SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 318 



gether the designs belonging to the same natural class, we find, of 

 circles, both plain and with inscribed figures, 287 ; of squares, 

 both plain and with inscribed figures, 236 ; of triangles, equilateral 

 and otherwise, 220; of four-sided figures, 245; the sum of which 

 four classes is 988, or nearly one-fifth of all the drawings. In 

 other words, if a person is about to draw the first ten designs that 

 come to his mind, it is a pretty safe prediction that two of the ten 

 will be either a circle, a square, a triangle, or a quadrilateral. 



Tabulation upon another basis reveals the fact that 2,344 

 diagrams were drawn exclusively with straight lines, and 1,337 

 diagrams with less than six straight lines ; that 681 diagrams were 

 drawn exclusively with simple curved lines, and 603 diagrams with 

 less than six such lines. One is more than three times as apt to 

 draw a diagram composed of straight lines than one composed of 

 curved lines. Among the non-geometrical designs, animals, plants, 

 and manufactured objects include by far the most frequent draw- 

 ings. Men are drawn 32 times ; hands, 10 times ; flowers, 46 

 times; leaves, 45 times; and trees follow with only 14 times; 

 houses are drawn 56 times ; and the next figure under this class 

 is 15 for books. 



Furthermore, without any express implication in the request, the 

 respondents have taken it for granted that ten different designs 

 were wanted, and very few repetitions of designs occur. If the 

 number of persons drawing each kind of design be tabulated, it re- 

 enforces the conclusion suggested by the original tabulation as to 

 the limitations of the mind when acting as it does in these tests. 

 40 per cent of the respondents have drawn circles ; 34 per cent, 

 squares; 31 per cent, equilateral triangles; 25 per cent, crosses; 

 16 per cent, diamonds, etc.; and there are very few designs drawn 

 by only one person. 



What this research especially impresses is the lack of individual- 

 ity in our off-hand mental products. As Dr. Minot well puts it, 

 " We too easily forget our similarity, and forget that it stretches 

 over trifling habits as well as over the great and little modes of 

 thought. We feel, and for the most part willingly acknowledge, the 

 likeness of our natures, but our sentiments and ideas we are over- 

 inclined to consider original. Such tests as the drawing of the 

 diagrams thrust home the conviction that even in trifles we differ 

 very little. The images and notions which pass across the con- 

 sciousness of each individual are almost all common property : 

 they are comparable to coins, — every one is a separate entity, but 

 yet the stamp is the same. Our thoughts are in a large measure 

 owned by the community : we are in mental matters all pure com- 

 munists." 



There are other questions upon which these results shed inter- 

 esting light. The first is the order in which one is apt to draw, 

 and by inference to think of, the several designs. One would sup- 

 pose that the designs occurring most frequently would also be the 

 ones first thought of. The results, however, do not reveal as close 

 an agreement as one would expect. They show that an equilateral 

 triangle is more apt to be found among the first diagrams than 

 any other figure. Then come squares, then right-angled triangles, 

 then circles, then faces not in profile, then faces with profile to the 

 right, then diamonds, then oblongs, and so on. It is possible that 

 the order of frequency of diagrams occurring the very first of the 

 ten would be more in agreement with the order of general fre- 

 quency. Another interesting comparison is between the designs 

 furnished by the men and by the women. Remembering that we 

 have nearly twice as many records of the former as of the latter, 

 we find that men have more than their share of circles, both 

 plain and inscribed, of rhombi, of scrawls, of men, and of right- 

 angled triangles, while women are fonder of squares, equilateral 

 triangles, letters, diamonds, stars, faces, flowers, and so on. "That 

 gentlemen preponderate with hearts, and ladies with hands, per- 

 haps may seem to many a natural consequence of our social condi- 

 tions ; " and other of the preferences seem to have a natural basis. 

 That many of them must be regarded as accidental is doubtless to 

 be admitted. The general law, however, is that there is much 

 more repetition, and thus much less variety, among women than 

 among men. 



A few residual points should be noted. Some of these designs 

 are undoubtedly to be traced to the existence of a " form " in the 

 mind towards which a person may persistently tend. The " num- 



ber forms " so vividly described by Mr. Francis Galton may serve 

 as a type of such habits. When toying with a pencil in one's 

 hand, many persons will find themselves drawing over and over 

 again a simple figure. This accounts for some of the very peculiar 

 drawings furnished by some of the respondents, and testimony in 

 favor of such " forms " could easily be gathered. The individual 

 bent, the dominant interest, the " apperception," as the psycholo- 

 gist would term it, serves as another clew. " A painter recalls his 

 palette; a naturalist, his butterfly; a physician, his skull; a college 

 student, his bicycle ; in a few cases the entire ten drawings seem to be 

 taken from " professional " suggestions. Another class of drawings 

 seem to have their origin in the surrounding objects, being really 

 copies of objects seen at the time ; but this is a small class, and most 

 of the images are doubtless drawn from the resources of past ex- 

 perience. Finally, the drawings are almost all simple in character. 

 We draw what is easiest. This is well shown in the prevalence of 

 faces seen in profile to the left, of left-handed spirals, and so on : 

 for these are easier to draw, and the corresponding designs in- 

 verted towards the right ; that is, easier for right-handed persons. 

 So that these predominances indicate at once the general right- 

 handedness of mankind, and the tendency to draw what is easiest. 

 The practical application of these facts tells severely against the 

 arguments supported by the English Society for Psychical Research 

 in favor of thought-transferrence. Dr. Minot points out that in 

 several series of experiments reported in their " Proceedings " the 

 position has been assumed that one kind of card, of number, of 

 simple figure, is as likely to be thought of as another, and has 

 estimated the improbability of the recorded coincidences accord- 

 ingly. All evidence in which such an assumption is used must be 

 looked upon with suspicion ; and only when the conditions of the 

 experiments take full and complete account of this very universal 

 tendency for minds to run in similar grooves when dealing with 

 simple things, will it be time to consider the evidence in favor of 

 any abnormal form of the communication of ideas. 



COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY. 

 An Agricultural Map of North America.' 



The climatic conditions of North America are favorable to ag- 

 riculture, except in the arid regions and in the extreme north. By 

 the uncultivable region the agricultural land is divided into two 

 parts of unequal extent, — the narrow Pacific coast strip, and the 

 Atlantic region. East of the Rocky Mountains three zones of 

 agriculture may be distinguished. The most southern one is that 

 of subtropical cultures, reaching to the 37th degree of latitude ; the 

 central one is that of the culture of corn ; and in the most northern 

 zone wheat and oats are the principal products. On the Pacific 

 coast there is no zone of subtropical cultures, but two zones only 

 can be distinguished, — that of wheat, and that of oats. This fact 

 shows that there is a marked difference between the Pacific and 

 Atlantic regions. Two-thirds of the latter are used for the culture 

 of subtropical plants, to which class corn belongs, while these are 

 nowhere cultivated on the Pacific slope. This contrast is caused 

 by the difference of climate, that of the vi^heat districts of Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon being characterized by a uniform oceanic climate, 

 with prevailing precipitations in winter, and dry summers ; while 

 the cotton and corn regions of the Atlantic side have a continental 

 climate, with abundant precipitation during the warm seasons. 

 Only the oats regions on the Pacific and Atlantic sides are analo- 

 gous, the climate being characterized by a low temperature of sum- 

 mer and sufficient precipitation. 



While the dampness and heat of the Atlantic summer favor the 

 cultivation of subtropical plants more than in any other country, 

 the sharp contrasts of summer and winter prevent the successful 

 cultivation of plants of the southern temperate zones, especially 

 that of the vine, oranges, and lemons, which require a spring 

 with slowly rising temperature and moderate precipitation. 



On the accompanying map the extent of each culture has been 

 laid down according to the results of the tenth census, the percent- 

 age of area of land occupied by each culture being inserted in a 

 large-scale map, of which the present sketch-map is a reduction. 



^ According to Max Bering, Die landwirthschaftliche Konkurrenz Nordamerikas. 



