Such an objection will be
seen, on reflection, to be ill-founded.
As to the extent of change possible, the psychologist must have the
final word. The ingenious Mr. Diffloth,[97] who reduced love to a series
of algebraical formulae and geometrical curves, and proposed that every
young man should find a girl whose curve was congruent to his own, and
at once lead her to the altar, is not likely to gain many adherents. But
the psychologist declares without hesitation that it is possible to
influence the course of love in its earlier, though rarely in its later,
stages. Francis Galton pointed this out with his usual clearness,
showing that in the past the "incidence" of love, to borrow a technical
term, had been frequently and sometimes narrowly limited by custom--by
those unwritten laws which are sometimes as effective as the written
ones. Monogamy, endogamy, exogamy, Australian marriages, tabu,
prohibited degrees and sacerdotal celibacy all furnished him with
historical arguments to show that society could bring about almost any
restriction it chose; and a glance around at the present day will show
that the barriers set up by religion, race and social position are
frequently of almost prohibitive effect.
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