190 SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



are people of a more matter-of-fact turn of mind. The 

 negro's openness to suggestions of a mysteriously reli- 

 gious sort is an illustration. 



Customs are perpetuated by suggestion in so far as the 

 usages of a group are communicated from one member to 

 another by inciting persons to perform customary acts 

 without being aware that they are following a particular 

 method. But the social heritage of community usages 

 is preserved and learned by imitation also. The copying 

 by one individual of the actions, the gestures, the bodily 

 movements of another, is imitation. The most brilliant 

 study of the effect of imitation upon the activities of men, 

 was made by Gabriel Tarde in his book, "The Laws of 

 Imitation." Tarde, however, does not clearly distin- 

 guish between imitation and suggestion. It is true that 

 suggestion blends into imitation, that imitation is a 

 process similar in general to suggestion, the principle 

 difference being one of degree of consciousness. Some 

 imitative acts attain a higher level in consciousness than 

 those which result from suggestion. We are conscious 

 of the act which invites imitation, but not aware of the 

 incitement to act aroused by suggestion. Tarde uses 

 the word imitation to cover a whole range of acts which 

 are a result of both imitation and suggestion. 



Imitation is a conservative force as well as a progres- 

 sive force. It is a conservative force in so far as it leads 

 each generation to imitate its ancestors and to preserve 

 with but little change the usages and the customs of its 

 forefathers. Imitation is a progressive force when ideas 

 generated by exceptionally gifted persons within the peo- 

 ple spread throughout the whole group. Imitation acts 

 also as a factor in progress when ideas and practices 



