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Eugenics as a Creed and the Last Decade of Galton's Life 417

tables ranged down its middle, on which most of the measuring instruments were placed, the heavier ones standing on the ground between them. Those instruments were duplicated that required a longer time for their use than the rest. A passage ran between each side of the tables and the walls of the enclosure. Five attendants, each having one candidate in charge, were engaged all day long in making a tour of the tables in succession. The candidate emerges and is dismissed at an exit door, which, is separated from the entrance by a low gate, over which the official can lean while he sits.

"Immediately after entering the enclosure, my attendant made me sign my name and impress my blackened fingers on a blank Schedule. It contained numerous spaces with printed headings, which the attendant filled in with pencil as he went on. He took me round the enclosure, testing me in turn by every instrument and recording the results. They referred to stature, both standing and sitting, span of arms, weight, breathing capacity, strength of arm as when pulling a bow, power of grip, swiftness of blow, reaction time, discrimination (blindfold) between weights, normality of eye, acuity of vision, colour sense, acuteness of hearing, discrimination of notes, sensitivity of taste and of touch, and a few other faculties. Lastly the states of my teeth, which are particularly good, and of my mouth, were inspected. The entries to my schedule now and later on were, as I heard, to be examined and checked by clerks whose business it was -to translate the Measures into Marks, according to a definite system. For related faculties, Weight and Strength in combination, a sheet of paper ruled in squares was prepared, in which a series of successive weights was written down its side and a series of strengths along its top. In the square where the line of the one was crossed by the column of the other the appropriate mark. was written. This was copied out by the clerk for the use of the Examiners. But more will be said later on of their Measures and Marks.

"I was next taken to another part of the Hall and submitted to an examination for aesthetics and literature. I was given both prose and poetry to read aloud before the Examiners, a copy of these extracts having been handed to me to peruse beforehand. Then some simple singing was asked for. After this, a few athletic poses were gone through as well as some marching past, and the Examiners noted their opinions on my Schedule. Then I was allowed an hour to write four short essays on given subjects. This was the only literary test.

"I should say that they lay much stress on the aesthetic side of things at Kantsaywhere.

Grace and Thoroughness' is a motto carved over one of the houses for girls in the College, and I have seen it repeated more than once in embroidery and the like. A loutish boy and an awkward girl hardly exist in the place. They are a merry and high-spirited people, for whose superfluous energy song is a favourite outlet. Besides, they find singing classes to be one of the best ways of bridging over the differences of social rank. Musical speech and clear but refined pronunciation are thought highly of ; so is literary expression, and this examination is intended to test all these. The 'arry and 'arriet class is wholly unknown in Kantsaywhere.

"I was then medically examined in a private room, very strictly indeed, and much was asked about my early ailments and former state of health. Here again I need not go into details, for they can be easily imagined in a general way, even by a layman. It is wonderful how adroit the skilled medical examiners become in their task. Nothing seemed to escape their sharp observation, whether of old scars or any internal abnormality. My few defects were unimportant; I thought my vaccination marks had become invisible but they were quickly noted and minutely examined. The principles on which marks are to be awarded are fully laid down in printed directions.

"Lastly came the consideration of my ancestry. The papers communicated by Mr Alifancy were produced and again looked into and criticised, but much more minutely than before, and the value of the authorities for the facts stated in them was keenly discussed. I lay under a difficulty here. The official records made at Kantsaywhere are so minutely kept, that the requirements of the examiners have grown to- be extremely rigorous as regards the evidences of ancestral gifts and maladies. All immigrants are more or less suspected. Besides this, such evidences as would require little confirmation in England, owing to public knowledge of the characters of their high authorities, may, and do, require more confirmation here than can easily be collected at home. I deeply resented my own ill-luck in this matter. The examiners told me only what II was fully prepared to hear, but expressed at the same time much regret that they were unable to give as many marks for my Ancestral Efficiency as I possibly, or even probably, deserved. In fact, I only got 5 marks for my ancestry.

P G ill

53


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