PHj/r/ut/uf/ic(if /tnrntifjathil9 251 



witli which tlio reader of the present vohiine is familiar; they deal chiefly 

 with the antliropometric chanictors, with the variety in features, with the type 

 face as reached by composite jH)rtmiture, with the healtliy.the disejust'd and the 

 criminal. (Jalton then reiterates his view on the influence of town hfe (see our 

 pp. 123-25). He next turns to a very important matter, wliich liad l»een thrust 

 on his attention when deahng with Enghsh men of science, namely Knenjij. 



" Energy is the ciipacity for labour. It jh c<>iisiHU>nt with all th<> ruliUMt virtu(.\s, ami iimkiii 

 a largo piiictice of them po.s.sil)lo. It is tiui iiim-siiru of fullncHS of life; the luorv energy the 

 nioro ahiiiidaiiee of it; no energy at all Ih death; idiots uro fcehic and listlewi. lu the inquiries 

 I niiule on the antecedents of men of science no |K>int.s came out nion- .strongly than tlmt the 

 leaders of scientific thought wen' generally gifte<l with rernarkal>le energy, an<l that they had 

 inherit<»d the gift of it fnmi their parenU and griiiul|«irrMts. I have nince found the .same Ut 

 Ixi the ca.se in other careers. Knergy is an attriimte of the higher races, Ix'ing favoure<l lieyond 

 all other i|ualiti(^s hy natural .selection. We are goac|e<l into activity liy the conditionn and 

 strugglfts of life. They atlonl stinnili that oppri-.ss and worrj- the weakly, who coniplaiii and 

 lx!wail, and it may Im- succuuiI) to them, hut which the energetic man welconien with a good 

 humoure<I shrug, anil is thi> Ix-tter for in the end. 



The Ktimuli may lie of any description: the only im[)ortnnt matt«.>r is that all the faculties 

 should l)e kept working to prevent their jK'rishing hy di.sease. If the faculties are few, very 

 simple stimuli will sutKce. Even that of (leas will go a long way. A dog is continually 

 scratching himself, and a bird pluming it.self, whenever they are not occupied with food, 

 hunting, lighting, or love. In those blank times there is very little for them to attend to 

 l)e.side.s their vnritMl cutaneous irritations. It is a matter of observation that well washed and 

 combed domestic pets grow dull; they miss the stimulus of fleas'." (pp. 2.5-6.) 



Galton further remarks that it does not follow that because men are 

 capable of doitig hard work that they like doing it. Some may fret if they 

 cannot let ott" their superfluous steatn, but others need a strong stimulus such 

 as wealth, ambition or passion to compel them to action. 



"The solitary hard workers, under no t^ncouragement or compulsion except their sense of 

 duty to their generation, are unfortunately rare among us." (p. 26.) 



"It may be objected that if the ruce were too healthy and energetic tliere would be in- 

 sufficiont call for the exercise of the pitying and self-denying virtues, and the character of men 

 would grow harder in consetjuence. But it does not seem re;i,sonable to preserve sickly bn-efU 

 for the sole purjKJse of tending them, as the bree<l of foxes is pre.serve<l solely for sport and its 

 attendant advaiituges. There is littlt! fear that mis<.'ry will ever cease from the land, or that 

 the conipo-ssionate will fail to find objects for their conipa-ssion ; but at present the supply 

 vastly exceeils the demand; the land is overstocked and overburdened with the listless and 

 the inca|iable. 



In any scheme of eugenics, energy is the most important quality to favour; it is, as we 

 have seen, the basis of living action, and it is eminently transmis.sible by de.scent." (p. 27.) 



Galton next deals with sensitivity, describing his weight-lifting and 

 whistle test for touch and sound. Speaking of discrimination by the senses, 

 he remarks on the limitation of language to express various degrees of dif- 

 ferefice by what we now term broail categories. He writes: 



"We inherit our language from barbarous ancestors, and it shows traces of its origin in the 

 imp<Mfect ways hy which grades of ditFerence admit of Innng expressed. .Suppose a |Mxlfstrian 

 is asked whether the knapsack on his Iwck feels heavy. He carimit find a replv in two words 



' The humour of this pa.ssage quite escaped unc critic. Otherwise he might have roalis«'d 

 that Galton's proiluction in the critic's case of 'cutaneous irritations" \va.s a most useful stimulus 

 against the critic himself growing dull. 



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