3 i2 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



identical or similar twins were the result of fertilisation of one 

 ovum containing two germs of identical substance ; which proves 

 conclusively how untrue is the theory that all persons are born 

 with equal mental capacities, the differences of development 

 being due to education. 



The Mendelian doctrine of heredity is proved as regards 

 segregation of unit characters in the human subject ; but even 

 Bateson (the champion of Mendelism) does not claim that 

 Mendelian proportions have been proved as regards human 

 characters except in the case of eye-colour and certain abnor- 

 malities and defects. He himself admits that as regards mental 

 characters the factorial analysis is so complex that proof is still 

 wanting. 



Primitive Emotions and Instincts independent of Education and 

 Environment. — In considering the inborn potentiality of the 

 child's mind, it is necessary to recognise that there is a pre- 

 organised nervous mechanism in the brain and spinal cord which 

 acts independently of education and social environment. This 

 pre-organised nervous mechanism presides over the instincts 

 and emotions essential for the preservation of the individual and 

 of the species. The instincts are of the same nature in man as 

 in animals, and the primitive emotions are similar in character 

 but are of a lower order and incapable of developing into 

 passions or sentiments ; they differ in their mode of expression 

 owing to the more refined nature of the human body and 

 complexity of its movements. The desires, the associated 

 instincts, the primitive emotions and passions are common to all 

 human beings whether primitive savages or cultured races. 

 They are best observed in children, savages, and feeble-minded 

 adults in whom the highest control is either undeveloped or 

 imperfectly developed. Whereas the individual experience 

 of every other animal is almost entirely lost when it dies, man, 

 by virtue of his acquirement of speech and the creative use of 

 the hand in perpetuating his thoughts, feelings, and ideals, has 

 slowly built up a great social heritage. The brain of the 

 individual is the receptor of this social mind which printed 

 language (especially) and other creations of man's hand have 

 placed at the disposal of all mankind. 



The Social Mind. — What would happen to the child if it were 

 deprived of this social inheritance? It is said that one of the 

 Pharaohs made the experiment of causing a child to be brought 



