NUMBER FORMS. 



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forty forms, which. I have incidentally collected during the last 

 four years, together with some explanatory remarks and a few 

 suggestions toward a future theory. It is hoped, too, that further 

 attention may be called to the subject, and other contributions 

 made to this curious chapter in psychology. 



With about half a dozen exceptions, the accompanying forms 

 have been gathered from college students of both sexes, varying 

 in age from eighteen to twenty-five years. They are taken from 

 drawings made in every case by the " seer " himself, in response 

 to some such question as this : " When you think of the numbers 



Fig. 1 



from 1 to 100, do you mentally see them in any form, or out- 

 line ? If so, can you draw a representation of it ? " At first 

 about seventy-five students, of whom thirty were young women, 

 were thus interrogated. In this examination it was probably un- 

 derstood that only well-defined and perhaps somewhat striking 

 number forms were called for. As a result, only four forms were 

 found, two from young women (Figs. 1 and 2) and two from 

 young men (Figs. 3 and 4). This would correspond roughly with 

 Galton's estimate that one out of every thirty adult males, and 

 one out of every fifteen adult females, has a number form. My 

 own later experience, however, has developed the fact that such a 

 mode of investigation does not discover the full number of per- 

 sons possessing forms, simple or complex. There are several rea- 

 sons for this. The subject is not commonly understood when 

 first presented. It would seem that a person having even a com- 

 plicated number form might live and die without knowing it, or 



