COBBESP ONDENCE. 



'23 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



SURVIVAL OF ANCESTRAL TRAITS. 



Editor Popular Science Monthly : 



SIR : Being greatly interested in the sub- 

 ject treated by Dr. Louis Robinson in 

 the March Popular Science Monthly, and 

 having had some opportunity to study in- 

 fant life, I would like to call attention to 

 some observations which I have made in 

 that line and which may interest others. 



The toes of the new-born babe are pro- 

 portionately longer and more flexible than 

 are those of the adult, and instinctively close 

 around the finger or any object not cold 

 enough to repel them which may be placed 

 under them, thus approaching somewhat the 

 type of a probable tree-climbing ancestor. 



Still earlier ancestry is strikingly sug- 

 gested by the nails of the young infant. 

 The long, tapered, and curved finger-nails, 

 so commonly considered refined, at this age 

 exhibit a degree of elegance leaving nothing 

 to be desired. Should the transformation in 

 this feature after birth proceed at the same 

 rate that it now does, but in the inverse di- 

 rection, the results might startle those who 

 pursue nail culture as a fine art. It is not 

 uncommon to see the growth of nail beyond 

 the new babe's finger so long and so sharply 

 curved that the lateral edges almost meet, 

 showing a decided resemblance to a claw. 

 This is most particularly the case with the 

 little finger, which maintains the same de- 

 gree of difference from the others as may 

 be observed on the hand of the adult. I 

 have never seen an exception in persons of 

 any age but that the nail of the little finger 

 the least used of all the fingers most 

 nearly approaches (probably retains through 

 neglect) the proportions of a claw. The 

 third finger (not counting the thumb) com- 

 monly shows an intermediate degree of form 

 and service. 



As the consciousness of the outside world 

 and of their relations to it dawns upon the 

 youngsters, there is something in their man- 

 ner akin to alertness. I have often seen 

 babies four or five months old, while mak- 

 ing animated efforts toward the acquaint- 

 ance of some simple object, such as a drawer- 

 knob, spindle of a bedstead, or the like, sud- 

 denly turn from it with a frightened look as 

 if some slight sound or sensation which they 

 had associated with it had transformed it 

 iuto an enemy. Another baby propensity 

 which can not be accounted for in its indi- 

 vidual training is the disposition, on being 

 startled (not greatly agitated), to press the 

 body against the nurse, drop the face against 

 her, and for an instant remain perfectly 

 quiet, not breathing apparently, the quiet 

 being followed by a deep-drawn breath. 



When we need not go back of the age of 

 man to find these instincts operating as im- 

 portant preservative factors, it is not unrea- 

 sonable to read therein relationship to the 

 lower orders in which they operate yet more 

 prominently, as illustrated by the case of the 

 calf and colt in Dr. Robinson's article. 



Fear is the first and for some time the 

 only emotion whose workings I perceive in 

 the infant mind. Anger comes next. 



There are some indications that the sense 

 of smell is at birth more strongly developed 

 than are the senses which come to be vastly 

 more important to the man e. g., a certain 

 odorous remedy which had been constantly 

 used on the inflamed breast of a mother 

 was found to be a sure reminder to the babe 

 (then under five weeks old) that it was din- 

 ner-time. A drop of it placed on the babe's 

 upper lip would immediately start her to 

 reaching and nestling for her food. I have 

 never tried but the one case. 



What in ancestral habit or condition (or 

 is there anything now in animal life anal- 

 ogous to it ?) will account for the position of 

 the infant thumb, which is so peculiar to 

 this age and so persistent, the thumb being 

 much bent at the first joint and lying close 

 to the palm of the hand ? Apparently it is 

 the last of the five fingers to yield to the 

 will of the babe in grasping things, acting 

 rather as an obstruction than a help for six, 

 seven, or eight months. L. H. C. 



Minneapolis, Minn., March 5, 1892. 



SAVAGE SUPERSTITIONS. 

 Editor Popular Science Monthly : 



Sir: In the November issue of the 

 Monthly (vol. xl, page 103) some facts are 

 cited as proving that "the savage is con- 

 vinced that an injury done to the image is 

 inflicted upon the original." This reminds 

 me of an observation I read some years ago 

 in Biard's Viaje al Brasil (La Vuelta al 

 Mundo, 1863, page 212). This traveler re- 

 lates that some of his Indian models would 

 run away as soon as he tried to make their 

 portraits. It was discovered that an Indian 

 servant of his had told them that in the 

 land of the white men there were many indi- 

 viduals without a head, and that the traveler 

 was charged with collecting as many heads 

 as he could, so that the imprudent Indian 

 who would serve him as a model would after 

 some time find that his head abandoned him 

 and went to place itself upon the shoulders 

 of the white man for whom it was destined. 

 Respectfully yours, 



A. Roiz Cadalso. 



Havana, Citba, March 1, 1892. 



