Taylor.] ^^^ [April 17, 



Next is a series of three composites from seventeen original and cotem 

 poraneous likenesses of Washington, five are three-quarter views, seven 

 are profiles and five are intermediate views of the face. To Mr. Wm. S. 

 Baker, who has furnished an opportunity to make these photographs with 

 a special view to this meeting, we are indebted for the use of these highly 

 valuable portraits, many of which are extremely rare, and would have 

 been otherwise unobtainable. 



. The last combination is a plunge from Elysium to Hades. Twelve of 

 the criminal class borrowed from the Rogues' Gallery, are melted into one. 

 There is here one murderer The remainder are culprits of ordinary grade, 

 mainly burglars. One is evidently half-witted. It makes only a fair rep- 

 resentation to throw in one fool. 



In considering the results of these experiments, I think you will agree 

 that — compared with their respective constituents — the intellectual man is 

 not so intellectual, nor is the villain so villainous. Mr. Galton intimates 

 that this process is a beautifying one. I fear that, just to this extent, one 

 line of its scientific value will be impared ; for, this being the case, we can 

 look for its usefulness only as applied to the most pronounced character- 

 istics. 



But if the scientific importance of this process must indeed be limited in 

 one direction, may we not gather from it a useful demonstration of anoihcr 

 kind? Docs not its rounding and "beautifying" efl'ect, — if you will 

 call it so,— illustrate the idea that the impairment of individuality is the 

 impairment of force? The dream of a "thoroughly balanced man," a 

 "perfectly rounded character," etc., what whould its realization be? 

 Would it be more than a man great in nothing at all ? Our scientist, as we 

 see here, is just a "nice looking" man ; but is not all force rounded out 

 of him? The same may be said for our representative from the lower 

 walks of life. All bad men do not look bad the same way, and the over- 

 lapping of characteristics tends to destroy characteristics. To borrow 

 from the vagaries of phrenology, fill up between the bumps and there 

 would be no bumps left. 



In the case of the Washington heads we are met by no such difficulty. 

 These are the eflforts of a number of cotemporaneous artists to present each 

 his own conception of one particular subject, and the historical value of 

 this method of averaging results is beyond computation. It is to portrai- 

 ture what the sifting of the testimonies of a multitude of eye-witnesses is 

 to the discovery of one set of fi\cts. 



Despite the immaturity which must attach to experiments only begun, 

 I trust you may find this presentation of the subject sufficiently suggestive 

 \ci arouse your own valuable consideration. 



