IGO ALFRED T. SCHOFIELD, ESQ., M.D., M.K.C.S., ETC., ON 



voluntary action ; and I suppose nobody thinks that the first 

 efforts in the direction, say of gravitation, vs^ere voluntary on the 

 part of the molecules that performed those efforts ; the voluntary 

 action does not lie in the things bat in the Person wbo arranged 

 the things. 



Then comes a question, which has been toucbed upon by another 

 speaker, which is a most interesting one — viz., the question of 

 transmission. Some of the cases mentioned in this paper relate 

 to the animal world and not to the human world ; and is not it 

 the case that there is more of transmission, in proportioii, amongst 

 the lower animals than in the human race, owing to the fact that 

 human personal responsibility is so much greater than that of any 

 animal in the lower woi'ld ? 



In the human race there seems to be a mai-ked distinction 

 between physiological or physical transmission and mental or 

 moral transmission. Take the case of the Chinese children's feet ; 

 — is not it strange that atter all these centuries during which their 

 eet have been pent up (and these little children suffer agonies 

 for years, as a Chinese lady told me), yet that, after all, the foot is 

 exactly the same when the child is born as it was in former days ? 

 It seems to show that physical habit is not changed in spite of all 

 the misery and suffering that takes place. 



Then in regard to mental and moral habits ; it would be very 



convenient for school boys if they had transmitted to them the 



habit of learning. My own father, when he was over eighty years 



of age, could quote an ode from Horace with the greatest ease, and 



he was very vexed with me that I could not doit equally well; but 



I should be glad if 1 had an instinctive knowledge of Horace and 



many school boys would be delighted if they had, but it seems to 



me the more you get into the moral and mental state the more you 



see that transmission has to give way to niental- action, and I should 



like to hear discussed whether a good habit is as easily transmitted 



as an evil one, for instance, temperance. In fact, it seems to be 



hardly a case of habit being transmitted, but, rather, a st?.'ong desire, 



for everybody's habit must sui-ely be formed by the individual. 



There is one other point that I rather desideitited at the close. 



Are habits destructible ? An invetei'ate habit — can it be done 



away with ? I suppose we should say that whatever the will has 



done it can undo. But it sometimes happens, in suci a matter as 



drink for instance, that not only has the habit been formed but a 



