Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-25
SCIENCE STUD|ESL
Interesting Result of Recent
Unique Investigation.
OLD THEORIES SHATTERED
Law of Attraction to 0pposites"
Shelved by Facts.
PROF. PEARS0N'S FINDINGS
Data on Love Affairs From Infancy
to Maturity-Study Of Charac-
teristics by DR.. Hall.
OLD THEORIES SHATTERED
FINDINGS

science, having neSietltu ihO
summer girl, at last condescends to focus
its searchlight rays upon her.
Prof. Karl Pearson, for example, has set
about to determine whether her conquests
are really governed by the long-esteemed
claw of attraction to opposites''-that law
which dcclareth that man almost invarla-
bly, CapitulateS to the woman whose char
acteristcs are opposite to his own. This
anthropologist has thus far reduced to
tables and diagrams the physical charac-
teristiCs of thousands of married couples.
Upon the basis of these data he has just
condemned the law aforesaid to the shell
which holds the myriad heresies of the
past He discoveries that man has an
unconscious tendency to select wife OF
his own height, with eyes of the color of
his, with a proportionate span from fore
finger to forfinger. with forearm CORE
spending to his own and with constitu-
ton of like physical tone He also dis
covers that among Caucasians there are
more dark-eyed women than darkGeyed
men per thousand. In each thousand OF
possible captives of her own race the sum-
mer girl of our blood has 363 biue-eyeu
men. 3l2 green-eyed men, 127 hazel-eyed
men and 94 brown-eyed men upon whom
to work her SPELL Although she may con-
trive to cast this spell over man whose
eyes differ from her own in color, the
chances are that the final captive VIII Dc
one having the same color OF eyes as her
own. Prof. Pearson also finds that mar
rage Is the result of unconscious attrac-
ton He therefore opposes Darwin's IDEA
that men and women depend upon their
perceptive and Intellectual faculties IN
choosing one another
What Each Sex Most Admires in Other
What characteristics of the summer girl
and her adorers are the most potent powers
of attraction Is revealed by census OF
young lovers lately completed b. DR.. q.
Stanley Hall, the well-known psychologist
of Worcester, Mass. Although he has not
yet published a report of the full data. ne
gives in their order of frequency OF men
ton, these points specified by the nun
dreds of young men and women as most
attracting them to the opposite sex: Eyes.
hair stature or size. feet. brows, complex
lon, cheeks. form of head. throat. ears,
shape of face. Thus beauty Of eyes at.
tracts more often than beauty Of hair. and
30 on. DIR. Hall noted what he terms high
ly specialized points OF attraction. Ihose
as particularly attracting them to the mas
culine were, in order of frequency. regular
teeth. broad shoulders and white teeth: oy
the masculine subjects long ashes and
arched brows were the highly specialized
points most frequently mentioned. DE-
Hall found that among some young men,
a nose slightly retrousse, long neck and
even freckles have special charms.
Considering alone the motor attributes
acting as attractions to the opposite SEX
but while some are charmed by high
voice. others prefer low one. Rising IN
Elections, clearness, fexihiiity and even q
In this class Of characteristics ranks laugh
ter, and after that, In order OF frequency:
are carriage, gait, gesture, movements OF
the eye. pose OF head ana snouide.s' etc.
both sexes, while violating clothes most
attract the feminine eye, and rings. brace
lets and ribbons have the most influence
upon the sterner sex. Canes. glasses.
furs and collars, clean linen. white hand
kerchiefs, the quality of cloth In the
clothes, pronounced styles. hats, parasois.
are specialized" said DR.. Hall. For some
particular mode Of wearing the hat stick
pins the special style of collar, the mode
o. wearing the Wa,en ena,n s1r even
Woman Begins as the Aggressor.
Prof Sanford Bell. another American
psychologist. has conducted a love census.
representing $500 persons He i.nds that
affairs Of the heart between boys and girls
may begin as early as the age of two and
one-half years. He divides mans life into
five stages OF love and finds that the ma
turity of womans heart Is reached at
twenty-five. but that OF mans not until
twenty-six, In love affairs girl Is as
matured at twelve as boy is at fourteen
Previous TO about the ninth year the aver
II
than Is the boy. but at this age the girls
modesty coyness and native love for being
wooed come to the surface. and thereafter
characterize her attitude toward the strong
er sex.
The first stage of love in both sexes he
designates as between the third and eighth
years. At this time love demonstrations
are generally spontaneous, profuse ana
unrestrained." Some form of embrace Is
general There is usually an absence of
shyness self-conscOusness, and dispo-
- a. ~ fa
already present as is also that intense
selflshness that comes from desire to
monopolize him or her. Gifts exchanged by
youthful lovers before about the sixth and
seventh years are appreciated more for
their inherent value than for any senti-
ment attached to them They are liked
tnes ARE sGoo 70 eat Ppe'ty 70
selfish child who will not share his play
things with any one else Will give up
liberal part to his sweetheart" while the
refractory child whose parents manage
him with difficulty. becomes docile and ami
able under the influence of the loved one
II there are any ideas of marriage at this
age, they are but vague and due to sugges-
lions from older persons, yet the emotion
of love for the opposite sex Is due to in
stinct rather than to imitation even In this
first stage. 1t has the physical elements o.
the love of maturer years, although they
are but unconsciously present.
When Beauty Begins to Figure.
Beauty begins to be a factor in love af-
fairs even In this earliest stage according
to Prof. Bell. The little girls thought to
be most beautiful are the ones which are
favored.
The second stage OF love. extending from
the eighth year to the twelfth In girls and
to the fourteenth in boys, Is character
lied by the first appearance of shyness and
modesty. The tendency to Conceal love Is,
however greater In the boys. The lover
and sweetheart are confused and embar-
raised when left alone, but the girl Is less
guarded than the boy in revealing her Sc
cret. Those boys who do express their
feelings are generally of an cffeminate
tendency. Almost all expressions of love
at this age are made through kissing
games The lover rarely corrects his
sweetheart in school Rotations, although
he be eager to correct other girls. When
one Of the youthful lovers Is absent from
school the others work win fall or and he
viii often become moody and irritable.
Cases where boy of eight another OF
nine. girl Of nine and another Of eleven
attempted suicide because of exief froc,
being separated from their swesthearts
have been reported to the psychologist.
Six cases of nervous illness are reported as
due to separation or fitting.
-