MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS. 243 



The faculties of reason, intuition, agreeable- 

 ness, mirth, and the principal elements of the 

 imagination are seemingly susceptible to impres- 

 sion only during the last three months of gesta- 

 tion. The suggestions given in the chapter on 

 "Parental Preparation" will serve as a guide to 

 the prospective mother. If she desires to 

 strengthen these powers in her offspring, or to 

 give her child a strongly original or imaginative ainina 

 turn of mind, she should study science, logic and 

 philosophy and thereby exercise the faculties in 

 question. Making inquiry into the cause of 

 things, reasoning carefully, thinking, meditating, 

 all tend to strengthen the reasoning faculties. By 

 the mother striving to interest the child in what- 

 ever she is studying, just as she would if it were 

 an inquisitive little urchin pulling at her apron 

 and asking "Why," she will more effectually con- 

 centrate her forces upon the forming brain. 



It is highly important that the faculties of 

 mirthfulness and agreeableness be cultivated at 

 this time. ( i ) Because these are two very essen- 

 tial traits in character sadly wanting in most lives. 

 (2) Because the average mother, for various 

 reasons, is likely to be downcast, discouraged, or 

 gloomy during gestation. The faculty of mirth, 

 wit or humor seems to exert a healthful influence 

 over the entire mind. It is like a refreshing 

 breeze at mid-day, when one is sweltering under a 

 burning sun. It is like the music of the babbling 

 brook that gladdens our hearts with its laughing 

 melody as we climb the steeps of life. Laughter, 

 wit and humor promote all the vital functions, 

 aid digestion, quicken the circulation, increase 



