20 THE CHARACTERS OF LIVING BEINGS 



but it is also the case that words react, and in their turn use their 

 influence on the intellect. " l 



37. Though the terms innate and acquired are misleading 

 when used to compare or contrast the characters (which have 

 developed under different stimuli) of the same individual, they 

 are quite accurate when used to compare the characters of different 

 individuals. Thus when we say that an individual is innately like 

 or unlike another we imply, in effect, that the likeness or unlikeness 

 is due to a germinal similarity or dissimilarity. On the other hand 

 when we say that the individuals agree or differ in their acquire- 

 ments, we imply that the stimuli under which they developed have 

 been similar or dissimilar in kind or degree. In the latter case 

 the individuals, as compared to each other, have eaten more, or 

 less, or different kinds of food, taken more, or less, or different 

 kinds of exercise, or received more, or less, or different kinds of 

 injury. 



1 Bacon, Novum Organum, i. 59. 



