24 NATURAL INHERITANCE. [chap. 



are walking by the brookside, along the seashore, in 

 the woods, or on the hills. 



Even in Cookery it seems difficult to invent a new 

 and good dish, though the current recipes are few, and 

 the proportions of the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, &c, 

 used in making them might be indefinitely varied and 

 be -still eatable. I consulted cookery books to learn the 

 facts authoritatively, and found the following passage : 

 " I have constantly kept in view the leading principles 

 of this work, namely, to give in these domestic recipes 

 tlie "most exact quantities. ... I maintain that one 

 cannot be too careful ; it is the only way to put an end 

 to those approximations and doubts which will beset the 

 steps of the inexperienced, and which account for so 

 many people eating indifferent meals at home." l 



It is the triteness of these experiences that makes 

 the most varied life monotonous after a time, and many 

 old men as well as Solomon have frequent occasion to 

 lament that there is nothing new under the sun. 



The object of these diverse illustrations is to impress 

 the meaning I wish to convey, by the phrase of stable 

 forms or groupings, which, however uncertain it may be 

 in outline, is perfectly distinct in substance. 



Every one of the meanings that have been attached 

 by writers to the vague but convenient word " type " has 

 for its central idea the existence of a Limited number 



1 The Royal Cookery Bool: By Jules Gouffe, Chef de Cuisine of the Paris 

 Jockey Club ; translated by Alphonse Gouffe, Head Pastry Cook to H.M. 

 the Queen. Sampson Low. 1869. Introduction, p. 9. 



