220 ROUGH WAYS MADE SMOOTH. 



years of age, used to set her fingers going, and to lift up her 

 hands after the manner of her father. A still more remark- 

 able case is described by Galton. A gentleman's wife noticed 

 that when he lay fast asleep on his back in bed he had the 

 curious trick of raising his right arm slowly in front of his 

 face, up to his forehead, and then dropping it with a jerk, so 

 that the wrist fell heavily on the bridge of his nose. The 

 trick did not occur every night, but occasionally, and was 

 independent of any ascertained cause. Sometimes it was 

 repeated incessantly for an hour or more. The gentleman's 

 nose was prominent, and its bridge often became sore from 

 blows which it received. At one time an awkward sore was 

 produced that was long in healing, on account of the recur- 

 rence, night after night, of the blows which first caused it. 

 His wife had to remove the button from the wrist of his 

 night-gown, as it made severe scratches, and some means 

 were attempted of tying his arm. Many years after his death, 

 his son married a lady who had never heard of the family 

 incident. She, however, observed precisely the same pecu- 

 liarity in her husband ; but his nose, from not being particu- 

 larly prominent, has never as yet suffered from the blows. 

 The trick does not occur when he is half asleep, as, for 

 example, when he is dozing in his arm-chair; but the 

 moment he is fast asleep, he is apt to begin. It is, as with 

 his father, intermittent ; sometimes ceasing for many nights, 

 and sometimes almost incessant during a part of every 

 night. It is performed, as it was with his father, with his 

 right hand. One of his children, a girl, has inherited the 

 same trick. She performs it, likewise, with the right hand, 

 but in a slightly modified form ; for after raising the arm, 

 she does not allow the wrist to drop upon the bridge of the 

 nose, but the palm of her half-closed hand falls over and down 

 the nose, striking it rather rapidly a decided improvement 

 on the father's and grandfather's method. The trick is inter- 

 mittent in this girl's case also, sometimes not occurring for 

 periods of several months but sometimes almost incessantly. 

 Strength in particular limbs or muscles is often trans- 



