65 



Maternal Impression. 



A. G. PoHLMAN, Indiana University. 



When a doctrine lia-s been in vogue since tlie earlie.st cliapters of re- 

 corded liislory, and when evidence in its favor may be found in all climes 

 and peoi^les, one is tempted as was Von Welsenburg to believe that some 

 basic facts underlie tlie belief in maternal impression. Belief must however 

 not be confused with fact, and the antiquity, iniquity and ubiquity of ma- 

 ternal Impression are not synonymous with convincing evidence. In days 

 gone by, slvepticism was not particularly encouraged and the truth in a 

 given matter was in direct proportion to the caliber, mental or physical, 

 of the individual who uttered the statement, not to the amount of evi- 

 dence he produced. Nostradanms' excellent contention for the peculiar 

 inherent psycliic qualities in the seventh son of a seventh son had a face 

 value once upon a time, but now-a-days the Civil Service Commission would 

 give him opportunity to pass the examination for Custom's Inspector if 

 he applied for this position. Even in my o\Aai lifetime I have remarlied 

 that the clairvoyants are no longer born with a "caul" and have ceased 

 to use the "caul" as the fulcrum upon which they pry into the affairs 

 of others. Possibly through selection they have develoi>ed an instinctive 

 second-sight. The fact that it is physiologically impossible for the hair 

 to turn white in a single niglit may not be convincing, and I doubt tliat 

 the inability of the German anatomist Stieda to find a single authentic 

 case will be received any more seriously. Indeed we find that a single 

 case cited upon good authority, even before history was, is slill observed 

 daily by trusting minds. The antiquity and ubiquity of the doctrine of 

 maternal influence do not convince me as they did Von Welsenburg of 

 certain fundamental facts. The sun went around the earth for myriads 

 of years and wall continue to do so even in remote peoples. Why deny 

 our senses? 



The antiquity of the doctrine is phenomenal and practically all writers 

 pro or con hark back to the source whence all this blessing flows — the 

 story of Jacob and his cattle. I will make an exception and dismiss Jacob 

 with a word. It may be that Jacob used the "pilled rods" on the more 

 susceptible human observers much after the fashion that the present day 



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