IMITATION 123 



bazar, and transported to an orphanage, will not 

 learn cleanliness and decency more easily than 

 an Indian child under like circumstances. The 

 Fuegian children, whom Darwin brought to 

 England with him, rapidly acquired the externals 

 of civilized life, although they had behind them 

 centuries of primitive savagery. Habits of mind 

 appear to regulate impulses by wearing, so to 

 speak, larger outlets for some of them, and we 

 seem forced to the conclusion that each individual 

 in controlling his innate propensities must trust 

 to himself and is not assisted by the customs of 

 his ancestors. Nor need we regret that we are not 

 hereditarily affected by the habits of past ages : 

 else might we still be inclined towards cannibalism. 

 What hope should we have of progress were our 

 eyes blinded before birth by the errors of our 

 forefathers ? 



IMITATION. We imitate when we repeat a 

 sensory impression by translating it into nervous 

 or muscular action. The sensory impression may 

 be actual or symbolic may be gathered by a 

 perception of (so to speak) the thing itself or by 

 means of signs or words. We may imitate 

 skating because we have watched a skater or 

 because we have studied a treatise on Alpine 

 sports. The impulse to imitate is one of the 

 strongest and most far-reaching of Life's mani- 

 festations. In animals of the higher orders it 

 compensates for the waning force of directive 

 instinct : it appears that some birds owe in a 

 measure the uniformity of their nest-building 

 and of their song to the example of their parents. 

 By mutual imitation the mental development of 

 young creatures is greatly stimulated : the intel- 

 ligence of a puppy suffers if it is brought up alone : 



