28 ALFRED T. SCHOFIELD, ESQ., M.D., M.R.C.S.E., ON 



Avliieli may be defined as the snra of our mental and moral 

 attributes ; but of the springs of character — something deeper 

 still ! If the whole of character lies hidden in the uncon- 

 scious mind, so a fortiori, do tlie springs on which it depends. 

 In using the word spring, one must distinctly understand 

 that it has three, or more meanings. It is a season of the 

 year, it is a source, and it is a power. A spring is the source 

 of a river or the power in a watch. In speaking of the 

 "sj^rings of character" we use the word in both of these two 

 meanings, and Ave say that tJie main springs of character are 

 three in all — the soin-ces being two-fold, constitute two of 

 the springs, and the power is the third ; the three being. 

 Heredity, Habit cind Will — heredity and habit having been 

 very aptly and alliteratively termed Nature and Nurture. 



Let us then look very briefly, first of all, at these three 

 and then consider them a little more in detail. 



With regard to Ihe first spring, Nature or Heredity, we 

 have in an infant the product of at least six human beings — 

 four grandparents and two parents being generally more or 

 less clearly seen in the product (the child). If we consider 

 this for a moment Ave see at once what extraordinarily 

 difi'erent characters Ave can get from the same hereditary 

 stock. Many have been much puzzled as to Avhy the same 

 system of treatment tliat ansAvers so Avell Avith one child is 

 purely hurtful to another. It is because these parents have 

 neA^er really grasped in the first place the all-perA^ading 

 power of heredity, nor seen in the second, as a cook Avould, 

 the enormous A^ariety of dishes that can be produced from the 

 same ingredients according to the proportions that are used. 

 Thus if Ave get a boy Avith a dash of the maternal grand- 

 mother and tlie rest mainly paternal grandfather and father, 

 Ave get a very difi'erent character from one with a good deal 

 of the maternal grandfather and only a little of the paternal 

 ancestry. In this Ave haA'e the key to the extraordinary 

 diA^ersiiy of characters seen in one family descended from 

 the same stock. 



When Ave pass on to the second spring — Nurture, or the 

 formation of Habit — Ave come to a poAver Avhich has the 

 property of infusing new principles into the character ; ncAV 

 principles so strong that they may have the poAver of oA-er- 

 coming those qualities that were derived from heredity. 

 Herbert Spencer has observed, Avitli immense force, with 

 regard to this, that "a man is more like the company he 

 keeps than that from Avhich he is descended." 



