94 galton.org
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Inquiries into Human Faculty
indebted to Miss Lewis for 33 reports, to Miss Cooper of Edgbaston for
10 reports from the female teachers at her school, and to a few other
schoolmistresses, such as Miss Stones of Carmarthen, whose returns I
have utilised in other ways. The tendency to see Number-Forms is
certainly higher in girls than in boys.
Fig. 20 is the Form of Mr. George Bidder, Q.C.; it is of much interest
to myself, because it was, as I have already mentioned, through the receipt
of it and an accompanying explanation that my attention was first drawn
to the subject. Mr. G. Bidder is son of the late Well-known engineer, the
famous “calculating boy” of the bygone generation, whose marvellous
feats in mental arithmetic were a standing wonder. The faculty is
hereditary. Mr. G. Bidder himself has multiplied mentally: fifteen figures
by another fifteen figures, but with less facility than his father. It has been
again transmitted, though in an again reduced degree, to the third
generation. He says
“One of the most curious peculiarities in my own case is the arrangement of the
arithmetical numerals. I have sketched this to the best of my ability. Every number (at least
within the first thousand, and afterwards thousands take the, place of units) is always
thought of by me in its own definite place in the series, where it has, if I may say so, a
home and an individuality. I should, however, qualify this by saying that when I am
multiplying together two large numbers, my mind is engrossed in the operation, and the
idea of locality in the series for the moment sinks out of prominence.”
Fig. 21 is that of Prof. Schuster, F.R.S., whose visualising powers are
of a very high order, and who has given me valuable information, but
want of space compels me to extract very briefly. He says to the effect
“The diagram of numerals which I usually see has roughly the shape of a horse-shoe,
lying on a slightly inclined plane, with the open end towards me. It always comes into
view in front of me, a little to the left, so that the right hand branch of the horse-shoe, at
the bottom of which I place 0, is in front of my left eye. When I move my eyes without
moving my head, the diagram remains fixed in space, and does not, follow the
