BRITISH ASSOCIATION 217
standing a man's character was to mimic his ways, and that he frequently mimicked new acquaintances in his imagination for that purpose. This seems to me very subtle and true. I f we want to raise in our minds a quick sympathy, say, for a friend's tale of grief, we instinctively screw our features into an expression of sorrow, and the required emotion follows almost as a matter of course. I t is needless to dwell on the existence of accomplished hypocrites, who screw their faces without the slightest desire to evoke the feeling they appear to express.
My last attempt to utilise the British Association failed owing to my increasing age and infirmities. I wanted to methodise the preservation of records of pedigree stock to serve as data for future inquiries, and wrote memoirs (147, 148) on the subject, in which I showed that photographs of animals, taken under certain simple and feasible conditions, afforded means of calculating their measurements with considerable exactitude, as tested by myself on horses. I took great pains, and was given facilities for photography at one of the great horse shows at the Agricultural Hall. The attempt was perfectly successful in essentials, though several alterations of detail were suggested by that experience, but the effort was far too much for my health. Most of these exhibitions are held during the winter months, and, being now very liable to bronchitis, I found it quite impossible to endure the draughty passages and other discomforts during that season. I could not delegate it to my satisfaction, so was obliged, to my great regret, to abandon all further attempts in that direction, otherwise some useful work might have been done.
