by a foreigner, who dictated to him, in the dark, a number consisting of fifty-three figures, and he found the square root to twenty-seven places, and dictated it from memory twenty days after, never having written any part of it down. Numerous other cases have been related to me of lesser degrees of this faculty occurring in otherwise ordinary individuals, of which the following is an example. A gentleman possessing great natural talent for mental arithmetic was able to add up a column of figures, consisting of three figures in the pounds, with shillings and pence (the column being of the ordinary day-book length), with scarcely more than a glance at the page, just passing his pen rapidly up the column, and then writing down the whole result, commencing at the pounds. But he found great difficulty in working out sums which depended upon other faculties as well as this, such as those exemplifying the rule of three, that is, any sum which required in the working out more than a perception and recollection of ideas of number. Before this can be thoroughly understood, the chapter on remembrance and recollection must be read, when these examples will be again referred to, and the similarity between them and that of Mozart, and both with the remembrance of words, will be, at once, seen, the accounts given being of the greatest value, as they are written by the men themselves. I have discussed this faculty at considerable length, because it shows in a clearer manner than any other the nature of an ultimate faculty. Thus, it does not depend upon any special sense, and so cannot be explained in the manner that many psychologists explain the other faculties, namely, that there are special psychological sight and other sense centres, and that those persons who can remember colour better than form have the sensibility of the retina most acute, and that form perception depends upon the muscles of the eye. Now, a man who possessed only one sense, could calculate; thus, if he were blind, deaf, and dumb, and had lost his taste and smell, he would still be able to calculate, and have ideas of number with marbles, matches, or pins. In short, it forms a clearly defined, primitive faculty of the mind. An example of its extreme deficiency is to be found in George Combe, who, in spite of the utmost perseverance, failed to master the multiplication table. 14. Faculty for the Perception of Beauty. This faculty perceives the beautiful. If we analyze a number of individuals, we shall find. that there is a more or less definite standard of beauty. Nearly everyone agrees in appreciating the highest types of beauty. A very beautiful woman creates universal admiration. There is a faculty for the estimation of this beauty, as there is for all other qualities. If it were not so, we should only appreciate anything that we possessed according to the use that could be made of it, and would regard all ornament as unnecessary and superfluous. Like the rest of the faculties, when large, it influences its possessor, before education could have had any influence. The standard of beauty varies in different countries, and this we should naturally expect, there being various modifying influences, and various developments of the faculty, which is one of those which have been par ticularly affected by civilization. If this faculty did not exist, objects would be appreciated according to the gratification they afforded the other faculties, as indeed they are, when there is a deficiency in this respect. What a difference there is between individuals, in the midst of the finest scenery; some will be admiring it with rapture, others fast asleep, drinking, or playing cards. Can we expect the latter to remember it? It is the faculty of the poet, and in combination with the other faculties adds the ornamental to the useful, and produces effects which are generally admired, thus showing that the admirers possess the faculty in a sufficient degree to be able to admire, if not to produce. When in excess, the person is too fond of the beautiful, and spends all in outside show, beauty being the first essential in his eyes, to the exclusion of better qualities. The associated special memory is obvious. 15. Faculty of Incident (Eventuality). This faculty is concerned with the perception of events. It may be explained as follows: Supposing a man is walking in the street, he may see a dog run over by a cart. Under these circumstances he has seen a dog, he has seen a cart; but he has seen more— -he has seen the cart run over the dog. It is the function of this faculty to give rise to the idea of this occurrence. When he has seen this happen, certain ideas occur to him apart from any emotion; definite previous impressions are revived, and these ideas are retained. The same ideas may be obtained by reading a similar account in a newspaper. A fact' apart from the words is an idea of incident. This faculty is one of the higher ones, giving its possessor an important class of ideas; these ideas, though of the simplest kind, are above mere language. It is very common to read a speech or hear a sermon which has barely an idea in it. On the other hand, we often find an individual who has plenty of ideas, but cannot find words with which to express them. For an example of the special memory, see the case given under Form, p. 98. 16. Faculty of Comparison. This is a very important faculty, and is concerned with the perception of similarities between impressions, and gives rise to ideas of comparison. It creates a disposition to compare. Its function is not to be confused with the process of direct revival of previous impressions; like all the faculties of the mind, its action must, in the first place, be associated with consciousness. The sight of a lovely flower tends, at once, and directly, to revive a remembrance of a similar colour, but it is comparison that gives the artist the power of putting the right colour in the right place, when composing a picture. A person with this faculty large, abounds in anecdote and illustration; in fact, he compares impressions, and so to illustrate his speech, he has to draw comparisons between the subject of his discourse and known objects. Like all the faculties, this is employed according to the bent of the individual. Linnæus must have had a large faculty of comparison, and, therefore, naturally compared the plants which interested him, and so became celebrated as a botanist. His system of botany is an instance of a gigantic scheme of comparison. As this faculty is influenced by impressions received through the perceptive faculties, an individual is not able to compare impressions efficiently which are received through a small faculty; thus it would be useless for a person with small form to compare shapes. 17. Faculty of Incongruity. This faculty gives rise to ideas of incongruity, and is, therefore, the faculty of the critic, and the chief agent in the production of laughter, because its possessor is enabled to find out the faults of other people, and so to represent them in a ridiculous light. It gives rise to a special memory in accordance with this disposition to criticise. 18. Faculty of Causality. This faculty creates a desire to know the origin and cause of any subject which is being worked at, and, therefore, inclines its possessor to form hypotheses. It is the faculty that makes the small boy cut his drum open in order to see where the sound comes from; it creates a desire for knowledge for its own sake. It is prima facie the faculty of the inventor. 19. Faculty of Imitation. This faculty gives its possessor the power of being able to imitate others, and is, therefore, the dramatic faculty. It enables a person to temporarily lose his own identity, and substitute that of another; thus, an actor, possessing this faculty, but deficient in language and the other faculties required in the formation of an original speech, is able to mimic the most efficient |