Inquiries into human faculty and its developmentGalton, Francis
Science
Inquiries into human faculty and its development
Galton, Francis
Ability; Eugenics
I am indebted to Lieutenant Leonard Darwin, R.E., for an interesting
series of negatives of officers and privates of the Royal Engineers.
Here is a composite of 12 officers; here is one of 30 privates. I
then thought it better to select from the latter the men that came
from the southern counties, and to again make a further selection of
11 from these, on the principle already explained. Here is the
result. It is very interesting to note the stamp of culture and
refinement on the composite officer, and the honest and vigorous but
more homely features of the privates. The combination of these two,
officers and privates together, gives a very effective physiognomy.
Let it be borne in mind that existing cartes-de-visite are almost
certain to be useless. Among dozens of them it is hard to find three
that fulfil the conditions of similarity of aspect and of shade. The
negatives have to be made on purpose. I use a repeating back and a
quarter plate, and get two good-sized heads on each plate, and of a
scale that never gives less than four-tenths of an inch between the
pupils of the eyes and the mouth. It is only the head that can be
used, as more distant parts, even the ears, become blurred hopelessly.
It will be asked, of what use can all this be to ordinary
photographers, even granting that it may be of scientific value in
ethnological research, in inquiries into the physiognomy of disease,
and for other special purposes? I think it can be turned to most
interesting account in the production of family likenesses. The most
unartistic productions of amateur photography do quite as well for
making composites as those of the best professional workers, because
their blemishes vanish in the blended result. All that amateurs have
to do is to take negatives of the various members of their families
in precisely the same aspect (I recommend either perfect full-face
or perfect profile), and under precisely the same conditions of
light and shade, and to send them to a firm provided with proper
instrumental appliances to make composites from them. The result is
sure to be artistic in expression and flatteringly handsome, and
would be very interesting to the members of the family. Young and old,
and persons of both sexes can be combined into one ideal face. I can
well imagine a fashion setting in to have these pictures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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