Eugenics as a Creed and the Last Decade of Gallon's Life 417 



tables ranged down its middle, on which most of the measuring instruments wore placed, the 

 heavier ones standing on the ground between them. Those instruments were duplicated that 

 required a longer time for their use than the rest. A passage ran between each side of the 

 tables and the walls of the enclosure. Five attendants, each having one candidate in charge, 

 were engaged all day long in making a tour of the tables in succession. The candidate emerges 

 and is dismissed at an exit door, which is separated from the entrance by a low gate, over 

 which the official can lean while he sits. 



"Immediately after entering the enclosure, my attendant made me sign my name and impress 

 my blackened fingers on a blank Schedule. It contained numerous spaces with printed headings, 

 which the attendant tilled in with pencil as he went on. He took me round the enclosure, 

 testing me in turn by every instrument and recording the results. They referred to stature, 

 both standing and sitting, span of arms, weight, breathing capacity, strength of arm as when 

 pulling a bow, power of grip, swiftness of blow, reaction time, discrimination (blindfold) 

 between weights, normality of eye, acuity of vision, colour sense, acuteness of hearing, discrimi- 

 nation of notes, sensitivity of taste and of touch, and a few other faculties. Lastly the states of 

 my teeth, which are particularly good, and of my mouth, were inspected. The entries to my 

 schedule now and later on were, as I heard, to be examined and checked by clerks whose 

 business it was to translate the Measures into Marks, according to a definite system. For 

 related faculties, Weight and Strength in combination, a sheet of paper ruled in squares was 

 prepared, in which a series of successive weights was written down its side and a series of 

 strengths along its top. In the square where the line of the one was crossed by the column of 

 the other the appropriate mark was written. This was copied out by the clerk for the use of 

 the Examiners. But more will be said later on of their Measures and Marks. 



" I was next taken to another part of the Hall and submitted to an examination for aesthetics 

 and literature. I was given both prose and poetry to read aloud before the Examiners, a copy 

 of these extracts having been handed to me to peruse beforehand. Then some simple singing 

 was asked for. After this, a few athletic poses were gone through as well as some marching 

 past, and the Examiners noted their opinions on my Schedule. Then I was allowed an hour to 

 write four short essays on given subjects. This was the only literary test. 



" I should say that they lay much stress on the aesthetic side of things at Kantsay where. 

 ' Grace and Thoroughness ' is a motto carved over one of the houses for girls in the College, 

 and I have seen it repeated more than once in embroidery and the like. A loutish boy and an 

 awkward girl hardly exist in the place. They are a merry and high-spirited people, for whose 

 superfluous energy song is a favourite outlet. Besides, they find singing classes to be one of the 

 best ways of bridging over the differences of social rank. Musical speech and clear but refined 

 pronunciation are thought highly of ; so is literary expression, and this examination is intended 

 to test all these. The 'any and 'arriet class is wholly unknown in Kantsaywhere. 



" I was then medically examined in a private room, very strictly indeed, and much was 

 asked about my early ailments and former state of health. Here again I need not go into 

 details, for they can be easily imagined in a general way, even by a layman. It is wonderful 

 how adroit the skilled medical examiners become in their task. Nothing seemed to escape 

 their sharp observation, whether of old scars or any internal abnormality. My few defects 

 were unimportant ; I thought my vaccination marks had become invisible but they were 

 quickly noted and minutely examined. The principles on which marks are to be awarded are 

 fully laid down in printed directions. /^ 



" Lastly came the consideration of my ancestry. The papers communicated by Mr Allfancy 

 were produced and again looked into and criticised, but much more minutely than before, and 

 the value of the authorities for the facts stated in them was keenly discussed. I lay under a 

 difficulty here. The official records made at Kantsaywhere are so minutely kept, that the re- 

 quirements of the examiners have grown to be extremely rigorous as regards the evidences of 

 ancestral gifts and maladies. All immigrants are more or less suspected. Besides this, such 

 evidences as would require little confirmation in England, owing to public knowledge of the 

 characters of their high authorities, may, and do, require more confirmation here than can easily 

 be collected at home. I deeply resented my own ill-luck in this matter. The examiners told me 

 only what I was fully prepared to hear, but expressed at the same time much regret that they were 

 unable to give as many marks for my Ancestral Efficiency as I possibly, or even probably, 

 deserved. In fact, I only got 5 marks for my ancestry. 



P G ill 53 



