The record-union., 1898-10-17

may express his Interpretation by a
characteristic act This is shown in
the offering of a family sacrifice or
sitting down in green waters 1t is
often hard to tell whether he is fool
ing or really interpreting acts and
things. In every case he is trying to
interpret a meaning. A child 3 years
old, who was in the habit of taking a
nap in the afternoon, just after he had
eaten, noticed a groom feeding horse
In the stable. He asked if the horse
would go to sleep after being fed, and
was told that he would. But he
demonstrated, the horse has not been
undressed, he has got his shoes on
Professor Royce said that what peo
pie do and say is the central matter in
the child's world. He attemp-S to in
terpret these things after his own man
ner. He told of the remark Of his own
enid, who spoke of star as being
something torn from the moon" He
probably did not think, said the Pro-
Iessor, anything about who might have
torn it off; but he was familiar with
the act of tearing, and that was his in
depreciation of it. A child five years
or age generalized as follows: She saw
hearse passing the house and was
asked if she knew what it meant. She
SAID: Yes; somebody is going to buried
up" She was asked, why going to
buried up" and she replied, Because
they ate green grapes Her mother
had once told her that if she ate green
grapes she would die.
Some one remarked in the presence
of six-year-old child that he was an
attractive child, but what a pity 1t Is
that he has red hair" Soon after his
mother found him in the kitchen, soak
ing and washing his head. She asked:
What are you doing?" His reply was,
L am washing the red OFF,; and from
that time he was very sensitive about
the color Of his hair, which he had
never suspected was red. One day his
father said in his presence, What love-
ly auburn hair he has" This made
him very proud of his hair, and soon
after when there was company present.
he whispered to his sister: Say some
thing out loud about my lovely hair so
they can hear" A young woman
teacher had promised her three-and-a-
half-year-old sister that she would
bring one Of the children home to see
her that day. She was unable to do
ed and would not come near her. She
went to her mother and complained of
her sister, saying: 'If I had told a lie
like that, you would have said God
will not like you,' but Nellie can do so,
because she is grown. When I am
grown, can lie all I want to-"
Professor Royce said that he had re-
ceived letter from a woman who COM
plained that her daughter had always
shown disposition to do the things
that she was requested not to do. This
disposition she had manifested from the
earliest childhood and she is now four
teen years old. IF friends said they
were going to the city in the steamcar,
she would ask why they did not go on
the street car; and if they shortly af-
terWard decided to go on the street
cars, then she would suggest the steam
cars as the best way. She would al
ways eat the food she was not wanted
to eat; and this disposition was so pro-
nounced that the cook would take ad-
vantage of it, and work off on her food
that the others would not eat, simply
by advising her not to eat it. If it
was recommended that she wear a
heavy dress she was sure to wear a
light one. If she was advised to walk
on the sunny side Of the street, she
would invariably walk on the shady
side, no matter to how much inconven-
ience 1t might put herself. She had
various manias. One was to become a
doctor, and she made a collection Of
patent medicine almanacs, and fitted up
her room as an Office. She would sit
there all day drawing pictures Of skele-
tons and skulls such as she found in
these books. She insisted on calling
herself doctor, and wanted to have
patients sent to her. Once when she
was told that a man wanted to consult
her, she called down from the head Of
the stairs and asked what was the mat
ter with him. She was told that he had
toothache, and she said, Give him
some toothache drops" and then shut
herself up in her room. In her letter
Professor Royce said, the mother de-
scribed the child as good and indus
trious student at school, but feared that
she might be in some way defective.
But he said that he considered the child
as not actually willful merely from con-
trariness, but from the love of contrast
or the result of thoughtfulness and con-
sideration.4Boston Transcript