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nor smell is better developed in the blind than amongst normal people. Although these senses may come to replace to a certain extent the sense of sight, this occurs merely because the blind person uses impressions which the clear-sighted person hardly notices. As we see what is going on around us, we do not concentrate our attention on the different sounds and smells or other such phenomena. The blind person, on the other hand, not being absorbed by impressions of sight, gives attention to the others. Such and such a sound tells him that the garden gate of his neighbour has been opened to let out a carriage which he must avoid. A particular smell lets him recognise the place where he is, as stable or kitchen.

From the present point of view, it is not exactly the acuteness of the senses which is most important. The acuteness might be equal in a blind person and in a normal person. It might even be greater in the latter, and yet it is only the blind person who can decipher without difficulty raised points so as to understand their meaning as well as when a normal person reads a printed book. This power of the blind person is developed only after a long period of learning, and depends on the appreciation of very delicate tactile impressions. I must point out, moreover, that the method of deciding by means of a pair of compasses gives information only with regard to one side of the tactile

sense.

However, although we admit that blind people do not really gain anything in the four remaining senses, there is developed in them a special kind of sensibility, which is spoken of in their case as a sixth sense, the "sense of obstacles." Blind people, especially those who have lost their sight in youth, acquire a surprising habit of avoiding obstacles and of recognising at a distance objects round

about them. Blind children, for instance, can play in a garden, without knocking themselves against the trees.

Dr. Javal1 states that some blind people, when passing in front of a house, can count the ground floor windows. A professor, who had been blind from the age of four years, could walk in the garden without striking against a tree or post. He appreciated a wall at a distance of two metres from it. One day, going for the first time into a large apartment, he recognised the presence of a big piece of furniture in the middle, which he took to be a billiard table.

Another blind man, walking in the street, could distinguish houses from shops and could count the number of doors and windows. The existence of this sense of obstacles rests upon so many exact facts that it is indubitable. The opinions as to the mechanism by which it operates, however, are very varied. Dr. Zell thinks that it is not a sense peculiar to blind people and "that those of normal sight could equally well acquire it by practice, because it exists in nearly everyone without being noticed." None the less, there are some blind people who, even in the course of years, do not acquire it. M. Javal, for instance, learnt to read with his fingers extremely well, but was never able to distinguish obstacles at a distance.

The most probable hypothesis refers this sixth sense to the action of the tympanic membrane and the auditory apparatus. It is known that loud noise makes it more difficult to perceive obstacles, and snow, by dulling the sound of steps, has a precisely similar effect. Blind tuners, in whom the sense of hearing is well developed, have the sixth sense very marked.

The examples I have given show that the human body possesses senses which come into operation only in special 1 Entre aveugles, Paris, 1903. 2 Der Blindenfreund, Feb. 15th, 1906.

conditions, and which require a special education. The "" sense of life" to a certain extent comes within this category. In some persons it develops very imperfectly, generally revealing itself only late in life, but sometimes a disease or the danger of losing life stimulates its earlier development. Occasionally in persons who have tried to commit suicide, a strong instinct of life wakens suddenly, and impels them to make frantic efforts to escape.

It happens, therefore, that the sense of life develops sometimes in healthy people, sometimes in those who suffer from acute or chronic disease. These variations are parallel with the development of the sexual instinct, which in some women is completely absent and in others develops only very late. In certain cases, it is awakened only by special conditions, such as child-birth, or even some defect of health.

As the sense of life can be developed, special pains ought to be taken with it, just as with the making perfect of the other senses in the blind. Young people who are inclined to pessimism ought to be informed that their condition of mind is only temporary, and that according to the laws of human nature it will later on be replaced by optimism.

PART VIII

GOETHE AND FAUST

I

GOETHE'S YOUTH

Goethe's youth-Pessimism of youth-Werther-Tendency to suicide-Work and love-Goethe's conception of life in his maturity

THERE can be drawn from analysis of the lives of great men information that is very important in the study of the constitution of man. I have chosen Goethe for several reasons. He was a man of genius distinguished by the comprehensive character of his ability. He was a poet and dramatist of the highest rank, his mind was stored with the most varied knowledge, and he contributed to the advancement of natural science. As minister of state and as the director of a theatre, he was occupied with practical affairs. He reached the age of eighty-three years, and he passed through the phases of life in relatively normal circumstances; in his many writings there are most valuable facts which throw a keen light on his life and nature. The Goethe cult in Germany has brought about the existence of fuller biographical details than exist regarding any other great man. He aspired to lead "the higher life," and, throughout his existence, he occupied himself with the most serious problems of humanity.

It is not surprising that Goethe became a subject of

investigation for me, but as the main facts as to his history are widely known I need not elaborate them here.

Goethe was reared in circumstances that were favourable in every respect, and from his earliest years showed remarkable traits. As his memory was good and his imagination vast, the study of ancient and modern languages and the routine curriculum of a classical education were little more than an amusement to him. The rich library of his father placed all sorts of books at his disposal, and whilst he was still young he devoted himself to reading with the enthusiasm and passion that were the chief qualities of his character. When he was fifteen years old he began to write verses, although he was still unconscious of his destiny as a poet. He intended to be a learned man, and looked forward to the career of a professor.

At the age of sixteen, he entered the University of Leipzig with the intention of studying natural science seriously. Law and philosophy interested him but little; he turned to natural science and medicine, although his actual study was rather superficial. His disposition was lively and restless; he made many friends, frequented the theatre and plunged into all kinds of gaiety. Extracts from letters he wrote during this period show the kind of life he led. When he was a student, eighteen years old, he wrote to a friend, "And so good-night; I am drunk as a hog." A month later, to the same friend, he summed up his life as a "delirium in the arms of Jetty."

He graduated in law at Strassburg, and became a barrister, but realising that such a career was unsuitable, he became a man of letters, encouraged by the success of his first literary efforts.

From the point of view of a writer, he sought all kinds of experiences. He devoted himself to literature and science,

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