III.] ORIGIN OF TASTE FOR SCIENCE. 207
is one that I can never consent to underrate ; but that influence is towards enthusiasm and love (as distinguished from philanthropy), not towards calm judgment, nor, inclusively, towards science. In many respects the character of scientific men is strongly anti-feminine ; their mind is directed to facts and abstract theories, and not to persons or human interests. The man of science is deficient in the purely emotional element, and in the desire to influence the beliefs of others. Thus I find that 2 out of every 10 do not care for politics at all ; they are devoid of partisanship. They school a naturally equable and independent mind to a still more complete subordination to their judgment. In many respects they have little sympathy with female ways of thought. It is a curious proof of this, that in the very numerous answers which have reference to parental influence, that of the father is quoted three times as often as that of the mother. It would not have been the case, judging from inquiries I elsewhere made, if I had been discussing the antecedents of literary
