"
Similarity in association of ideas, in tastes and habits was equally
close. In short, their resemblances were not superficial, but extremely
intimate, both in mind and body, while they were young; they were reared
almost exactly alike up to their early manhood and womanhood.
Then they separated into different walks of life. Did this change of the
environment alter their inborn character? For the detailed evidence,
one should consult Galton's own account; we give only his conclusions:
In many cases the resemblance of body and mind continued unaltered up to
old age, notwithstanding very different conditions of life; in others a
severe disease was sufficient to account for some change noticed. Other
dissimilarity that developed, Galton had reason to believe, was due to
the development of inborn characters that appeared late in life. He
therefore felt justified in broadly concluding "that the only
circumstance, within the range of those by which persons of similar
conditions of life are affected, that is capable of producing a marked
effect on the character of adults, is illness or some accident which
causes physical infirmity. The twins who closely resembled each other in
childhood and early youth, and were reared under not very dissimilar
conditions, either grow unlike through the development of natural [that
is, inherited] characteristics which had lain dormant at first, or else
they continue their lives, keeping time like two watches, hardly to be
thrown out of accord except by some physical jar.
Pages:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34