194 Life and Letters of Fraud s Gallon 



I now, with fear and trembling leat you should finally vot« me a continued bore, venture to 

 enoloae copies of come queriex I have just had printed and am circulating, after having obtained 

 by perton*l in(|uiriea a good deal of verj* curious information on the points in ({ucstion. I ven- 

 ture to atk you more partieulnrly, liecause the 'visualising' faculty of l>r Darwin appears to 

 have been reinarkaMe and of n p<-ouliar order and it is jKissible that yours, through inheritance, 

 maj alao be similarly peculiar. It is perfectly marvellous how the faculty varieji, and moreover 

 aome very able men intellectually do not possoas it. They do their work liy words, I am in 

 oorreapondenoe with Max Miiller about this, who is an outri "nominalist." 



Very sincerely yours, Francis Oalton. 



Thanks for Bowditch (children's growth) which you kindly sent me. 



yov. 14th [1879]. Down, Beckknham, Kknt. 



Railway Statjon, Orfinoton. S.E.R 



My dkar Galton, I have answered the questions, as well as I could, but they are mis- 

 erably answered, for I have never tried looking into my own mind. Unless others answer very 

 much Ijetter than I can do, you will get no good from your queries. Do you not think that 

 you ought to have age of the answers? I think so, because I can aill up faces of many scIukjI- 

 boys, not seen for 60 years, with much dUtinclnens, but now-a-days I may talk with a man for 

 an hoar, and see him several times consecutively, and after a month I am utterly unable to 

 recollect what he is at all like. The picture is quite washed out. 



I am extremely glad that you approve of the little life of our grandfather; for I have hocn 

 repenting that I ever undertook it as work quite beyond my tether. The first set of proof- 

 sheeta was a good deal fuller, but I followed my family's advice and struck out much. 



Ever yours very sincerely, Charlks Darwin. 



QUESTIONS OX THE FACULTY OF VISUALISING'. 

 For explanations see the other side of this paper. 

 The re|ilioB will be tuied for tlatutical purpotet ofdi/ and should lie addroHsed to : — 

 FRANCIS OALTON, 42, RUTLAND OATK, LONDON. 



Qiustiotu. liejilij'g. 



1. Illumination. Moderate, but my solitary lireakfuMt w!is early and iiKirning dark. 



2. Delinition. Some objects (juiU- defined, a slice of cold l>e«'f, some grajn's anil 



a pear, the state of my plate when I had <inishr<l and a few 

 otiier objects are an distinct as if I had photos liefore me. 



3. Completeness. Very in<xierat<.'ly so. 



4. CVjlouring. Tlie objects alxive-named perfectly coloured. 



5. Kxt<'iit of field of view. Rather small. 

 Diffrrenl kiiulii of Imagery. 



6. Printed pages. I cannot remember a single sentence, but I rememlier the place 



of the sentences and the kind of type. 



7. Furniture. I have never attended to it. 



8. Persons. I remember the faces of persons formerly well-known vividly, 



and can make them do anything I like. 



9. Scenery. llemembrance vivid and distinct and gives me pleasure. 



10. (»e<>({rapliy. No. 



11. Military Movements. No. 



12. Mechanism. Never tried. 



and I would add, an examination of the innumerable pmintings of him from various aspects. 

 He was ill no senstt a bltKHlless man, but clearly a man of many crotchets and |ieculiaritie8 of 

 temperament. I have had the privilege of examining a considerable number of Erasmus Darwin's 

 letters and papers, and fwl that his true characterisatitm remains to Im drawn. The final portrait 

 will not Ix- that of >Scliiininel|K-niiinck, but again not that of Charles Darwin. Meanwhile I find 

 my imagination persists in coupling the supposed extremes : Samuel Johnson and Erasmus 

 Darwin ! 



' For the nature and occasion of theae questions the reader must consult Chapter XII. 



