by strong self-control that I went through my schedule +according to programme. The list of words that I finally secured was +75 in number, though I began with more. I went through them on four +separate occasions, under very different circumstances, in England +and abroad, and at intervals of about a month. In no case were the +associations governed to any degree worth recording, by remembering +what had occurred to me on previous occasions, for I found that the +process itself had great influence in discharging the memory of what +it had just been engaged in, and I, of course, took care between the +experiments never to let my thoughts revert to the words. The +results seem to me to be as trustworthy as any other statistical +series that has been collected with equal care. + +On throwing these results into a common statistical hotch-pot, I +first examined into the rate at which these associated ideas were +formed. It took a total time of 660 seconds to form the 505 ideas; +that is, at about the rate of 50 in a minute, or 3000 in an hour. +This would be miserably slow work in reverie, or wherever the +thought follows the lead of each association that successively +presents itself. In the present case, much time was lost in mentally +taking the word in, owing to the quiet unobtrusive way in which I +found it necessary to bring it into view, so as not to distract the +thoughts. Moreover, a substantive standing by itself is usually the +equivalent of too abstract an idea for us to conceive properly +without delay. Thus it is very difficult to get a quick conception +of the word "carriage," because there are so many different +kinds--two-wheeled, four-wheeled, open and closed, and all of them +in so many different possible positions, that the mind possibly +hesitates amidst an obscure sense of many alternatives that cannot +blend together. But limit the idea to say a laudau, and the mental +association declares itself more quickly. Say a laudau coming down +the street to opposite the door, and an image of many blended +laudaus that have done so forms itself without the least hesitation. + +Next, I found that my list of 75 words gone over 4 times, had given +rise to 505 ideas and 13 cases of puzzle, in which nothing +sufficiently definite to note occurred within the brief maximum +period of about 4 seconds, that I allowed myself to any single trial. +Of these 505 only 289 were different The precise proportions in +which the 505 were distributed in quadruplets, triplets, doublets, +or singles, is shown in the uppermost lines of Table I. The same +facts are given under another form in the lower lines of the Table, +which show how the 289 different ideas were distributed in cases of +fourfold, treble, double, or single occurrences. + + + TABLE I. + RECURRENT ASSOCIATIONS. +================+=================================================+ +Total Number of | | + Associations. | Occurring in | + |-------------------------------------------------+ + | Quadruplets. | Triplets. | Doublets. | Singles.| + 505 | 116 | 108 | 114 | 167 | +----------------+--------------+------------+-----------+---------+ + Per cent . 100 | 23 | 21 | 23 | 33 | +================+==============+============+===========+=========+ +Total Number of | | + Different | Occurring | + Associations. +-------------------------------------------------+ + | Four times. |Three times.| Twice. | Once. | +----------------+--------------+------------+-----------+---------+ + 289 | 29 | 36 | 57 | 167 | +----------------+--------------+------------+-----------+---------+ + Per cent . 100 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 58 | +================+==============+============+===========+=========+ + + +I was fully prepared to find much iteration in my ideas but had +little expected that out of every hundred words twenty-three would +give rise to exactly the same association in every one of the four +trials; twenty-one to the same association in three out of the four, +and so on, the experiments having been purposely conducted under +very different conditions of time and local circumstances. This shows +much less variety in the mental stock of ideas than I had expected, +and makes us feel that the roadways of our minds are worn into very +deep ruts. I conclude from the proved number of faint and barely +conscious thoughts, and from the proved iteration of them, that the +mind is perpetually travelling over familiar ways without our memory +retaining any impression of its excursions. Its footsteps are so +light and fleeting that it is only by such experiments as I have +described that we can learn anything about them. It is apparently +always engaged in mumbling over its old stores, and if any one of +these is wholly neglected for a while, it is apt to be forgotten, +perhaps irrecoverably. It is by no means the keenness of interest +and of the attention when first observing an object, that fixes it +in the recollection. We pore over the pages of a _Bradshaw_, and +study the trains for some particular journey with the greatest +interest; but the event passes by, and the hours and other facts +which we once so eagerly considered become absolutely forgotten. So +in games of whist, and in a large number of similar instances. As I +understand it, the subject must have a continued living interest in +order to retain an abiding place in the memory. The mind must refer +to it frequently, but whether it does so consciously or +unconsciously is not perhaps a matter of much importance. Otherwise, +as a general rule, the recollection sinks, and appears to be utterly +drowned in the waters of Lethe. + +The instances, according to my personal experience, are very rare, +and even those are not very satisfactory, in which some event +recalls a memory that had lain _absolutely_ dormant for many years. +In this very series of experiments a recollection which I thought +had entirely lapsed appeared under no less than three different +aspects on different occasions. It was this: when I was a boy, my +father, who was anxious that I should learn something of physical +science, which was then never taught at school, arranged with the +owner of a large chemist's shop to let me dabble at chemistry for a +few days in his laboratory. I had not thought of this fact, so far +as I was aware, for many years; but in scrutinising the fleeting +associations called up by the various words, I traced two mental +visual images (an alembic and a particular arrangement of tables and +light), and one mental sense of smell (chlorine gas) to that very +laboratory. I recognised that these images appeared familiar to me, +but I had not thought of their origin. No doubt if some strange +conjunction of circumstances had suddenly recalled those three +associations at the same time, with perhaps two or three other +collateral matters which may be still living in my memory, but which +I no not as yet identify, a mental perception of startling vividness +would be the result, and I should have falsely imagined that it had +supernaturally, as it were, started into life from an entire +oblivion extending over many years. Probably many persons would have +registered such a case as evidence that things once perceived can +never wholly vanish from the recollection, but that in the hour +of death, or under some excitement, every event of a past life +may reappear. To this view I entirely dissent. Forgetfulness +appears absolute in the vast majority of cases, and our supposed +recollections of a past life are, I believe, no more than that +of a large number of episodes in it, to be reckoned perhaps in +hundreds of thousands, but certainly not in tens of hundreds of +thousands, that have escaped oblivion. Every one of the fleeting, +half-conscious thoughts that were the subject of my experiments, +admitted of being vivified by keen attention, or by some appropriate +association, but I strongly suspect that ideas which have long since +ceased to fleet through the brain, owing to the absence of current +associations to call them up, disappear wholly. A comparison of old +memories with a newly-met friend of one's boyhood, about the events +we then witnessed together, show how much we had each of us forgotten. +Our recollections do not tally. Actors and incidents that seem to +have been of primary importance in those events to the one have been +utterly forgotten by the other. The recollection of our earlier +years are, in truth, very scanty, as any one will find who tries to +enumerate them. + +My associated ideas were for the most part due to my own unshared +experiences, and the list of them would necessarily differ widely +from that which another person would draw up who might repeat my +experiments. Therefore one sees clearly, and I may say, one can see +_measurably_, how impossible it is in a general way for two +grown-up persons to lay their minds side by side together in perfect +accord. The same sentence cannot produce precisely the same effect on +both, and the first quick impressions that any given word in it may +convey, will differ widely in the two minds. + +I took pains to determine as far as feasible the dates of my life at +which each of the associated ideas was first attached to the word. +There were 124 cases in which identification was satisfactory, and +they were distributed as in Table II. + + + TABLE II. + RELATIVE NUMBER OF ASSOCIATIONS FORMED AT DIFFERENT + PERIODS OF LIFE. +==============+==========================================+==============+ +Total number | Occurring | Whose first | +of different |------------------------------------------+ formation | +Associations. | four | three | twice | once | was in | + | times. | times. | | | | + +--------| +-----| +-----| +-----| +-----| | + | per | |per | |per | |per | |per | | + | cent. | |cent.| |cent.| |cent.| |cent.| | + +--------|----+-----+----+-----+---+-----+----+-----+--------------+ + 48 | 39 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 13 | boyhood and | + | | | | | | | | | | youth, | + | | | | | | | | | | | + 57 | 46 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 33 | 26 | subsequent | + | | | | | | | | | | manhood, | + | | | | | | | | | | | + 19 | 15 | -- | -- | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 11 | quite recent | + | | | | | | | | | | events. | +-----+--------|----+-----+----+-----+---+-----+----+-----+--------------+ + 124 | 100 | 22 | 18 | 23 | 19 |16 | 13 | 63 | 50 | Totals. | +=====+========+=========================================================+ + + +It will be seen from the Table that out of the 48 earliest +associations no less than 12, or one quarter of them, occurred in +each of the four trials; of the 57 associations first formed in +manhood, 10, or about one-sixth of them, had a similar recurrence, +but as to the 19 other associations first formed in quite recent +times, not one of them occurred in the whole of the four trials. +Hence we may see the greater fixity of the earlier associations, and +might measurably determine the decrease of fixity as the date of +their first formation becomes less remote. + +The largeness of the number 33 in the middle entry of the last +column but one, which disconcerts the run of the series, is wholly +due to a visual memory of places seen in manhood. I will not speak +about this now, as I shall have to refer to it farther on. Neglecting, +for the moment, this unique class of occurrences, it will be seen +that one-half of the associations date from the period of life +before leaving college; and it may easily be imagined that many of +these refer to common events in an English education. Nay further, on +looking through the list of all the associations it was easy to see +how they are pervaded by purely English ideas, and especially such +as are prevalent in that stratum of English society in which I was +born and bred, and have subsequently lived. In illustration of this, +I may mention an anecdote of a matter which greatly impressed me at +the time. I was staying in a country house with a very pleasant +party of young and old, including persons whose education and +versatility were certainly not below the social average. One evening +we played at a round game, which consisted in each of us drawing as +absurd a scrawl as he or she could, representing some historical +event; the pictures were then shuffled and passed successively from +hand to hand, every one writing down independently their +interpretation of the picture, as to what the historical event was +that the artist intended to depict by the scrawl. I was astonished +at the sameness of our ideas. Cases like Canute and the waves, the +Babes in the Tower, and the like, were drawn by two and even three +persons at the same time, quite independently of one another, +showing how narrowly we are bound by the fetters of our early +education. If the figures in the above Table may be accepted as +fairly correct for the world generally, it shows, still in a +measurable degree, the large effect of early education in fixing our +associations. It will of course be understood that I make no absurd +profession of being able by these very few experiments to lay down +statistical constants of universal application, but that my principal +object is to show that a large class of mental phenomena, that have +hitherto been too vague to lay hold of, admit of being caught by the +firm grip of genuine statistical inquiry. The results that I have +thus far given are hotch-pot results. It is necessary to sort the +materials somewhat before saying more about them. + +After several trials I found that the associated ideas admitted +of being divided into three main groups. First there is the imagined +sound of words, as in verbal quotations or names of persons. This +was frequently a mere parrot-like memory which acted instantaneously +and in a meaningless way, just as a machine might act. In the next +group there was every other kind of sense imagery; the chime of +imagined bells, the shiver of remembered cold, the scent of some +particular locality, and, much more frequently than all the rest +put together, visual imagery. The last of the three groups contains +what I will venture, for the want of a better name, to call +"histrionic" representations. It includes those cases where I either +act a part in imagination, or see in imagination a part acted, or, +most commonly by far, where I am both spectator and all the actors +at once, in an imaginary mental theatre. Thus I feel a nascent sense +of some muscular action while I simultaneously witness a puppet of +my brain--a part of myself--perform that action, and I assume a +mental attitude appropriate to the occasion. This, in my case, is a +very frequent way of generalising, indeed I rarely feel that I have +secure hold of a general idea until I have translated it somehow +into this form. Thus the word "abasement" presented itself to me, in +one of my experiments, by my mentally placing myself in a pantomimic +attitude of humiliation with half-closed eyes, bowed head, and +uplifted palms, while at the same time I was aware of myself as of a +mental puppet, in that position. This same word will serve to +illustrate the other groups also. It so happened in connection with +"abasement" that the word "David" or "King David" occurred to me on +one occasion in each of three out of the four trials; also that an +accidental misreading, or perhaps the merely punning association of +the words "a basement," brought up on all four occasions the image +of the foundations of a house that the builders had begun upon. + +So much for the character of the association; next as to that of the +words. I found, after the experiments were over, that the words were +divisible into three distinct groups. The first contained "abbey," +"aborigines," "abyss," and others that admitted of being presented +under some mental image. The second group contained "abasement," +"abhorrence," "ablution," etc., which admitted excellently of +histrionic representation. The third group contained the more +abstract words, such as "afternoon," "ability," "abnormal," which +were variously and imperfectly dealt with by my mind. I give the +results in the upper part of Table III., and, in order to save +trouble, I have reduced them to percentages in the lower lines of +the Table. + + + TABLE III. + COMPARISON BETWEEN THE QUALITY OF THE WORDS AND THAT OF + THE IDEAS IN IMMEDIATE ASSOCIATION WITH THEM. +=========================================================================+ + Number | | | | | | +of words | | Sense |Histrionic| Purely Verbal | | +in each | |Imagery. | | Names | Phrases | Total| +series. | | | | of | and | | + | | | |Persons.|Quotations.| | + | |---------+----------+--------+-----------+------+ + 26 |"Abbey" series| 46 | 12 | 32 | 17 | 107 | + 20 |"Abasement" " | 25 | 26 | 11 | 17 | 79 | + 29 |"Afternoon" " | 23 | 27 | 16 | 38 | 104 | + 75 | | | | | | 290 | + | |---------+----------+--------+-----------+------+ + |"Abbey" series| 43 | 11 | 30 | 16 | 100 | + |"Abasement" " | 32 | 33 | 13 | 22 | 100 | + |"Afternoon" " | 22 | 25 | 16 | 37 | 100 | +========================================================================== + + +We see from this that the associations of the "abbey" series are +nearly half of them in sense imagery, and these were almost always +visual. The names of persons also more frequently occurred in this +series than in any other. It will be recollected that in Table II. I +drew attention to the exceptionally large number, 33, in the last +column. It was perhaps 20 in excess of what would have been expected +from the general run of the other figures. This was wholly due to +visual imagery of scenes with which I was first acquainted after +reaching manhood, and shows, I think, that the scenes of childhood +and youth, though vividly impressed on the memory, are by no means +numerous, and may be quite thrown into the background by the +abundance of after experiences; but this, as we have seen, is not the +case with the other forms of association. Verbal memories of old date, +such as Biblical scraps, family expressions, bits of poetry, and the +like, are very numerous, and rise to the thoughts so quickly, +whenever anything suggests them, that they commonly outstrip all +competitors. Associations connected with the "abasement" series are +strongly characterised by histrionic ideas, and by sense imagery, +which to a great degree merges into a histrionic character. Thus the +word "abhorrence" suggested to me, on three out of the four trials, +an image of the attitude of Martha in the famous picture of the +raising of Lazarus by Sebastian del Piombo in the National Gallery. +She stands with averted head, doubly sheltering her face by her hands +from even a sidelong view of the opened grave. Now I could not be +sure how far I saw the picture as such, in my mental view, or how +far I had thrown my own personality into the picture, and was acting +it as actors might act a mystery play, by the puppets of my own brain, +that were parts of myself. As a matter of fact, I entered it under +the heading of sense imagery, but it might very properly have gone +to swell the number of the histrionic entries. + +The "afternoon" series suggested a great preponderance of mere catch +words, showing how slowly I was able to realise the meaning of +abstractions; the phrases intruded themselves before the thoughts +became defined. It occasionally occurred that I puzzled wholly over +a word, and made no entry at all; in thirteen cases either this +happened, or else after one idea had occurred the second was too +confused and obscure to admit of record, and mention of it had to be +omitted in the foregoing Table. These entries have forcibly shown to +me the great imperfection in my generalising powers; and I am sure +that most persons would find the same if they made similar trials. +Nothing is a surer sign of high intellectual capacity than the power +of quickly seizing and easily manipulating ideas of a very abstract +nature. Commonly we grasp them very imperfectly, and cling to their +skirts with great difficulty. + +In comparing the order in which the ideas presented themselves, I +find that a decided precedence is assumed by the histrionic ideas, +wherever they occur; that verbal associations occur first and with +great quickness on many occasions, but on the whole that they are +only a little more likely to occur first than second; and that +imagery is decidedly more likely to be the second than the first of +the associations called up by a word. In short, gesture-language +appeals the most quickly to my feelings, + +It would be very instructive to print the actual records at length, +made by many experimenters, if the records could be clubbed together +and thrown into a statistical form; but it would be too absurd to +print one's own singly. They lay bare the foundations of a man's +thoughts with curious distinctness, and exhibit his mental anatomy +with more vividness and truth than he would probably care to publish +to the world. + +It remains to summarise what has been said in the foregoing memoir. +I have desired to show how whole 1 strata of mental operations that +have lapsed out of ordinary consciousness, admit of being dragged +into light, recorded and treated statistically, and how the +obscurity that attends the initial steps of our thoughts can thus be +pierced and dissipated. I then showed measurably the rate at which +associations sprung up, their character, the date of their first +formation, their tendency to recurrence, and their relative +precedence. Also I gave an instance showing how the phenomenon of a +long-forgotten scene, suddenly starting into consciousness, admitted +in many cases of being explained. Perhaps the strongest of the +impressions left by these experiments regards the multifariousness +of the work done by the mind in a state of half-unconsciousness, and +the valid reason they afford for believing in the existence of still +deeper strata of mental operations, sunk wholly below the level of +consciousness, which may account for such mental phenomena as cannot +otherwise be explained. We gain an insight by these experiments into +the marvellous number and nimbleness of our mental associations, and +we also learn that they are very far indeed from being infinite in +their variety. We find that our working stock of ideas is narrowly +limited and that the mind continually recurs to the same instruments +in conducting its operations, therefore its tracks necessarily +become more defined and its flexibility diminished as age advances. + + + + +ANTECHAMBER OF CONSCIOUSNESS. + +When I am engaged in trying to think anything out, the process of +doing so appears to me to be this: The ideas that lie at any moment +within my full consciousness seem to attract of their own accord the +most appropriate out of a number of other ideas that are lying close +at hand, but imperfectly within the range of my consciousness. There +seems to be a presence-chamber in my mind where full consciousness +holds court, and where two or three ideas are at the same time in +audience, and an antechamber full of more or less allied ideas, +which is situated just beyond the full ken of consciousness. Out of +this antechamber the ideas most nearly allied to those in the +presence-chamber appear to be summoned in a mechanically logical way, +and to have their turn of audience. + +The successful progress of thought appears to depend--first, on a +large attendance in the antechamber; secondly, on the presence there +of no ideas except such as are strictly germane to the topic under +consideration; thirdly, on the justness of the logical mechanism +that issues the summons. The thronging of the antechamber is, I am +convinced, altogether beyond my control; if the ideas do not appear, +I cannot create them, nor compel them to come. The exclusion of +alien ideas is accompanied by a sense of mental effort and volition +whenever the topic under consideration is unattractive, otherwise it +proceeds automatically, for if an intruding idea finds nothing to +cling to, it is unable to hold its place in the antechamber, and +slides back again. An animal absorbed in a favourite occupation +shows no sign of painful effort of attention; on the contrary, he +resents interruption that solicits his attention elsewhere. The +consequence of all this is that the mind frequently does good work +without the slightest exertion. In composition it will often produce +a better effect than if it acted with effort, because the essence of +good composition is that the ideas should be connected by the +easiest possible transitions. When a man has been thinking hard and +long upon a subject, he becomes temporarily familiar with certain +steps of thought, certain short cuts, and certain far-fetched +associations, that do not commend themselves to the minds of other +persons, nor indeed to his own at other times; therefore, it is +better that his transitory familiarity with them should have come to +an end before he begins to write or speak. When he returns to the +work after a sufficient pause he is conscious that his ideas have +settled; that is, they have lost their adventitious relations to one +another, and stand in those in which they are likely to reside +permanently in his own mind, and to exist in the minds of others. + +Although the brain is able to do very fair work fluently in an +automatic way, and though it will of its own accord strike out +sudden and happy ideas, it is questionable if it is capable of +working thoroughly and profoundly without past or present effort. +The character of this effort seems to me chiefly to lie in bringing +the contents of the antechamber more nearly within the ken of +consciousness, which then takes comprehensive note of all its +contents, and compels the logical faculty to test them _seriatim_ +before selecting the fittest for a summons to the presence-chamber. + +Extreme fluency and a vivid and rapid imagination are gifts +naturally and healthfully possessed by those who rise to be great +orators or literary men, for they could not have become successful +in those careers without it. The curious fact already alluded to of +five editors of newspapers being known to me as having phantasmagoria, +points to a connection between two forms of fluency, the literary +and the visual. Fluency may be also a morbid faculty, being markedly +increased by alcohol (as poets are never tired of telling us), and +by various drugs; and it exists in delirium, insanity, and states of +high emotions. The fluency of a vulgar scold is extraordinary. + +In preparing to write or speak upon a subject of which the details +have been mastered, I gather, after some inquiry, that the usual +method among persons who have the gift of fluency is to think +cursorily on topics connected with it, until what I have called the +antechamber is well filled with cognate ideas. Then, to allow the +ideas to link themselves in their own way, breaking the linkage +continually and recommencing afresh until some line of thought has +suggested itself that appears from a rapid and light glance to +thread the chief topics together. After this the connections are +brought step by step fully into consciousness, they are +short-circuited here and extended there, as found advisable until a +firm connection is found to be established between all parts of the +subject. After this is done the mental effort is over, and the +composition may proceed fluently in an automatic way. Though this, I +believe, is a usual way, it is by no means universal, for there are +very great differences in the conditions under which different +persons compose most readily. They seem to afford as good evidence +of the variety of mental and bodily constitutions as can be met with +in any other line of inquiry. + +It is very reasonable to think that part at least of the inward +response to spiritual yearnings is of similar origin to the visions, +thoughts, and phrases that arise automatically when the mind has +prepared itself to receive them. The devout man attunes his mind to +holy ideas, he excludes alien thoughts, and he waits and watches in +stillness. Gradually the darkness is lifted, the silence of the mind +is broken, and the spiritual responses are heard in the way so often +described by devout men of all religions. This seems to me precisely +analogous to the automatic presentation of ordinary ideas to orators +and literary men, and to the visions of which I spoke in the chapter +on that subject. Dividuality replaces individuality, and one portion +of the mind communicates with another portion as with a different +person. + +Some persons and races are naturally more imaginative than others, +and show their visionary tendency in every one of the respects named. +They are fanciful, oratorical, poetical, and credulous. The +"enthusiastic" faculties all seem to hang together; I shall recur to +this in the chapter on enthusiasm. + +I have already pointed out the existence of a morbid form of piety: +there is also a morbid condition of apparent inspiration to which +imaginative women are subject, especially those who suffer more or +less from hysteria. It is accompanied in a very curious way, +familiar to medical men, by almost incredible acts of deceit. It is +found even in ladies of position apparently above the suspicion of +vulgar fraud, and seems associated with a strange secret desire to +attract notice. Ecstatics, seers of visions, and devout fasting +girls who eat on the sly, often belong to this category. + + + + +EARLY SENTIMENTS. + +The child is passionately attached to his home, then to his school, +his country, and religion; yet how entirely the particular home, +school, country, and religion are a matter of accident! He is born +prepared to attach himself as a climbing plant is naturally disposed +to climb, the kind of stick being of little importance. The models +upon whom the child or boy forms himself are the boys or men whom he +has been thrown amongst, and whom from some incidental cause he may +have learned to love and respect. The every-day utterances, the +likes and dislikes of his parents, their social and caste feelings, +their religious persuasions are absorbed by him; their views or +those of his teachers become assimilated and made his own. If a +mixed marriage should have taken place, and the father should die +while the children are yet young, and if a question arise between +the executors of his will and the mother as to the religious +education of the children, application is made as a matter of course +to the Court of Chancery, who decide that the children shall be +brought up as Protestants or as Catholics as the case may be, or the +sons one way and the daughters the other; and they are, and usually +remain so afterwards when free to act for themselves. + +It is worthy of note that many of the deaf-mutes who are first +taught to communicate freely with others after they had passed the +period of boyhood, and are asked about their religious feelings up +to that time, are reported to tell the same story. They say that the +meaning of the church service whither they had accompanied their +parents, and of the kneeling to pray, had been absolutely +unintelligible, and a standing puzzle to them. The ritual touched no +chord in their untaught natures that responded in unison. Very much +of what we fondly look upon as a natural religious sentiment is +purely traditional. + +The word religion may fairly be applied to any group of sentiments +or persuasions that are strong enough to bind us to do that which +we intellectually may acknowledge to be our duty, and the possession +of some form of religion in this larger sense of the word is of the +utmost importance to moral stability. The sentiments must be strong +enough to make us ashamed at the mere thought of committing, and +distressed during the act of committing any untruth, or any +uncharitable act, or of neglecting what we feel to be right, in +order to indulge in laziness or gratify some passing desire. So long +as experience shows the religion to be competent to produce this +effect, it seems reasonable to believe that the particular dogma is +comparatively of little importance. But as the dogma or sentiments, +whatever they be, if they are not naturally instinctive, must be +ingrained in the character to produce their full effect, they should +be instilled early in life and allowed to grow unshaken until their +roots are firmly fixed. The consciousness of this fact makes the +form of religious teaching in every church and creed identical in +one important particular though its substance may vary in every +respect. In subjects unconnected with sentiment, the freest inquiry +and the fullest deliberation are required before it is thought +decorous to form a final opinion; but wherever sentiment is involved, +and especially in questions of religious dogma, about which there is +more sentiment and more difference of opinion among wise, virtuous, +and truth-seeking men than about any other subject whatever, +free inquiry is peremptorily discouraged. The religious instructor +in every creed is one who makes it his profession to saturate his +pupils with prejudice. A vast and perpetual clamour arises from the +pulpits of endless proselytising sects throughout this great empire, +the priests of all of them crying with one consent, "This is the way, +shut your ears to the words of those who teach differently; don't +look at their books, do not even mention their names except to scoff +at them; they are damnable. Have faith in what I tell you, and save +your souls!" In which of these conflicting doctrines are we to place +our faith if we are not to hear all sides, and to rely upon our own +judgment in the end? Are we to understand that it is the duty of man +to be credulous in accepting whatever the priest in whose +neighbourhood he happens to reside may say? Is it to believe +whatever his parents may have lovingly taught him? There are a vast +number of foolish men and women in the world who marry and have +children, and because they deal lovingly with their children it does +not at all follow that they can instruct them wisely. Or is it to +have faith in what the wisest men of all ages have found peace in +believing? The Catholic phrase, "_quod semper quod ubique quod +omnibus_"--"that which has been believed at all times, in all places, +and by all men"--has indeed a fine rolling sound, but where is the +dogma that satisfies its requirements? Or is it, such and such +really good and wise men with whom you are acquainted, and whom, it +may be, you have the privilege of knowing, have lived consistent +lives through the guidance of these dogmas, how can you who are many +grades their inferior in good works, in capacity and in experience, +presume to set up your opinion against theirs? The reply is, that it +is a matter of history and notoriety that other very good, capable, +and inexperienced men have led and are leading consistent lives +under the guidance of totally different dogmas, and that some of +them a few generations back would have probably burned your modern +hero as a heretic if he had lived in their times and they could have +got hold of him. Also, that men, however eminent in goodness, +intellect, and experience, may be deeply prejudiced, and that their +judgment in matters where their prejudices are involved cannot +thenceforward be trusted. Watches, as electricians know to their cost, +are liable to have their steel work accidentally magnetised, and the +best chronometer under those conditions can never again be trusted +to keep correct time. + +Lastly, we are told to have faith in our conscience? well we know +now a great deal more about conscience than formerly. Ethnologists +have studied the manifestations of conscience in different people, +and do not find that they are consistent. Conscience is now known to +be partly transmitted by inheritance in the way and under the +conditions clearly explained by Mr. Darwin, and partly to be an +unsuspected result of early education. The value of inherited +conscience lies in its being the organised result of the social +experiences of many generations, but it fails in so far as it +expresses the experience of generations whose habits differed from +our own. The doctrine of evolution shows that no race can be in +perfect harmony with its surroundings; the latter are continually +changing, while the organism of the race hobbles after, vainly +trying to overtake them. Therefore the inherited part of conscience +cannot be an infallible guide, and the acquired part of it may, +under the influence of dogma, be a very bad one. The history of +fanaticism shows too clearly that this is not only a theory but a +fact. Happy the child, especially in these inquiring days, who has +been taught a religion that mainly rests on the moral obligations +between man and man in domestic and national life, and which, so far +as it is necessarily dogmatic, rests chiefly upon the proper +interpretation of facts about which there is no dispute,--namely, on +those habitual occurrences which are always open to observation, and +which form the basis of so-called natural religion. + +It would be instructive to make a study of the working religion of +good and able men of all nations, in order to discover the real +motives by which they were severally animated,--men, I mean, who had +been tried by both prosperity and adversity, and had borne the test; +who, while they led lives full of interest to themselves, were +beloved by their own family, noted among those with whom they had +business relations for their probity and conciliatory ways, and +honoured by a wider circle for their unselfish furtherance of the +public good. Such men exist of many faiths and in many races. + +Another interesting and cognate inquiry would be into the motives +that have sufficed to induce men who were leading happy lives, to +meet death willingly at a time when they were not particularly +excited. Probably the number of instances to be found, say among +Mussulmans, who are firm believers in the joys of Mahomet's Paradise, +would not be more numerous than among the Zulus, who have no belief +in any paradise at all, but are influenced by martial honour and +patriotism. There is an Oriental phrase, as I have been told, that +the fear of the inevitable approach of death is a European malady. + +Terror at any object is quickly taught if it is taught consistently, +whether the terror be reasonable or not. There are few more stupid +creatures than fish, but they notoriously soon learn to be +frightened at any newly-introduced method of capture, say by an +artificial fly, which, at first their comrades took greedily. Some +one fish may have seen others caught, and have learned to take fright +at the fly. Whenever he saw it again he would betray his terror by +some instinctive gesture, which would be seen and understood by +others, and so instruction in distrusting the fly appears to spread. + +All gregarious animals are extremely quick at learning terrors from +one another. It is a condition of their existence that they should +do so, as was explained at length in a previous chapter. Their +safety lies in mutual intelligence and support. When most of them +are browsing a few are always watching, and at the least signal of +alarm the whole herd takes fright simultaneously. Gregarious animals +are quickly alive to their mutual signals; it is beautiful to watch +great flocks of birds as they wheel in their flight and suddenly +show the flash of all their wings against the sky, as they +simultaneously and suddenly change their direction. Much of the +tameness or wildness of an animal's character is probably due to the +placidity or to the frequent starts of alarm of the mother while she +was rearing it. I was greatly struck with some evidence I happened +to meet with, of the pervading atmosphere of alarm and suspicion in +which the children of criminal parents are brought up, and which, in +combination with their inherited disposition, makes them, in the +opinion of many observers, so different to other children. The +evidence of which I speak lay in the tone of letters sent by +criminal parents to their children, who were inmates of the Princess +Mary Village Homes, from which I had the opportunity, thanks to the +kindness of the Superintendent, Mrs. Meredith, of hearing and seeing +extracts. They were full of such phrases as "Mind you do not say +anything about this," though the matters referred to were, to all +appearance, unimportant. + +The writings of Dante on the horrible torments of the damned, and +the realistic pictures of the same subject in frescoes and other +pictures of the same date, showing the flames and the flesh hooks +and the harrows, indicate the transforming effect of those cruel +times, fifteen generations ago, upon the disposition of men. Revenge +and torture had been so commonly practised by rulers that they seemed +to be appropriate attributes of every high authority, and the +artists of those days saw no incongruity in supposing that a +supremely powerful master, however beneficent he might be, would +make the freest use of them. + +Aversion is taught as easily as terror, when the object of it is +neutral and not especially attractive to an unprejudiced taste. I +can testify in my own person to the somewhat rapidly-acquired and +long-retained fancies concerning the clean and unclean, upon which +Jews and Mussulmans lay such curious stress. It was the result of my +happening to spend a year in the East, at an age when the brain is +very receptive of new ideas, and when I happened to be much +impressed by the nobler aspects of Mussulman civilisation, especially, +I may say, with the manly conformity of their every-day practice to +their creed, which contrasts sharply with what we see among most +Europeans, who profess extreme unworldliness and humiliation on one +day of the week, and act in a worldly and masterful manner during +the remaining six. Although many years have passed since that time, I +still find the old feelings in existence--for instance, that of +looking on the left hand as unclean. + +It is difficult to an untravelled Englishman, who has not had an +opportunity of throwing himself into the spirit of the East, to +credit the disgust and detestation that numerous every-day acts, +which appear perfectly harmless to his countrymen, excite in many +Orientals. + +To conclude, the power of nurture is very great in implanting +sentiments of a religious nature, of terror and of aversion, and in +giving a fallacious sense of their being natural instincts. But it +will be observed that the circumstances from which these influences +proceed, affect large classes simultaneously, forming a kind of +atmosphere in which every member of them passes his life. They +produce the cast of mind that distinguishes an Englishman from a +foreigner, and one class of Englishman from another, but they have +little influence in creating the differences that exist between +individuals of the same class. + + + + +HISTORY OF TWINS. + +The exceedingly close resemblance attributed to twins has been the +subject of many novels and plays, and most persons have felt a +desire to know upon what basis of truth those works of fiction may +rest. But twins have a special claim upon our attention; it is, that +their history affords means of distinguishing between the effects of +tendencies received at birth, and of those that were imposed by the +special circumstances of their after lives. The objection to +statistical evidence in proof of the inheritance of peculiar +faculties has always been: "The persons whom you compare may have +lived under similar social conditions and have had similar +advantages of education, but such prominent conditions are only a +small part of those that determine the future of each man's life. It +is to trifling accidental circumstances that the bent of his +disposition and his success are mainly due, and these you leave +wholly out of account--in fact, they do not admit of being tabulated, +and therefore your statistics, however plausible at first sight, are +really of very little use." No method of inquiry which I had +previously been able to carry out--and I have tried many methods--is +wholly free from this objection. I have therefore attacked the +problem from the opposite side, seeking for some new method by which +it would be possible to weigh in just scales the effects of Nature +and Nurture, and to ascertain their respective shares in framing the +disposition and intellectual ability of men. The life-history of +twins supplies what I wanted. We may begin by inquiring about twins +who were closely alike in boyhood and youth, and who were educated +together for many years, and learn whether they subsequently grew +unlike, and, if so, what the main causes were which, in the opinion +of the family, produced the dissimilarity. In this way we can obtain +direct evidence of the kind we want. Again, we may obtain yet more +valuable evidence by a converse method. We can inquire into the +history of twins who were exceedingly unlike in childhood, and learn +how far their characters became assimilated under the influence of +identical nurture, inasmuch as they had the same home, the same +teachers, the same associates, and in every other respect the same +surroundings. + +My materials were obtained by sending circulars of inquiry to +persons who were either twins themselves or near relations of twins. +The printed questions were in thirteen groups; the last of them +asked for the addresses of other twins known to the recipient, who +might be likely to respond if I wrote to them. This happily led to a +continually widening circle of correspondence, which I pursued until +enough material was accumulated for a general reconnaisance of the +subject. + +There is a large literature relating to twins in their purely +surgical and physiological aspect. The reader interested in this +should consult _Die Lehre von den Zwillingen_, von L. Kleinwächter, +Prag. 1871. It is full of references, but it is also unhappily +disfigured by a number of numerical misprints, especially in page 26. +I have not found any book that treats of twins from my present point +of view. + +The reader will easily understand that the word "twins" is a vague +expression, which covers two very dissimilar events--the one +corresponding to the progeny of animals that usually bear more than +one at a birth, each of the progeny being derived from a separate +ovum, while the other event is due to the development of two +germinal spots in the same ovum. In the latter case they are +enveloped in the same membrane, and all such twins are found +invariably to be of the same sex. The consequence of this is, that I +find a curious discontinuity in my results. One would have expected +that twins would commonly be found to possess a certain average +likeness to one another; that a few would greatly exceed that +average likeness, and a few would greatly fall short of it. But this +is not at all the case. Extreme similarity and extreme dissimilarity +between twins of the same sex are nearly as common as moderate +resemblance. When the twins are a boy and a girl, they are never +closely alike; in fact, their origin is never due to the development +of two germinal spots in the same ovum. + +I received about eighty returns of cases of close similarity, +thirty-five of which entered into many instructive details. In a few +of these not a single point of difference could be specified. In the +remainder, the colour of the hair and eyes were almost always +identical; the height, weight, and strength were nearly so. +Nevertheless, I have a few cases of a notable difference in height, +weight, and strength, although the resemblance was otherwise very +near. The manner and personal address of the thirty-five pairs of +twins are usually described as very similar, but accompanied by a +slight difference of expression, familiar to near relatives, though +unperceived by strangers. The intonation of the voice when speaking +is commonly the same, but it frequently happens that the twins sing +in different keys. Most singularly, the one point in which +similarity is rare is the handwriting. I cannot account for this, +considering how strongly handwriting runs in families, but I am sure +of the fact. I have only one case in which nobody, not even the twins +themselves, could distinguish their own notes of lectures, etc.; +barely two or three in which the handwriting was undistinguishable +by others, and only a few in which it was described as closely alike. +On the other hand, I have many in which it is stated to be unlike, +and some in which it is alluded to as the only point of difference. +It would appear that the handwriting is a very delicate test of +difference in organisation--a conclusion which I commend to the +notice of enthusiasts in the art of discovering character by the +handwriting. + +One of my inquiries was for anecdotes regarding mistakes made +between the twins by their near relatives. The replies are numerous, +but not very varied in character. When the twins are children, they +are usually distinguished by ribbons tied round the wrist or neck; +nevertheless the one is sometimes fed, physicked, and whipped by +mistake for the other, and the description of these little domestic +catastrophes was usually given by the mother, in a phraseology that +is somewhat touching by reason of its seriousness. I have one case +in which a doubt remains whether the children were not changed in +their bath, and the presumed A is not really B, and _vice versâ_. In +another case, an artist was engaged on the portraits of twins who +were between three and four years of age; he had to lay aside his +work for three weeks, and, on resuming it, could not tell to which +child the respective likenesses he had in hand belonged. The +mistakes become less numerous on the part of the mother during the +boyhood and girlhood of the twins, but are almost as frequent as +before on the part of strangers. I have many instances of tutors +being unable to distinguish their twin pupils. Two girls used +regularly to impose on their music teacher when one of them wanted a +whole holiday; they had their lessons at separate hours, and the one +girl sacrificed herself to receive two lessons on the same day, +while the other one enjoyed herself from morning to evening. Here is +a brief and comprehensive account:-- + +"Exactly alike in all, their schoolmasters never could tell them +apart; at dancing parties they constantly changed partners without +discovery; their close resemblance is scarcely diminished by age." + +The following is a typical schoolboy anecdote:-- + +"Two twins were fond of playing tricks, and complaints were +frequently made; but the boys would never own which was the guilty +one, and the complainants were never certain which of the two he was. +One head master used to say he would never flog the innocent for the +guilty, and another used to flog both." + +No less than nine anecdotes have reached me of a twin seeing his or +her reflection in a looking-glass, and addressing it in the belief +it was the other twin in person. + +I have many anecdotes of mistakes when the twins were nearly grown up. +Thus:-- + +"Amusing scenes occurred at college when one twin came to visit the +other; the porter on one occasion refusing to let the visitor out of +the college gates, for, though they stood side by side, he professed +ignorance as to which he ought to allow to depart." + +Children are usually quick in distinguishing between their parent +and his or her twin; but I have two cases to the contrary. Thus, the +daughter of a twin says:-- + +"Such was the marvellous similarity of their features, voice, manner, +etc., that I remember, as a child, being very much puzzled, and I +think, had my aunt lived much with us, I should have ended by +thinking I had two mothers." + +In the other case, a father who was a twin, remarks of himself and +his brother:-- + +"We were extremely alike, and are so at this moment, so much so that +our children up to five and six years old did not know us apart." + +I have four or five instances of doubt during an engagement of +marriage. Thus:-- + +"A married first, but both twins met the lady together for the first +time, and fell in love with her there and then. A managed to see her +home and to gain her affection, though B went sometimes courting in +his place, and neither the lady nor her parents could tell which was +which." + +I have also a German letter, written in quaint terms, about twin +brothers who married sisters, but could not easily be distinguished +by them.[13] In the well-known novel by Mr. Wilkie Collins of +_Poor Miss Finch_, the blind girl distinguishes the twin she loves +by the touch of his hand, which gives her a thrill that the touch of +the other brother does not. Philosophers have not, I believe, as yet +investigated the conditions of such thrills; but I have a case in +which Miss Finch's test would have failed. Two persons, both friends +of a certain twin lady, told me that she had frequently remarked to +them that "kissing her twin sister was not like kissing her other +sisters, but like kissing herself--her own hand, for example." + +It would be an interesting experiment for twins who were closely +alike to try how far dogs could distinguish them by scent. + +[Footnote 13: I take this opportunity of withdrawing an anecdote, +happily of no great importance, published in _Men of Science_, p. 14, +about a man personating his twin brother for a joke at supper, and +not being discovered by his wife. It was told me on good authority; +but I have reason to doubt the fact, as the story is not known to +the son of one of the twins. However, the twins in question were +extraordinarily alike, and I have many anecdotes about them sent me +by the latter gentleman.] + +I have a few anecdotes of strange mistakes made between twins in +adult life. Thus, an officer writes:-- + +"On one occasion when I returned from foreign service my father +turned to me and said, 'I thought you were in London,' thinking I +was my brother--yet he had not seen me for nearly four years--our +resemblance was so great." + +The next and last anecdote I shall give is, perhaps, the most +remarkable of those I have; it was sent me by the brother of the +twins, who were in middle life at the time of its occurrence:-- + +"A was again coming home from India, on leave; the ship did not +arrive for some days after it was due; the twin brother B had come +up from his quarters to receive A, and their old mother was very +nervous. One morning A rushed in saying, 'Oh, mother, how are you?' +Her answer was, 'No, B, it's a bad joke; you know how anxious I am!' +and it was a little time before A could persuade her that he was the +real man." + +Enough has been said to prove that an extremely close personal +resemblance frequently exists between twins of the same sex; and that, +although the resemblance usually diminishes as they grow into +manhood and womanhood, some cases occur in which the diminution of +resemblance is hardly perceptible. It must be borne in mind that it +is not necessary to ascribe the divergence of development, when it +occurs, to the effect of different nurtures, but it is quite +possible that it may be due to the late appearance of qualities +inherited at birth, though dormant in early life, like gout. To this +I shall recur. + +There is a curious feature in the character of the resemblance +between twins, which has been alluded to by a few correspondents; it +is well illustrated by the following quotations. A mother of twins +says:-- + +"There seemed to be a sort of interchangeable likeness in expression, +that often gave to each the effect of being more like his brother +than himself." + +Again, two twin brothers, writing to me, after analysing their +points of resemblance, which are close and numerous, and pointing +out certain shades of difference, add-- + +"These seem to have marked us through life, though for a while, when +we were first separated, the one to go to business, and the other to +college, our respective characters were inverted; we both think that +at that time we each ran into the character of the other. The proof +of this consists in our own recollections, in our correspondence by +letter, and in the views which we then took of matters in which we +were interested." + +In explanation of this apparent interchangeableness, we must +recollect that no character is simple, and that in twins who +strongly resemble each other, every expression in the one may be +matched by a corresponding expression in the other, but it does not +follow that the same expression should be the prevalent one in both +cases. Now it is by their prevalent expressions that we should +distinguish between the twins; consequently when one twin has +temporarily the expression which is the prevalent one in his brother, +he is apt to be mistaken for him. There are also cases where the +development of the two twins is not strictly _pari passu_; they +reach the same goal at the same time, but not by identical stages. +Thus: A is born the larger, then B overtakes and surpasses A, and is +in his turn overtaken by A, the end being that the twins, on +reaching adult life, are of the same size. This process would aid in +giving an interchangeable likeness at certain periods of their growth, +and is undoubtedly due to nature more frequently than to nurture. + +Among my thirty-five detailed cases of close similarity, there are +no less than seven in which both twins suffered from some special +ailment or had some exceptional peculiarity. One twin writes that +she and her sister "have both the defect of not being able to come +downstairs quickly, which, however, was not born with them, but came +on at the age of twenty." Three pairs of twins have peculiarities in +their fingers; in one case it consists in a slight congenital +flexure of one of the joints of the little finger; it was inherited +from a grandmother, but neither parents, nor brothers, nor sisters +show the least trace of it. In another case the twins have a +peculiar way of bending the fingers, and there was a faint tendency +to the same peculiarity in the mother, but in her alone of all the +family. In a third case, about which I made a few inquiries, which +is given by Mr. Darwin, but is not included in my returns, there was +no known family tendency to the peculiarity which was observed in +the twins of having a crooked little finger. In another pair of twins, +one was born ruptured, and the other became so at six months old. +Two twins at the age of twenty-three were attacked by toothache, and +the same tooth had to be extracted in each case. There are curious +and close correspondences mentioned in the falling off of the hair. +Two cases are mentioned of death from the same disease; one of which +is very affecting. The outline of the story was that the twins were +closely alike and singularly attached, and had identical tastes; +they both obtained Government clerkships, and kept house together, +when one sickened and died of Bright's disease, and the other also +sickened of the same disease and died seven months later. + +Both twins were apt to sicken at the same time in no less than nine +out of the thirty-five cases. Either their illnesses, to which I +refer, were non-contagious, or, if contagious, the twins caught them +simultaneously; they did not catch them the one from the other. This +implies so intimate a constitutional resemblance, that it is proper +to give some quotations in evidence. Thus, the father of two twins +says:-- + +"Their general health is closely alike; whenever one of them has an +illness, the other invariably has the same within a day or two, and +they usually recover in the same order. Such has been the case with +whooping-cough, chicken-pox, and measles; also with slight bilious +attacks, which they have successively. Latterly, they had a feverish +attack at the same time." + +Another parent of twins says:-- + +"If anything ails one of them, identical symptoms _nearly always_ +appear in the other; this has been singularly visible in two +instances during the last two months. Thus, when in London, one fell +ill with a violent attack of dysentery, and within twenty-four hours +the other had precisely the same symptoms." + +A medical man writes of twins with whom he is well acquainted:-- + +"Whilst I knew them, for a period of two years, there was not the +slightest tendency towards a difference in body or mind; external +influences seemed powerless to produce any dissimilarity." + +The mother of two other twins, after describing how they were ill +simultaneously up to the age of fifteen, adds, that they shed their +first milk-teeth within a few hours of each other. + +Trousseau has a very remarkable case (in the chapter on Asthma) in +his important work _Clinique M. édicale_. (In the edition of 1873 it +is in vol. ii. p. 473.) It was quoted at length in the original +French, in Mr. Darwin's _Variation under Domestication_, vol. ii. p. +252. The following is a translation:-- + +"I attended twin brothers so extraordinarily alike, that it was +impossible for me to tell which was which, without seeing them side +by side. But their physical likeness extended still deeper, for they +had, so to speak, a yet more remarkable pathological resemblance. +Thus, one of them, whom I saw at the Néothermes at Paris, suffering +from rheumatic ophthalmia, said to me, 'At this instant my brother +must be having an ophthalmia like mine;' and, as I had exclaimed +against such an assertion, he showed me a few days afterwards a +letter just received by him from his brother, who was at that time +at Vienna, and who expressed himself in these words--'I have my +ophthalmia; you must be having yours.' However singular this story +may appear, the fact is none the less exact; it has not been told to +me by others, but I have seen it myself; and I have seen other +analogous cases in my practice. These twins were also asthmatic, and +asthmatic to a frightful degree. Though born in Marseilles, they +were never able to stay in that town, where their business affairs +required them to go, without having an attack. Still more strange, +it was sufficient for them to get away only as far as Toulon in +order to be cured of the attack caught at Marseilles. They travelled +continually, and in all countries, on business affairs, and they +remarked that certain localities were extremely hurtful to them, and +that in others they were free from all asthmatic symptoms." + +I do not like to pass over here a most dramatic tale in the +_Psychologie Morbide_ of Dr. J. Moreau (de Tours), M. édecin de +l'Hospice de Bicêtre. Paris, 1859, p. 172. He speaks "of two twin +brothers who had been confined, on account of monomania, at Bicêtre":-- + +"Physically the two young men are so nearly alike that the one is +easily mistaken for the other. Morally, their resemblance is no less +complete, and is most remarkable in its details. Thus, their +dominant ideas are absolutely the same. They both consider +themselves subject to imaginary persecutions; the same enemies have +sworn their destruction, and employ the same means to effect it. +Both have hallucinations of hearing. They are both of them +melancholy and morose; they never address a word to anybody, and +will hardly answer the questions that others address to them. They +always keep apart, and never communicate with one another. An +extremely curious fact which has been frequently noted by the +superintendents of their section of the hospital, and by myself, is +this: From time to time, at very irregular intervals of two, three, +and many months, without appreciable cause, and by the purely +spontaneous effect of their illness, a very marked change takes +place in the condition of the two brothers. Both of them, at the +same time, and often on the same day, rouse themselves from their +habitual stupor and prostration; they make the same complaints, and +they come of their own accord to the physician, with an urgent +request to be liberated. I have seen this strange thing occur, even +when they were some miles apart, the one being at Bicêtre, and the +other living at Saint-Anne." + +I sent a copy of this passage to the principal authorities among the +physicians to the insane in England, asking if they had ever +witnessed any similar case. In reply, I have received three +noteworthy instances, but none to be compared in their exact +parallelism with that just given. The details of these three cases +are painful, and it is not necessary to my general purpose that I +should further allude to them. + +There is another curious French case of insanity in twins, which was +pointed out to me by Sir James Paget, described by Dr. Baume in the +_Annales M. édico-Psychologiques_, 4 série, vol. i., 1863, p. 312, +of which the following is an abstract. The original contains a few +more details, but is too long to quote: Francois and Martin, fifty +years of age, worked as railroad contractors between Quimper and +Châteaulin. Martin had twice slight attacks of insanity. On January 15 +a box was robbed in which the twins had deposited their savings. On +the night of January 23-24 both François (who lodged at Quimper) and +Martin (who lived with his wife and children at St. Lorette, two +leagues from Quimper) had the same dream at the same hour, three a.m., +and both awoke with a violent start, calling out, "I have caught the +thief! I have caught the thief! they are doing mischief to my brother!" +They were both of them extremely agitated, and gave way to similar +extravagances, dancing and leaping. + +Martin sprang on his grandchild, declaring that he was the thief, +and would have strangled him if he had not been prevented; he then +became steadily worse, complained of violent pains in his head, went +out of doors on some excuse, and tried to drown himself in the river +Steir, but was forcibly stopped by his son, who had watched and +followed him. He was then taken to an asylum by gendarmes, where he +died in three hours. Francois, on his part, calmed down on the +morning of the 24th, and employed the day in inquiring about the +robbery. By a strange chance, he crossed his brother's path at the +moment when the latter was struggling with the gendarmes; then he +himself became maddened, giving way to extravagant gestures and using +incoherent language (similar to that of his brother). He then asked +to be bled, which was done, and afterwards, declaring himself to be +better, went out on the pretext of executing some commission, but +really to drown himself in the River Steir, which he actually did, +at the very spot where Martin had attempted to do the same thing a +few hours previously. + +The next point which I shall mention in illustration of the +extremely close resemblance between certain twins is the similarity +in the association of their ideas. No less than eleven out of the +thirty-five cases testify to this. They make the same remarks on the +same occasion, begin singing the same song at the same moment, and +so on; or one would commence a sentence, and the other would finish +it. An observant friend graphically described to me the effect +produced on her by two such twins whom she had met casually. She said: +"Their teeth grew alike, they spoke alike and together, and said the +same things, and seemed just like one person." One of the most +curious anecdotes that I have received concerning this similarity of +ideas was that one twin, A, who happened to be at a town in Scotland, +bought a set of champagne glasses which caught his attention, as a +surprise for his brother B; while, at the same time, B, being in +England, bought a similar set of precisely the same pattern as a +surprise for A. Other anecdotes of a like kind have reached me about +these twins. + +The last point to which I shall allude regards the tastes and +dispositions of the thirty-five pairs of twins. In sixteen +cases--that is, in nearly one-half of them--these were described as +closely similar; in the remaining nineteen they were much alike, but +subject to certain named differences. These differences belonged +almost wholly to such groups of qualities as these: The one was the +more vigorous, fearless, energetic; the other was gentle, clinging, +and timid; or the one was more ardent, the other more calm and placid; +or again, the one was the more independent, original, and +self-contained; the other the more generous, hasty, and vivacious. +In short, the difference was that of intensity or energy in one or +other of its protean forms; it did not extend more deeply into the +structure of the characters. The more vivacious might be subdued by +ill health, until he assumed the character of the other; or the +latter might be raised by excellent health to that of the former. +The difference was in the key-note, not in the melody. + +It follows from what has been said concerning the similar +dispositions of the twins, the similarity in the associations of +their ideas, of their special ailments, and of their illnesses +generally, that the resemblances are not superficial, but extremely +intimate. I have only two cases of a strong bodily resemblance being +accompanied by mental diversity, and one case only of the converse +kind. It must be remembered that the conditions which govern extreme +likeness between twins are not the same as those between ordinary +brothers and sisters, and that it would be incorrect to conclude +from what has just been said about the twins that mental and bodily +likeness are invariably co-ordinate, such being by no means the case. + +We are now in a position to understand that the phrase "close +similarity" is no exaggeration, and to realise the value of the +evidence I am about to adduce. Here are thirty-five cases of twins +who were "closely alike" in body and mind when they were young, and +who have been reared exactly alike up to their early manhood and +womanhood. Since then the conditions of their lives have changed; +what change of Nurture has produced the most variation? + +It was with no little interest that I searched the records of the +thirty-five cases for an answer; and they gave an answer that was +not altogether direct, but it was distinct, and not at all what I +had expected. They showed me that in some cases the resemblance of +body and mind had continued unaltered up to old age, notwithstanding +very different conditions of life; and they showed in the other +cases that the parents ascribed such dissimilarity as there was, +wholly or almost wholly to some form of illness. In four cases it +was scarlet fever; in a fifth, typhus; in a sixth, a slight effect +was ascribed to a nervous fever; in a seventh it was the effect of +an Indian climate; in an eighth, an illness (unnamed) of nine +months' duration; in a ninth, varicose veins; in a tenth, a bad +fracture of the leg, which prevented all active exercise afterwards; +and there were three additional instances of undefined forms of ill +health. It will be sufficient to quote one of the returns; in this +the father writes: + +"At birth they were _exactly_ alike, except that one was born with a +bad varicose affection, the effect of which had been to prevent any +violent exercise, such as dancing or running, and, as she has grown +older, to make her more serious and thoughtful. Had it not been for +this infirmity, I think the two would have been as exactly alike as +it is possible for two women to be, both mentally and physically; +even now they are constantly mistaken for one another." + +In only a very few cases is some allusion made to the dissimilarity +being partly due to the combined action of many small influences, +and in none of the thirty-five cases is it largely, much less wholly, +ascribed to that cause. In not a single instance have I met with a +word about the growing dissimilarity being due to the action of the +firm free-will of one or both of the twins, which had triumphed over +natural tendencies; and yet a large proportion of my correspondents +happen to be clergymen, whose bent of mind is opposed, as I feel +assured from the tone of their letters, to a necessitarian view of +life. + +It has been remarked that a growing diversity between twins may be +ascribed to the tardy development of naturally diverse qualities; +but we have a right, upon the evidence I have received, to go +farther than this. We have seen that a few twins retain their close +resemblance through life; in other words, instances do exist of an +apparently thorough similarity of nature, in which such difference +of external circumstances as may be consistent with the ordinary +conditions of the same social rank and country do not create +dissimilarity. Positive evidence, such as this, cannot be outweighed +by any amount of negative evidence. Therefore, in those cases where +there is a growing diversity, and where no external cause can be +assigned either by the twins themselves or by their family for it, +we may feel sure that it must be chiefly or altogether due to a want +of thorough similarity in their nature. Nay, further, in some cases +it is distinctly affirmed that the growing dissimilarity can be +accounted for in no other way. We may, therefore, broadly conclude +that the only circumstance, within the range of those by which +persons of similar conditions of life are affected, that is capable +of producing a marked effect on the character of adults, is illness +or some accident which causes physical infirmity. The twins who +closely resembled each other in childhood and early youth, and were +reared under not very dissimilar conditions, either grow unlike +through the development of natural characteristics which had lain +dormant at first, or else they continue their lives, keeping time +like two watches, hardly to be thrown out of accord except by some +physical jar. Nature is far stronger than Nurture within the limited +range that I have been careful to assign to the latter. + +The effect of illness, as shown by these replies, is great, and well +deserves further consideration. It appears that the constitution of +youth is not so elastic as we are apt to think, but that an attack, +say of scarlet fever, leaves a permanent mark, easily to be measured +by the present method of comparison. This recalls an impression made +strongly on my mind several years ago, by the sight of some curves +drawn by a mathematical friend. He took monthly measurements of the +circumference of his children's heads during the first few years of +their lives, and he laid down the successive measurements on the +successive lines of a piece of ruled paper, by taking the edge of +the paper as a base. He then joined the free ends of the lines, and +so obtained a curve of growth. These curves had, on the whole, that +regularity of sweep that might have been expected, but each of them +showed occasional halts, like the landing-places on a long flight of +stairs. The development had been arrested by something, and was not +made up for by after growth. Now, on the same piece of paper my +friend had also registered the various infantile illnesses of the +children, and corresponding to each illness was one of these halts. +There remained no doubt in my mind that, if these illnesses had been +warded off, the development of the children would have been +increased by almost the precise amount lost in these halts. In other +words, the disease had drawn largely upon the capital, and not only +on the income, of their constitutions. I hope these remarks may +induce some men of science to repeat similar experiments on their +children of the future. They may compress two years of a child's +history on one side of a ruled half-sheet of foolscap paper, if they +cause each successive line to stand for a successive month, +beginning from the birth of the child; and if they economise space +by laying, not the 0-inch division of the tape against the edge of +the pages, but, say, the 10-inch division. + +The steady and pitiless march of the hidden weaknesses in our +constitutions, through illness to death, is painfully revealed by +these histories of twins. We are too apt to look upon illness and +death as capricious events, and there are some who ascribe them to +the direct effect of supernatural interference, whereas the fact of +the maladies of two twins being continually alike shows that illness +and death are necessary incidents in a regular sequence of +constitutional changes beginning at birth, and upon which external +circumstances have, on the whole, very small effect. In cases where +the maladies of the twins are continually alike, the clocks of their +two lives move regularly on at the same rate, governed by their +internal mechanism. When the hands approach the hour, there are +sudden clicks, followed by a whirring of wheels; the moment that +they touch it, the strokes fall. Necessitarians may derive new +arguments from the life-histories of twins. + +We will now consider the converse side of our subject, which appears +to me even the more important of the two. Hitherto we have +investigated cases where the similarity at first was close, but +afterwards became less; now we will examine those in which there was +great dissimilarity at first, and will see how far an identity of +nurture in childhood and youth tended to assimilate them. As has +been already mentioned, there is a large proportion of cases of +sharply-contrasted characteristics, both of body and mind, among +twins. I have twenty such cases, given with much detail. It is a +fact that extreme dissimilarity, such as existed between Esau and +Jacob, is a no less marked peculiarity in twins of the same sex than +extreme similarity. On this curious point, and on much else in the +history of twins, I have many remarks to make, but this is not the +place to make them. + +The evidence given by the twenty cases above mentioned is absolutely +accordant, so that the character of the whole may be exactly +conveyed by a few quotations. + +(1.) One parent says:--"They have had _exactly the same nurture_ +from their birth up to the present time; they are both perfectly +healthy and strong, yet they are otherwise as dissimilar as two boys +could be, physically, mentally, and in their emotional nature." + +(2.) "I can answer most decidedly that the twins have been perfectly +dissimilar in character, habits, and likeness from the moment of +their birth to the present time, though they were nursed by the same +woman, went to school together, and were never separated till the +age of fifteen." + +(3.) "They have never been separated, never the least differently +treated in food, clothing, or education; both teethed at the same +time, both had measles, whooping-cough, and scarlatina at the same +time, and neither had had any other serious illness. Both are and +have been exceedingly healthy, and have good abilities, yet they +differ as much from each other in mental cast as any one of my +family differs from another." + +(4.) "Very dissimilar in body and mind: the one is quiet, retiring, +and slow but sure; good-tempered, but disposed to be sulky when +provoked;--the other is quick, vivacious, forward, acquiring easily +and forgetting soon; quick-tempered and choleric, but quickly +forgiving and forgetting. They have been educated together and never +separated." + +(5.) "They were never alike either in body or mind, and their +dissimilarity increases daily. The external influences have been +identical; they have never been separated." + +(6.) "The two sisters are very different in ability and disposition. +The one is retiring, but firm and determined; she has no taste for +music or drawing. The other is of an active, excitable temperament: +she displays an unusual amount of quickness and talent, and is +passionately fond of music and drawing. From infancy, they have been +rarely separated even at school, and as children visiting their +friends, they always went together." + +(7.) "They have been treated exactly alike both were brought up by +hand; they have been under the same nurse and governess from their +birth, and they are very fond of each other. Their increasing +dissimilarity must be ascribed to a natural difference of mind and +character, as there has been nothing in their treatment to account +for it." + +(8.) "They are as different as possible. [A minute and unsparing +analysis of the characters of the two twins is given by their father, +most instructive to read, but impossible to publish without the +certainty of wounding the feelings of one of the twins, if these +pages should chance to fall under his eyes.] They were brought up +entirely by hand, that is, on cow's milk, and treated by one nurse +in precisely the same manner." + +(9.) "The home-training and influence were precisely the same, and +therefore I consider the dissimilarity to be accounted for almost +entirely by innate disposition and by causes over which we have no +control." + +(10.) "This case is, I should think, somewhat remarkable for +dissimilarity in physique as well as for strong contrast in character. +They have been unlike in body and mind throughout their lives. Both +were reared in a country house, and both were at the same schools +till _aet._ 16." + +(11.) "Singularly unlike in body and mind from babyhood; in looks, +dispositions, and tastes they are quite different. I think I may +say the dissimilarity was innate, and developed more by time than +circumstance." + +(12.) "We were never in the least degree alike. I should say my +sister's and my own character are diametrically opposed, and have +been utterly different from our birth, though a very strong +affection subsists between us." + +(13.) The father remarks:--"They were curiously different in body +and mind from their birth." + +The surviving twin (a senior wrangler of Cambridge) adds:--"A fact +struck all our school contemporaries, that my brother and I were +complementary, so to speak, in point of ability and disposition. He +was contemplative, poetical, and literary to a remarkable degree, +showing great power in that line. I was practical, mathematical, and +linguistic. Between us we should have made a very decent sort of a +man." + +I could quote others just as strong as these, in some of which the +above phrase "complementary" also appears, while I have not a single +case in which my correspondents speak of originally dissimilar +characters having become assimilated through identity of nurture. +However, a somewhat exaggerated estimate of dissimilarity may be due +to the tendency of relatives to dwell unconsciously on distinctive +peculiarities, and to disregard the far more numerous points of +likeness that would first attract the notice of a stranger. Thus in +case 11 I find the remark, "Strangers see a strong likeness between +them, but none who knows them well can perceive it." Instances are +common of slight acquaintances mistaking members, and especially +daughters of a family, for one another, between whom intimate +friends can barely discover a resemblance. Still, making reasonable +allowance for unintentional exaggeration, the impression that all +this evidence leaves on the mind is one of some wonder whether +nurture can do anything at all, beyond giving instruction and +professional training. It emphatically corroborates and goes far +beyond the conclusions to which we had already been driven by the +cases of similarity. In those, the causes of divergence began to act +about the period of adult life, when the characters had become +somewhat fixed; but here the causes conducive to assimilation began +to act from the earliest moment of the existence of the twins, when +the disposition was most pliant, and they were continuous until the +period of adult life. There is no escape from the conclusion that +nature prevails enormously over nurture when the differences of +nurture do not exceed what is commonly to be found among persons of +the same rank of society and in the same country. My fear is, that +my evidence may seem to prove too much, and be discredited on that +account, as it appears contrary to all experience that nurture +should go for so little. But experience is often fallacious in +ascribing great effects to trifling circumstances. Many a person has +amused himself with throwing bits of stick into a tiny brook and +watching their progress; how they are arrested, first by one chance +obstacle, then by another; and again, how their onward course is +facilitated by a combination of circumstances. He might ascribe much +importance to each of these events, and think how largely the +destiny of the stick had been governed by a series of trifling +accidents. Nevertheless all the sticks succeed in passing down the +current, and in the long-run, they travel at nearly the same rate. So +it is with life, in respect to the several accidents which seem to +have had a great effect upon our careers. The one element, that +varies in different individuals, but is constant in each of them, is +the natural tendency; it corresponds to the current in the stream, +and inevitably asserts itself. + +Much stress is laid on the persistence of moral impressions made in +childhood, and the conclusion is drawn, that the effects of early +teaching must be important in a corresponding degree. I acknowledge +the fact, so far as has been explained in the chapter on Early +Sentiments, but there is a considerable set-off on the other side. +Those teachings that conform to the natural aptitudes of the child +leave much more enduring marks than others. Now both the teachings +and the natural aptitudes of the child are usually derived from its +parents. They are able to understand the ways of one another more +intimately than is possible to persons not of the same blood, and +the child instinctively assimilates the habits and ways of thought +of its parents. Its disposition is "educated" by them, in the true +sense of the word; that is to say, it is evoked, not formed by them. +On these grounds I ascribe the persistence of many habits that date +from early home education, to the peculiarities of the instructors +rather than to the period when the instruction was given. The marks +left on the memory by the instructions of a foster-mother are soon +sponged clean away. Consider the history of the cuckoo, which is +reared exclusively by foster-mothers. It is probable that nearly +every young cuckoo, during a series of many hundred generations, has +been brought up in a family whose language is a chirp and a twitter. +But the cuckoo cannot or will not adopt that language, or any other +of the habits of its foster-parents. It leaves its birthplace as +soon as it is able, and finds out its own kith and kin, and +identifies itself henceforth with them. So utterly are its earliest +instructions in an alien bird-language neglected, and so completely +is its new education successful, that the note of the cuckoo tribe +is singularly correct. + + + + +DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS.[14] + + [Footnote 14: This memoir is reprinted from the _Transactions of + the Ethnological Society_] + +Before leaving the subject of Nature and Nurture, I would direct +attention to evidence bearing on the conditions under which animals +appear first to have been domesticated. It clearly shows the small +power of nurture against adverse natural tendencies. + +The few animals that we now possess in a state of domestication were +first reclaimed from wildness in prehistoric times. Our remote +barbarian ancestors must be credited with having accomplished a very +remarkable feat, which no subsequent generation has rivalled. The +utmost that we of modern times have succeeded in doing, is to +improve the races of those animals that we received from our +forefathers in an already domesticated condition. + +There are only two reasonable solutions of this exceedingly curious +fact. The one is, that men of highly original ideas, like the +mythical Prometheus, arose from time to time in the dawn of human +progress, and left their respective marks on the world by being the +first to subjugate the camel, the llama, the reindeer, the horse, +the ox, the sheep, the hog, the dog, or some other animal to the +service of man. The other hypothesis is that only a few species of +animals are fitted by their nature to become domestic, and that +these were discovered long ago through the exercise of no higher +intelligence than is to be found among barbarous tribes of the +present day. The failure of civilised man to add to the number of +domesticated species would on this supposition be due to the fact +that all the suitable material whence domestic animals could be +derived has been long since worked out. + +I submit that the latter hypothesis is the true one for the reasons +about to be given; and if so, the finality of the process of +domestication must be accepted as one of the most striking instances +of the inflexibility of natural disposition, and of the limitations +thereby imposed upon the [15] choice of careers for animals, and by +analogy for those of men. + +[Footnote 15: _Transactionsof the Ethnological Society_, 1865, +with an alteration in the opening and concluding paragraphs, and +with a few verbal emendations. If I had discussed the subject now +for the first time I should have given extracts from the and with a +few verbal emendations. If I had discussed the subject now for the +first time I should have given extracts from the works of the +travellers of the day, but it seemed needless to reopen the inquiry +merely to give it a more modern air. I have also preferred to let +the chapter stand as it was written, because considerable portions of +it have been quoted by various authors (_e.g._ Bagehot, _Economic +Studies_, pp. 161 to 166: Longman, 1880), and the original memoir is +not easily accessible.] + +My argument will be this:--All savages maintain pet animals, many +tribes have sacred ones, and kings of ancient states have imported +captive animals on a vast scale, for purposes of show, from +neighbouring countries. I infer that every animal, of any pretensions, +has been tamed over and over again, and has had numerous +opportunities of becoming domesticated. But the cases are rare in +which these opportunities have led to any result. No animal is +fitted for domestication unless it fulfils certain stringent +conditions, which I will endeavour to state and to discuss. My +conclusion is, that all domesticable animals of any note have long +ago fallen under the yoke of man. In short, that the animal creation +has been pretty thoroughly, though half unconsciously, explored, by +the every-day habits of rude races and simple civilisations. + +It is a fact familiar to all travellers, that savages frequently +capture young animals of various kinds, and rear them as favourites, +and sell or present them as curiosities. Human nature is generally +akin: savages may be brutal, but they are not on that account devoid +of our taste for taming and caressing young animals; nay, it is not +improbable that some races may possess it in a more marked degree +than ourselves, because it is a childish taste with us; and the +motives of an adult barbarian are very similar to those of a +civilised child. + +In proving this assertion, I feel embarrassed with the multiplicity +of my facts. I have only space to submit a few typical instances, +and must, therefore, beg it will be borne in mind that the following +list could be largely reinforced. Yet even if I inserted all I have +thus far been able to collect, I believe insufficient justice would +be done to the real truth of the case. Captive animals do not +commonly fall within the observation of travellers, who mostly +confine themselves to their own encampments, and abstain from +entering the dirty dwellings of the natives; neither do the majority +of travellers think tamed animals worthy of detailed mention. +Consequently the anecdotes of their existence are scattered +sparingly among a large number of volumes. It is when those +travellers are questioned who have lived long and intimately with +savage tribes that the plenitude of available instances becomes most +apparent. + +I proceed to give anecdotes of animals being tamed in various parts +of the world, at dates when they were severally beyond the reach of +civilised influences, and where, therefore, the pleasure taken by +the natives in taming them must be ascribed to their unassisted +mother-wit. It will be inferred that the same rude races who were +observed to be capable of great fondness towards animals in +particular instances, would not unfrequently show it in others. + +[North America.]--The traveller Hearne, who wrote towards the end of +the last century, relates the following story of moose or elks in +the more northern parts of North America. He says:-- + +"I have repeatedly seen moose at Churchill as tame as sheep and even +more so.... The same Indian that brought them to the Factory had, in +the year 1770, two others so tame that when on his passage to Prince +of Wales's Fort in a canoe, the moose always followed him along the +bank of the river; and at night, or on any other occasion when the +Indians landed, the young moose generally came and fondled on them, +as the most domestic animal would have done, and never offered to +stray from the tents." + +Sir John Richardson, in an obliging answer to my inquiries about the +Indians of North America, after mentioning the bison calves, wolves, +and other animals that they frequently capture and keep, said:-- + +"It is not unusual, I have heard, for the Indians to bring up young +bears, the women giving them milk from their own breasts." + +He mentions that he himself purchased a young bear, and adds:-- + +"The red races are fond of pets and treat them kindly; and in +purchasing them there is always the unwillingness of the women and +children to overcome, rather than any dispute about price. My young +bear used to rob the women of the berries, they had gathered, but +the loss was borne with good nature." + +I will again quote Hearne, who is unsurpassed for his minute and +accurate narratives of social scenes among the Indians and Esquimaux. +In speaking of wolves he says:-- + +"They always burrow underground to bring forth their young, and +though it is natural to suppose them very fierce at those times, yet +I have frequently seen the Indians go to their dens and take out the +young ones and play with them. I never knew a Northern Indian hurt +one of them; on the contrary, they always put them carefully into +the den again; and I have sometimes seen them paint the faces of the +young wolves with vermilion or red ochre." + +[South America.]--Ulloa, an ancient traveller, says:-- + +"Though the Indian women breed fowl and other domestic animals in +their cottages, they never eat them: and even conceive such a +fondness for them, that they will not sell them, much less kill them +with their own hands. So that if a stranger who is obliged to pass +the night in one of their cottages, offers ever so much money for a +fowl, they refuse to part with it, and he finds himself under the +necessity of killing the fowl himself. At this his landlady shrieks, +dissolves into tears, and wrings her hands, as if it had been an +only son, till seeing the mischief past mending, she wipes her eyes +and quietly takes what the traveller offers her." + +The care of the South American Indians, as Quiloa truly states, is +by no means confined to fowls. Mr. Bates, the distinguished +traveller and naturalist of the Amazons, has favoured me with a list +of twenty-two species of quadrupeds that he has found tame in the +encampments of the tribes of that valley. It includes the tapir, the +agouti, the guinea-pig, and the peccari. He has also noted five +species of quadrupeds that were in captivity, but not tamed. These +include the jaguar, the great ant-eater, and the armadillo. His list +of tamed birds is still more extensive. + +[North Africa.]--The ancient Egyptians had a positive passion for +tamed animals, such as antelopes, monkeys, crocodiles, panthers, and +hyenas. Mr. Goodwin, the eminent Egyptologist, informed me that +"they anticipated our zoological tastes completely," and that some +of the pictures referring to tamed animals are among their very +earliest monuments, viz. 2000 or 3000 years B.C. Mr. Mansfield +Parkyns, who passed many years in Abyssinia and the countries of the +Upper Nile, writes me word in answer to my inquiries;-- + +"I am sure that negroes often capture and keep alive wild animals. I +have bought them and received them as presents--wild cats, jackals, +panthers, the wild dog, the two best lions now in the Zoological +Gardens, monkeys innumerable and of all sorts, and mongoose. I cannot +say that I distinctly recollect any pets among the _lowest_ orders +of men that I met with, such as the Denkas, but I am sure they exist, +and in this way. When I was on the White Nile and at Khartoum, very +few merchants went up the White Nile; none had stations. They were +little known to the natives; but none returned without some live +animal or bird which they had procured from them. While I was at +Khartoum, there came an Italian wild beast showman, after the +Wombwell style. He made a tour of the towns up to Doul and Fazogly, +Kordofan and the peninsula, and collected a large number of animals. +Thus my opinion distinctly is, that negroes do keep wild animals +alive. _I am sure of it_; though I can only vaguely recollect them +in one or two cases. I remember some chief in Abyssinia who had a +pet lion which he used to tease, and I have often seen monkeys about +huts." + +[Equatorial Africa.]--The most remarkable instance I have met with +in modern Africa is the account of a menagerie that existed up to +the beginning of the reign of the present king of the Wahumas, on +the shores of Lake Nyanza. Suna, the great despot of that country, +reigned till 1857. Captains Burton and Speke were in the +neighbourhood in the following year, and Captain Burton thus +describes (_Journal R. G. Soc._, xxix. 282) the report he received +of Suna's collection:-- + +"He had a large menagerie of lions, elephants, leopards, and similar +beasts of disport; he also kept for amusement fifteen or sixteen +albinos; and so greedy was he of novelty, that even a cock of +peculiar form or colour would have been forwarded by its owner to +feed his eyes." + +Captain Speke, in his subsequent journey to the Nile, passed many +months at Uganda, as the guest of Suna's youthful successor, M'tese. +The fame of the old menagerie was fresh when Captain Speke was there. +He wrote to me as follows concerning it:-- + +"I was told Suna kept buffaloes, antelopes, and animals of all +colours' (meaning 'sorts'), and in equal quantities. M'tese, his son, +no sooner came to the throne, than he indulged in shooting them down +before his admiring wives, and now he has only one buffalo and a few +parrots left." + +In Kouka, near Lake Tchad, antelopes and ostriches are both kept tame, +as I was informed by Dr. Barth. + +[South Africa.]--The instances are very numerous in South Africa +where the Boers and half-castes amuse themselves with rearing zebras, +antelopes, and the like; but I have not found many instances among +the native races. Those that are best known to us are mostly nomad +and in a chronic state of hunger, and therefore disinclined to +nurture captured animals as pets; nevertheless, some instances can +be adduced. Livingstone alludes to an extreme fondness for small +tame singing-birds (pp. 324 and 453). Dr. (now Sir John) Kirk, who +accompanied him in later years, mentions guinea-fowl--that do not +breed in confinement, and are merely kept as pets--in the Shiré +valley, and Mr. Oswell has furnished me with one similar anecdote. I +feel, however, satisfied that abundant instances could be found if +properly sought for. It was the frequency with which I recollect to +have heard of tamed animals when I myself was in South Africa, +though I never witnessed any instance, that first suggested to me +the arguments of the present paper. Sir John Kirk informs me that: + +"As you approach the coast or Portuguese settlements, pets of all +kinds become very common; but then the opportunity of occasionally +selling them to advantage may help to increase the number; still, +the more settled life has much to do with it." + +In confirmation of this view, I will quote an early writer, +Pigafetta (_Hakluyt Coll._, ii. 562), on the South African kingdom +of Congo, who found a strange medley of animals in captivity, long +before the demands of semi-civilisation had begun to prompt their +collection:-- + +The King of Congo, on being Christianised by the Jesuit missionaries +in the sixteenth century, "signified that whoever had any idols +should deliver them to the lieutenants of the country. And within +less than a month all the idols which they worshipped were brought +into court, and certainly the number of these toys was infinite, for +every man adored what he liked without any measure or reason at all. +Some kept serpents of horrible figures, some worshipped the greatest +goats they could get, some leopards, and others monstrous creatures. +Some held in veneration certain unclean fowls, etc. Neither did they +content themselves with worshipping the said creatures when alive, +but also adored the very skins of them when they were dead and +stuffed with straw." + +[Australia.]--Mr. Woodfield records the following touching anecdote +in a paper communicated to the Ethnological Society, as occurring in +an unsettled part of West Australia, where the natives rank as the +lowest race upon the earth:-- + +"During the summer of 1858-9 the Murchison river was visited by +great numbers of kites, the native country of these birds being +Shark's Bay. As other birds were scarce, we shot many of these kites, +merely for the sake of practice, the natives eagerly devouring them +as fast as they were killed. One day a man and woman, natives of +Shark's Bay, came to the Murchison, and the woman immediately +recognising the birds as coming from her country, assured us that +the natives there never kill them, and that they are so tame that +they will perch on the shoulders of the women and eat from their +hands. On seeing one shot she wept bitterly, and not even the offer +of the bird could assuage her grief, for she absolutely refused to +eat it. No more kites were shot while she remained among us." + +The Australian women habitually feed the puppies they intend to rear +from their own breasts, and show an affection to them equal, if not +exceeding, that to their own infants. Sir Charles Nicholson informs +me that he has known an extraordinary passion for cats to be +demonstrated by Australian women at Fort Phillip. + +[New Guinea Group.]--Captain Develyn is reported (Bennett, +_Naturalist in Australia_, p. 244) to say of the island of New +Britain, near Australia, that the natives consider cassowaries "to a +certain degree sacred, and rear them as pets. They carry them in their +arms, and entertain a great affection for them." + +Professor Huxley informs me that he has seen sucking-pigs nursed at +the breasts of women, apparently as pets, in islands of the New +Guinea Group. + +[Polynesia.]--The savage and cannibal Fijians were no exceptions to +the general rule, for Dr. Seemann wrote me word that they make pets +of the flying fox (bat), the lizard, and parroquet. Captain Wilkes, +in his exploring expedition (ii. 122), says the pigeon in the Samoon +islands "is commonly kept as a plaything, and particularly by the +chiefs. One of our officers unfortunately on one occasion shot a +pigeon, which caused great commotion, for the bird was a king pigeon, +and to kill it was thought as great a crime as to take the life of a +man." + +Mr. Ellis, writing of these islands (_Polynesian Researches_, ii. 285), +says:-- + +"Eels are great favourites, and are tamed and fed till they attain +an enormous size. Taoarii had several in different parts of the +island. These pets were kept in large holes, two or three feet deep, +partially filled with water. I have been several times with the +young chief, when he has sat down by the side of the hole, and by +giving a shrill sort of whistle, has brought out an enormous eel, +which has moved about the surface of the water and eaten with +confidence out of his master's hand." + +[Syria.]--I will conclude this branch of my argument by quoting the +most ancient allusion to a pet that I can discover in writing, +though some of the Egyptian pictured representations are +considerably older. It is the parable spoken by the Prophet Samuel +to King David, that is expressed in the following words:-- + +"The poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he had +bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him and with +his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, +and lay in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter." + +We will now turn to the next stage of our argument. Not only do +savages rear animals as pets, but communities maintain them as sacred. +The ox of India and the brute gods of Egypt occur to us at once; the +same superstition prevails widely. The quotation already given from +Pigafetta is in point; the fact is too well known to readers of +travel to make it necessary to devote space to its proof. I will +therefore simply give a graphic account, written by M. Jules Gérard, +of Whydah in West Africa:-- + +"I visited the Temple of Serpents in this town, where thirty of +these monstrous deities were asleep in various attitudes. Each day +at sunset, a priest brings them a certain number of sheep, goats, +fowls, etc., which are slaughtered in the temple and then divided +among the 'gods.' Subsequently during the night they (? the priests) +spread themselves about the town, entering the houses in various +quarters in search of further offerings. It is forbidden under +penalty of death to kill, wound, or even strike one of these sacred +serpents, or any other of the same species, and only the priests +possess the privilege of taking hold of them, for the purpose of +reinstating them in the temple should they be found elsewhere." + +It would be tedious and unnecessary to adduce more instances of wild +animals being nurtured in the encampments of savages, either as pets +or as sacred animals. It will be found on inquiry that few travellers +have failed altogether to observe them. If we consider the small number +of encampments they severally visited in their line of march, compared +with the vast number that are spread over the whole area, which is or +has been inhabited by rude races, we may obtain some idea of the +thousands of places at which half-unconscious attempts at domestication +are being made in each year. These thousands must themselves be multiplied +many thousandfold, if we endeavour to calculate the number of similar +attempts that have been made since men like ourselves began to inhabit +the world. + +My argument, strong as it is, admits of being considerably +strengthened by the following consideration:-- + +The natural inclination of barbarians is often powerfully reinforced +by an enormous demand for captured live animals on the part of their +more civilised neighbours. A desire to create vast hunting-grounds +and menageries and amphitheatrical shows, seems naturally to occur +to the monarchs who preside over early civilisations, and travellers +continually remark that, whenever there is a market for live animals, +savages will supply them in any quantities. The means they employ to +catch game for their daily food readily admits of their taking them +alive. Pit-falls, stake-nets, and springes do not kill. If the +savage captures an animal unhurt, and can make more by selling it +alive than dead, he will doubtless do so. He is well fitted by +education to keep a wild animal in captivity. His mode of pursuing +game requires a more intimate knowledge of the habits of beasts than +is ever acquired by sportsmen who use more perfect weapons. A savage +is obliged to steal upon his game, and to watch like a jackal for +the leavings of large beasts of prey. His own mode of life is akin +to that of the creatures he hunts. Consequently, the savage is a +good gamekeeper; captured animals thrive in his charge, and he finds +it remunerative to take them a long way to market. The demands of +ancient Rome appear to have penetrated Northern Africa as far or +farther than the steps of our modern explorers. The chief centres of +import of wild animals were Egypt, Assyria (and other Eastern +monarchies), Rome, Mexico, and Peru. I have not yet been able to +learn what were the habits of Hindostan or China. The modern +menagerie of Lucknow is the only considerable native effort in those +parts with which I am acquainted. + +[Egypt.]--The mutilated statistical tablet of Karnak (_Trans. R. Soc. +Lit._, 1847, p. 369, and 1863, p. 65) refers to an armed invasion of +Armenia by Thothmes III., and the payment of a large tribute of +antelopes and birds. When Ptolemy Philadelphus feted the +Alexandrians (_Athenoeus_, v.), the Ethiopians brought dogs, +buffaloes, bears, leopards, lynxes, a giraffe, and a rhinoceros. +Doubtless this description of gifts was common. Live beasts are the +one article of curiosity and amusement that barbarians can offer to +civilised nations. + +[Assyria.]--Mr. Fox Talbot thus translates (_Journal Asiatic Soc._, +xix. 124) part of the inscription on the black obelisk of Ashurakbal +found in Nineveh and now in the British Museum:-- + +"He caught in hunter's toils (a blank number) of armi, turakhi, nali, +and yadi. Every one of these animals he placed in separate enclosures. +He brought up their young ones and counted them as carefully as +young lambs. As to the creatures called burkish, utrati (dromedaries?), +tishani, and dagari, he wrote for them and they came. The +dromedaries he kept in enclosures, where he brought up their young +ones. He entrusted each kind of animal to men of their own country to +tend them. There were also curious animals of the Mediterranean Sea, +which the King of Egypt sent as a gift and entrusted to the care of +men of their own land. The very choicest animals were there in +abundance, and birds of heaven with beautiful wings. It was a +splendid menagerie, and all the work of his own hands. The names of +the animals were placed beside them." + +[Rome.]--The extravagant demands for the amphitheatre of ancient +Rome must have stimulated the capture of wild animals in Asia, Africa, +and the then wild parts of Europe, to an extraordinary extent. I +will quote one instance from Gibbon:-- + +"By the order of Probus, a vast quantity of large trees torn up by +the roots were transplanted into the midst of the circus. The +spacious and shady forest was immediately filled with a thousand +ostriches, a thousand stags, a thousand fallow-deer, and a thousand +wild boars, and all this variety of game was abandoned to the +riotous impetuosity of the multitude. The tragedy of the succeeding +day consisted in the massacre of a hundred lions, an equal number of +lionesses, two hundred leopards, and three hundred bears." + +Farther on we read of a spectacle by the younger Gordian of +"twenty zebras, ten elks, ten giraffes, thirty African hyenas, ten +Indian tigers, a rhinoceros, an hippopotamus, and thirty-two +elephants." + +[Mexico.]--Gomara, the friend and executor of Herman Cortes, states: +-- + +"There were here also many cages made of stout beams, in some of +which there were lions (pumas); in others, tigers (jaguars); in +others, ounces; in others, wolves; nor was there any animal on four +legs that was not there. They had for their rations deer and other +animals of the chase. There were also kept in large jars or tanks, +snakes, alligators, and lizards. In another court there were cages +containing every kind of birds of prey, such as vultures, a dozen +sorts of falcons and hawks, eagles, and owls. The large eagles +received turkeys for their food. Our Spaniards were astonished at +seeing such a diversity of birds and beasts; nor did they find it +pleasant to hear the hissing of the poisonous snakes, the roaring of +the lions, the shrill cries of the wolves, nor the groans of the +other animals given to them for food." + +[Peru.]--Garcilasso de la Vega (_Commentaries Reales_, v. 10), the +son of a Spanish conqueror by an Indian princess, born and bred in +Peru, writes:-- + +"All the strange birds and beasts which the chiefs presented to the +Inca were kept at court, both for grandeur and also to please the +Indians who presented them. When I came to Cuzco, I remember there +were some remains of places where they kept these creatures. One was +the serpent conservatory, and another where they kept the pumas, +jaguars, and bears." + +[Syria and Greece.]--I could have said something on Solomon's apes +and peacocks, and could have quoted at length the magnificent order +given by Alexander the Great (Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, viii. 16) towards +supplying material for Aristotle's studies in natural history; but +enough has been said to prove what I maintained, namely, that +numerous cases occur, year after year, and age after age, in which +every animal of note is captured and its capabilities of +domestication unconsciously tested. + +I would accept in a more stringent sense than it was probably +intended to bear, the text of St. James, who wrote at a time when a +vast variety and multitude of animals were constantly being +forwarded to Rome and to Antioch for amphitheatrical shows. He says +(James iii. 7), "Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, +and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind." + +I conclude from what I have stated that there is no animal worthy of +domestication that has not frequently been captured, and might ages +ago have established itself as a domestic breed, had it not been +deficient in certain necessary particulars which I shall proceed to +discuss. These are numerous and so stringent as to leave no ground +for wonder that out of the vast abundance of the animal creation, +only a few varieties of a few species should have become the +companions of man. + +It by no means follows that because a savage cares to take home a +young fawn to amuse himself, his family, and his friends, that he +will always continue to feed or to look after it. Such attention +would require a steadiness of purpose foreign to the ordinary +character of a savage. But herein lie two shrewd tests of the +eventual destiny of the animal as a domestic species. + +_Hardiness_.--It must be able to shift for itself and to thrive, +although it is neglected; since, if it wanted much care, it would +never be worth its keep. + +The hardiness of our domestic animals is shown by the rapidity with +which they establish themselves in new lands. The goats and hogs +left on islands by the earlier navigators throve excellently on the +whole. The horse has taken possession of the Pampas, and the sheep +and ox of Australia. The dog is hardly repressible in the streets of +an Oriental town. + +_Fondness of Man_.--Secondly, it must cling to man, notwithstanding +occasional hard usage and frequent neglect. If the animal had no +natural attachment to our species, it would fret itself to death, or +escape and revert to wildness. It is easy to find cases where the +partial or total non-fulfilment of this condition is a corresponding +obstacle to domestication. Some kinds of cattle are too precious to +be discarded, but very troublesome to look after. Such are the +reindeer to the Lapps. Mr. Campbell of Islay informed me that the +tamest of certain herds of them look as if they were wild; they have +to be caught with a lasso to be milked. If they take fright, they +are off to the hills; consequently the Lapps are forced to +accommodate themselves to the habits of their beasts, and to follow +them from snow to sea and from sea to snow at different seasons. The +North American reindeer has never been domesticated, owing, I presume, +to this cause. The Peruvian herdsmen would have had great trouble to +endure had the llama and alpaca not existed, for their cogeners, the +huanacu and the vicuna, are hardly to be domesticated. + +Zebras, speaking broadly, are unmanageable. The Dutch Boers +constantly endeavour to break them to harness, and though they +occasionally succeed to a degree, the wild mulish nature of the +animal is always breaking out, and liable to balk them. + +It is certain that some animals have naturally a greater fondness +for man than others; and as a proof of this, I will again quote +Hearne about the moose, who are considered by him to be the easiest +to tame and domesticate of any of the deer tribe. Formerly the +closely-allied European elks were domesticated in Sweden, and used +to draw sledges, as they are now occasionally in Canada; but they +have been obsolete for many years. Hearne says:-- + +"The young ones are so simple that I remember to have seen an Indian +paddle his canoe up to one of them, and take it by the poll, without +experiencing the least opposition, the poor harmless animal seeming +at the same time as contented alongside the canoe as if swimming by +the side of its dam, and looking up in our faces with the same +fearless innocence that a house lamb would." + +On the other hand, a young bison will try to dash out its brains +against the tree to which it is tied, in terror and hatred of its +captors. + +It is interesting to note the causes that conduce to a decided +attachment of certain animals to man, or between one kind of animal +and another. It is notorious that attachments and aversions exist in +nature. Swallows, rooks, and storks frequent dwelling houses; +ostriches and zebras herd together; so do bisons and elks. On the +other hand, deer and sheep, which are both gregarious, and both eat +the same food and graze within the same enclosure, avoid one another. +The spotted Danish dog, the Spitz dog, and the cat, have all a +strong attachment to horses, and horses seem pleased with their +company; but dogs and cats are proverbially discordant. I presume +that two species of animals do not consider one another companionable, +or clubable, unless their behaviour and their persons are +reciprocally agreeable. A phlegmatic animal would be exceedingly +disquieted by the close companionship of an excitable one. The +movements of one beast may have a character that is unpleasing to +the eyes of another; his cries may sound discordant; his smell may +be repulsive. Two herds of animals would hardly intermingle, unless +their respective languages of action and of voice were mutually +intelligible. The animal which above all others is a companion to +man is the dog, and we observe how readily their proceedings are +intelligible to each other. Every whine or bark of the dog, each of +his fawning, savage, or timorous movements is the exact counterpart +of what would have been the man's behaviour, had he felt similar +emotions. As the man understands the thoughts of the dog, so the dog +understands the thoughts of the man, by attending to his natural +voice, his countenance, and his actions. A man irritates a dog by an +ordinary laugh, he frightens him by an angry look, or he calms him +by a kindly bearing; but he has less spontaneous hold over an ox or a +sheep. He must study their ways and tutor his behaviour before he +can either understand the feelings of those animals or make his own +intelligible to them. He has no natural power at all over many other +creatures. Who, for instance, ever succeeded in frowning away a +mosquito, or in pacifying an angry wasp by a smile? + +_Desire of Comfort_.--This is a motive which strongly attaches +certain animals to human habitations, even though they are unwelcome: +it is a motive which few persons who have not had an opportunity of +studying animals in savage lands are likely to estimate at its true +value. The life of all beasts in their wild state is an exceedingly +anxious one. From my own recollection, I believe that every antelope +in South Africa has to run for its life every one or two days upon +an average, and that he starts or gallops under the influence of a +false alarm many times in a day. Those who have crouched at night by +the side of pools in the desert, in order to have a shot at the +beasts that frequent them, see strange scenes of animal life; how +the creatures gambol at one moment and fight at another; how a herd +suddenly halts in strained attention, and then breaks into a +maddened rush, as one of them becomes conscious of the stealthy +movements or rank scent of a beast of prey. Now this hourly +life-and-death excitement is a keen delight to most wild creatures, +but must be peculiarly distracting to the comfort-loving temperament +of others. The latter are alone suited to endure the crass habits +and dull routine of domesticated life. Suppose that an animal which +has been captured and half-tamed, received ill-usage from his captors, +either as punishment or through mere brutality, and that he rushed +indignantly into the forest with his ribs aching from blows and +stones. If a comfort-loving animal, he will probably be no gainer by +the change, more serious alarms and no less ill-usage awaits him; he +hears the roar of the wild beasts and the headlong gallop of the +frightened herds, and he finds the buttings and the kicks of other +animals harder to endure than the blows from which he fled. He has +the disadvantage of being a stranger, for the herds of his own +species which he seeks for companionship constitute so many cliques, +into which he can only find admission by more fighting with their +strongest members than he has spirit to undergo. As a set-off +against these miseries, the freedom of savage life has no charms for +his temperament; so the end of it is, that with a heavy heart he +turns back to the habitation he had quitted. When animals thoroughly +enjoy the excitement of wild life, I presume they cannot be +domesticated, they could only be tamed, for they would never return +from the joys of the wilderness after they had once tasted them +through some accidental wandering. + +Gallinas, or guinea-fowl, have so little care for comfort, or indeed +for man, that they fall but a short way within the frontier of +domestication. It is only in inclement seasons that they take +contentedly to the poultry-yards. + +Elephants, from their size and power, are not dependent on man for +protection; hence, those that have been reared as pets from the time +they were calves, and have never learned to dread and obey the +orders of a driver, are peculiarly apt to revert to wildness if they +once are allowed to wander and escape to the woods. I believe this +tendency, together with the cost of maintenance and the comparative +uselessness of the beasts, are among the chief causes why Africans +never tame them now; though they have not wholly lost the practice +of capturing them when full-grown, and of keeping them imprisoned +for some days alive. Mr. Winwood Reade's account of captured +elephants, seen by himself near Glass Town in Equatorial Western +Africa, is very curious. + +_Usefulness to Man_.--To proceed with the list of requirements +which a captured animal must satisfy before it is possible he could +be permanently domesticated: there is the very obvious condition +that he should be useful to man; otherwise, in growing to maturity, +and losing the pleasing youthful ways which had first attracted his +captors and caused them to make a pet of him, he would be repelled. +As an instance in point, I will mention seals. Many years ago I used +to visit Shetland, when those animals were still common, and I heard +many stories of their being tamed: one will suffice:--A fisherman +caught a young seal; it was very affectionate, and frequented his hut, +fishing for itself in the sea. At length it grew self-willed and +unwieldy; it used to push the children and snap at strangers, and it +was voted a nuisance, but the people could not bear to kill it on +account of its human ways. One day the fisherman took it with him in +his boat, and dropped it in a stormy sea, far from home; the +stratagem was unsuccessful; in a day or two the well-known scuffling +sound of the seal, as it floundered up to the hut, was again heard; +the animal had found its way home. Some days after the poor creature +was shot by a sporting stranger, who saw it basking and did not know +it was tame. Now had the seal been a useful animal and not +troublesome, the fisherman would doubtless have caught others, and +set a watch over them to protect them; and then, if they bred freely +and were easy to tend, it is likely enough he would have produced a +domestic breed. + +The utility of the animals as a store of future food is undoubtedly +the most durable reason for maintaining them; but I think it was +probably not so early a motive as the chief's pleasure in possessing +them. That was the feeling under which the menageries, described +above, were established. Whatever the despot of savage tribes is +pleased with becomes invested with a sort of sacredness. His tame +animals would be the care of all his people, who would become +skilful herdsmen under the pressure of fear. It would be as much as +their lives were worth if one of the creatures were injured through +their neglect. I believe that the keeping of a herd of beasts, with +the sole motive of using them as a reserve for food, or as a means +of barter, is a late idea in the history of civilisation. It has now +become established among the pastoral races of South Africa, owing +to the traffickings of the cattle-traders, but it was by no means +prevalent in Damara-Land when I travelled there in 1852. I then was +surprised to observe the considerations that induced the chiefs to +take pleasure in their vast herds of cattle. They were valued for +their stateliness and colour, far more than for their beef. They +were as the deer of an English squire, or as the stud of a man who +has many more horses than he can ride. An ox was almost a sacred +beast in Damara-Land, not to be killed except on momentous occasions, +and then as a sort of sacrificial feast, in which all bystanders +shared. The payment of two oxen was hush-money for the life of a man. +I was considerably embarrassed by finding that I had the greatest +trouble in buying oxen for my own use, with the ordinary articles of +barter. The possessor would hardly part with them for any +remuneration; they would never sell their handsomest beasts. + +One of the ways in which the value of tamed beasts would be soon +appreciated would be that of giving milk to children. It is +marvellous how soon goats find out children and tempt them to suckle. +I have had the milk of my goats, when encamping for the night in +African travels, drained dry by small black children, who had not +the strength to do more than crawl about, but nevertheless came to +some secret understanding with the goats and fed themselves. The +records of many nations have legends like that of Romulus and Remus, +who are stated to have been suckled by wild beasts. These are +surprisingly confirmed by General Sleeman's narrative of six cases +where children were nurtured for many years by wolves in Oude. +(_Journey through Oude in 1849-50_, i. 206.) + +_Breeding freely_.--Domestic animals must breed freely under +confinement. This necessity limits very narrowly the number of +species which might otherwise have been domesticated. It is one of +the most important of all the conditions that have to be satisfied. +The North American turkey, reared from the eggs of the wild bird, is +stated to be unknown in the third generation, in captivity. Our +turkey comes from Mexico, and was abundantly domesticated by the +ancient Mexicans. + +The Indians of the Upper Amazon took turtle and placed them in +lagoons for use in seasons of scarcity. The Spaniards who first saw +them called these turtle "Indian cattle." They would certainly have +become domesticated like cattle, if they had been able to breed in +captivity. + +_Easy to tend_.--They must be tended easily. When animals reared +in the house are suffered to run about in the companionship of +others like themselves, they naturally revert to much of their +original wildness. It is therefore essential to domestication that +they should possess some quality by which large numbers of them may +be controlled by a few herdsmen. The instinct of gregariousness is +such a quality. The herdsman of a vast troop of oxen grazing in a +forest, so long as he is able to see one of them, knows pretty +surely that they are all within reach. If oxen are frightened and +gallop off, they do not scatter, but remain in a single body. When +animals are not gregarious, they are to the herdsman like a falling +necklace of beads whose string is broken, or as a handful of water +escaping between the fingers. + +The cat is the only non-gregarious domestic animal. It is retained +by its extraordinary adhesion to the comforts of the house in which +it is reared. + +An animal may be perfectly fitted to be a domestic animal, and be +peculiarly easy to tend in a general way, and yet the circumstances +in which the savages are living may make it too troublesome for them +to maintain a breed. The following account, taken from Mr. Scott +Nind's paper on the Natives of King George's Sound in Australia, and +printed in the first volume of the _Journal of the Geographical +Society_, is particularly to the point. He says:-- + +"In the chase the hunters are assisted by dogs, which they take when +young and domesticate; but they take little pains to train them to +any particular mode of hunting. After finding a litter of young, the +natives generally carry away one or two to rear; in this case, it +often occurs that the mother will trace and attack them; and, being +large and very strong, she is rather formidable. At some periods, +food is so scanty as to compel the dog to leave his master and +provide for himself; but in a few days he generally returns." + +I have also evidence that this custom is common to the wild natives +of other parts of Australia. + +The gregariousness of all our domestic species is, I think, the +primary reason why some of them are extinct in a wild state. The +wild herds would intermingle with the tame ones, some would become +absorbed, the others would be killed by hunters, who used the tame +cattle as a shelter to approach the wild. Besides this, +comfort-loving animals would be less suited to fight the battle of +life with the rest of the brute creation; and it is therefore to be +expected that those varieties which are best fitted for domestication, +would be the soonest extinguished in a wild state. For instance, we +could hardly fancy the camel to endure in a land where there were +large wild beasts. + +_Selection_.--The irreclaimably wild members of every flock would +escape and be utterly lost; the wilder of those that remained would +assuredly be selected for slaughter, when ever it was necessary that +one of the flock should be killed. The tamest cattle--those that +seldom ran away, that kept the flock together and led them +homewards--would be preserved alive longer than any of the others. +It is therefore these that chiefly become the parents of stock, and +bequeath their domestic aptitudes to the future herd. I have +constantly witnessed this process of selection among the pastoral +savages of South Africa. I believe it to be a very important one, on +account of its rigour and its regularity. It must have existed from +the earliest times, and have been in continuous operation, +generation after generation, down to the present day. + +_Exceptions_.--I have already mentioned the African elephant, the +North American reindeer, and the apparent, but not real exception of +the North American turkey. I should add the ducks and geese of North +America, but I cannot consider them in the light of a very strong +case, for a savage who constantly changes his home is not likely to +carry aquatic birds along with him. Beyond these few, I know of no +notable exceptions to my theory. + +_Summary_. + +I see no reason to suppose that the first domestication of any animal, +except the elephant, implies a high civilisation among the people +who established it. I cannot believe it to have been the result of a +preconceived intention, followed by elaborate trials, to administer +to the comfort of man. Neither can I think it arose from one +successful effort made by an individual, who might thereby justly +claim the title of benefactor to his race; but, on the contrary, +that a vast number of half-unconscious attempts have been made +throughout the course of ages, and that ultimately, by slow degrees, +after many relapses, and continued selection, our several domestic +breeds became firmly established. + +I will briefly restate what appear to be the conditions under which +wild animals may become domesticated:--1, they should be hardy; 2, +they should have an inborn liking for man; 3, they should be +comfort-loving; 4, they should be found useful to the savages; 5, +they should breed freely; 6, they should be easy to tend. It would +appear that every wild animal has had its chance of being +domesticated, that those few which fulfilled the above conditions +were domesticated long ago, but that the large remainder, who fail +sometimes in only one small particular, are destined to perpetual +wildness so long as their race continues. As civilisation extends +they are doomed to be gradually destroyed off the face of the earth +as useless consumers of cultivated produce. I infer that slight +differences in natural dispositions of human races may in one case +lead irresistibly to some particular career, and in another case may +make that career an impossibility. + + + + +THE OBSERVED ORDER OF EVENTS. + +There is nothing as yet observed in the order of events to make us +doubt that the universe is bound together in space and time, as a +single entity, and there is a concurrence of many observed facts to +induce us to accept that view. We may, therefore, not unreasonably +profess faith in a common and mysterious whole, and of the laborious +advance, under many restrictions, of that infinitely small part of +it which falls under our observation, but which is in itself +enormously large, and behind which lies the awful mystery of the +origin of all existence. + +The conditions that direct the order of the whole of the living +world around us, are marked by their persistence in improving the +birthright of successive generations. They determine, at much cost +of individual comfort, that each plant and animal shall, on the +general average, be endowed at its birth with more suitable natural +faculties than those of its representative in the preceding +generation. They ensure, in short, that the inborn qualities of the +terrestrial tenantry shall become steadily better adapted to their +homes and to their mutual needs. This effect, be it understood, is +not only favourable to the animals who live long enough to become +parents, but is also favourable to those who perish in earlier life, +because even they are on the whole better off during their brief +career than if they had been born still less adapted to the +conditions of their existence. If we summon before our imagination +in a single mighty host, the whole number of living things from the +earliest date at which terrestrial life can be deemed to have +probably existed, to the latest future at which we may think it can +probably continue, and if we cease to dwell on the miscarriages of +individual lives or of single generations, we shall plainly perceive +that the actual tenantry of the world progresses in a direction that +may in some sense be described as the greatest happiness of the +greatest number. + +We also remark that while the motives by which individuals in the +lowest stages are influenced are purely self regarding, they broaden +as evolution goes on. The word "self" ceases to be wholly personal, +and begins to include subjects of affection and interest, and these +become increasingly numerous as intelligence and depth of character +develop, and as civilisation extends. The sacrifice of the personal +desire for repose to the performance of domestic and social duties +is an everyday event with us, and other sacrifices of the smaller to +the larger self are by no means uncommon. Life in general may be +looked upon as a republic where the individuals are for the most +part unconscious that while they are working for themselves they are +also working for the public good. + +We may freely confess ignorance of the outcome in the far future of +that personal life to which we each cling passionately in the joyous +morning of the affections, but which, as these and other interests +fail, does not seem so eminently desirable in itself. We know that +organic life can hardly be expected to flourish on this earth of +ours for so long a time as it has already existed, because the sun +will in all probability have lost too much of its heat and light by +then, and will have begun to grow dark and therefore cold, as other +stars have done. The conditions of existence here, which are now +apparently in their prime, will have become rigorous and +increasingly so, and there will be retrogression towards lower types, +until the simplest form of life shall have wholly disappeared from +the ice-bound surface. The whole living world will then have waxed +and waned like an individual life. + +Neither can we discover whether organisms here are capable of +attaining the average development of organisms in other of the +planets that are probably circling round most of the myriads of stars, +whose physical constitution, where-ever it has as yet been observed +spectroscopically, does not differ much from that of our sun. But we +perceive around us a countless number of abortive seeds and germs; we +find out of any group of a thousand men selected at random, some who +are crippled, insane, idiotic, and otherwise born incurably +imperfect in body or mind, and it is possible that this world may +rank among other worlds as one of these. + +We as yet understand nothing of the way in which our conscious +selves are related to the separate lives of the billions of cells of +which the body of each of us is composed. We only know that the +cells form a vast nation, some members of which are always dying and +others growing to supply their places, and that the continual +sequence of these multitudes of little lives has its outcome in the +larger and conscious life of the man as a whole. Our part in the +universe may possibly in some distant way be analogous to that of +the cells in an organised body, and our personalities may be the +transient but essential elements of an immortal and cosmic mind. + +Our views of the object of life have to be framed so as not to be +inconsistent with the observed facts from which these various +possibilities are inferred; it is safer that they should not exclude +the possibilities themselves. We must look on the slow progress of +the order of evolution, and the system of routine by which it has +thus far advanced, as due to antecedents and to inherent conditions +of which we have not as yet the slightest conception. It is +difficult to withstand a suspicion that the three dimensions of +space and the fourth dimension of time may be four independent +variables of a system that is neither space nor time, but something +else wholly unconceived by us. Our present enigma as to how a First +Cause could itself have been brought into existence--how the +tortoise of the fable, that bears the elephant that bears the world, +is itself supported,--may be wholly due to our necessary +mistranslation of the four or more variables of the universe, +limited by inherent conditions, into the three unlimited variables +of Space and the one of Time. + +Our ignorance of the goal and purport of human life, and the +mistrust we are apt to feel of the guidance of the spiritual sense, +on account of its proved readiness to accept illusions as realities, +warn us against deductive theories of conduct. Putting these, then, +at least for the moment, to one side, we find ourselves face to face +with two great and indisputable facts that everywhere force +themselves on the attention and compel consideration. The one is +that the whole of the living world moves steadily and continuously +towards the evolution of races that are progressively more and more +adapted to their complicated mutual needs and to their external +circumstances. The other is that the process of evolution has been +hitherto apparently carried out with, what we should reckon in our +ways of carrying out projects, great waste of opportunity and of life, +and with little if any consideration for individual mischance. +Measured by our criterion of intelligence and mercy, which consists +in the achievement of result without waste of time or opportunity, +without unnecessary pain, and with equitable allowance for pure +mistake, the process of evolution on this earth, so far as we can +judge, has been carried out neither with intelligence nor ruth, but +entirely through the routine of various sequences, commonly called +"laws," established or necessitated we know not how. + +An incalculable amount of lower life has been certainly passed +through before that human organisation was attained, of which we and +our generation are for the time the holders and transmitters. This +is no mean heritage, and I think it should be considered as a sacred +trust, for, together with man, intelligence of a sufficiently high +order to produce great results appears, so far as we can infer from +the varied records of the prehistoric past, to have first dawned upon +the tenantry of the earth. Man has already shown his large power in +the modifications he has made on the surface of the globe, and in +the distribution of plants and animals. He has cleared such vast +regions of forest that his work that way in North America alone, +during the past half century, would be visable to an observer as far +off as the moon. He has dug and drained; he has exterminated plants +and animals that were mischievous to him; he has domesticated those +that serve his purpose, and transplanted them to great distances +from their native places. Now that this new animal man, finds +himself somehow in existence, endowed with a little power and +intelligence, he ought, I submit, to awake to a fuller knowledge of +his relatively great position, and begin to assume a deliberate part +in furthering the great work of evolution. He may infer the course +it is bound to pursue, from his observation of that which it has +already followed, and he might devote his modicum of power, +intelligence, and kindly feeling to render its future progress less +slow and painful. Man has already furthered evolution very +considerably, half unconsciously, and for his own personal advantages, +but he has not yet risen to the conviction that it is his religious +duty to do so deliberately and systematically. + + + + +SELECTION AND RACE. + +The fact of an individual being naturally gifted with high qualities, +may be due either to his being an exceptionally good specimen of a +poor race, or an average specimen of a high one. The difference of +origin would betray itself in his descendants; they would revert +towards the typical centre of their race, deteriorating in the first +case but not in the second. The two cases, though theoretically +distinct, are confused in reality, owing to the frequency with which +exceptional personal qualities connote the departure of the entire +nature of the individual from his ancestral type, and the formation +of a new strain having its own typical centre. It is hardly +necessary to add that it is in this indirect way that natural +selection improves a race. The two events of selection and +difference of race ought, however, to be carefully distinguished in +broad practical considerations, while the frequency of their +concurrence is borne in mind and allowed for. + +So long as the race remains radically the same, the stringent +selection of the best specimens to rear and breed from, can never +lead to any permanent result. The attempt to raise the standard of +such a race is like the labour of Sisyphus in rolling his stone +uphill; let the effort be relaxed for a moment, and the stone will +roll back. Whenever a new typical centre appears, it is as though +there was a facet upon the lower surface of the stone, on which it +is capable of resting without rolling back. It affords a temporary +sticking-point in the forward progress of evolution. The causes that +check the unlimited improvement of highly-bred animals, so long as +the race remains unchanged, are many and absolute. + +In the first place there is an increasing delicacy of constitution; +the growing fineness of limb and structure end, after a few +generations, in fragility. Overbred animals have little stamina; +they resemble in this respect the "weedy" colts so often reared from +first-class racers. One can perhaps see in a general way why this +should be so. Each individual is the outcome of a vast number of +organic elements of the most various species, just as some nation +might be the outcome of a vast number of castes of individuals, each +caste monopolising a special pursuit. Banish a number of the humbler +castes--the bakers, the bricklayers, and the smiths, and the nation +would soon come to grief. This is what is done in high breeding; +certain qualities are bred for, and the rest are diminished as far +as possible, but they cannot be dispensed with entirely. + +The next difficulty lies in the diminished fertility of highly-bred +animals. It is not improbable that its cause is of the same +character as that of the delicacy of their constitution. Together +with infertility is combined some degree of sexual indifference, or +when passion is shown, it is not unfrequently for some specimen of a +coarser type. This is certainly the case with horses and with dogs. + +It will be easily understood that these difficulties, which are so +formidable in the case of plants and animals, which we can mate as +we please and destroy when we please, would make the maintenance of +a highly-selected breed of men an impossibility. + +Whenever a low race is preserved under conditions of life that exact +a high level of efficiency, it must be subjected to rigorous +selection. The few best specimens of that race can alone be allowed +to become parents, and not many of their descendants can be allowed +to live. On the other hand, if a higher race be substituted for the +low one, all this terrible misery disappears. The most merciful form +of what I ventured to call "eugenics" would consist in watching for +the indications of superior strains or races, and in so favouring +them that their progeny shall outnumber and gradually replace that +of the old one. Such strains are of no infrequent occurrence. It is +easy to specify families who are characterised by strong resemblances, +and whose features and character are usually prepotent over those of +their wives or husbands in their joint offspring, and who are at the +same time as prolific as the average of their class. These strains +can be conveniently studied in the families of exiles, which, for +obvious reasons, are easy to trace in their various branches. + +The debt that most countries owe to the race of men whom they +received from one another as immigrants, whether leaving their +native country of their own free will, or as exiles on political or +religious grounds, has been often pointed out, and may, I think, be +accounted for as follows:--The fact of a man leaving his compatriots, +or so irritating them that they compel him to go, is fair evidence +that either he or they, or both, feel that his character is alien to +theirs. Exiles are also on the whole men of considerable force of +character; a quiet man would endure and succumb, he would not have +energy to transplant himself or to become so conspicuous as to be an +object of general attack. We may justly infer from this, that exiles +are on the whole men of exceptional and energetic natures, and it is +especially from such men as these that new strains of race are likely +to proceed. + + + + +INFLUENCE OF MAN UPON RACE. + +The influence of man upon the nature of his own race has already +been very large, but it has not been intelligently directed, and has +in many instances done great harm. Its action has been by invasions +and migration of races, by war and massacre, by wholesale +deportation of population, by emigration, and by many social customs +which have a silent but widespread effect. + +There exists a sentiment, for the most part quite unreasonable, +against the gradual extinction of an inferior race. It rests on some +confusion between the race and the individual, as if the destruction +of a race was equivalent to the destruction of a large number of men. +It is nothing of the kind when the process of extinction works +silently and slowly through the earlier marriage of members of the +superior race, through their greater vitality under equal stress, +through their better chances of getting a livelihood, or through +their prepotency in mixed marriages. That the members of an inferior +class should dislike being elbowed out of the way is another matter; +but it may be somewhat brutally argued that whenever two individuals +struggle for a single place, one must yield, and that there will be +no more unhappiness on the whole, if the inferior yield to the +superior than conversely, whereas the world will be permanently +enriched by the success of the superior. The conditions of happiness +are, however, too complex to be disposed of by _à priori_ argument; +it is safest to appeal to observation. I think it could be easily +shown that when the differences between the races is not so great as +to divide them into obviously different classes, and where their +language, education, and general interests are the same, the +substitution may take place gradually without any unhappiness. Thus +the movements of commerce have introduced fresh and vigorous blood +into various parts of England: the new-comers have intermarried with +the residents, and their characteristics have been prepotent in the +descendants of the mixed marriages. I have referred in the earlier +part of the book to the changes of type in the English nature that +have occurred during the last few hundred years. These have been +effected so silently that we only know of them by the results. + +One of the most misleading of words is that of "aborigines." Its use +dates from the time when the cosmogony was thought to be young and +life to be of very recent appearance. Its usual meaning seems to be +derived from the supposition that nations disseminated themselves +like colonists from a common centre about four thousand years, say +120 generations ago, and thenceforward occupied their lands +undisturbed until the very recent historic period with which the +narrator deals, when some invading host drove out the "aborigines." +This idyllic view of the march of events is contradicted by ancient +sepulchral remains, by language, and by the habits of those modern +barbarians whose history we know. There are probably hardly any +spots on the earth that have not, within the last few thousand years, +been tenanted by very different races; none hardly that have not +been tenanted by very different tribes having the character of at +least sub-races. + +The absence of a criterion to distinguish between races and sub-races, +and our ethnological ignorance generally, makes it impossible to +offer more than a very off-hand estimate of the average variety of +races in the different countries of the world. I have, however, +endeavoured to form one, which I give with much hesitation, knowing +how very little it is worth. I registered the usually recognised +races inhabiting each of upwards of twenty countries, and who at the +same time formed at least half per cent of the population. It was, I +am perfectly aware, a very rough proceeding, so rough that for the +United Kingdom I ignored the prehistoric types and accepted only the +three headings of British, Low Dutch, and Norman-French. Again, as +regards India I registered as follows:--Forest tribes (numerous), +Dravidian (three principal divisions), Early Arian, Tartar (numerous, +including Afghans), Arab, and lastly European, on account of their +political importance, notwithstanding the fewness of their numbers. +Proceeding in this off-hand way, and after considering the results, +the broad conclusion to which I arrived was that on the average at +least three different recognised races were to be found in every +moderately-sized district on the earth's surface. The materials were +far too scanty to enable any idea to be formed of the rate of change +in the relative numbers of the constituent races in each country, +and still less to estimate the secular changes of type in those races. + +It may be well to take one or two examples of intermixture. Spain +was occupied in the earliest historic times by at least two races, +of whom we know very little; it was afterwards colonised here and +there by Phoenicians in its southern ports, and by Greeks in its +eastern. In the third century B.C. it was invaded by the +Carthaginians, who conquered and held a large part of it, but were +afterwards supplanted by the Romans, who ruled it more or less +completely for 700 years. It was invaded in the fifth century A.D. +by a succession of German tribes, and was finally completely overrun +by the Visigoths, who ruled it for more than 200 years. Then came +the invasion of the Moors, who rapidly conquered the whole of the +Peninsula up to the mountains of Asturias, where the Goths still held +their own, and whence they issued from time to time and ultimately +recovered the country. The present population consists of the +remnants of one or more tribes of ancient Iberians, of the still +more ancient Basques, and of relics of all the invaders who have +just been named. There is, besides, a notable proportion of Gypsies +and not a few Jews. + +This is obviously a most heterogeneous mixture, but to fully +appreciate the diversity of its origin the several elements should +be traced farther back towards their sources. Thus, the Moors are +principally descendants of Arabs, who flooded the northern provinces +of Africa in successive waves of emigration eastwards, both before +and after the Hegira, partly combining with the Berbers as they went, +and partly displacing them from the littoral districts and driving +them to the oases of the Sahara, whence they in their turn displaced +the Negro population, whom they drove down to the Soudan. The Gypsies, +according to Sir Henry Rawlinson,[16] came from the Indo-Scythic +tribes who inhabited the mouths of the Indus, and began to migrate +northward, from the fourth century onward. They settled in the +Chaldean marshes, assumed independence and defied the caliph. In A.D. +831 the grandson of Haroun al-Raschid sent a large expedition +against them, which, after slaughtering ten thousand, deported the +whole of the remainder first to Baghdad and thence onwards to Persia. +They continued unmanageable in their new home, and were finally +transplanted to the Cilician frontier in Asia Minor, and established +there as a military colony to guard the passes of the Taurus. In A.D. +962 the Greeks, having obtained some temporary successes, drove the +Gypsies back more into the interior, whence they gradually moved +towards the Hellespont under the pressure of the advancing Seljukians, +during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They then crossed over +to Europe and gradually overspread it, where they are now estimated +to number more than three millions. + +[Footnote 16: _Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society_, vol. +i. This account of the routes of the Gypsies is by no means +universally accepted, nor, indeed, was offered as a complete +solution of the problem of their migration, but it will serve to +show how complex that problem is.] + +It must not be supposed that emigration on a large scale implies +even a moderate degree of civilisation among those who emigrate, +because the process has been frequently traced among the more +barbarous tribes, to say nothing of the evidence largely derived +from ancient burial-places. My own impression of the races in South +Africa was one of a continual state of ferment and change, of the +rapid development of some clan here and of the complete or almost +complete suppression of another clan there. The well-known history +of the rise of the Zulus and the destruction of their neighbours is +a case in point. In the country with which I myself was familiar the +changes had been numerous and rapid in the preceding few years, and +there were undoubted signs of much more important substitutions of +race in bygone times. The facts were briefly these: Damara Land was +inhabited by pastoral tribes of the brown Bantu race who were in +continual war with various alternations of fortune, and the several +tribes had special characteristics that were readily appreciated by +themselves. On the tops of the escarped hills lived a fugitive black +people speaking a vile dialect of Hottentot, and families of yellow +Bushmen were found in the lowlands wherever the country was unsuited +for the pastoral Damaras. Lastly, the steadily encroaching Namaquas, +a superior Hottentot race, lived on the edge of the district. They +had very much more civilisation than the Bushmen, and more than the +Damaras, and they contained a large infusion of Dutch blood. + +The interpretation of all this was obviously that the land had been +tenanted a long time ago by Negroes, that an invasion of Bushmen +drove the Negroes to the hills, and that the supremacy of these +lasted so long that the Negroes lost their own language and acquired +that of the Bushmen. Then an invasion of a tribe of Bantu race +supplanted the Bushmen, and the Bantus, after endless struggles among +themselves, were being pushed aside at the time I visited them by +the incoming Namaquas, who themselves are a mixed race. This is +merely a sample of Africa; everywhere there are evidences of +changing races. + +The last 300 or 400 years, say the last ten generations of mankind, +have witnessed changes of population on the largest scale, by the +extension of races long resident in Europe to the temperate regions +of Asia, Africa, America, and Australasia. + +Siberia was barely known to the Russians of nine generations ago, +but since that time it has been continuously overspread by their +colonists, soldiers, political exiles, and transported criminals; +already some two-thirds of its population are Sclaves. + +In South Africa the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope is barely +six generations old, yet during that time a curious and continuous +series of changes has taken place, resulting in the substitution of +an alien population for the Hottentots in the south and the Bantus +in the north. One-third of it is white, consisting of Dutch, English, +descendants of French Huguenot refugees, some Germans and Portuguese, +and the remainder is a strange medley of Hottentot, Bantu, Malay, +and Negro elements. In North Africa Egypt has become infiltrated +with Greeks, Italians, Frenchmen, and Englishmen during the last two +generations, and Algeria with Frenchmen. + +In North America the change has been most striking, from a sparse +Indian population of hunters into that of the present inhabitants of +the United States and Canada; the former of these, with its total of +fifty millions inhabitants, already contains more than forty-three +millions of whites, chiefly of English origin; that is more of +European blood than is to be found in any one of the five great +European kingdoms of England, France, Italy, Germany, and Austria, +and less than that of Russia alone. The remainder are chiefly black, +the descendants of slaves imported from Africa. In the Dominion of +Canada, with its much smaller population of four millions, there has +been a less, but still a complete, swamping of the previous Indian +element by incoming whites. + +In South America, and thence upwards to Mexico inclusive, the +population has been infiltrated in some parts and transformed in +others, by Spanish blood and by that of the Negroes whom they +introduced, so that not one half of its population can be reckoned +as of pure Indian descent. The West Indian Islands have had their +population absolutely swept away since the time of the Spanish +Conquest, except in a few rare instances, and African Negroes have +been substituted for them. + +Australia and New Zealand tell much the same tale as Canada. A +native population has been almost extinguished in the former and is +swamped in the latter, under the pressure of an immigrant population +of Europeans, which is now twelve times as numerous as the Maories. +The time during which this great change has been effected is less +than that covered by three generations. + +To this brief sketch of changes of population in very recent periods, +I might add the wave of Arab admixture that has extended from Egypt +and the northern provinces of Africa into the Soudan, and that of +the yellow races of China, who have already made their industrial +and social influence felt in many distant regions, and who bid fair +hereafter, when certain of their peculiar religious fancies shall +have fallen into decay, to become one of the most effective of the +colonising nations, and who may, as I trust, extrude hereafter the +coarse and lazy Negro from at least the metaliferous regions of +tropical Africa. + +It is clear from what has been said, that men of former generations +have exercised enormous influence over the human stock of the +present day, and that the average humanity of the world now and in +future years is and will be very different to what it would have +been if the action of our forefathers had been different. The power +in man of varying the future human stock vests a great responsibility +in the hands of each fresh generation, which has not yet been +recognised at its just importance, nor deliberately employed. It is +foolish to fold the hands and to say that nothing can be done, +inasmuch as social forces and self-interests are too strong to be +resisted. They need not be resisted; they can be guided. It is one +thing to check the course of a huge steam vessel by the shock of a +sudden encounter when she is going at full speed in the wrong +direction, and another to cause her to change her course slowly and +gently by a slight turn of the helm. + +Nay, a ship may be made to describe a half circle, and to end by +following a course exactly opposite to the first, without attracting +the notice of the passengers. + + + + +POPULATION. + +Over-population and its attendant miseries may not improbably become +a more serious subject of consideration than it ever yet has been, +owing to improved sanatation and consequent diminution of the +mortality of children, and to the filling up of the spare places of +the earth which are still void and able to receive the overflow of +Europe. There are no doubt conflicting possibilities which I need +not stop to discuss. + +The check to over-population mainly advocated by Malthus is a +prudential delay in the time of marriage; but the practice of such a +doctrine would assuredly be limited, and if limited it would be most +prejudicial to the race, as I have pointed out in _Hereditary Genius_, +but may be permitted to do so again. The doctrine would only be +followed by the prudent and self-denying; it would be neglected by +the impulsive and self-seeking. Those whose race we especially want +to have, would leave few descendants, while those whose race we +especially want to be quit of, would crowd the vacant space with +their progeny, and the strain of population would thenceforward be +just as pressing as before. There would have been a little relief +during one or two generations, but no permanent increase of the +general happiness, while the race of the nation would have +deteriorated. The practical application of the doctrine of deferred +marriage would therefore lead indirectly to most mischievous results, +that were overlooked owing to the neglect of considerations bearing +on race. While criticising the main conclusion to which Malthus came, +I must take the opportunity of paying my humble tribute of admiration +to his great and original work, which seems to me like the rise of +a morning star before a day of free social investigation. There is +nothing whatever in his book that would be in the least offensive to +this generation, but he wrote in advance of his time and consequently +roused virulent attacks, notably from his fellow-clergymen, whose +doctrinaire notions upon the paternal dispensation of the world were +rudely shocked. + +The misery check, as Malthus called all those influences that are +not prudential, is an ugly phrase not fully justified. It no doubt +includes death through inadequate food and shelter, through +pestilence from overcrowding, through war, and the like; but it also +includes many causes that do not deserve so hard a name. Population +decays under conditions that cannot be charged to the presence or +absence of misery, in the common sense of the word. These exist when +native races disappear before the presence of the incoming white man, +when after making the fullest allowances for imported disease, for +brandy drinking, and other assignable causes, there is always a +large residuum of effect not clearly accounted for. It is certainly +not wholly due to misery, but rather to listlessness, due to +discouragement, and acting adversely in many ways. + +One notable result of dulness and apathy is to make a person +unattractive to the opposite sex and to be unattracted by them. It +is antagonistic to sexual affection, and the result is a diminution +of offspring. There exists strong evidence that the decay of +population in some parts of South America under the irksome tyranny +of the Jesuits, which crushed what little vivacity the people +possessed, was due to this very cause. One cannot fairly apply the +term "misery" to apathy; I should rather say that strong affections +restrained from marriage by prudential considerations more truly +deserved that name. + + + + +EARLY AND LATE MARRIAGES + +It is important to obtain a just idea of the relative effects of +early and late marriages. I attempted this in _Hereditary Genius_, +but I think the following is a better estimate. We are unhappily +still deficient in collected data as regards the fertility of the +upper and middle classes at different ages; but the facts collected +by Dr. Matthews Duncan as regards the lower orders will serve our +purpose approximately, by furnishing the required _ratios_, though +not the absolute values. The following are his results,[17] from +returns kept at the Lying-in Hospital of St. Georges-in-the-East:-- + + + Age of Mother + at her Marriage. Average Fertility. + 15-19 9.12 + 20-24 7.92 + 25-29 6.30 + 30-34 4.60 + + +The meaning of this Table will be more clearly grasped after a +little modification of its contents. We may consider the fertility +of each group to refer to the medium age of that group, as by writing +17 instead of 15-19, and we may slightly smooth the figures, then +we have-- + + +Age of Mother at her Approximate average + Marriage. Fertility. + 17 9.00 = 6 × 1.5 + 22 7.50 = 5 × 1.5 + 27 6.00 = 4 × 1.5 + 32 4.50 = 3 × 1.5 + + +Which shows that the relative fertility of mothers married at the +ages of 17, 22, 27, and 32 respectively is as 6, 5, 4, and 3 +approximately. + +The increase in population by a habit of early marriages is further +augmented by the greater rapidity with which the generations follow +each other. By the joint effect of these two causes, a large effect +is in time produced. + +Let us compute a single example. Taking a group of 100 mothers +married at the age of 20, whom we will designate as A, and another +group of 100 mothers married at the age of 29, whom we will call B, +we shall find by interpolation that the fertility of A and B +respectively would be about 8.2 and 5.4. We need not, however, +regard their absolute fertility, which would differ in different +classes of society, but will only consider their relative production +of such female children as may live and become mothers, and we will +suppose the number of such descendants in the first generation to be +the same as that of the A and B mothers together[17]--namely, 200. +Then the number of such children in the A and B classes respectively, +being in the proportion of 8.2 to 5.4, will be 115 and 85. + +[Footnote 17: _Fecundity, Fertility, Sterility_, etc., +by Dr. Matthews Duncan. A. & C. Black: Edinburgh, 1871, p. 143.] + +We have next to determine the average lengths of the A and B +generations, which may be roughly done by basing it on the usual +estimate of an average generation, irrespectively of sex, at a third +of a century, or say of an average female generation at 31.5 years. +We will further take 20 years as being 4.5 years earlier than the +average time of marriage, and 29 years as 4.5 years later than it, +so that the length of each generation of the A group will be 27 years, +and that of the B group will be 36 years. All these suppositions +appear to be perfectly fair and reasonable, while it may easily be +shown that any other suppositions within the bounds of probability +would lead to results of the same general order. + +The least common multiple of 27 and 36 is 108, at the end of which +term of years A will have been multiplied four times over by the +factor 1.5, and B three times over by the factor 0.85. The results +are given in the following Table:-- + + + + Number of Female Descendants who themselves + become Mothers. +====================================================================== +After Number | A | B | +of Years | Of 100 Mothers whose | Of 100 Mothers whose | +as below. | Marriages and those of | Marriages and those of | + | their Daughters all take | their Daughters take | + | place at the Age of | place at the Age of | + | 20 Years. | 29 Years. | + | --- | ---- | + | (Ratio of Increase in | (Ratio of Decrease in | + | each successive | each successive Generation | + | Generation being 1.15.) | being 0.85.) | +-------------+--------------------------+----------------------------| + 108 | 175 | 61 | + 216 | 299 | 38 | + 324 | 535 | 23 | +====================================================================== + + +The general result is that the group B gradually disappears, and the +group A more than supplants it. Hence if the races best fitted to +occupy the land are encouraged to marry early, they will breed down +the others in a very few generations. + + + + +MARKS FOR FAMILY MERIT + +It may seem very reasonable to ask how the result proposed in the +last paragraph is to be attained, and to add that the difficulty of +carrying so laudable a proposal into effect lies wholly in the +details, and therefore that until some working plan is suggested, +the consideration of improving the human race is Utopian. But this +requirement is not altogether fair, because if a persuasion of the +importance of any end takes possession of men's minds, sooner or +later means are found by which that end is carried into effect. Some +of the objections offered at first will be discovered to be +sentimental, and of no real importance--the sentiment will change +and they will disappear; others that are genuine are not met, but +are in some way turned or eluded; and lastly, through the ingenuity +of many minds directed for a long time towards the achievement of a +common purpose, many happy ideas are sure to be hit upon that would +not have occurred to a single individual. + + * * * * * + +This being premised, it will suffice to faintly sketch out some sort +of basis for eugenics, it being now an understanding that we are +provisionally agreed, for the sake of argument, that the improvement +of race is an object of first-class importance, and that the popular +feeling has been educated to regard it in that light. + +The final object would be to devise means for favouring individuals +who bore the signs of membership of a superior race, the proximate +aim would be to ascertain what those signs were, and these we will +consider first. + +The indications of superior breed are partly personal, partly +ancestral. We need not trouble ourselves about the personal part, +because full weight is already given to it in the competitive careers; +energy, brain, morale, and health being recognised factors of success, +while there can hardly be a better evidence of a person being +adapted to his circumstances than that afforded by success. It is +the ancestral part that is neglected, and which we have yet to +recognise at its just value. A question that now continually arises +is this: a youth is a candidate for permanent employment, his +present personal qualifications are known, but how will he turn out +in later years? The objections to competitive examinations are +notorious, in that they give undue prominence to youths whose +receptive faculties are quick, and whose intellects are precocious. +They give no indication of the directions in which the health, +character, and intellect of the youth will change through the +development, in their due course, of ancestral tendencies that are +latent in youth, but will manifest themselves in after life. +Examinations deal with the present, not with the future, although it +is in the future of the youth that we are especially interested. +Much of the needed guidance may be derived from his family history. +I cannot doubt, if two youths were of equal personal merit, of whom +one belonged to a thriving and long-lived family, and the other to a +decaying and short-lived family, that there could be any hesitation +in saying that the chances were greater of the first-mentioned youth +becoming the more valuable public servant of the two. + +A thriving family may be sufficiently defined or inferred by the +successive occupations of its several male members in the previous +generation, and of the two grandfathers. These are patent facts +attainable by almost every youth, which admit of being verified in +his neighbourhood and attested in a satisfactory manner. + +A healthy and long-lived family may be defined by the patent facts +of ages at death, and number and ages of living relatives, within +the degrees mentioned above, all of which can be verified and +attested. A knowledge of the existence of longevity in the family +would testify to the stamina of the candidate, and be an important +addition to the knowledge of his present health in forecasting the +probability of his performing a large measure of experienced work. + +Owing to absence of data and the want of inquiry of the family +antecedents of those who fail and of those who succeed in life, we +are much more ignorant than we ought to be of their relative +importance. In connection with this, I may mention some curious +results published by Mr. F.M. Holland[18] of Boston, U.S., as to the +antecedent family history of persons who were reputed to be more +moral than the average, and of those who were the reverse. He has + +been good enough to reply to questions that I sent to him concerning +his criterion of morality, and other points connected with the +statistics, in a way that seems satisfactory, and he has very +obligingly furnished me with additional MS. materials. One of his +conclusions was that morality is more often found among members of +large families than among those of small ones. It is reasonable to +expect this would be the case owing to the internal discipline among +members of large families, and to the wholesome sustaining and +restraining effects of family pride and family criticism. Members of +small families are apt to be selfish, and when the smallness of the +family is due to the deaths of many of its members at early ages, it +is some evidence either of weakness of the family constitution, or of +deficiency of common sense or of affection on the part of the +parents in not taking better care of them. Mr. Holland quotes in his +letter to me a piece of advice by Franklin to a young man in search +of a wife, "to take one out of a bunch of sisters," and a popular +saying that kittens brought up with others make the best pets, +because they have learned to play without scratching. Sir William +Gull[19] has remarked that those candidates for the Indian Civil +Service who are members of large families are on the whole the +strongest. + +[Footnote 18: _Index Newspaper_, Boston, U.S. July 27, 1882.] + +Far be it from me to say that any scheme of marks for family merit +would not require a great deal of preparatory consideration. Careful +statistical inquiries have yet to be made into the family +antecedents of public servants of mature age in connection with +their place in examination lists at the earlier age when they first +gained their appointments. This would be necessary in order to learn +the amount of marks that should be assigned to various degrees of +family merit. I foresee no peculiar difficulty in conducting such an +inquiry; indeed, now that competitive examinations have been in +general use for many years, the time seems ripe for it, but of +course its conduct would require much confidential inquiry and a +great deal of trouble in verifying returns. Still, it admits of +being done, and if the results, derived from different sources, +should confirm one another, they could be depended on. + +[Footnote 19: _Blue Book C_--1446, 1876. On the Selection and +Training of Candidates for the Indian Civil Service.] + +Let us now suppose that a way was seen for carrying some such idea +as this into practice, and that family merit, however defined, was +allowed to count, for however little, in competitive examinations. +The effect would be very great: it would show that ancestral +qualities are of present current value; it would give an impetus to +collecting family histories; it would open the eyes of every family +and or society at large to the importance of marriage alliance with +a good stock; it would introduce the subject of race into a +permanent topic of consideration, which (on the supposition of its +_bonâ fide_ importance that has been assumed for the sake of +argument) experience would show to be amply justified. Any act that +first gives a guinea stamp to the sterling guinea's worth of natural +nobility might set a great social avalanche in motion. + + + + +ENDOWMENTS. + +Endowments and bequests have been freely and largely made for +various social purposes, and as a matter of history they have +frequently been made to portion girls in marriage. It so happens +that the very day that I am writing this, I notice an account in the +foreign newspapers (September 19, 1882) of an Italian who has +bequeathed a sum to the corporation of London to found small +portions for three poor girls to be selected by lot. And again, a +few weeks ago I read also in the French papers of a trial, in +reference to the money adjudged to the "Rosière" of a certain village. +Many cases in which individuals and states have portioned girls may +be found in Malthus. It is therefore far from improbable that if the +merits of good race became widely recognised and its indications +were rendered more surely intelligible than they now are, that local +endowments, and perhaps adoptions, might be made in favour of those +of both sexes who showed evidences of high race and of belonging to +prolific and thriving families. One cannot forecast their form, +though we may reckon with some assurance that in one way or another +they would be made, and that the better races would be given a +better chance of marrying early. + +A curious relic of the custom which was universal three or four +centuries ago, of entrusting education to celibate priests, forbade +Fellows of Colleges to marry, under the penalty of losing their +fellowships. It is as though the winning horses at races were +rendered ineligible to become sires, which I need hardly say is the +exact reverse of the practice. Races were established and endowed by +"Queen's plates" and otherwise at vast expense, for the purpose of +discovering the swiftest horses, who are thenceforward exempted from +labour and reserved for the sole purpose of propagating their species. +The horses who do not win races, or who are not otherwise specially +selected for their natural gifts, are prevented from becoming sires. +Similarly, the mares who win races as fillies, are not allowed to +waste their strength in being ridden or driven, but are tended under +sanatory conditions for the sole purpose of bearing offspring. It is +better economy, in the long-run, to use the best mares as breeders +than as workers, the loss through their withdrawal from active +service being more than recouped in the next generation through what +is gained by their progeny. + +The college statutes to which I referred were very recently relaxed +at Oxford, and have been just reformed at Cambridge. I am told that +numerous marriages have ensued in consequence, or are ensuing. In +_Hereditary Genius_ I showed that scholastic success runs strongly +in families; therefore, in all seriousness, I have no doubt, that +the number of Englishmen naturally endowed with high scholastic +faculties, will be sensibly increased in future generations by the +repeal of these ancient statutes. + +The English race has yet to be explored and their now unknown wealth +of hereditary gifts recorded, that those who possess such a +patrimony should know of it. The natural impulses of mankind would +then be sufficient to ensure that such wealth should no more +continue to be neglected than the existence of any other possession +suddenly made known to a man. Aristocracies seldom make alliances +out of their order, except to gain wealth. Is it less to be expected +that those who become aware that they are endowed with the power of +transmitting valuable hereditary gifts should abstain from +squandering their future children's patrimony by marrying persons of +lower natural stamp? The social consideration that would attach +itself to high races would, it may be hoped, partly neutralise a +social cause that is now very adverse to the early marriages of the +most gifted, namely, the cost of living in cultured and refined +society. A young man with a career before him commonly feels it +would be an act of folly to hamper himself by too early a marriage. +The doors of society that are freely open to a bachelor are closed +to a married couple with small means, unless they bear patent +recommendations such as the public recognition of a natural nobility +would give. The attitude of mind that I should expect to predominate +among those who had undeniable claims to rank as members of an +exceptionally gifted race, would be akin to that of the modern +possessors of ancestral property or hereditary rank. Such persons +feel it a point of honour not to alienate the old place or make +misalliances, and they are respected for their honest family pride. +So a man of good race would shrink from spoiling it by a lower +marriage, and every one would sympathise with his sentiments. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + +It remains to sketch in outline the principal conclusions to which +we seem to be driven by the results of the various inquiries +contained in this volume, and by what we know on allied topics from +the works of others. + +We cannot but recognise the vast variety of natural faculty, useful +and harmful, in members of the same race, and much more in the human +family at large, all of which tend to be transmitted by inheritance. +Neither can we fail to observe that the faculties of men generally, +are unequal to the requirements of a high and growing civilisation. +This is principally owing to their entire ancestry having lived up +to recent times under very uncivilised conditions, and to the +somewhat capricious distribution in late times of inherited wealth, +which affords various degrees of immunity from the usual selective +agencies. + +In solution of the question whether a continual improvement in +education might not compensate for a stationary or even retrograde +condition of natural gifts, I made inquiry into the life history of +twins, which resulted in proving the vastly preponderating effects +of nature over nurture. + +The fact that the very foundation and outcome of the human mind is +dependent on race, and that the qualities of races vary, and +therefore that humanity taken as a whole is not fixed but variable, +compels us to reconsider what may be the true place and function of +man in the order of the world. I have examined this question freely +from many points of view, because whatever may be the vehemence with +which particular opinions are insisted upon, its solution is +unquestionably doubtful. There is a wide and growing conviction +among truth-seeking, earnest, humble-minded, and thoughtful men, +both in this country and abroad, that our cosmic relations are by no +means so clear and simple as they are popularly supposed to be, +while the worthy and intelligent teachers of various creeds, who +have strong persuasions on the character of those relations, do not +concur in their several views. + +The results of the inquiries I have made into certain alleged forms +of our relations with the unseen world do not, so far as they go, +confirm the common doctrines. One, for example, on the objective +efficacy of prayer[20] was decidedly negative. It showed that while +contradicting the commonly expressed doctrine, it concurred with the +almost universal practical opinion of the present day. Another +inquiry into visions showed that, however ill explained they may +still be, they belong for the most part, if not altogether, to an +order of phenomena which no one dreams in other cases of calling +supernatural. Many investigations concur in showing the vast +multiplicity of mental operations that are in simultaneous action, +of which only a minute part falls within the ken of consciousness, +and suggest that much of what passes for supernatural is due to one +portion of our mind being contemplated by another portion of it, as +if it had been that of another person. The term "individuality" is +in fact a most misleading word. + +[Footnote 20: Not reprinted in this edition.] + +I do not for a moment wish to imply that the few inquiries published +in this volume exhaust the list of those that might be made, for I +distinctly hold the contrary, but I refer to them in corroboration +of the previous assertion that our relations with the unseen world +are different to those we are commonly taught to believe. + +In our doubt as to the character of our mysterious relations with +the unseen ocean of actual and potential life by which we are +surrounded, the generally accepted fact of the solidarity of the +universe--that is, of the intimate connections between distant parts +that bind it together as a whole--justifies us, I think, in looking +upon ourselves as members of a vast system which in one of its +aspects resembles a cosmic republic. + +On the one hand, we know that evolution has proceeded during an +enormous time on this earth, under, so far as we can gather, a +system of rigorous causation, with no economy of time or of +instruments, and with no show of special ruth for those who may in +pure ignorance have violated the conditions of life. + +On the other hand, while recognising the awful mystery of conscious +existence and the inscrutable background of evolution, we find that +as the foremost outcome of many and long birth-throes, intelligent +and kindly man finds himself in being. He knows how petty he is, but +he also perceives that he stands here on this particular earth, at +this particular time, as the heir of untold ages and in the van of +circumstance. He ought therefore, I think, to be less diffident than +he is usually instructed to be, and to rise to the conception that +he has a considerable function to perform in the order of events, +and that his exertions are needed. It seems to me that he should +look upon himself more as a freeman, with power of shaping the +course of future humanity, and that he should look upon himself less +as the subject of a despotic government, in which case it would be +his chief merit to depend wholly upon what had been regulated for him, +and to render abject obedience. + +The question then arises as to the way in which man can assist in +the order of events. I reply, by furthering the course of evolution. +He may use his intelligence to discover and expedite the changes +that are necessary to adapt circumstance to race and race to +circumstance, and his kindly sympathy will urge him to effect them +mercifully. + +When we begin to inquire, with some misgiving perhaps, as to the +evidence that man has present power to influence the quality of +future humanity, we soon discover that his past influence in that +direction has been very large indeed. It has been exerted hitherto +for other ends than that which is now contemplated, such as for +conquest or emigration, also through social conditions whose effects +upon race were imperfectly foreseen. There can be no doubt that the +hitherto unused means of his influence are also numerous and great. +I have not cared to go much into detail concerning these, but +restricted myself to a few broad considerations, as by showing how +largely the balance of population becomes affected by the earlier +marriages of some of its classes, and by pointing out the great +influence that endowments have had in checking the marriage of monks +and scholars, and therefore the yet larger influence they might be +expected to have if they were directed not to thwart but to +harmonise with natural inclination, by promoting early marriages in +the classes to be favoured. I also showed that a powerful influence +might flow from a public recognition in early life of the true value +of the probability of future performance, as based on the past +performance of the ancestors of the child. It is an element of +forecast, in addition to that of present personal merit, which has +yet to be appraised and recognised. Its recognition would attract +assistance in various ways, impossible now to specify, to the young +families of those who were most likely to stock the world with +healthy, moral, intelligent, and fair-natured citizens. The stream +of charity is not unlimited, and it is requisite for the speedier +evolution of a more perfect humanity that it should be so +distributed as to favour the best-adapted races. I have not spoken +of the repression of the rest, believing that it would ensue +indirectly as a matter of course; but I may add that few would +deserve better of their country than those who determine to live +celibate lives, through a reasonable conviction that their issue +would probably be less fitted than the generality to play their part +as citizens. + +It would be easy to add to the number of possible agencies by which +the evolution of a higher humanity might be furthered, but it is +premature to do so until the importance of attending to the +improvement of our race shall have been so well established in the +popular mind that a discussion of them would be likely to receive +serious consideration. + +It is hardly necessary to insist on the certainty that our present +imperfect knowledge of the limitations and conditions of hereditary +transmission will be steadily added to; but I would call attention +again to the serious want of adequate materials for study in the +form of life-histories. It is fortunately the case that many of the +rising medical practitioners of the foremost rank are become strongly +impressed with the necessity of possessing them, not only for the +better knowledge of the theory of disease, but for the personal +advantage of their patients, whom they now have to treat less +appropriately than they otherwise would, through ignorance of their +hereditary tendencies and of their illnesses in past years, the +medical details of which are rarely remembered by the patient, even +if he ever knew them. With the help of so powerful a personal motive +for keeping life-histories, and of so influential a body as the +medical profession to advocate its being done,[21] and to show how +to do it, there is considerable hope that the want of materials to +which I have alluded will gradually be supplied. + +[Footnote 21: See an address on the Collective Investigation of +Disease, by Sir William Gull, _British Medical Journal_, January 27, +1883, p. 143; also the following address by Sir James Paget, p. 144.] + +To sum up in a few words. The chief result of these Inquiries has +been to elicit the religious significance of the doctrine of +evolution. It suggests an alteration in our mental attitude, and +imposes a new moral duty. The new mental attitude is one of a +greater sense of moral freedom, responsibility, and opportunity; the +new duty which is supposed to be exercised concurrently with, and +not in opposition to the old ones upon which the social fabric +depends, is an endeavour to further evolution, especially that of +the human race. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +A.--COMPOSITE PORTRAITURE. + +The object and methods of Composite Portraiture will be best +explained by the following extracts from memoirs describing its +successive stages, published in 1878, 1879, and 1881 respectively:-- + +I. COMPOSITE PORTRAITS, MADE BY COMBINING + THOSE OF MANY DIFFERENT PERSONS INTO A SINGLE RESULTANT FIGURE. + + [_Extract from Memoir read before the Anthropological Institute, + in 1878_.] + +I submit to the Anthropological Institute my first results in +carrying out a process that I suggested last August [1877] in my +presidential address to the Anthropological Subsection of the +British Association at Plymouth, in the following words:-- + +"Having obtained drawings or photographs of several persons alike in +most respects, but differing in minor details, what sure method is +there of extracting the typical characteristics from them? I may +mention a plan which had occurred both to Mr. Herbert Spencer and +myself, the principle of which is to superimpose optically the +various drawings, and to accept the aggregate result. Mr. Spencer +suggested to me in conversation that the drawings reduced to the +same scale might be traced on separate pieces of transparent paper +and secured one upon another, and then held between the eye and the +light. I have attempted this with some success. My own idea was to +throw faint images of the several portraits, in succession, upon the +same sensitised photographic plate. I may add that it is perfectly +easy to superimpose optically two portraits by means of a stereoscope, +and that a person who is used to handle instruments will find a +common double eyeglass fitted with stereoscopic lenses to be almost +as effectual and far handier than the boxes sold in shops." + +Mr. Spencer, as he informed me, had actually devised an instrument, +many years ago, for tracing mechanically, longitudinal, transverse, +and horizontal sections of heads on transparent paper, intending to +superimpose them, and to obtain an average result by transmitted +light. + +Since my address was published, I have caused trials to be made, and +have found, as a matter of fact, that the photographic process of +which I there spoke enables us to obtain with mechanical precision a +generalised picture; one that represents no man in particular, but +portrays an imaginary figure possessing the average features of any +given group of men. These ideal faces have a surprising air of +reality. Nobody who glanced at one of them for the first time would +doubt its being the likeness of a living person, yet, as I have said, +it is no such thing; it is the portrait of a type and not of an +individual. + +I begin by collecting photographs of the persons with whom I propose +to deal. They must be similar in attitude and size, but no exactness +is necessary in either of these respects. Then, by a simple +contrivance, I make two pinholes in each of them, to enable me to +hang them up one in front of the other, like a pack of cards, upon +the same pair of pins, in such a way that the eyes of all the +portraits shall be as nearly as possible superimposed; in which case +the remainder of the features will also be superimposed nearly enough. +These pinholes correspond to what are technically known to printers +as "register marks." They are easily made: A slip of brass or card +has an aperture cut out of its middle, and threads are stretched +from opposite sides, making a cross.[22] Two small holes are drilled +in the plate, one on either side of the aperture. The slip of brass +is laid on the portrait with the aperture over its face. It is turned +about until one of the cross threads cuts the pupils of both the eyes, +and it is further adjusted until the other thread divides the +interval between the pupils in two equal parts. Then it is held +firmly, and a prick is made through each of the holes. + +[Footnote 22: I am indebted for the woodcuts to the Editor of +_Nature_, in which journal this memoir first appeared.] + +[Illustration: ] + +The portraits being thus arranged, a photographic camera is directed +upon them. Suppose there are eight portraits in the pack, and +that under existing circumstances it would require an exposure of +eighty seconds to give an exact photographic copy of any one +of them. The general principle of proceeding is this, subject in +practice to some variations of detail, depending on the different +brightness of the several portraits. We throw the image of each of +the eight portraits in turn upon the same part of the sensitised +plate for ten seconds. Thus, portrait No. 1 is in the front of the +pack; we take the cap off the object glass of the camera for ten +seconds, and afterwards replace it. We then remove No. 1 from the +pins, and No. 2 appears in the front; we take off the cap a second +time for ten seconds, and again replace it. Next we remove No. 2, +and No. 3 appears in the front, which we treat as its predecessors, +and so we go on to the last of the pack. The sensitised plate will +now have had its total exposure of eighty seconds; it is then +developed, and the print taken from it is the generalised picture of +which I speak. It is a composite of eight component portraits. Those +of its outlines are sharpest and darkest that are common to the +largest number of the components; the purely individual +peculiarities leave little or no visible trace. The latter being +necessarily disposed equally on both sides of the average, the +outline of the composite is the average of all the components. It is +a band and not a fine line, because the outlines of the components +are seldom exactly superimposed. The band will be darkest in its +middle whenever the component portraits have the same general type +of features, and its breadth, or amount of blur, will measure the +tendency of the components to deviate from the common type. This is +so for the very same reason that the shot-marks on a target are more +thickly disposed near the bull's-eye than away from it, and in a +greater degree as the marksmen are more skilful. All that has been +said of the outlines is equally true as regards the shadows; the +result being that the composite represents an averaged figure, whose +lineaments have been softly drawn. The eyes come out with +appropriate distinctness, owing to the mechanical conditions under +which the components are hung. + +[Illustration: ] + +A composite portrait represents the picture that would rise before +the mind's eye of a man who had the gift of pictorial imagination in +an exalted degree. But the imaginative power even of the highest +artists is far from precise, and is so apt to be biassed by special +cases that may have struck their fancies, that no two artists agree +in any of their typical forms. The merit of the photographic +composite is its mechanical precision, being subject to no errors +beyond those incidental to all photographic productions. + +I submit several composites made for me by Mr. H. Reynolds. The +first set of portraits are those of criminals convicted of murder, +manslaughter, or robbery accompanied with violence. It will be +observed that the features of the composites are much better looking +than those of the components. The special villainous irregularities +in the latter have disappeared, and the common humanity that +underlies them has prevailed. They represent, not the criminal, but +the man who is liable to fall into crime. All composites are better +looking than their components, because the averaged portrait of many +persons is free from the irregularities that variously blemish the +looks of each of them. + +I selected these for my first trials because I happened to possess a +large collection of photographs of criminals, through the kindness +of Sir Edmund Du Cane, the Director-General of Prisons, for the +purpose of investigating criminal types. They were peculiarly +adapted to my present purpose, being all made of about the same size, +and taken in much the same attitudes. It was while endeavouring to +elicit the principal criminal types by methods of optical +superimposition of the portraits, such as I had frequently employed +with maps and meteorological traces,[23] that the idea of composite +figures first occurred to me. + +[Footnote 23: _Conference at the Loan Exhibition of Scientific +Instruments_, 1878. Chapman and Hall. Physical Geography Section, p. +312, _On Means of Combining Various Data in Maps and Diagrams_, by +Francis Galton, F.R.S.] + +The other set of composites are made from pairs of components. They +are selected to show the extraordinary facility of combining almost +any two faces whose proportions are in any way similar. + +It will, I am sure, surprise most persons to see how well defined +these composites are. When we deal with faces of the same type, the +points of similarity far outnumber those of dissimilarity, and there +is a much greater resemblance between faces generally than we who +turn our attention to individual differences are apt to appreciate. +A traveller on his first arrival among people of a race very +different to his own thinks them closely alike, and a Hindu has much +difficulty in distinguishing one Englishman from another. + +The fairness with which photographic composites represent their +components is shown by six of the specimens. I wished to learn +whether the order in which the components were photographed made any +material difference in the result, so I had three of the portraits +arranged successively in each of their six possible combinations. It +will be observed that four at least of the six composites are +closely alike. I should say that in each of this set (which was made +by the wet process) the last of the three components was always +allowed a longer exposure than the second, and the second than the +first, but it is found better to allow an equal time to all of them. + +[Illustration: The accompanying woodcut is as fair a representation +of one of the composites as is practicable in ordinary printing. It +was photographically transferred to the wood, and the engraver has +used his best endeavour to translate the shades into line engraving. +This composite is made out of only three components, and its +threefold origin is to be traced in the ears, and in the buttons to +the vest. To the best of my judgment, the original photograph is a +very exact average of its components; not one feature in it appears +identical with that of any one of them, but it contains a +resemblance to all, and is not more like to one of them than to +another. However, the judgment of the wood engraver is different. +His rendering of the composite has made it exactly like one of its +components, which it must be borne in mind he had never seen. It is +just as though an artist drawing a child had produced a portrait +closely resembling its deceased father, having overlooked an equally +strong likeness to its deceased mother, which was apparent to its +relatives. This is to me a most striking proof that the composite is +a true combination.] + +The stereoscope, as I stated last August in my address at Plymouth, +affords a very easy method of optically superimposing two portraits, +and I have much pleasure in quoting the following letter, pointing +out this fact as well as some other conclusions to which I also had +arrived. The letter was kindly forwarded to me by Mr. Darwin; it is +dated last November, and was written to him by Mr. A.L. Austin, from +New Zealand, thus affording another of the many curious instances of +two persons being independently engaged in the same novel inquiry at +nearly the same time, and coming to similar results:-- + + + INVERCARGILL, NEW ZEALAND, + _November 6th_, 1877. + + To CHARLES DARWIN, Esq. + + +SIR,--Although a perfect stranger to you, and living on the reverse +side of the globe, I have taken the liberty of writing to you on a +small discovery I have made in binocular vision in the stereoscope. +I find by taking two ordinary carre-de-visite photos of two +different persons' faces, the portraits being about the same sizes, +and looking about the same direction, and placing them in a +stereoscope, the faces blend into one in a most remarkable manner, +producing in the case of some ladies' portraits, in every instance, +a _decided improvement_ in beauty. The pictures were not taken in a +binocular camera, and therefore do not stand out well, but by moving +one or both until the eyes coincide in the stereoscope the pictures +blend perfectly. If taken in a binocular camera for the purpose, +each person being taken on one half of the negative, I am sure the +results would be still more striking. Perhaps something might be +made of this in regard to the expression of emotions in man and the +lower animals, &c. I have not time or opportunities to make +experiments, but it seems to me something might be made of this by +photographing the faces of different animals, different races of +mankind, &c. I think a stereoscopic view of one of the ape tribe and +some low-caste human face would make a very curious mixture; also in +the matter of crossing of animals and the resulting offspring. It +seems to me something also might result in photos of husband and +wife and children, &c. In any case, the results are curious, if it +leads to nothing else. Should this come to anything you will no +doubt acknowledge myself as suggesting the experiment, and perhaps +send me some of the results. If not likely to come to anything, a +reply would much oblige me. + + Yours very truly, + A.L. AUSTIN, C.E., F.R.A.S. + + +Dr. Carpenter informs me that the late Mr. Appold, the mechanician, +used to combine two portraits of himself under the stereoscope. The +one had been taken with an assumed stern expression, the other with +a smile, and this combination produced a curious and effective +blending of the two. + +Convenient as the stereoscope is, owing to its accessibility, for +determining whether any two portraits are suitable in size and +attitude to form a good composite, it is nevertheless a makeshift +and imperfect way of attaining the required result. It cannot of +itself combine two images; it can only place them so that the office +of attempting to combine them may be undertaken by the brain. Now +the two separate impressions received by the brain through the +stereoscope do not seem to me to be relatively constant in their +vividness, but sometimes the image seen by the left eye prevails +over that seen by the right, and _vice versâ_. All the other +instruments I am about to describe accomplish that which the +stereoscope fails to do; they create true optical combinations. As +regards other points in Mr. Austin's letter, I cannot think that the +use of a binocular camera for taking the two portraits intended to +be combined into one by the stereoscope would be of importance. All +that is wanted is that the portraits should be nearly of the same +size. In every other respect I cordially agree with Mr. Austin. + +The best instrument I have as yet contrived and used for optical +superimposition is a "double-image prism" of Iceland spar (see Fig., +p. 228), formerly procured for me by the late Mr. Tisley, optician, +Brompton Road. They have a clear aperture of a square, half an inch +in the side, and when held at right angles to the line of sight will +separate the ordinary and extraordinary images to the amount of two +inches, when the object viewed is held at seventeen inches from the +eye. This is quite sufficient for working with carte-de-visite +portraits. One image is quite achromatic, the other shows a little +colour. The divergence may be varied and adjusted by inclining the +prism to the line of sight. By its means the ordinary image of one +component is thrown upon the extraordinary image of the other, and +the composite may be viewed by the naked eye, or through a lens of +long focus, or through an opera-glass (a telescope is not so good) +fitted with a sufficiently long draw-tube to see an object at that +short distance with distinctness. Portraits of somewhat different +sizes may be combined by placing the larger one farther from the eye, +and a long face may be fitted to a short one by inclining and +foreshortening the former. The slight fault of focus thereby +occasioned produces little or no sensible ill effect on the +appearance of the composite. + +The front, or the profile, faces of two living persons sitting side +by side or one behind the other, can be easily superimposed by a +double-image prism. Two such prisms set one behind the other can be +made to give four images of equal brightness, occupying the four +corners of a rhombus whose acute angles are 45°. Three prisms will +give eight images, but this is practically not a good combination; +the images fail in distinctness, and are too near together for use. +Again, each lens of a stereoscope of long focus can have one or a +pair of these prisms attached to it, and four or eight images may be +thus combined. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1 shows the simple apparatus which carries the +prism and on which the photograph is mounted. The former is set in a +round box which can be rotated in the ring at the end of the arm and +can be clamped when adjusted. The arm can be rotated and can also be +pulled out or in if desired, and clamped. The floor of the +instrument is overlaid with cork covered with black cloth, on which +the components can easily be fixed by drawing-pins. When using it, +one portrait is pinned down and the other is moved near to it, +overlapping its margin if necessary, until the eye looking through +the prism sees the required combination; then the second portrait is +pinned down also. It may now receive its register-marks from needles +fixed in a hinged arm, and this is a more generally applicable +method than the plan with cross threads, already described, as any +desired feature--the nose, the ear, or the hand, may thus be +selected for composite purposes. Let A, B, C, ... Y, Z, be the +components. A is pinned down, and B, C, ... Y, Z, are successfully +combined with A, and registered. Then before removing Z, take away A +and substitute any other of the already registered portraits, say B, +by combining it with Z; lastly, remove Z and substitute A by +combining it with B, and register it. Fig. 2 shows one of three +similarly jointed arms, which clamp on to the vertical covered with +cork and cloth, and the other carries Fig. 3, which is a frame +having lenses of different powers set into it, and on which, or on +the third frame, a small mirror inclined at 45º may be laid. When a +portrait requires foreshortening it can be pinned on one of these +frames and be inclined to the line of sight; when it is smaller than +its fellow it can be brought nearer to the eye and an appropriate +lens interposed; when a right-sided profile has to be combined with a +left-handed one, it must be pinned on one of the frames and viewed by +reflection from the mirror in the other. The apparatus I have drawn +is roughly made, and being chiefly of wood is rather clumsy, but it +acts well.] + +Another instrument I have made consists of a piece of glass inclined +at a very acute angle to the line of sight, and of a mirror beyond it, +also inclined, but in the opposite direction to the line of sight. +Two rays of light will therefore reach the eye from each point of +the glass; the one has been reflected from its surface, and the +other has been first reflected from the mirror, and then transmitted +through the glass. The glass used should be extremely thin, to avoid +the blur due to double reflections; it may be a selected piece from +those made to cover microscopic specimens. The principle of the +instrument may be yet further developed by interposing additional +pieces of glass, successively less inclined to the line of sight, +and each reflecting a different portrait. + +I have tried many other plans; indeed the possible methods of +optically superimposing two or more images are very numerous. Thus I +have used a sextant (with its telescope attached); also strips of +mirrors placed at different angles, their several reflections being +simultaneously viewed through a telescope. I have also used a +divided lens, like two stereoscopic lenses brought close together, +in front of the object glass of a telescope. + + +II. GENERIC IMAGES. + + [_Extract from Proceedings Royal Institution, 25th April 1879_] + +Our general impressions are founded upon blended memories, and these +latter will be the chief topic of the present discourse. An analogy +will be pointed out between these and the blended portraits first +described by myself a year ago under the name of "Composite Portraits," +and specimens of the latter will be exhibited. + +The physiological basis of memory is simple enough in its broad +outlines. Whenever any group of brain elements has been excited by a +sense impression, it becomes, so to speak, tender, and liable to be +easily thrown again into a similar state of excitement. If the new +cause of excitement differs from the original one, a memory is the +result. Whenever a single cause throws different groups of brain +elements simultaneously into excitement, the result must be a +blended memory. + +We are familiar with the fact that faint memories are very apt to +become confused. Thus some picture of mountain and lake in a country +which we have never visited, often recalls a vague sense of identity +with much we have seen elsewhere. Our recollections cannot be +disentangled, though general resemblances are recognised. It is also +a fact that the memories of persons who have great powers of +visualising, that is, of seeing well-defined images in the mind's eye, +are no less capable of being blended together. Artists are, as a +class, possessed of the visualising power in a high degree, and they +are at the same time pre-eminently distinguished by their gifts of +generalisation. They are of all men the most capable of producing +forms that are not copies of any individual, but represent the +characteristic features of classes. + +There is then, no doubt, from whatever side the subject of memory is +approached, whether from the material or from the mental, and, in +the latter case, whether we examine the experiences of those in whom +the visualising faculty is faint or in whom it is strong, that the +brain has the capacity of blending memories together. Neither can +there be any doubt that general impressions are faint and perhaps +faulty editions of blended memories. They are subject to errors of +their own, and they inherit all those to which the memories are +themselves liable. + +Specimens of blended portraits will now be exhibited; these might, +with more propriety, be named, according to the happy phrase of +Professor Huxley, "generic" portraits. The word generic presupposes +a genus, that is to say, a collection of individuals who have much +in common, and among whom medium characteristics are very much more +frequent than extreme ones. The same idea is sometimes expressed by +the word "typical," which was much used by Quetelet, who was the +first to give it a rigorous interpretation, and whose idea of a type +lies at the basis of his statistical views. No statistician dreams +of combining objects into the same generic group that do not cluster +towards a common centre; no more should we attempt to compose +generic portraits out of heterogeneous elements, for if we do so the +result is monstrous and meaningless. + +It might be expected that when many different portraits are fused +into a single one, the result would be a mere smudge. Such, however, +is by no means the case, under the conditions just laid down, of a +great prevalence of the mediocre characteristics over the extreme +ones. There are then so many traits in common, to combine and to +reinforce one another, that they prevail to the exclusion of the rest. +All that is common remains, all that is individual tends to disappear. + +The first of the composites exhibited on this occasion is made by +conveying the images of three separate portraits by means of three +separate magic-lanterns upon the same screen. The stands on which +the lanterns are mounted have been arranged to allow of nice +adjustment. The composite about to be shown is one that strains the +powers of the process somewhat too severely, the portraits combined +being those of two brothers and their sister, who have not even been +photographed in precisely the same attitudes. Nevertheless, the +result is seen to be the production of a face, neither male nor +female, but more regular and handsome than any of the component +portraits, and in which the common family traits are clearly marked. +Ghosts of portions of male and female attire, due to the +peculiarities of the separate portraits, are seen about and around +the composite, but they are not sufficiently vivid to distract the +attention. If the number of combined portraits had been large, these +ghostly accessories would have become too faint to be visible. + +The next step is to compare this portrait of two brothers and their +sister which has been composed by optical means before the eyes of +the audience, and concerning the truthfulness of which there can be +no doubt, with a photographic composite of the same group. The +latter is now placed in a fourth magic-lantern with a brighter light +behind it, and its image is thrown on the screen by the side of the +composite produced by direct optical superposition. It will be +observed that the two processes lead to almost exactly the same +result, and therefore the fairness of the photographic process may +be taken for granted. However, two other comparisons will be made +for the sake of verification, namely, between the optical and +photographic composites of two children, and again between those of +two Roman contadini. + +The composite portraits that will next be exhibited are made by the +photographic process, and it will now be understood that they are +truly composite, notwithstanding their definition and apparent +individuality. Attention is, however, first directed to a convenient +instrument not more than 18 inches in length, which is, in fact, a +photographic camera with six converging lenses and an attached screen, +on which six pictures can be adjusted and brilliantly illuminated by +artificial light. The effect of their optical combination can thus +be easily studied; any errors of adjustment can be rectified, and +the composite may be photographed at once. + +It must not be supposed that any one of the components fails to +leave its due trace in the photographic composite, much less in the +optical one. In order to allay misgivings on the subject, a small +apparatus is laid on the table together with some of the results +obtained by it. It is a cardboard frame, with a spring shutter +closing an aperture of the size of a wafer, that springs open on the +pressure of a finger, and shuts again as suddenly when the pressure +is withdrawn. A chronograph is held in the other hand, whose index +begins to travel the moment the finger presses a spring, and stops +instantly on lifting the finger. The two instruments are worked +simultaneously; the chronograph checking the time allowed for each +exposure and summing all the times. It appears from several trials +that the effect of 1000 brief exposures is practically identical +with that of a single exposure of 1000 times the duration of any one +of them. Therefore each of a thousand components leaves its due +photographic trace on the composite, though it is far too faint to +be visible unless reinforced by many similar traces. + +The composites now to be exhibited are made from coins or medals, +and in most instances the aim has been to obtain the best likeness +attainable of historical personages, by combining various portraits +of them taken at different periods of their lives, and so to elicit +the traits that are common to each series. A few of the individual +portraits are placed in the same slide with each composite to give a +better idea of the character of these blended representatives. Those +that are shown are (1) Alexander the Great, from six components; +(2) Antiochus, King of Syria, from six; (3) Demetrius Poliorcetes, +from six; (4) Cleopatra, from five. Here the composite is as usual +better looking than any of the components, none of which, however, +give any indication of her reputed beauty; in fact, her features are +not only plain, but to an ordinary English taste are simply hideous. +(5) Nero, from eleven; (6) A combination of five different Greek +female faces; and (7) A singularly beautiful combination of the +faces of six different Roman ladies, forming a charming ideal profile. + +My cordial acknowledgment is due to Mr. R. Stuart Poole, the learned +curator of the coins and gems in the British Museum, for his kind +selection of the most suitable medals, and for procuring casts of +them for me for the present purpose. These casts were, with one +exception, all photographed to a uniform size of four-tenths of an +inch between the pupils of the eyes and the division between the lips, +which experience shows to be the most convenient size on the whole +to work with, regard being paid to many considerations not worth +while to specify in detail. When it was necessary the photograph was +reversed. These photographs were made by Mr. H. Reynolds; I then +adjusted and prepared them for taking the photographic composite. + +The next series to be exhibited consists of composites taken from +the portraits of criminals convicted of murder, manslaughter, or +crimes accompanied by violence. There is much interest in the fact +that two types of features are found much more frequently among +these than among the population at large. In one, the features are +broad and massive, like those of Henry VIII., but with a much +smaller brain. The other, of which five composites are exhibited, +each deduced from a number of different individuals, varying four to +nine, is a face that is weak and certainly not a common English face. +Three of these composites, though taken from entirely different sets +of individuals, are as alike as brothers, and it is found on +optically combining any three out of the five composites, that is on +combining almost any considerable number of the individuals, the +result is closely the same. The combination of the three composites +just alluded to will now be effected by means of the three +converging magic-lanterns, and the result may be accepted as generic +in respect of this particular type of criminals. + +The process of composite portraiture is one of pictorial statistics. +It is a familiar fact that the average height of even a dozen men of +the same race, taken at hazard, varies so little, that for ordinary +statistical purposes it may be considered constant. The same may be +said of the measurement of every separate feature and limb, and of +every tint, whether of skin, hair, or eyes. Consequently a pictorial +combination of any one of these separate traits would lead to +results no less constant than the statistical averages. In a portrait, +there is another factor to be considered besides the measurement of +the separate traits, namely, their relative position; but this, too, +in a sufficiently large group, would necessarily have a statistical +constancy. As a matter of observation, the resemblance between +persons of the same "genus" (in the sense of "generic," as already +explained) is sufficiently great to admit of making good pictorial +composites out of even small groups, as has been abundantly shown. + +Composite pictures, are, however, much more than averages; they are +rather the equivalents of those large statistical tables whose totals, +divided by the number of cases, and entered in the bottom line, are +the averages. They are real generalisations, because they include +the whole of the material under consideration. The blur of their +outlines, which is never great in truly generic composites, except +in unimportant details, measures the tendency of individuals to +deviate from the central type. My argument is, that the generic +images that arise before the mind's eye, and the general impressions +which are faint and faulty editions of them, are the analogues of +these composite pictures which we have the advantage of examining at +leisure, and whose peculiarities and character we can investigate, +and from which we may draw conclusions that shall throw much light +on the nature of certain mental processes which are too mobile and +evanescent to be directly dealt with. + + +III. COMPOSITE PORTRAITURE. + + [_Read before the Photographic Society, 24th June, 1881_.] + +I propose to draw attention to-night to the results of recent +experiments and considerable improvements in a process of which I +published the principles three years ago, and which I have +subsequently exhibited more than once. + +I have shown that, if we have the portraits of two or more different +persons, taken in the same aspect and under the same conditions of +light and shade, and that if we put them into different optical +lanterns converging on the same screen and carefully adjust +them--first, so as to bring them to the same scale, and, secondly, +so as to superpose them as accurately as the conditions admit--then +the different faces will blend surprisingly well into a single +countenance. If they are not very dissimilar, the blended result +will always have a curious air of individuality, and will be +unexpectedly well defined; it will exactly resemble none of its +components, but it will have a sort of family likeness to all of them, +and it will be an ideal and an averaged portrait. I have also shown +that the image on the screen might be photographed then and there, +or that the same result may be much more easily obtained by a method +of successive photography, and I have exhibited many specimens made +on this principle. Photo-lithographs of some of these will be found +in the _Proceedings of the Royal Institution_, as illustrations of a +lecture I gave there "On Generic Images" in 1879. + +The method I now use is much better than those previously described; +it leads to more accurate results, and is easier to manage. I will +exhibit and explain the apparatus as it stands, and will indicate +some improvements as I go on. The apparatus is here. I use it by +gaslight, and employ rapid dry plates, which, however, under the +conditions of a particularly small aperture and the character of the +light, require sixty seconds of total exposure. The apparatus is 4 +feet long and 6-1/2 inches broad; it lies with its side along the +edge of the table at which I sit, and it is sloped towards me, so +that, by bending my neck slightly, I can bring my eye to an eye-hole, +where I watch the effect of the adjustments which my hands are free +to make. The entire management of the whole of these is within an +easy arm's length, and I complete the process without shifting my +seat. + +The apparatus consists of three parts, A, B, and C. A is rigidly +fixed; it contains the dark slide and the contrivances by which the +position of the image can be viewed; the eye-hole, _e_, already +mentioned, being part of A. B is a travelling carriage that holds +the lens, and is connected by bellows-work with A. In my apparatus +it is pushed out and in, and clamped where desired, but it ought to +be moved altogether by pinion and rack-work.[24] The lens I use is a +I B Dallmeyer. Its focal length is appropriate to the size of the +instrument, and I find great convenience in a lens of wide aperture +when making the adjustments, as I then require plenty of light; but, +as to the photography, the smaller the aperture the better. The hole +in my stop is only two-tenths of an inch in diameter, and I believe +one-tenth would be more suitable. + +[Footnote 24: I have since had a more substantial instrument made +with these and similar improvements.] + + +[Illustration: DIAGRAM SHOWING THE ESSENTIAL PARTS] + +_Side View._ + +_End View._ + +A The body of the camera, which is fixed. + +B Lens on a carriage, which can be +moved to and fro. + +C Frame for the transparency, on a carriage +that also supports the lantern; +the whole can be moved to and fro. + +_r_ The reflector inside the camera. + +_m_ The arm outside the camera attached +to the axis of the reflector; by +moving it, the reflector can be +moved up or down. + +_g_ A ground-glass screen on the roof, +which receives the image when the +reflector is turned down, as in the +diagram. + +_e_ The eye-hole through which the image +is viewed on _g_; a thin piece of +glass immediately below _e_, reflects +the illuminated fiducial lines in the +transparency at _f_, and gives them +the appearance of lying upon _g_,--the +distances _f e_ and _g e_ being +made equal, the angle _f e g_ being +made a right angle, and the plane +of the thin piece of glass being +made to bisect _f e g_. + +_f_ Framework, adjustable, holding the +transparency with the fiducial lines +on it. + +_t_ Framework, adjustable, holding the +transparency of the portrait. + +C is a travelling carriage that supports the portraits in turn, from +which the composite has to be made. I work directly from the +original negatives with transmitted light; but prints can be used +with light falling on their face. For convenience of description I +will confine myself to the first instance only, and will therefore +speak of C as the carriage that supports the frame that holds the +negative transparencies. C can be pushed along the board and be +clamped anywhere, and it has a rack and pinion adjustment; but it +should have been made movable by rack and pinion along the whole +length of the board. The frame for the transparencies has the same +movements of adjustment as those in the stage of a microscope. It +rotates round a hollow axis, through which a beam of light is thrown, +and independent movements in the plane, at right angles to the axis, +can be given to it in two directions, at right angles to one another, +by turning two separate screws. The beam of light is furnished by +three gas-burners, and it passes through a condenser. The gas is +supplied through a flexible tube that does not interfere with the +movements of C, and it is governed by a stop-cock in front of the +operator. + +The apparatus, so far as it has been described with any detail, and +ignoring what was said about an eye-hole, is little else than a +modified copying-camera, by which an image of the transparency could +be thrown on the ordinary focusing-screen, and be altered in scale +and position until it was adjusted to fiducial lines drawn on the +screen. It is conceivable that this should be done, and that the +screen should be replaced by the dark slide, and a brief exposure +given to the plate; then, that a fresh transparency should be +inserted, a fresh focusing adjustment made, and a second exposure +given, and so on. This, I say, is conceivable, but it would be very +inconvenient. The adjusting screws would be out of reach; the head +of the operator would be in an awkward position; and though these +two difficulties might be overcome in some degree, a serious risk of +an occasional shift of the plate during the frequent replacement of +the dark slide would remain. I avoid all this by making my +adjustments while the plate continues in position with its front open. +I do so through the help of a reflector temporarily interposed +between it and the lens. I do not use the ordinary focusing-screen +at all in making my adjustments, but one that is flush, or nearly so, +with the roof of the camera. When the reflector is interposed, the +image is wholly cut off from the sensitised plate, and is thrown +upwards against this focusing-screen, _g_. When the reflector is +withdrawn, the image falls on the plate. It is upon this +focusing-screen in the roof that I see the fiducial lines by which I +make all the adjustments. Nothing can be more convenient than the +position of this focusing-screen for working purposes. I look down +on the image as I do upon a book resting on a sloping desk, and all +the parts of the apparatus are within an easy arm's length. + +My reflector in my present instrument is, I am a little ashamed to +confess, nothing better than a piece of looking-glass fixed to an +axle within the camera, near its top left-hand edge. One end of the +axle protrudes, and has a short arm; when I push the arm back, the +mirror is raised; when I push it forward it drops down. I used a +swing-glass because the swing action is very true, and as my +apparatus was merely a provisional working model made of soft wood, +I did not like to use sliding arrangements which might not have +acted truly, or I should certainly have employed a slide with a +rectangular glass prism, on account of the perfect reflection it +affords. And let me say, that a prism of 2 inches square in the side +is quite large enough for adjustment purposes, for it is only the +face of the portrait that is wanted to be seen. I chose my +looking-glass carefully, and selected a piece that was plane and +parallel. It has not too high a polish, and therefore does not give +troublesome double reflections. In fact, it answers very respectably, +especially when we consider that perfection of definition is thrown +away on composites. I thought of a mirror silvered on the front of +the glass, but this would soon tarnish in the gaslight, so I did not +try it. For safety against the admission of light unintentionally, I +have a cap to the focusing-screen in the roof, and a slide in the +fixed body of the instrument immediately behind the reflector and +before the dark slide. Neither of these would be wanted if the +reflector was replaced by a prism, set into one end of a sliding +block that had a large horizontal hole at the other end, and a +sufficient length of solid wood between the two to block out the +passage of light both upwards and downwards whenever the block is +passing through the half-way position. + +As regards the fiducial lines, they might be drawn on the glass +screen; but black lines are not, I find, the best. It is far easier +to work with illuminated lines; and it is important to be able to +control their brightness. I produce these lines by means of a +vertical transparency, set in an adjustable frame, connected with A, +and having a gas-light behind it. Below the eye-hole _e_, through +which I view the glass-screen _g_, is a thin piece of glass set at +an angle of 45°, which reflects the fiducial lines and gives them +the appearance of lying on the screen, the frame being so adjusted +that the distance from the thin piece of glass to the transparency +and to the glass-screen _g_ is the same. I thus obtain beautiful +fiducial lines, which I can vary from extreme faintness to extreme +brilliancy, by turning the gas lower or higher, according to the +brightness of the image of the portrait, which itself depends on the +density of the transparency that I am engaged upon. This arrangement +seems as good as can be. It affords a gauge of the density of the +negative, and enables me to regulate the burners behind it, until +the image of the portrait on _g_ is adjusted to a standard degree of +brightness. + +For convenience in enlarging or reducing, I take care that the +intersection of the vertical fiducial line with that which passes +through the pupils of the eyes shall correspond to the optical axis +of the camera. Then, as I enlarge or reduce, that point in the image +remains fixed. The uppermost horizontal fiducial line continues to +intersect the pupils, and the vertical one continues to divide the +face symmetrically. The mouth has alone to be watched. When the +mouth is adjusted to the lower fiducial line, the scale is exact. It +is a great help having to attend to no more than one varying element. +The only inconvenience is that the image does not lie in the best +position on the plate when the point between the eyes occupies its +centre. This is easily remedied by using a larger back with a +suitable inner frame. I have a more elaborate contrivance in my +apparatus to produce the same result, which I need not stop to +explain. + +For success and speed in making composites, the apparatus should be +solidly made, chiefly of metal, and all the adjustments ought to +work smoothly and accurately. Good composites cannot be made without +very careful adjustment in scale and position. An off-hand way of +working produces nothing but failures. + +I will first exhibit a very simple but instructive composite effect. +I drew on a square card a circle of about 2-1/2 inches in diameter, +and two cross lines through its centre, cutting one another at right +angles. Round each of the four points, 90° apart, where the cross +cuts the circle, I drew small circles of the size of wafers and +gummed upon each a disc of different tint. Finally I made a single +black dot half-way between two of the arms of the cross. I then made +a composite of the four positions of the card, as it was placed +successively with each of its sides downwards. The result is a +photograph having a sharply-defined cross surrounded by four discs +of precisely uniform tint, and between each pair of arms of the +cross there is a very faint dot. This photograph shows many things. +The fact of its being a composite is shown by the four faint dots. +The equality of the successive periods of exposure is shown by the +equal tint of the four dots. The accuracy of adjustment is shown by +the sharpness of the cross being as great in the composite as in the +original card. We see the smallness of the effect produced by any +trait, such as the dot, when it appears in the same place in only +one of the components: if this effect be so small in a series of +only four components, it would certainly be imperceptible in a much +larger series. Thirdly, the uniformity of resulting tint in the +composite wafer is quite irrespective of the order of exposure. Let +us call the four component wafers A, B, C, D, respectively, and the +four composite wafers 1, 2, 3, 4; then we see, by the diagram, that +the order of exposure has differed in each case, yet the result is +identical. Therefore the order of exposure has no effect on the +result. + +|----------+------------------------------------| +|Composite.|Successive places of the Components.| +| 1 2 | A B | D A | C D | B C | +| 4 3 | D C | C B | B A | A D | +|===============================================| + +In 1 it has been A, D, C, B, + " 2 " B, A, D, C, + " 3 " C, B, A, D, + " 4 " D, C, B, A, + +I will next show a series consisting of two portraits considerably +unlike to one another, and yet not so very discordant as to refuse +to conform, and of two intermediate composites. In making one of the +composites I gave two-thirds of the total time of exposure to the +first portrait, and one-third to the second portrait. In making the +other composite, I did the converse. It will be seen how good is the +result in both cases, and how the likeness of the longest exposed +portrait always predominates. + +The next is a series of four composites. The first consists of 57 +hospital patients suffering under one or other of the many forms of +consumption. I may say that, with the aid of Dr. Mahomed, I am +endeavouring to utilise this process to elicit the physiognomy of +disease. The composite I now show is what I call a hotch-pot +composite; its use is to form a standard whence deviations towards +any particular sub-type may be conveniently gauged. It will be +observed that the face is strongly marked, and that it is quite +idealised. I claim for composite portraiture, that it affords a +method of obtaining _pictorial averages_, which effects +simultaneously for every point in a picture what a method of numerical +averages would do for each point in the picture separately. It +gives, in short, the average tint of every unit of area in the +picture, measured from the fiducial lines as co-ordinates. Now every +statistician knows, by experience, that numerical averages usually +begin to agree pretty fairly when we deal with even twenty or thirty +cases. Therefore we should expect to find that any groups of twenty +or thirty men of the same class would yield composites bearing a +considerable likeness to one another. In proof that this is the case, +I exhibit three other composites: the one is made from the first 28 +portraits of the 57, the second from the last 27, and the third is +made from 36 portraits taken indiscriminately out of the 57. It will +be observed that all the four composites are closely alike. + +I will now show a few typical portraits I selected out of 82 male +portraits of a different series of consumptive male patients; they +were those that had more or less of a particular wan look, that I +wished to elicit. The selected cases were about 18 in number, and +from these I took 12, rejecting about six as having some marked +peculiarity that did not conform well with the remaining 12. The +result is a very striking face, thoroughly ideal and artistic, and +singularly beautiful. It is, indeed, most notable how beautiful all +composites are. Individual peculiarities are all irregularities, and +the composite is always regular. + +I show a composite of 15 female faces, also of consumptive patients, +that gives somewhat the same aspect of the disease; also two others +of only 6 in each, that have in consequence less of an ideal look, +but which are still typical. I have here several other typical faces +in my collection of composites; they are all serviceable as +illustrations of this memoir, but, medically speaking, they are only +provisional results. + +I am indebted to Lieutenant Leonard Darwin, R.E., for an interesting +series of negatives of officers and privates of the Royal Engineers. +Here is a composite of 12 officers; here is one of 30 privates. I +then thought it better to select from the latter the men that came +from the southern counties, and to again make a further selection of +11 from these, on the principle already explained. Here is the +result. It is very interesting to note the stamp of culture and +refinement on the composite officer, and the honest and vigorous but +more homely features of the privates. The combination of these two, +officers and privates together, gives a very effective physiognomy. + +Let it be borne in mind that existing cartes-de-visite are almost +certain to be useless. Among dozens of them it is hard to find three +that fulfil the conditions of similarity of aspect and of shade. The +negatives have to be made on purpose. I use a repeating back and a +quarter plate, and get two good-sized heads on each plate, and of a +scale that never gives less than four-tenths of an inch between the +pupils of the eyes and the mouth. It is only the head that can be +used, as more distant parts, even the ears, become blurred hopelessly. + +It will be asked, of what use can all this be to ordinary +photographers, even granting that it may be of scientific value in +ethnological research, in inquiries into the physiognomy of disease, +and for other special purposes? I think it can be turned to most +interesting account in the production of family likenesses. The most +unartistic productions of amateur photography do quite as well for +making composites as those of the best professional workers, because +their blemishes vanish in the blended result. All that amateurs have +to do is to take negatives of the various members of their families +in precisely the same aspect (I recommend either perfect full-face +or perfect profile), and under precisely the same conditions of +light and shade, and to send them to a firm provided with proper +instrumental appliances to make composites from them. The result is +sure to be artistic in expression and flatteringly handsome, and +would be very interesting to the members of the family. Young and old, +and persons of both sexes can be combined into one ideal face. I can +well imagine a fashion setting in to have these pictures. + +Professional skill might be exercised very effectively in retouching +composites. It would be easy to obliterate the ghosts of stray +features that are always present when the composite is made from +only a few portraits, and it would not be difficult to tone down any +irregularity in the features themselves, due to some obtrusive +peculiarity in one of the components. A higher order of artistic +skill might be well bestowed upon the composites that have been made +out of a large number of components. Here the irregularities +disappear, the features are perfectly regular and idealised, but the +result is dim. It is like a pencil drawing, where many attempts have +been made to obtain the desired effect; such a drawing is smudged +and ineffective; but the artist, under its guidance, draws his final +work with clear bold touches, and then he rubs out the smudge. On +precisely the same principle the faint but beautifully idealised +features of these composites are, I believe, capable of forming the +basis of a very high order of artistic work. + +B.--THE RELATIVE SUPPLIES FROM TOWN AND COUNTRY FAMILIES + TO THE POPULATION OF FUTURE GENERATIONS. + + [_Read before the Statistical Society in_ 1873.] + +It is well known that the population of towns decays, and has to be +recruited by immigrants from the country, but I am not aware that +any statistical investigation has yet been attempted of the rate of +its decay. The more energetic members of our race, whose breed is +the most valuable to our nation, are attracted from the country to +our towns. If residence in towns seriously interferes with the +maintenance of their stock, we should expect the breed of Englishmen +to steadily deteriorate, so far as that particular influence is +concerned. + +I am well aware that the only perfectly trustworthy way of +conducting the inquiry is by statistics derived from numerous +life-histories, but I find it very difficult to procure these data. +I therefore have had recourse to an indirect method, based on a +selection from the returns made at the census of 1871, which appears +calculated to give a fair approximation to the truth. My object is +to find the number of adult male representatives in this generation, +of 1000 adult males in the previous one, of rural and urban +populations respectively. The principle on which I have proceeded is +this:-- + +I find (A) the number of children of equal numbers of urban and of +rural mothers. The census schedules contain returns of the names and +ages of the members of each "family," by which word we are to +understand those members who are alive and resident in the same +house with their parents. When the mothers are young, the children +are necessarily very young, and nearly always (in at least those +classes who are unable to send their children to boarding schools) +live at home. If, therefore, we limit our inquiries to the census +"families" of young mothers, the results may be accepted as +practically identical with those we should have obtained if we had +direct means of ascertaining the number of their living children. +The limits of age of the mothers which I adopted in my selection were, +24 and 40 years. Had I to begin the work afresh, I should prefer +the period from 20 to 35, but I have reason to feel pretty well +contented with my present data. I correct the results thus far +obtained on the following grounds:--(B) the relative mortality of +the two classes between childhood and maturity; (C) the relative +mortality of the rural and urban mothers during childbearing ages; +(D) their relative celibacy; and (E) the span of a rural and urban +generation. It will be shown that B is important, and C noteworthy, +but that D and E may be disregarded. + +In deciding on the districts to be investigated, it was important to +choose well-marked specimens of urban and rural populations. In the +former, a town was wanted where there were various industries, and +where the population was not increasing. A town where only one +industry was pursued would not be a fair sample, because the +particular industry might be suspected of having a special influence, +and a town that was increasing would have attracted numerous +immigrants from the country, who are undistinguishable as such in +the census returns. Guided by these considerations, I selected +Coventry, where silk weaving, watch-making, and other industries are +carried on, and whose population had scarcely varied during the +decade preceding the census of 1871.[25] It is an open town, in +which the crowded alleys of larger places are not frequent. Its urban +peculiarities are therefore minimised, and its statistical returns +would give a picture somewhat too favourable of the average +condition of life in towns. For specimens of rural districts, I +chose small agricultural parishes in Warwickshire. + +[Footnote 25: It has greatly changed since this was written.] + +By the courteous permission of Dr. Farr, I was enabled to procure +extracts from the census returns concerning 1000 "families" of +factory hands at Coventry, in which the age of the mother was +neither less than 24 nor more than 40 years, and concerning another +1000 families of agricultural labourers in rural parishes of +Warwickshire, under the same limitations as to the age of the mother. +When these returns were classified (see Table I., p. 246), I found +the figures to run in such regular sequence as to make it certain +that the cases were sufficiently numerous to give trustworthy results. +It appeared that: + +(A) The 1000 families of factory hands comprised 2681 children, and +the 1000 of agricultural labourers comprised 2911; hence, the +children in the urban "families," the mothers being between the ages +of 24 and 40, are on the whole about 8 per cent, less numerous than +the rural. I see no reason why these numbers should not be accepted +as relatively correct for families, in the ordinary sense of that +word, and for mothers of all ages. An inspection of the table does +indeed show that if the selection had begun at an earlier age than 24, +there would have been an increased proportion of sterile and of +small families among the factory hands, but not sufficient to +introduce any substantial modification of the above results. It is, +however, important to recollect that the small error, whatever its +amount may be, is a concession in favour of the towns. + +(B) I next make an allowance for the mortality between childhood and +maturity, which will diminish the above figures in different +proportions, because the conditions of town life are more fatal to +children than those of the country. No life tables exist for +Coventry and Warwickshire; I am therefore obliged to use statistics +for similarly conditioned localities, to determine the amount of the +allowance that should be made. The life tables of Manchester [26] +will afford the data for towns, and those of the "Healthy Districts" +[27] will suffice for the country. By applying these, we could +calculate the number of the children of ages specified in the census +returns who would attain maturity. I regret extremely that when I +had the copies taken, I did not give instructions to have the ages +of all the children inserted; but I did not, and it is too late now +to remedy the omission. I am therefore obliged to make a very rough, +but not unfair, estimate. The average age of the children was about +3 years, and 25 years may be taken as representing the age of +maturity. Now it will be found that 74 per cent. of children in +Manchester, of the age of 3, reach the age of 25, while 86 per cent. +of children do so in the "Healthy Districts." Therefore, if my rough +method be accepted as approximately fair, the number of adults who +will be derived from the children of the 1000 factory families +should be reckoned at (2681 × 74/100) = 1986, and those from the +1000 agricultural at (2911 × 86/100) = 2503. + +[Footnote 26: "Seventh Annual Report of Registrar-General."] + +[Footnote 27: Healthy Districts Life Table, by Dr. Farr. _Phil +Trans. Royal Society_, 1859.] + +(C) The comparison we seek is between the total families produced by +an equal number of urban and rural women who had survived the age of +24. Many of these women will not marry at all; I postpone that +consideration to the next paragraph. Many of the rest will die +before they reach the age of 40, and more of them will die in the +town than in the country. It appears from data furnished by the +above-mentioned tables, that if 100 women of the age of 24 had +annually been added to a population, the number of those so added, +living between the ages of 24 and 40 (an interval of seventeen years) +would be 1539 under the conditions of life in Manchester, and 1585 +under those of the healthy districts. Therefore the small factors to +be applied respectively to the two cases, on account of this +correction, are 1539/(17 × 100) and 1585/(17 × 100). + +(D) I have no trustworthy data for the relative prevalence of +celibacy in town and country. All that I have learned from the +census returns is, that when searching them for the 1000 families, +131 bachelors were noted between the ages of 24 and 40, among the +factory hands, and 144 among the agricultural labourers. If these +figures be accepted as correct guides to the amount of celibacy +among the women, it would follow that I must be considered to have +discussed the cases of 1131 factory, and 1144 agricultural women, +when dealing with those of 1000 mothers in either class. +Consequently that the respective corrections to be applied, are +given by the factors 1000/1131 and 1000/1141 or 88.4/1000 and 87.6/ +1000. This difference of less than 1 per cent, is hardly worth +applying, moreover I do not like to apply it, because it seems to me +erroneous and to act in the wrong direction, inasmuch as unmarried +women can obtain employment more readily in the town than in the +country, and celibacy is therefore more likely to be common in the +former than in the latter. + +(E) The possible difference in the length of an urban and rural +generation must not be forgotten. We, however, have reason to +believe that the correction on this ground will be insignificant, +because the length of a generation is found to be constant under +very different circumstances of race, and therefore we should expect +it to be equally constant in the same race under different conditions; +such as it is, it would probably tell against the towns. + +Let us now sum up the results. The corrections are not to be applied +for (D) and (E), so we have only to regard (A) × (B) × (C), that +this-- + +2681 × 74/100 × 1539/1700 1796 77 +------------------------- = ---- = -- +2911 × 86/100 × 1585/1700 2334 100 + +In other words, the rate of supply in towns to the next adult +generation is only 77 per cent., or, say, three-quarters of that in +the country. This decay, if it continued constant, would lead to the +result that the representatives of the townsmen would be less than +half as numerous as those of the country folk after one century, and +only about one fifth as numerous after two centuries, the +proportions being 45/100 and 21/100 respectively. + + +[Transcriber's Note: In the original manuscript, Table I occupied +two facing pages. This is the left-hand (sinister) page; the right-hand +(dexter) page is immediately below.] + +TABLE I. -- _Census Returns of 1000 Families of Factory Hands in +Coventry, and 1000 Families of Agricultural Labourers in Warwickshire, +grouped according to the Age of the Mother and the Number of Children +in the Family._ + + --------------------------------------------------- + |NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN FAMILY. | + |---------|---------|---------|----------|--------| + | 0. | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | + |---------+---------+---------+----------+--------| + | F | A | F | A | F | A | F | A | F | A | + | a | g | a | g | a | g | a | g | a | g | + | c | r | c | r | c | r | c | r | c | r | + | t | i | t | i | t | i | t | i | t | i | + | o | c | o | c | o | c | o | c | o | c | + | r | u | r | u | r | u | r | u | r | u | +Age of Mother | y | l | y | l | y | l | y | l | y | l | + | . | t | . | t | . | t | . | t | . | t | + --------------------------------------------------- +24 to 25 | 28 17 40 31 | 24 32 12 10 2 | + | +-------------------+ | +26 " 27 | 19 18 36 24 36 28 23 26 | 8 8 | + | | | +28 " 29 | 18 17 32 16 20[A] 33 36 23 | 14 23 | + | | | +30 " 31 | 13 4 23 18 24 21 28[A] 31 | 18 22 | + | | | +32 " 33 | 18 11 16 14 19 13 22[A] 27 | 23 26 | + |---------+ | | +34 " 35 | 14 15 | 11 6 17 16 28 18 | 31 34 | + | +-------------------+ | | +36 " 37 | 12 17 4 11 10 13 | 22 14 | 16 20 | + | +---------+ | +38 " 39 | 8 6 9 15 14 17 16 21 22 23 | + | | +40 | 8 7 3 10 8 9 13 14 8 10 | +===============|=================================================| +Total within | | + outline | 96 67 258 109 116 111 171 149 | +Total between | | + outlines | 42 45 16 36 56 71 29 35 142 166 | +Total beyond | | + outline | | +===============|=================================================| +Total |138 112 174 145 172 182 200 184 142 166 | +===============|=================================================| + +[Footnote A: These three cases are anomalous, the Factory being less +than the Agricultural. In the instance of 20-33, the anomaly is double, +because the sequence of the figures shows that neither of these can be +correct; certainly not the first of them.] + +_Note_.--It will be observed to the left of the outline, that is, +in the upper and left hand of the table, where the mothers are young +and the children few, the factory families predominate, while the +agricultural are the most numerous between the outlines, that is, +especially in the middle of the table, where the mothers are less young, +and the family is from four to five in number. The two are equally +numerous to the right of the outlines, that is, to the right of the +table, where the families are large. + +[Transcriber's Note: In the original manuscript, Table I occupied +two facing pages. This is the right-hand (dexter) page; the left-hand +(snister) page is immediately above.] + +TABLE I. -- _Census Returns of 1000 Families of Factory Hands in +Coventry, and 1000 Families of Agricultural Labourers in Warwickshire, +grouped according to the Age of the Mother and the Number of Children +in the Family._ + + + +| NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN FAMILY. | +|-------------------------------------------------| +| 5. | 6. | 7. | 8. | 9. | +|---------+---------+---------+---------+---------| +| F | A | F | A | F | A | F | A | F | A | +| a | g | a | g | a | g | a | g | a | g | +| c | r | c | r | c | r | c | r | c | r | +| t | i | t | i | t | i | t | i | t | i | +| o | c | o | c | o | c | o | c | o | c | +| r | u | r | u | r | u | r | u | r | u | +| y | l | y | l | y | l | y | l | y | l |Age of Mother +| . | t | . | t | . | t | . | t | . | t | +|---------+---------+---------+---------+---------|------------ +| 1 1 | | 24 to 25 +| | | +| | | 26 " 27 +| | | +| 6 6 | 4 1 2 | 28 " 29 +| | | +| 12 15 | 2 5 2 1 | 30 " 31 +| | | +| 21 25 | 9 5 1 2 | 32 " 33 +| | | +| 14 18 | 12 9 5 3 1 | 34 " 35 +| | | +| 15 25 | 12 10 4 5 5 2 | 36 " 37 +| | | +| 14 22 | 10 15 6 7 2 1 | 38 " 39 +| | | +| 7 11 | 3 9 7 7 2 1 | 40 +|=================================================|-------------------- +| |Total within outline. +| 90 123 |Total between outline +| 52 54 24 25 7 9 1 |Total beyond outline. +|=================================================|===================== +| 90 123 52 54 24 25 7 9 1 |Total. +|======================================================================= + + + + +TABLE II. + +|----------------------------------------------------------------------| +| | Number of Families | Number of Children | +| |--------+--------------+------------------------| +| | Factory| Agricultural | Factory | Agricultural | +| Within outline | 541 | 436 | 903 | 778 | +| Between outlines | 375 | 476 | 1233 | 1562 | +| Beyond outlines | 84 | 88 | 545 | 571 | +|=============================================+========================| +| Total | 1000 | 1000 | 2681 | 2911 | +|======================================================================| + +C -- AN APPARATUS FOR TESTING THE DELICACY WITH WHICH WEIGHTS CAN BE +DISCRIMINATED BY HANDLING THEM. + + [_Read at the Anthropological Institute_, Nov., 1882.] + +I submit a simple apparatus that I have designed to measure the +delicacy of the sensitivity of different persons, as shown by their +skill in discriminating weights, identical in size, form, and colour, +but different in specific gravity. Its interest lies in the +accordance of the successive test values with the successive +graduations of a true scale of sensitivity, in the ease with which +the tests are applied, and the fact that the same principle can be +made use of in testing the delicacy of smell and taste. + +I use test-weights that mount in a series of "just perceptible +differences" to an imaginary person of extreme delicacy of perception, +their values being calculated according to Weber's law. The lowest +weight is heavy enough to give a decided sense of weight to the hand +when handling it, and the heaviest weight can be handled without any +sense of fatigue. They therefore conform with close approximation to +a geometric series; thus-- + _WR0, WR1, WR2, WR3_, etc., +and they bear as register-marks the values of the successive indices, +0, 1, 2, 3, etc. It follows that if a person can just distinguish +between any particular pair of weights, he can also just distinguish +between any other pair of weights whose register-marks differ by the +same amount. Example: suppose A can just distinguish between the +weights bearing the register-marks 2 and 4, then it follows from the +construction of the apparatus that he can just distinguish between +those bearing the register-marks 1 and 3, or 3 and 5, or 4 and 6, etc.; +the difference being 2 in each case. + +There can be but one interpretation of the phrase that the dulness +of muscular sense in any person, B, is twice as great as in that of +another person, A. It is that B is only capable of perceiving one +grade of difference where A can perceive two. We may, of course, +state the same fact inversely, and say that the delicacy of muscular +sense is in that case twice as great in A as in B. Similarly in all +other cases of the kind. Conversely, if having known nothing +previously about either A or B, we discover on trial that A can just +distinguish between two weights such as those bearing the +register-marks 5 and 7, and that B can just distinguish between +another pair, say, bearing the register-marks 2 and 6; then since +the difference between the marks in the latter case is twice as +great as in the former, we know that the dulness of the muscular +sense of B is exactly twice that of A. Their relative dulness, or if +we prefer to speak in inverse terms, and say their relative +sensitivity, is determined quite independently of the particular +pair of weights used in testing them. + +It will be noted that the conversion of results obtained by the +use of one series of test-weights into what would have been given +by another series, is a piece of simple arithmetic, the fact +ultimately obtained by any apparatus of this kind being the "just +distinguishable" fraction of real weight. In my own apparatus the +unit of weight is 2 per cent.; that is, the register-mark 1 means 2 +per cent.; but I introduce weights in the earlier part of the scale +that deal with half units; that is, with differences of 1 per cent. +In another apparatus the unit of weight might be 3 per cent., then +three grades of mine would be equal to two of the other, and mine +would be converted to that scale by multiplying them by 2/3. Thus +the results obtained by different apparatus are strictly comparable. + +A sufficient number of test-weights must be used, or trials made, to +eliminate the influence of chance. It might perhaps be thought that +by using a series of only five weights, and requiring them to be +sorted into their proper order by the sense of touch alone, the +chance of accidental success would be too small to be worth +consideration. It might be said that there are 5 × 4 × 3 × 2, or 120 +different ways in which five weights can be arranged, and as only +one is right, it must be 120 to 1 against a lucky hit. But this is +many fold too high an estimate, because the 119 possible mistakes +are by no means equally probable. When a person is tested, an +approximate value for his grade of sensitivity is rapidly found, and +the inquiry becomes narrowed to finding out whether he can surely +pass a particular mistake. He is little likely to make a mistake of +double the amount in question, and it is almost certain that he will +not make a mistake of treble the amount. In other words, he would +never be likely to put one of the test-weights more than one step +out of its proper place. If he had three weights to arrange in their +consecutive order, 1, 2, 3, there are 3×2 = 6 ways of arranging them; +of these, he would be liable to the errors of 1, 3, 2, and of 2, 1, 3, +but he would hardly be liable to such gross errors as 2, 3, 1, or 3, +2, 1, or 3, 1, 2. Therefore of the six permutations in which three +weights may be arranged three have to be dismissed from consideration, +leaving three cases only to be dealt with, of which two are wrong +and one is right. For the same reason there are only four reasonable +chances of error in arranging four weights, and only six in +arranging five weights, instead of the 119 that were originally +supposed. These are-- + +12354 13245 13254 +21345 21354 21435 + +But exception might be taken to two even of these, namely, those +that appear in the third column, where 5 is found in juxtaposition +with 2 in the first case, and 4 with 1 in the second. So great a +difference between two adjacent weights would be almost sure to +attract the notice of the person who was being tested, and make him +dissatisfied with the arrangement. Considering all this, together +with the convenience of carriage and manipulation, I prefer to use +trays, each containing only three weights, the trials being made +three or four times in succession. In each trial there are three +possibilities and only one success, therefore in three trials the +probabilities against uniform success are as 27 to 1, and in four +trials at 81 to 1. + +_Values of the Weights_.--After preparatory trials, I adopted 1000 +grains as the value of _W_ and 1020 as that of _R_, but I am now +inclined to think that 1010 would have been better. I made the +weights by filling blank cartridges with shot, wool, and wads, so as +to distribute the weight equally, and I closed the cartridges with a +wad, turning the edges over it with the instrument well known to +sportsmen. I wrote the corresponding value of the index of _R_ on +the wad by which each of them was closed, to serve as a register +number. Thus the cartridge whose weight was _WR4_ was marked 4'. The +values were so selected that there should be as few varieties as +possible. There are thirty weights in all, but only ten varieties, +whose Register Numbers are respectively 0, 1, 2, 3, 3-1/2, 4-1/2, 5, +6, 7, 9, 12. The reason of this limitation of varieties was to +enable the weights to be interchanged whenever there became reason +to suspect that the eye had begun to recognise the appearance of any +one of them, and that the judgment might be influenced by that +recognition, and cease to be wholly guided by the sense of weight. + +We are so accustomed to deal with concurrent impressions that it is +exceedingly difficult, even with the best intention of good faith, +to ignore the influence of any corroborative impression that may be +present. It is therefore right to take precautions against this +possible cause of inaccuracy. The most perfect way would be to drop +the weights, each in a little bag or sheath of light material, so +that the operatee could not see the weights, while the ratio between +the weights would not be sensibly changed by the additional weight +of the bags. I keep little bags for this purpose, inside the box +that holds the weights. + +_Arrangement of the Weights_.--The weights are placed in sets of +threes, each set in a separate shallow tray, and the trays lie in +two rows in a box. Each tray bears the register-marks of each of the +weights it contains. It is also marked boldly with a Roman numeral +showing the difference between the register-marks of the adjacent +weights. This difference indicates the grade of sensitivity that the +weights in the tray are designed to test. Thus the tray containing +the weights _WR0_, _WR3_, _WR6_ is marked as in Fig. 1, and that +which contains _WR2_, _WR7_, _WR12_ is marked as in Fig. 2. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.] + +The following is the arrangement of the trays in the box. The +triplets they contain suffice for ordinary purposes. + + +|=========================================| +| Just | | | +| perceptible | Grade of | Sequences | +| Ratio. | Sensitivity | of Weights | +|-------------+-------------+-------------| +| 1.020 | I. | 1, 2, 3 | +| 1.030 | I.1/2 | 2, 3-1/2, 5 | +| 1.040 | II. | 3, 5, 7 | +| 1.050 | II.1/2 | 2, 4-1/2, 7 | +| 1.061 | III. | 0, 3, 6 | +| 1.071 | III.1/2 | 0, 3-1/2, 7 | +| 1.082 | IV. | 1, 5, 9 | +| 1.082 | IV.1/2 | 0, 4-1/2, 9 | +| 1.104 | V. | 2, 5, 7 | +| 1.127 | VI. | 0, 6, 12 | +|=========================================| + +But it will be observed that sequences of 1/2 can also be obtained, +and again, that it is easy to select doublets of weights for coarser +tests, up to a maximum difference of XII., which may be useful in +cases of morbidly diminished sensitivity. + +_Manipulation_.--A tray is taken out, the three weights that it +contains is shuffled by the operator who then passes them on to the +experimenter. The latter sits at ease with his hand in an +unconstrained position, and lifts the weights in turn between his +finger and thumb, the finger pressing against the top, the thumb +against the bottom of the cartridge. Guided by the touch alone, he +arranges them in the tray in what he conceives to be their proper +sequence; he then returns the tray to the operator, who notes the +result, the operator then reshuffles the weights and repeats the +trial. It is necessary to begin with coarse preparatory tests, to +accustom the operatee to the character of the work. After a minute +or two the operator may begin to record results, and the testing may +go for several minutes, until the hand begins to tire, the judgment +to be confused, and blunders to arise. Practice does not seem to +increase the delicacy of perception after the first few trials, so +much as might be expected. + +D.--WHISTLES FOR TESTING THE UPPER LIMITS OF AUDIBLE SOUND IN +DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS. + +The base of the inner tube of the whistle is the foremost end of a +plug, that admits of being advanced or withdrawn by screwing it out +or in; thus the depth of the inner tube of the whistle can be varied +at pleasure. The more nearly the plug is screwed home, the less is +the depth of the whistle and the more shrill does its note become, +until a point is reached at which, although the air that proceeds +from it vibrates as violently as before, as shown by its effect on a +sensitive flame, the note ceases to be audible. + +The number of vibrations per second in the note of a whistle or +other "closed pipe" depends on its depth. The theory of acoustics +shows that the length of each complete vibration is four times that +of the depth of the closed pipe, and since experience proves that +all sound, whatever may be its pitch, is propagated at the same rate, +which under ordinary conditions of temperature and barometric +pressure may be taken at 1120 feet, or 13,440 inches per second,--it +follows that the number of vibrations in the note of a whistle may +be found by dividing 13,440 by four times the depth, measured in +inches, of the inner tube of the whistle. This rule, however, +supposes the vibrations of the air in the tube to be strictly +longitudinal, and ceases to apply when the depth of the tube is less +than about one and a half times its diameter. When the tube is +reduced to a shallow pan, a note may still be produced by it, but +that note has reference rather to the diameter of the whistle than +to its depth, being sometimes apparently unaltered by a further +decrease of depth. The necessity of preserving a fair proportion +between the diameter and the depth of a whistle is the reason why +these instruments, having necessarily little depth, require to be +made with very small bores. + +The depth of the inner tube of the whistle at any moment is shown by +the graduations on the outside of the instrument. The lower portion +of the instrument as formerly made for me by the late Mr. Tisley, +optician, Brompton Road,[28] is a cap that surrounds the body of the +whistle, and is itself fixed to the screw that forms the plug. One +complete turn of the cap increases or diminishes the depth of the whistle, +by an amount equal to the interval between two adjacent threads of the +screw. For mechanical convenience, a screw is used whose pitch is 25 to +the inch; therefore one turn of the cap moves the plug one twenty-fifth +of an inch, or ten two-hundred-and-fiftieths. The edge of the cap is +divided into ten parts, each of which corresponds to the tenth of a +complete turn; and, therefore, to one two-hundred-and-fiftieth of an +inch. Hence in reading off the graduations the tens are shown on the +body of the whistle, and the units are shown on the edge of the cap. + +The scale of the instrument having for its unit the two-hundred-and- +fiftieth part of an inch, it follows that the number of vibrations +in the note of the whistle is to be found by dividing (13440 x 250)/4 +or 84,000, by the graduations read off on its scale. + +A short table is annexed, giving the number of vibrations calculated +by this formula, for different depths, bearing in mind that the +earlier entries cannot be relied upon unless the whistle has a very +minute bore, and consequently a very feeble note. + +=================================== +| Scale Readings | Corresponding | +| (one division | Number of | +| = 1/250 | Vibrations | +| of an inch). | per Second | +|----------------+----------------| +| 10 | 84,000 | +| 15 | 56,000 | +| 20 | 42,000 | +| 25 | 33,600 | +| 30 | 28,000 | +| 35 | 24,000 | +| 40 | 21,000 | +| 45 | 28,666 | +| 50 | 16,800 | +| 55 | 15,273 | +| 60 | 14,000 | +| 65 | 12,923 | +| 70 | 12,000 | +| 75 | 11,200 | +| 80 | 10,500 | +| 85 | 9,882 | +| 90 | 9,333 | +| 95 | 8,842 | +| 100 | 8,400 | +| 105 | 8,000 | +| 110 | 7,591 | +| 115 | 7,305 | +| 120 | 7,000 | +| 125 | 6,720 | +| 130 | 6,461 | +=================================== + +[Footnote 28: Mr. Hawksley, surgical instrument maker 307 Oxford +Street also makes these.] + +The largest whistles suitable for experiments on the human ear, have +an inner tube of about 0.16 inches in diameter, which is equal to 40 +units of the scale. Consequently in these instruments the theory of +closed pipes ceases to be trustworthy when the depth of the whistle +is less than about 60 units. In short, we cannot be sure of sounding +with them a higher note than one of 14,000 vibrations to the second, +unless we use tubes of still smaller bore. In some of my experiments +I was driven to use very fine tubes indeed, not wider than those +little glass tubes that hold the smallest leads for Mordan's pencils. +I have tried without much success to produce a note that should be +both shrill and powerful, and correspond to a battery of small +whistles, by flattening a piece of brass tube, and passing another +sheet of brass up it, and thus forming a whistle the whole width of +the sheet, but of very small diameter from front to back. It made a +powerful note, but not a very pure one. I also constructed an +annular whistle by means of three cylinders, one sliding within the +other two, and graduated as before. + +When the limits of audibility are approached, the sound becomes much +fainter, and when that limit is reached, the sound usually gives +place to a peculiar sensation, which is not sound but more like +dizziness, and which some persons experience to a high degree. Young +people hear shriller sounds than older people, and I am told there +is a proverb in Dorsetshire, that no agricultural labourer who is +more than forty years old, can hear a bat squeak. The power of +hearing shrill notes has nothing to do with sharpness of hearing, +any more than a wide range of the key-board of a piano has to do +with the sound of the individual strings. We all have our limits, +and that limit may be quickly found by these whistles in every case. +The facility of hearing shrill sounds depends in some degree on the +position of the whistle, for it is highest when it is held exactly +opposite the opening of the ear. Any roughness of the lining of the +auditory canal appears to have a marked effect in checking the +transmission of rapid vibrations when they strike the ear obliquely. +I myself feel this in a marked degree, and I have long noted the +fact in respect to the buzz of a mosquito. I do not hear the +mosquito much as it flies about, but when it passes close by my ear +I hear a "ping," the suddenness of which is very striking. Mr. Dalby, +the aurist, to whom I gave one of these instruments, tells me he +uses it for diagnoses. When the power of hearing high notes is +wholly lost, the loss is commonly owing to failure in the nerves, +but when very deaf people are still able to hear high notes if they +are sounded with force, the nerves are usually all right, and the +fault lies in the lining of the auditory canal. + +E.--QUESTIONS ON VISUALISING AND OTHER ALLIED FACULTIES. + +The Questions that I circulated were as follows; there was an +earlier and uncomplete form, which I need not reproduce here. + +The object of these Questions is to elicit the degree in which +different persons possess the power of seeing images in their mind's +eye, and of reviving past sensations. + +From inquiries I have already made, it appears that remarkable +variations exist both in the strength and in the quality of these +faculties, and it is highly probable that a statistical inquiry into +them will throw light upon more than one psychological problem. + +Before addressing yourself to any of the Questions on the opposite +page, think of some definite object--suppose it is your +breakfast-table as you sat down to it this morning--and consider +carefully the picture that rises before your mind's eye. + +1. _Illumination_.--Is the image dim or fairly clear? Is its +brightness comparable to that of the actual scene? + +2. _Definition_.--Are all the objects pretty well defined at the +same time, or is the place of sharpest definition at any one moment +more contracted than it is in a real scene? + +3. _Colouring_.--Are the colours of the china, of the toast, bread +crust, mustard, meat, parsley, or whatever may have been on the table, +quite distinct and natural? + +4. _Extent of field of view_.--Call up the image of some panoramic +view (the walls of your room might suffice), can you force yourself +to see mentally a wider range of it than could be taken in by any +single glance of the eyes? Can you mentally see more than three +faces of a die, or more than one hemisphere of a globe at the same +instant of time? + +5. _Distance of images_.--Where do mental images appear to be +situated? within the head, within the eye-ball, just in front of the +eyes, or at a distance corresponding to reality? Can you project +an image upon a piece of paper? + +6. _Command over images_.--Can you retain a mental picture steadily +before the eyes? When you do so, does it grow brighter or dimmer? +When the act of retaining it becomes wearisome, in what part of the +head or eye-ball is the fatigue felt? + +7. _Persons_.--Can you recall with distinctness the features of all +near relations and many other persons? Can you at will cause your +mental image of any or most of them to sit, stand, or turn slowly +round? Can you deliberately seat the image of a well-known person +in a chair and see it with enough distinctness to enable you to +sketch it leisurely (supposing yourself able to draw)? + +8. _Scenery_.--Do you preserve the recollection of scenery with much +precision of detail, and do you find pleasure in dwelling on it? Can +you easily form mental pictures from the descriptions of scenery +that are so frequently met with in novels and books of travel? + +9. _Comparison with reality_.--What difference do you perceive +between a very vivid mental picture called up in the dark, and a +real scene? Have you ever mistaken a mental image for a reality when +in health and wide awake? + +10. _Numerals and dates_.--Are these invariably associated in your +mind with any peculiar mental imagery, whether of written or printed +figures, diagrams, or colours? If so, explain fully, and say if you +can account for the association? + +11.--_Specialities_.--If you happen to have special aptitudes for +mechanics, mathematics (either geometry of three dimensions or pure +analysis), mental arithmetic, or chess-playing blindfold, please +explain fully how far your processes depend on the use of visual +images, and how far otherwise? + +12. Call up before your imagination the objects specified in the six +following paragraphs, numbered A to F, and consider carefully +whether your mental representation of them generally, is in each +group very faint, faint, fair, good, or vivid and comparable to the +actual sensation:-- + + A. _Light and colour_.--An evenly clouded sky (omitting all landscape), + first bright, then gloomy. A thick surrounding haze, first white, + then successively blue, yellow, green, and red. + + B. _Sound_.--The beat of rain against the window panes, the crack of + a whip, a church bell, the hum of bees, the whistle of a railway, + the clinking of tea-spoons and saucers, the slam of a door. + + C. _Smells_.--Tar, roses, an oil-lamp blown out, hay, violets, a fur + coat, gas, tobacco. + + D. _Tastes_.--Salt, sugar, lemon juice, raisins, chocolate, + currant jelly. + + E. _Touch_.--Velvet, silk, soap, gum, sand, dough, a crisp dead leaf, + the prick of a pin. + + F. _Other sensations_.--Heat, hunger, cold, thirst, fatigue, fever, + drowsiness, a bad cold. + +13. _Music_.--Have you any aptitude for mentally recalling music, or +for imagining it? + +14. _At different ages_.--Do you recollect what your powers of +visualising, etc., were in childhood? Have they varied much within +your recollection? + +_General remarks_.--Supplementary information written here, or on +a separate piece of paper, will be acceptable. + + + + +INDEX + + _For an analysis of the several chapters, see Table of Contents._ + +Abbadie, A. d' +Aborigines +About, E. +Abstract ideas, + like composite portraits; + are formed with difficulty +Admiralty, records of lives of sailors +Adoption +Africa, + oxen; + captive animals; + races of men +_Alert_, H.M.S., + the crew of +Alexander the Great, + medals of; + his help to Aristotle +America, + captive animals; + change of population +Animals and birds, + their attachments and aversions +ANTECHAMBER OF CONSCIOUSNESS +ANTHROPOMETRIC REGISTERS; + anthropometric committee; + laboratories +Appold, Mr. +Arabs, + their migrations +Ashurakbal, + his menagerie +ASSOCIATIONS + (_see also_ Psychometric experiments) +Assyria, + captive animals +Athletic feats in present and past generations +Augive, or ogive +Austin, A.L. +Australia, + tame kites; + change of population +Automatic thought +Aversion + +Barclay, Capt., + of Uri +Barrel +Barth, Dr. +Bates, W.H. +Baume, Dr. +Belief (_ie_ Faith) +Bevington, Miss L. +Bible, family +Bidder, G. +Blackburne, Mr. +Blake, the artist +Bleuler and Lehman +Blind, the +Blood, terror at +BODILY QUALITIES +Boisbaudran, Lecoq de +Breaking out (violent passion) +Brierre de Boismont +Bruhl, Prof. +Burton, Capt. +Bushmen, + their skill in drawing; + in Damara Land + +Campbell, J. (of Islay) +Candidates, selection of +Captive Animals (_see_ Domestication of Animals) +Cats can hear very shrill notes +Cattle, + their terror at blood; + gregariousness of; + renders them easy to tend; + cow guarding her newly-born calf; + cattle highly prized by Damaras +Celibacy as a religious exercise; + effect of endowments upon; + prudential; + to prevent continuance of an inferior race +Centesimal grades +Chance, influence of, in test experiments +Change, love of, characteristic of civilised man +CHARACTER; + observations on at schools; + changing phases of +Charterhouse College +Cheltenham College +Chess, played blindfold +Children, + mental imagery; + associations; + effect of illness on growth of head; + moral impressions on; + they and their parents understand each other; + can hear shrill notes +Chinese, the +Clock face, origin of some Number-Forms +Colleges, celibacy of Fellows of +COLOUR ASSOCIATIONS + (_see_ also chap. on Visionaries); + colour blindness +Comfort, love of, a condition of domesticability +Competitive examinations +COMPOSITE PORTRAITURE; + also Memoirs I., II., and III. in Appendix +Composite origin of some visions; + of ideas; + of memories +Composition, + automatic; + literary +CONCLUSION +Conscience, + defective in criminals; + its origin +Consciousness + (_see_ Antechamber of); + ignorance of its relation to the unconscious lives of cells of organism; + its limited ken +Consumption, types of features connected with +Cooper, Miss + +CRIMINALS AND THE INSANE; + criminals, their features; + their peculiarities of character; + their children + +Cromwell's soldiers + +Cuckoo + + +DALTON, + colour blindness + was a Quaker + +Damaras, + their grade of sensitivity; + their wild cattle and gregariousness; + their pride in them; + races of men in Damara Land + +Dante + +Darwin, Charles, + impulse given by him to new lines of thought; + on conscience; + notes on twins; + letter of Mr. A. L. Austin forwarded by + +Darwin, Lieut., R.E., + photographs of Royal Engineers + +Deaf-mutes + +Death, fear of; its orderly occurrence; +death and reproduction of +cells, and their unknown relation to +consciousness + +Despine, Prosper + +Difference, verbal difficulty in defining +many grades of + +Discipline, ascetic + +_Discovery_, H.M.S., the crew of + +Discrimination of weights by handling +them, etc. + +Dividualism; also + +Doctrines, diversity of + +Dogs, their capacity for hearing shrill +notes + +DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS + +Dreaming + +Du Cane, Sir E. + +Duncan, Dr. Mathews + + +EARLSWOOD ASYLUM for idiots + +EARLY AND LATE MARRIAGES + +EARLY SENTIMENTS + +Ecstasy + +Editors of newspapers + +Egg, raw and boiled, when spun + +Egypt, captive animals + +Ellis, Rev. Mr. (Polynesia) + +Emigrants, value of their breed; +migration of barbarian races + +ENDOWMENTS + +ENERGY + +Engineers, Royal, features of + +English race, change of type; colour +of hair; one direction in which +it might be improved; change +of stature; various components of + +ENTHUSIASM + +Epileptic constitution + +Eskimo, faculty of drawing and map-making + +Eugenic, definition of the word + +Events, observed order of + +Evolution, its effects are always behind-hand; +its slow progress; man +should deliberately further it + +Exiles, families of + +Experiments, psychometric + + +FACES seen in the fire, on wall paper, etc., + +Faith + +Family likenesses; records; merit, +marks for + +Fashion, changes of + +Fasting, visions caused by; +fasting girls + +FEATURES + +Fellows of colleges + +Fertility at different ages; is small +in highly-bred animals + +Fire-faces + +First Cause, an enigma + +Flame, sensitive, and high notes + +Fleas are healthful stimuli to animals + +Fluency of language and ideas + +Forest clearing + +Forms in which numerals are seen (_see_ +Number-Forms); months; letters; +dates + +Foxes, preservation of + +France, political persecution in + +French, the, imaginative faculty of + +Friends, the Society of (_see_ Quakers) + + +GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA + +Generations, length of and effect in population; +in town and country +populations + +Generic images; theory of + +Geometric series of test-objects; geometric mean + +Gerard, Jules + +Gesture-language + +Gibbon, amphitheatrical shows + +Goethe and his visualised rose + +Gomara + +Goodwin, Mr. + +Grades, deficiency of in language; +centesimal + +Graham, Dr., on idiots (note) + +GREGARIOUS AND SLAVISH INSTINCTS; +gregariousness of cattle; +gregarious animals quickly learn from +one another + +Gull, Sir W., on vigour of members of +large families; on medical life-histories + +Guy's Hospital Reports (consumptive +types) + +Gypsies + + +HAIR, colour of + +Hall, Capt. + +Hallucinations, cases of; origin of; +of great men + +Handwriting; of twins + +Hanwell Asylum, lunatics when at exercise + +Hatherley, Lord +Haweis, Mrs., + words and faces; + visions, +Head measured for curve of growth +Hearne (N. America) +Height, comparative, of present and past + generation, +Henslow, Rev. G., + imagery; + Number-Forms; + visions, +Heredity, the family tie; + of colour blindness in Quakers; + of criminality; + of faculty of visualising; + of seeing Number-Forms; + of colour associations with sound; + of seership; + of enthusiasm; + of character and its help in the teaching + of children by their parents; + that of a good stock is a valuable patrimony, +Hershon, Mr., the Talmud, +Hill, Rev. A.D., +Hippocrates and snake symbol, +History of twins, +Holbein, +Holland, F.M., +Hottentots, keenness of sight, + (_see_ Bushmen) +Human Nature, variety of, +Humanity of the future, power of present + generation of men upon it, +Hutchinson, Mr., +Huxley, Professor, + on sucking pigs in New Guinea; + generic images, +Hysteria, + +Idiots, deficient in energy; in sensitivity, +Illness, permanent effect on growth, +Illumination, method of regulating it + when making composites; + requires to be controlled, +Illusions, (_see_ also Hallucinations, cases of) +Imagery, mental, +Indian Civil Service, candidates for, +Individuality, doubt of among the insane, + among the sane, +Influence of Man upon race, +Insane, the, + similar forms of it in twins, +Inspiration analogous to ordinary fluency, + morbid forms of, +Instability, +Instincts, variety of, + criminal; + slavish (_see_ chapter on Gregarious and + Slavish Instincts) +Intellectual differences, + +Jesuits in S. America, +Jukes, criminal family, + +Kensington Gardens, the promenaders in, +Key, Dr. J., +Kingsley, Miss R., +Kirk, Sir John, + +Laboratories, anthropometric, +Larden, W., +Legros, Prof., +Lehman and Bleuler, (note) +Letters, association of colour with, +Lewis, G.H., +Lewis, Miss, +Life-histories, their importance, +Livingstone, Dr., +Longevity of families, + +Macalister, Dr., +M'Leod, Prof. H., +Madness (_see_ Insanity) +Mahomed, Dr., +Malthus; + marriage portions, +Man, his influence upon race, +Mann, Dr., +Marks for family merit, +Marlborough College, +Marriages, + early and late, + with persons of good race; + marriage portions; + of Fellows of Colleges; + promotion of, +Medians and quartiles, +Memory, + physiological basis of; + confusion of separate memories, +Mental imagery, +Meredith, Mrs., +Milk offered by she-goats and wolves to children, +Moors, migrations of the, +Moreau, Dr. J. (of Tours), +Morphy, P., +Muscular and accompanying senses, tests of, +Mussulmans, + small fear of death; + things clean and unclean, + +Namaquas in Damara Land, + (_see_ also Bushmen) +Napoleon I., + views in connection with the + faculty of visualising; + his star, +Nature (_see_ Nurture and Nature) +Necessitarianism, +Negro displaced by Berbers; + by Bushmen; + exported as slaves; + replaceable by Chinese, +Nervous irritability, as distinct from sensitivity, +New Guinea, +Nicholson, Sir C., +Notes, audibility of very shrill, +Nourse, Prof. J.E., +Number-forms, +Numerals, their nomenclature; + characters assigned to them; + coloured, +Nurture and nature; + history of twins, +Nussbaumer, brothers, + +Observed order of events, +Octiles, +Ogive (statistical curve) + +Osborn, Mr. +Osten Sacken, Baron v. +Oswell, Mr. +Oxen (_see_ Cattle) + +Parkyns, Mansfield +Peculiarities, unconsciousness of +Persecution, its effect on the character of races +Peru, captive animals in +Pet animals +Petrie, Flinders +Phantasmagoria +Photographic composites (_see_ Composite Portraiture); + registers; + summed effect of a thousand brief exposures; + order of exposure is indifferent +Phthisis, typical features of +Piety, morbid forms of, in the epileptic and insane; + in the hysterical +Pigafetta +Polynesia, pet eels +Ponies, their capacity for hearing shrill notes +Poole, R. Stuart +Poole, W.H. +Population + population in town and country; + changes of; + decays of; + effects of early marriages on +Portraits, composite (_see_ Composite Portraiture); + number of elements in a portrait; + the National Portrait Gallery +Prejudices instilled by doctrinal teachers; + affect the judgments of able men +Presence-chamber in mind +Pricker for statistical records +Princeton College, U.S. +Prisms, double image +Proudfoot, Mr. +Psychometric experiments +Puritans + +Quakers, frequency of colour blindness +Quartiles +Questions on visualising and other allied faculties +Quetelet + +Race and Selection; + influence of man upon; + variety and number of races in different countries; + sexual apathy of decaying races; + signs of superior race; + pride in being of good race +Races established to discover the best horses to breed from +Rapp, General +Rapture, religious +Rayleigh, Lord, sensitive flame and high notes +Reindeer, difficulty of taming +Religion +Renaissance +Republic of self-reliant men; + of life generally; + cosmic +Revivals, religious +Richardson, Sir John +Roberts, C. (note) +Roget, J. +Rome, wild animals captured for use of +Rosiere, marriage portion to + +Sailors, keenness of eyesight tested; + admiralty life-histories of +_St. James's Gazette_ (Phantasmagoria) +Savages, eyesight of +Schools, biographical notes at; + opportunities of masters; + observation of characters at +Schuster, Prof. +Seal in pond, a simile; + captured and tamed +Seemann, Dr. +Seers (_see_ chapter on Visionaries); + heredity of +Segregation, passionate terror at among cattle +Selection and race +Self, becoming less personal +Sensitivity +Sentiments, early +Sequence of test weights +Serpent worship +Servility (_see_ Gregarious and Slavish Instincts); + its romantic side +Sexual differences in sensitivity; + in character; + apathy in highly-bred animals +Siberia, change of population in +Slavishness (_see_ Gregarious and Slavish Instincts) +Smith, B. Woodd; + curious Number-Form communicated by +Smythe, G.F. +Snakes, horror of some persons at; + antipathy to, not common among mankind +Socrates and his catalepsy +Solitude +Sound, association of colour with +Space and time +Spain, the races in +Speke, Capt. +Spencer, H., blended outlines +Spiritual sense, the +Stars of great men +Statistical methods; + statistical constancy; + that of republics of self-reliant men; + statistics of mental imagery; + pictorial statistics +Stature of the English +Steinitz, Mr. +Stones, Miss +Stow, Mr. +Suna, his menagerie + +Talbot Fox +Talmud, frequency of the different numerals in +Tameness, learned when young; + tame cattle preserved to breed from +Tastes, changes in +Terror at snakes; + at blood; + is easily taught +Test objects, weights, etc. +Time and space +Town and country population +Trousseau, Dr. +Turner, the painter +Twins, the history of +Typical centre +Tyranny + +Ulloa +Unclean, the, and the clean +Unconcsciousness of peculiarities; + in visionaries + +Variety of human nature +Visionaries; + visionary families and races + +Watches, magnetised +Welch, Mrs. Kempe +West Indies, change, of population in +Wheel and barrel +Whistles for audibility of shrill notes +Wildness taught young +Wilkes, Capt. +Winchester College +Wollaston, Dr. +Wolves, children suckled by +Women, relative sensitivity of; + coyness and caprice; + visualising faculty +Woodfield, Mr. (Australia) +Words, visualised pictures associated with +Workers, solitary + +Young, Dr. +Yule, Colonel + +Zebras, hard to tame +Zoological Gardens, whistles tried at; + snakes fed; + seal at +Zukertort, Mr. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11562 *** |