THE COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY OF MAN. 265 



ciety. An intei'esting subordinate inquiry may be, hou' far such men- 

 tal ditferences are inverted in cases where there is inversion of social 

 and domestic relations ; as among tliose Khasi Hill-tribes whose wom- 

 en have so far the upper hand that they turn oif their husbands in a 

 summary way if they displease them. 



5. Mental 3IodiJiab Hit 1/ lit, the Two Sexes. Along with comparisons 

 of races in respect to mental plasticity may go parallel comparisons of 

 the sexes in each race. Is it true always, as it appears to be generally 

 true, that women are less modifiable than men ? The relative con- 

 servatism of women their greater adhesion to established ideas and. 

 practices is manifest in many civilized and semi-civilized societies. 

 Is it so among the uncivilized? A curious instance of greater adhe- 

 sion to custom by women than by men is given by Dalton, as occur- 

 ring among the Juangs, one of the lowest wild tribes of Bengal. Un- 

 til recently the only dress of both sexes was something less than that 

 which the Hebrew legend gives to Adam and Eve. Years ago the 

 men were led to adopt a cloth bandage round the loins, in place of 

 the bunch of leaves ; but the women adhere to the aboriginal habit : 

 a conservatism shown where it might have been least expected. 



6. The Sexual Sentiment. Results of value may be looked for from 

 comparisons of races made to determine the amounts and characters 

 of the higher feelings to which the relation of the sexes gives rise. 

 The lowest varieties of mankind have but small endowments of these 

 feelings. Among varieties of higher types, such as the Malayo-Poly- 

 nesians, these feelings seem considerably developed : the Dyaks, for 

 instance, sometimes display them in great strength. Speaking gen- 

 erally, they appear to become stronger with the advance of civiliza- 

 tion. Several subordinate inquiries may be named : (.) How far is 

 development of the sexual sentiment dependent upon intellectual ad- 



.vance upon growth of imaginative power? {b.) How far is it related 

 to emotional advance ; and especially to evolution of those emotions 

 which originate from sympathy ? What are its relations to polyandry 

 and polygyny? (c.) Does it not tend toward, and is it not fostered, 

 by, monogamy? {cl.) What connection has it with maintenance of 

 the family bond, and the consequent better rearing of children ? 



III. Under the third head, to which we may now pass, come the 

 more special traits of the different races : 



1. Imitativeness. One of the characteristics in which the lower 

 types of men show us a smaller departure from reflex action than do 

 the higher types is, their strong tendency to mimic the motions and 

 sounds made by otiiers an almost involuntary habit which travelers 

 find it difficult to check. This meaningless repetition, which seems to 

 imply that the idea of an observed action cannot be framed in the 

 mind of the observer without tending forthwith to discharo;e itself in 

 the action conceived (and every ideal action is a nascent form of the 



