Inquiries into human faculty and its developmentGalton, Francis
Science
Inquiries into human faculty and its development
Galton, Francis
Ability; Eugenics
(7.) "They have been treated exactly alike both were brought up by
hand; they have been under the same nurse and governess from their
birth, and they are very fond of each other. Their increasing
dissimilarity must be ascribed to a natural difference of mind and
character, as there has been nothing in their treatment to account
for it."
(8.) "They are as different as possible. [A minute and unsparing
analysis of the characters of the two twins is given by their father,
most instructive to read, but impossible to publish without the
certainty of wounding the feelings of one of the twins, if these
pages should chance to fall under his eyes.] They were brought up
entirely by hand, that is, on cow's milk, and treated by one nurse
in precisely the same manner."
(9.) "The home-training and influence were precisely the same, and
therefore I consider the dissimilarity to be accounted for almost
entirely by innate disposition and by causes over which we have no
control."
(10.) "This case is, I should think, somewhat remarkable for
dissimilarity in physique as well as for strong contrast in character.
They have been unlike in body and mind throughout their lives. Both
were reared in a country house, and both were at the same schools
till _aet._ 16."
(11.) "Singularly unlike in body and mind from babyhood; in looks,
dispositions, and tastes they are quite different. I think I may
say the dissimilarity was innate, and developed more by time than
circumstance."
(12.) "We were never in the least degree alike. I should say my
sister's and my own character are diametrically opposed, and have
been utterly different from our birth, though a very strong
affection subsists between us."
(13.) The father remarks:--"They were curiously different in body
and mind from their birth."
The surviving twin (a senior wrangler of Cambridge) adds:--"A fact
struck all our school contemporaries, that my brother and I were
complementary, so to speak, in point of ability and disposition. He
was contemplative, poetical, and literary to a remarkable degree,
showing great power in that line. I was practical, mathematical, and
linguistic. Between us we should have made a very decent sort of a
man."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account