258 Heredity. 



internal adjustment. In a case where our instincts, in- 

 tuitions, feelings, or past experiences furnish no guide 

 to conduct, the judgment of a man as to the proper 

 course of action will be of more value than the judg- 

 ment of a woman. 



On the other hand, only a very small proportion of 

 our actions are directed to new conditions ; experience 

 has already determined the proper conduct in all the 

 circumstances upon which our preservation and well- 

 being most directly depend; and action in these circum- 

 stances does not demand comparison and judgment, 

 while it must usually be so pronq^t as to forbid deliber- 

 ation or thought. The power of quick and pro])er action 

 in the innumerable exisrencies of ordinarv life, inde- 

 pendent of reflection, is at least equally imi)ortant with 

 the power to extend our field of rational action. 



By the former power we hold on to what has already 

 been gained, while the latter power enables us to in- 

 crease our advantage in the struggle for existence, and 

 to widen our control over the laws of nature. Psycho- 

 logical variation is the result of the latter power, psy- 

 chological heredity the result of the former, and psycho- 

 logical evolution and human progress the result of their 

 combined action. 



If the female mind is especially rich in the fruit of 

 this past experience, we should expect women to excel 

 men in the promptness and accuracy with which the 

 conduct of ordinary life is decided, and in the range of 

 circumstances over which this power of rational action 

 without reflection extends ; that is, we should expect 

 men to excel in judgment, women in common sense. 



This important and fundamental difference between 

 the male intellect and the female must have a very great 

 influence in determining the occupations or professions 



