PARENTAL ADAPTATION. 119 



parental natures. I have observed many in- 

 stances where other conditions of adaptation were 

 highly 'favorable, and in, almost every case the Jj att ? s tliat Do 

 children seemingly partook of the peculiarities 

 of one parent only. In some instances where the 

 sex-nature and individuality of both parents were 

 strong, the children were seemingly a combina- 

 tion of the parents, having some qualities of body 

 and mind decidedly like the father's and others 

 like the mother's. Even the texture of the hair 

 varies, part of it being fine and soft, and part 

 coarse and wiry. The child was not a blending 

 of its parents, but a composite organism made up 

 of the distinctive peculiarities of both parents. 

 Children so constituted usually manifest great 

 inconsistencies and contradictions in character. 

 They not infrequently possess marked talent and 

 genius in special directions, but invariably lack 

 the all-round strength and mental harmony of 

 the well-born. 



