Heredity and Instincts 179 



less laughter. Having been blind and deaf 

 from infancy, these children could not have 

 learnt from seeing or hearing other people how 

 to give expression to their feelings by muscular 

 movements of the kind referred to ; it is evident 

 their behaviour was the result of inherited 

 qualities brought into action probably by 

 stimuli derived from their tactile sensory 

 organs. 



As an example of the inheritance of heredi- 

 tary instinctive qualities we may refer to an 

 account in the Westminster Review (December, 

 1900) of an Andamanese lad who, in the year 

 1872, came under our observation. The primi- 

 tive inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, in 

 order to find their way about the dense jungles 

 they inhabited, were in the habit of forming a 

 trail marking certain trees, and carefully noting 

 irregularities and objects on the paths they tra- 

 versed. Their power of observation was thus 

 cultivated, and in the course of many genera- 

 tions had become extremely keen. An Anda- 

 manese infant, having been deserted by his 

 parents, was reared on the premises of the 

 Chaplain residing at the central station of the 



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