PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY. 121 



traversing of the eye ; and the lesson is easier in proportion to 

 the command over the needful movements. 



I shall look with much interest to your further treatment of 

 such topics in the Contemporary, and especially for your 

 elucidation of the " sense of effort," an obscure point on wliich 

 light would be most welcome. As at present informed, I think 

 too much is attributed to the "muscular sense," notwithstand- 

 ing its value as a measure of force. 



From the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. 



10, Downing Street, January 13, 1873. 



I have read, though only quite recently, the paper you were 

 so good as to send on the '* Physical Condition of Inland Seas ; " 

 and I am very glad it has been in the power of the Government 

 to meet your wishes in this important and most attractive branch 

 of inquiry. 



I have also read your paper on " Hereditary Transmission " 

 in the Contemporary Review * and I venture to offer two remarks. 



First, with regard to handwriting. I could name two most 

 conspicuous instances of eldest sons who presented in the main 

 a strong contrast to their fathers in character, but who in hand- 

 writing strongly, and in their autographs most closely, resembled 

 them. 



Secondly, with regard to colour. I should say that my 

 observations on hereditary transmission have been human only, 

 and in their very limited ranges have turned on the comparison 

 of ancient and modern men ; as to whom generally it has 

 appeared to me that there had been probably in simultaneous 

 operation opposite processes, on the one side of growth and 

 development, on the other of dilapidation. What I would now 

 mention relates to the former of the two. Examination of the 

 text of Homer, with respect to colours, convinced me that the 

 ready perception of them, which our children generally display, 

 was an acquired aptitude, standing in marked contrast with the 

 perceptions of three thousand years ago, as they are represented 



* " On the Hereditary Transmission of Acquired Psychical Habits," in 

 the Cotilemporary Review for January, 1873 ; the subject was continued in the 

 April and May numbers. 



