If we do accept the results of impartial, precise, objective, scientific studies concerning mental defectives and men of genius, we shall believe that the differences in the attainments of these two extreme classes are due to a very large extent to the differences in their inborn equipment of capacities and instincts.

Similarly, mediocre learners are strongly influenced by inborn equipment; Galton's study of twins. - When we turn from the attainments of the extreme types to the attainments and progress of ordinary learners, we find that the same general conclusion prevails; namely, that their original inborn capacities influence profoundly their possibilities of learning and achieving. A most interesting study made by Galton of twins gives us some of our best evidence in this connection. Galton secured accounts of the lives, characteristics, and attainments of some So pairs of twins in England. Of these, about 20 pairs consisted of dissimilar twins; that is, the members of each pair were quite unlike in their characteristics from birth. The evidence in these cases, while not very precise, shows that similarity of experience and training had little influence in overcoming the original differences. The following statements by parents of twins give characteristic examples of this fact.

One parent said :

They have had exactly the same nurture from their birth up to the present time; they are both perfectly healthy and strong, yet they are otherwise as dissimilar as two boys could be, physically, mentally, and in their emotional nature.

Another parent said:

I can answer most decidedly that the twins have been perfectly dissimilar in character, habits, and likeness from the moment of their birth to the present time, though they were nursed by the same woman, went to school together, and were never separated till the age of fifteen.

Another said :

They have never been separated, never the least differently treated in food, clothing, or education; both teethed at the same time, both had measles, whooping-cough, and scarlatina at the same time, and neither had any other serious illness. Both are and have been exceedingly healthy and have good abilities, yet they differ as much from each other in mental cast as any of my family differ from another.

Another said:

They were never alike either in body or mind and their dissimilarity increases daily. The external influences have been identical; they have never been separated.

Another said:

The home training and influences were precisely the same, and therefore I consider the dissimilarity to be accounted for almost entirely by innate disposition and by causes over which we have no control. (23: 383)

Further reading on inborn capacities. Readers who desire further scientific discussion of the inborn basis of human talents and achievements, presented in simple form, should read E. R. Downing's "The Third and Fourth Generation" and F. G. Jewett's "The Next Generation."

Treat each pupil sympathetically according to his talents and deficiencies. From the study of the above paragraphs concerning the original nature of the mentally deficient, the geniuses, and twins of ordinary ability, the teacher should form the attitude of being interested in the inborn characteristics of each of her pupils as furnishing the fundamental starting point for her treatment of him. If the pupil is naturally very weak in arithmetic but very talented in art, she will be satisfied when he has mastered the fundamentals in the former, and will not deny him promotion for his deficiency. On the other hand, in art she

will endeavor to stimulate him to the richest possible development so that he may use his talent for the great benefit of himself and others.

Improvability. Practically every capacity in a normal child is improvable. — The fact that each child's ability to learn depends upon his inborn capacities should not lead us to be pessimistic concerning the possibilities of educating normal children. For example, although a child with natural musical talent may easily learn to sing ten songs sweetly and accurately while a natural near-monotone succeeds in learning only one indifferently, it does not follow that the nearmonotone cannot be improved somewhat as a singer or that he should be entirely neglected. With sufficient skilled individual teaching the monotone might be taught to sing with fair correctness "My Country, 't is of Thee," "The StarSpangled Banner," and a few other songs of sufficient social importance to justify the effort required. Similarly, although a bright young man of my acquaintance continued to be a relatively poor speller all his life in spite of careful individual teaching at home (while he was in the grades and high school) by his widowed mother, herself a skilled, experienced teacher, it does not follow that the instruction was futile or that his spelling was not greatly improved by it. Without any instruction he would not have been able to spell at all; without the special instruction by his mother he would have been an atrocious speller; whereas, with the school instruction and the special teaching he became merely a relatively poor speller, usually misspelling only two or three words in each letter which he wrote his mother after he went away to college.

Amount of improvements to be attempted determined by inborn capacity of the pupil and happiness of the multitudes. -In deciding how much improvement to undertake in school with each child we must consider his own inborn capacities and the cost to society of the teacher's time and

effort in improving him. Obviously, to try to make a grandopera singer out of a monotone is a waste of time for all concerned. A striking example of the results of such undesirable efforts is found in the case of a very successful movie star and dramatic actress who for some years was on the grand-opera stage. While everyone marveled at her wonderful acting in the operas, the musical reviewers were unanimous in wishing that she would not sing, since her notes were commonly misplaced, being flat and unmusical. On the other hand, as a movie star she pleased all through her wonderful dramatic ability and made no one uncomfortable by her flat singing.

Almost every child is good for something. Leaving out the idiots, imbeciles, morons, and morally incompetent children, we may say that practically every child is good for something, meaning that he can be made a useful citizen in general, and at least a fairly skilled worker in some special line. It is each teacher's business in the elementary school to help each child to keep moving toward general social usefulness as well as specialized social usefulness. In order to do this it is important for the teacher to realize the great variety of human capacities and the opportunities for each to be of service in the world.

Teacher should not judge children merely in terms of her own capacities. In order to appreciate the great variety of human capacities and corresponding social opportunities, the teacher must avoid the danger of judging her pupils entirely in terms of her own capacities and temperament. As Thorndike says:

[An] . . . error from which all of us suffer is to credit our scholars with natures like our own. We think of them as duplicates more or less of ourselves. If we are quick learners, we expect too much of them; if we have sensible, matter-of-fact minds, we have no patience with their sentimentalities and sensitiveness; if we are precise and neat and systematic, we fail to understand

how intolerable it is for them to lead a regular, orderly existence. Teachers need to add to the maxim, See ourselves as others see us" the still more important one, " See others as

they are." (3: 84)

The teacher is usually one who has [herself been successful with abstract thinking] and so is more in sympathy with it. [She] may even thoughtlessly sneer at the mental ability of those who lack it. "Your son will make a first-rate mechanic or grocer, but he is n't fit for high school," said such a one. The proper retort would have been, "Your school, then, is first-rate for one kind of a boy, but it is n't fit for the majority." (3: 31)

Varied richness of human nature; important capacities. Many other examples similar to those given above could be cited which would reveal to us the great variety of capacities, the varied richness of human nature and its possibilities. A number of the most important of such capacities are discussed in the following paragraphs.

. Expression through language. The capacity for expression in language is present in all normal persons but in quite varying degrees. It should be developed in all persons to a considerable extent for practical daily use, but only those with special natural talent can become expert writers and speakers. A specialized form of this talent which presents interesting examples of its inborn character is the talent for poetic expression. The common statement that "poets are born not made," while it tends to overlook the influence of training in improving poetic expression, suggests the fundamental importance of the inborn talent. A striking case of such talent appeared in a third-grade child. At one time, when the teacher called on the child to recite, the latter said, "Excuse me a moment, Miss Troxell, I am writing a poem." The little girl fairly breathed poetry; she could n't help it. Similarly, the sixth-grade child who wrote the following verses probably ranks well above the average in inborn capacity for poetic and humorous expression.