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Show B2 ~ TH!n PRINClPLE OF UllAl'. I. !:'iues habit, namely the undirected overfto": of net~veforce, partially comes into play. Norfolk, In speak1ng of Cardi;nal Wolsey, says- " Some strange commotion Is in his brain: he bites his lip and starts; Stops on a sudden, looks t~pon the groun~, rrhen, lays his finger on h1s tcmp1c ; strm~ht, Springs out into fast gait; then, stops agmn, Strikes his breast bard ; and anon, he casts I-Hs eye against the moun: in most strange posttu?~ vVe have seen him set himself."-!Ien. VIII. net m. sc. 2. A vulO'ar man often scratches his head when per- o plexed in mind; and I believe th~t he acts thus from habit, as if he experienced a shghtly unco1nfortable bodily sensation, namely, the itching of his head, to which he is particularly liable, and which he thus re· lieves. Another man rubs his eyes when perplexed, or o·ives a little cough when embarrassed, acting in either ~ase as if he felt a slightly uncomfortable s~nsation in his eyes or windpipe.6 From the continued use of the eyes, these organs are especially liable to be acted on through association under various states of the mind, although there is mani· festly nothing to bA seen. A man, as Gratiolet remarks, who vehemently rejects a proposition, will almost certainly shut his eyes or turn away his face ; but if he accepts the proposition, he will nod his head in affirma· tion and open his eyes widely. The man acts in this latter case as if he clearly saw the thing, and in the former case as if he did not or would not sec it. I have noticed that persons in describing a horrid sight often shut their eyes mon1entarily and firmly, or shake 6 Gratiolet ('De la Physionomie,' p. 324), in his discussion .on this subje~t, givc.s many analogous instances. Seep. 42, on the open~~~ and shuttmg of the eyos. Engel is quoted (p. 323) on the chanoc vaccs of 11 man, as his thoughts change. S!!RVICEA.BLE ASSOCIATED HABITS. 38 th~ir h~ads, as if not to see or to drive away s01neth~ ng. chs~g~·eeable; and I have caught myselt~ when th1nlnng In the clark of a horrid spectacle, closing my. eyes .firmly. In looking suddenly at any object, or In loolnng all around, everyone raises his eyebrows, so that the eyes may be q uicldy and widely opened; and Duchenne r~rnarks that 7 a person in trying to remember something often raises his eyebrows as if to see it. A Hindoo gentleman made exactly the same rema1:k to l\fr. Erskine in regard to his countrymen. I n~tlCe~ a young lady earnestly trying to recollect a painter·s name, and she first looked to one corner of the eeiling and then to. the opposite corner, arching the one eyebrow on that s1de; although, of course, there was nothing to be seen there. In most of the foregoing cases, we can understand how the associated moven1ents were acquired throurrh habit· b~t with some .individuals, certain strange ge~tures o~ tncks have ansen in association with certain states of the Inind, owing to wholly inexplicable causes, and are ~1ndoubtedly inherited. I l1ave elsewhere given one Instance from my own observation of an extraordinary ~nd com~)lex gesture, associated with pleasurable feelIngs, whiCh was transmitted fi·om a father to his daughter, as well as some ot.her analogous facts.8 : ~ ~~ccnnhn~c .ue h.Phy~ionomic Humainc,' 18G2, p. 17. . . I he Vanatwn of Ammuls and Plants under Domestication,' vol. u. P· 6. The in~eritanee of habitual gestures is so important for us1 that I gladly avml myself of Mr. F. Galton's permission to give in his own words the following romarlmble case:-'' The followiuO' account '' of a habit occurring in individuals of throe consecutive gen~rn.tions is "of r . " th peen 1ar mtcrest, because it occurs only during sound sloop, and ,, ,1,~~efo~e.cannot be due to imitation, but must be altogether natural. " . particulars are perfectly trustworthy, for I have enquired fully a mto them, and speak from abundant and indopondont evidence. A gentleman of con::;idcrablo position was found by his wifo to l1avo " tho cun··o us t n·c k p ' when he lay fast asleep on hi~ back in bell, of D |