BF 14-1 G I1901 P UC-NRLF B M 023 TTl ? A" f. EMILE ZOLA A. PSYCHO OPHYSIOi^L STUDY WITH APPENDIX ARTHUR MacDONALD FOURTH EDITION WASHINGTON, D. C, 1901 PATHO-SOCIAL AND I%Y^|*ciPHYSICAL BY ARTHUR nacDONALD, Specialist in the United States Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. ABNORMAL. ABNORMAL MAN, being essays on P^diication and Crime, Criminal So- ciology, Criminal Hypnotism, Alcoiiolism, Insanity, and Genius, with digests of literature and a bibliography. 1893. Published by U. S. Bureau of Education. Washington, 1). C. 445 pages, 8°. 2d edition, 1895. CRIMINOLOGY, a psychological and scientific study of criminals, crim- inal contagion, criminal hypnotism, and recidivation, with introduc- tion by Lombroso. Bibliography. Second edition. New York, 1894. , Funk & Wagnalls, publishers. 416 pages, 12°. i LE CRIMINEL-TYPE dans quelques formes graves de la criminality ; Jesse Pomeroy, "the Boy torturer "; Piper, "thebrainer" (Belfry case, Boston); "Jack, the Ripper" (de Londres). Bibliographie de sexuality pathologique. Troisieme Edition. Un volume en 8°, illus- trait de portraits. Public par A. Storck, Lyon, et G. Masson, Paris. 1895. 300 pages. This work is not published in English. EDUCATION AND PATHO SOCIAL STUDIES, including an investi.^- tion of the murderer " H." (Holmes); reports on psychological, criminological, and demographical congresses in Europe; London slums and Gen. Booth's Salvation Army movement. Reprint (from Annual Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education for 1893-'94), 57 pages, 8°. Washington, D. C, 1896. EMILE ZOLA, a psycho-physical study of Zola's pereonality, with illus-' trations; his physical and mental peculiarities: nervous system, finger imprints, morbid ideas, etc. Reprint (from Open Court, Au- gust, 1898. 18 pages), 1899. Gratis on application to author. ABNORMAL CHILDREN {in preparation), a study of genius, precociouaJ ness, eccentricity, insanity, feeblemindedness, suicide, crime, cruelty] viciousness, pauperism, alcoholism, drunkenness, intemperance, dej generation, depravity, and moral education in children. NORMAL. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CHILDREN, including Anthropometri-^ cal and Psycho-physical measurements of Washington school chil- dren ; measurements of school children in United States and Europe ; description of instruments of precision in the laboratory of the Bureau of Education; child study in the United States; and a bibliography. Reprint (from Annual Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education for 1897-'98), 325 pages, 8°. Washington, D. C, 1899. COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY ARTHUR MacDONALD, The " Caibo," Washington, D. C. EMILE ZOLA.* BY ARTHUR MAC DONALD, WASHINGTON, D. C. T^HE study of any human being with the means at present in the hands of science would make a volume. Such an investiga- tion of modern civilized man is one of the most recent methods of empirical inquiry. It is paradoxical that man is the last object to be thoroughly studied by man. There is less definite knowledge of modern man than of uncivilized man ; there is more definite knowl- edge about rocks and plants than about man, and though we have made sciences of the former, a science of human beings hardly exists. The term " science " has been applied to sociology, criminology, and like studies, but they are only sciences by courtesy, and not in the rigid sense of the word ; for until there has been a systematic study of large numbers of individual persons, it is difficult to see how sufficient knowledge can be established to constitute sociology a science. The instrumental investigation of man, as carried on at present, is simply a more precise method of procedure, presenting the effects of mental, moral, and physical forces upon the body, of many of which we are unconscious. Empirical methods of studying modern man are being undertaken in many countries, and thus we may come to have in the future an anthropology of the living as well as of the dead. The most recent stud\-, and perhaps the most thorough one ever made of an individual in societ\' (a number have been made on crim- inals in prison'), is an investigation of Zola, conducted by a number of French specialists." Zola, after reading the results of these studies that he had per- 1 See V Homme Ctitninel, by Lombroso, and Le Criminel-Tvpe, by the writer. 2 Toulouse, Ma-nouvrier, Bertillon, Bloch, Hucliard, Joffry, Robin, Mofet, Serveaux, Bon- nier, Henry, Philippe, Crepieux-Jamin, Passy, Galippe, and others. {* Repri tiled from ^^The Open Court,'' Chicago, August, iSg8.) 68 THE OPEN COURT. miUcd the scientists to make on him, says in brief : "I have read these pages, they have interested me much, and I wilHngl}^ grant authority to pubHsh them as authentic and true ; foc^, l\ have one desire in Hfe, the truth, and one purpose, to make the most of -truth. That which tends to truth cannot but be excellent. I give this authority because I have never liidden anything ; I have lived openly, spoken freely and without fear that which I believed to be good and useful. In the thousands of pages I have written, I have nothing to withdraw. If my works have certain vices, they may be good for something in .serving as a lessov. This .study of me is about one who has given his life to work and dedicated to this work all his physical, mental, and moral forces. " ANTECEDENTS. It seems probable that Zola inherited from his parents and grandparents a vigorous physique, and from his mother a ner^'ous gout or neuro-arthritic condition. Zola was born at Paris on April 2, 1840. He was not nursed by his mother. He was weaned at the normal time. He did not have convulsions, though in his early infancy he was puny and easily alarmed. He began to walk at the usual age. He was backward in learn- ing to talk ; the letter " s " was pro- nounced like " t," and at present there is a trace of this defect. At the age of two, Zola was attacked with a vio- lent fever, probabl}^ cerebral ; for some hours he was thought to be dead. Between the ages of six and seven he was affected with other troubles, about which little is known ; they necessi- tated numerous blisters applied to both arms. After recover}' he remained pale and delicate, but later he became strong, with a tendency to corpulency Zola at Six Years. i • i i • j • ,.^ ^tv-l which has increased with age. The picture reproduced here is one taken of Zola when six years of It shows him as a strong child, with a somewhat lymphatic look. The left eye is less open than the right, on account of an orbicular contraction which is still persistent. EMILE ZOLA. 469 The signs of puberty were manifested between thirteen and fourteen, and his sexual instinct was alwaj^s characterized by a cer- tain timidity, as is often the case with neuropathic persons on ac- count of inhibitory ideas. Zola finished his studies at Paris at eighteen. At this time he had a severe attack of t5^phoid fev-er. The disease lasted six weeks ; he was delirious in its acute stages. He . remembers the intense heat in his feet and nausea and nightmare with sensations of bal- ancing in space. After he had abandoned his studies at the Lycee' in Paris, he had a life of material privations, so much so at times that he re- mained in bed in order to keep warm. This in connection with his intense intellectual activit}- afforded sufficient cause to give form to his congenital neurotic condition. His nervous troubles increased more and more ; from the age of twenty to forty, there were intes- tinal pains ; from* forty-five to fifty the}- took the form of cystitis and angina pectoris, with pains in the left arm. At thirty-five he ceased to smoke on account of his cardiac troubles. About this time morbid ideas made their appearance ; but such ideas do not seem to have had any antecedents in his youth. When Zola began to be successful, he was more at ease, his health was better ; he increased in size and weight, so much so that the least exertion put him out of breath. He had symptoms of gastric dilatation, pyro- sis, stomachal pains, and drowsiness after eating. Pie resolved on a dietetical regimen, which he continues in part to-daj^ ; never drink- ing an3'thing during a meal, and never wine, during the day he takes a litre of tea. In eighteen months he lost forty pounds. Since infancy, and especially since his attack of typhoid fever, his teeth have been bad ; their condition was attributed to a general feebleness following upon his loss of flesh. MENTAL EVOLUTION. Zola was not a precocious child ; he did not know how to read at seven. At this time his father and mother went to Aix. He re- mained there five years, from sev^en to twelve ; during this time he did not learn very much, but enjoyed much freedom in out-door recreation. As early as ten he had his little love affairs ; at twelve they became less superficial and more complicated, although purely mental. Notwithstanding this seeming precocity, women did not play a great role in his life as a young nian. With his comrades he 1 Our grammar and high school, combined with our college, would correspond to the r,yc- his timidity ; it is a permanent trait in his character. At twelve he entered the eighth class at the Lycee in Aix ; he was much behind in his studies, being at the foot of his class. But he went to work seriouslv and gained several prizes at the end of the year, and continued doing well in the subsequent years. He chose the scientific course as much on account of his repugnance to the dead languages, especially Greek, as by his attraction for nat- ural science. He was a methodical and practical student, not lazj^, not over-enthusiastic. Zola was versed in what may be called the new art of the future, the art of knowing what to omit, to do only the indispensable ; this was fundamental in his character. When eighteen he left Aix with his parents to return to Paris, where he entered the Lycee to continue his studies. But he felt somewhat behind his comrades; they also made -sport of him on account of his provincial accent. He did not go with any of the students. Becoming discouraged and disgusted with classical train- ing, he did not follow the course and did not do well in his other studies. After finishing philosophy he presented himself for the baccalaureate in science, but did not pass in German history and even failed in literature. Now thrown upon the world with his mother, who had lost little b}' little all her resources, his natural disposition caused him to utilize the conditions of poverty, which in the lives of most men seem to be necessary to develop personalit}^ to its utmost possibil- it^^ He was forced to start out independenth^ with neither father nor brother with whom he could discuss his opinions ; he was free to choose his own path ; to this Zola attributes his pursuit of inde- pendent literature. He assisted his mother in housekeeping, kept .strict account of all the details and finances. He was obliged to live among the poor of Paris. It is interesting to note how he utilized those ex- periences in his writings. Zola did not plan at first to live by his pen, for he was not con- scious of his great literary talent. At fifteen he felt a taste for litera- ture and read with two friends a little of everj^thing. The three en- joyed Hugo and Musset the mo.st. They preferred long walks into the country rather than the pleasures of the theatre or games. Zola could not choose any of the liberal professions because he was not a Bachelor of Arts ; so, as he himself says, he was forced to take to literature, because there was nothing else to do. But literature KMILE ZOLA. 471 pleased him and gradually he found that he could earn enough to live bv his writings. GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Zola is now fifty-seven years of age. He is below medium stature and of robust appearance. The chest is large, the shoulders high and narrow, the muscles are fairly developed, although he ex- ercises little. The skin is white and wrinkled in places ; his hair and beard were dark, but to-da}^ they are grey ; the head and face are large, the features are accentuated ; his look is searching, but Portraits of Zola at Fifty-skven Years. rendered somewhat vague by near-sightedness. In general, his physiognomy expresses continuous reflection of a serious nature. His voice is good, but the final letters are sometimes uttered in fal- setto. ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. Before giving some of the results of these investigations in de- tail, we may ask as to the utility of so many minute measurements. It is true that in the modern psj^chophysical and anthropolo- gical mode of inquir}', there is a danger of making too fine distinc- tions, such as insisting on half-millimetres, or valuing too much a difference of a few thousandths of a second, or of massing together a large number of facts, which like a pile of bricks, have no definite relation to each other. But new lines of study require more detail. 472 THE OPEN COURT. It is better to have too many facts than too few ; for by leaving out data in a preUminary Hne of inquiry we assume that we know in advance what material will be important and what not important, and thus exclude facts for theoretical reasons, allowing presupposi- tions undue influence. If we knew beforehand what was of most value, the investigation might be superfluous. The utilitarian objection to empirical inquiry fails to under- stand the foundation of all love of knowledge. It is frequently asked, what is the use of this or that experiment, " Will any good come out of it? " '' Will any evils of society be lessened ? " etc., etc. It may be answered that if sociological evils are to be remedied, the first step is to find out their causes definitely, and experimental investigation is one of the best methods. But the primary idea of .science is truth for its own sake, and under the inspiration of this ideal, most of the discoveries of utility to humanity have been made. In all experimental work much may be done that subsequently is seen to haVe been unnecessary. But often the real significance of a fact cannot be known, until other facts have been brought to light. We give some of the anthropometrical measurements and de- scriptions made by Bertillon, the inventor of the " Bertillon Sys- tem of Identification," and by Manouvrier, the distinguished phys- ical anthropologist : ANTHROPOMETRICAL. •Height, I m 705 mm. Length of left foot, 262 mm. Sitting height, S90 mm. Length of right foot, 269 mm. Arm reach, r in. 770 mm. Vertical diameter of head, 143 mm. Maximnm length of head, 191 mm. Bizygomatic diameter of head, 146 mm. Maximmn width of head, 156 mm. Chest girth, i m. 60 mm. Cephalic index, 81 mm. Waist girth i m. 70 mm. Length of right ear, 69 mm. Weight, 160 ponnds. Width of right ear, 31 mm. Forehead: Superciliary arches medium ; inclination medium ; height and length above average ; several horizontal wrinkles. Color of left iris : Aureola chestnut, periphery greenish slate. Nose : Root of medium depth ; ridge rectilinear ; base slightly elevated ; medium in height and prominence ; tip bilobed ; nostrils wide. Lips : Nasolabial height medium ; upper lip prominent, medium thick. Chin : Inclination prominent ; height low. Mouth: Medium' in size ; corners lowered. JRiffht ear : Original ridge medium ; superior and posterior ridge large. Lobe : Contour square ; slightly adherent to cheek ; height large. Aftti-iraoiis : Inclination obilque ; profile rectilinear; reversion (turning over) intermediate ; small in size. EMILE ZOIvA. 473 Folds: Inferior concave ; superior intermediate ; rectilinear in form. Left ear : Original ridge small ; superior ridge medium ; posterior ridge large. Lobe : Contour square, slightly adherent to cheek ; height large. A nti -tragus : Inclination oblique; profile rectilinear; reversion (turning over) intermediate ; small in size. Folds : Inferior concave ; superior intermediate ; rectilinear in form. Fyelids : Palpebral fissure or slit medium ; superior left one uncovered. Hair : Chestnut ; uisertiou in points. Beard : Light chestnut, turning to gray. PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES. Zola is a little below the average in height and sitting height, btit in arm-reach he is about the average. His' head is more than average in size ; but this would not necessarily mean a larger brain, on account of the thickness of the bones of the cranium being un- known. The anti-tragus of the ears is almost absent and the border ad- heres to the cheek. The upper left ej'elid is somewhat lov^^ The wrinkles of the forehead are very old, existing as early as the age of six ; so that at that time he was called serious or grave. Ma- nouvrier regards these wrinkles as a sign of emotivity. Wrinkles in London school children were shown by Warner' to indicate dtil- ness. In examining school children in this country the writer has found this to be a general truth, except where children are near- sighted, in which case the wrinkles may be due to the strain of the eyes. Wrinkles may be normal in mature people, but not in chil- dren. One cause of the wrinkles ma}^ be this : a dull child finding its lessons difficult, must make more of an effort or strain, which is expressed by wrinkles on the forehead ; repetition gives these wrin- kles permanence in early life. Zola's near-sightedness may account for the wrinkles in his childhood. There are vertical wrinkles in front of the ear, especially on the left side ; Zola hears best on this side. Toulouse thinks this might indicate more active mov^eraents in connection with hearing. When in a state of repose and looking at a distance, the left eye- brow is notably lowered ; this is probably due to an orbicular contrac- tion of long standing and can be considered as a netiropathic stigma. FORM OF ZOLA'S HANDS. His hands are 112 millimetres in breadth and ito millimetres in length ; they are broad rather than long, emphasizing the human 1 Warner, Francis. " On Mental Condition of 50,000 London School Children." See Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education iS^o-iSgi, Vol. 2, pp. 1081-1138. 474 THE OPEN COURT. EivIILK ZOLA. 475 type as distinguished from the simian. The two median folds in the pahns unite at their radial extremities. When the hand is flat and the thumb rests against the index finger, the muscular extension into the interosseous space is greatlj^ increased. This indicates, according to Fere, a great possibility of movement. The finger nails are small and round. FINGER, IMPRINTvS. The upper column in the figure represents the imprints of the lef^ hand, the lower column those of the right hand. The imprints of the tlumijjs begin at the extreme left and follow in succession, ending with those of the little fingers. Finger Imprints. In accordance with the general principle that complexity of function and design are parallel. Fere finds among the degenerate the most simple forms as that of an arch ; this arch he finds in the imprint of Zola's middle left finger. But the idea has not been confirmed as yet by other investigators. The imprints of the left-hand fingers, especiall}^ the three last, are not so clear, the skin at the ends being very wrinkled ; the little hairs are almost effaced. This may be because the fingers are used less; for age affects immediately those functions the least exer- cised. Galton affirms that in all his investigations he has not as 5^et found anj^ relation between finger imprints and moral or othei characteristics. Toulouse finds Zola, from an anatomical point of view, free 476 THE OPEN COURT. from any notable defects which would make him pass beyond the limits of normal variation. CIRCULATORY ORGANS. The circulatory organs are sound ; the pulse slow (fifty-five) ; the form of pulse taken by the sphygmograph of Marey is here given : ^ ^hh^ "^^djuxle cLiuoiXje P0LSE, Traced by Sphygm(jgraph, Reduckd Oni;-ninth in Size. The line of ascension is straight, the line of descension is un- dulated ; the slight polyerotism,' or wave-like line, indicates great arterial elasticity' . Arterial pressure is strong, being about nine hundred and fift}' grams. Sometimes there are pains in the thoracic region on tlje left with constrictive sensations and irradiation in the left arm ; this angina symptom alternates with crises of false C3'stitis. There is a constant capillar}^ pulse, indicated thus : Capillary Pulse from Plethismograph of Hallion and Compte. RESPIRATION. Zola was rarely subject to colds before forty-five, but since then he has become more susceptible. His respiration is calm, regular, and of normal frequence, about eighteen a minute. The movement of the chest in respiration as traced by the pneumograph ishe re given : 1 A condition of secondary waves or bc.-\ts of the heart. EMILE ZOLA. 477 Respiration Traced by Pneumograph, Reduced Three-fifths. The ascending line represents inspiration ; it is shorter and straighter than the descending line, which represents expiration. The writer has endeavored to show experimentally the effects •of emotional and mental states on the respiration, and the result would seem to indicate that every thought and feeling affects the respiration, the sensibilities, and circulation. The object of such investigation is to measure these effects, however slight the}' may be. By making such studies on large numbers of persons, it may be possible to gain more definite knowledge of the causes of our mental^ moral, and emotional experiences in life. DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. The teeth are bad. The alveolar arch is not normal. The digestive functions have been troublesome for a long time, but of late they have ver}^ much improved b}- a special regimen : at 9 a. m. a piece of dr}- bread without drink ; at i p. m. a light breakfast without liquid or food containing starch ; at 5 p. m. some cake with tea ; at 7.30 p. m a light dinner ; at 10 p. m. two cups of tea ; no wine. When riding bicycle Zola takes a great deal of tea, as much as one litre per day. In this way he has kept his corpulency in check. To hold one's self to such a regimen indicates great tenacity. MUSCULAR SYSTEM. The muscles are well developed, although little exercised ; but latel}^ Zola has taken moderate exercise on a bic\'Cle. When rest- ing he has a sensation of numbness ; there is also a trembling of the fingers in fine movements ; in voluntary movements it is exaggerated, so that he sometimes turns a tumbler over when trying to drink from it. This phase of his nervous troubles is still more exaggerated by emotion, so that he has not been able to read a public address. The strength of his right-hand grasp, as indicated by the dy- namometer, is forty-two kilograms ; that of his left hand, thirtj'-six kilograms. This power of grasp seems to var}' under the influence of certain excitation. One day when he felt dejected the power of 478 THE OPEN COURT. grasp of both hands was at the maximum. It is well known how music affects the power of hand-grasp. The functions of hand and arm are considered of much impor- tance because they appear in close relation with the brain. NERVOUS SYSTEM. The sensibility of the skin is very developed. This may be due in part to the abundance of little hairs on the skin, which extend much beyond the normal with Zola. The sensitiveness of heat and cold is ver}' great. Reflex sensibility is normal, but tendon reflexes are somewhat exaggerated. The muscular sense seems normal. When standing there is a slight oscillation to the right, if the eyes are closed and the feet placed together. Zola is troubled with vertigo. He is exceedingly sensitive to pain. Sleep, which is a general function of the nervous system, is good, yet after seven or eight hours of rest he awakes with a feeling of fatigue, with cramps in the whole body, and with a sensation of painful lassitude. Zola's nervous system in its entirety presents cardiac spasms, cramps, poUakiura, trembling, etc. It is notably subject to crises of pain, which date from the age of twenty. From this time on to forty there were periods of nervous colic. From forty-five to fifty these crises took the form of angina pectoris, of acute cystitis, and of articular rheumatisms. At present these troubles are less, but they are replaced by a state of almost constant feebleness and irri- tability. Sometimes gastric troubles are the occasion of nervous manifestations, but at present it is intellectual or muscular effort which provokes them ; sometimes the slightest thing is sufficient to awake them, such as a too close fitting garment ; thus the squeez- ing in a crowd once provoked a crisis of agony with false angina pectoris ; so the pricking of his finger has been felt in his arm for several hours. There exists then in Zola a certain lack of nervous equilibrium, an exaggerated morbid emotivit}^, which under the influence of slight excitations, 'causes disordered and painful reactions. This condition frequentl}^ accompanies intellectual superiority, develops with exercise of brain and mind, and tends graduall}^ to increase the lack of nervous equilibrium. PSYCHOPHYSICAL EXAMINATION. Psychophysical examination is difficult with a neuropathic sub- ject. Mental experiments or tests are subject to manj' variations. EMILE ZOLA. 479 their results are at best approximate, yet within certain limits they can indicate tendencies in a personalit}- that maj^ be as valuable to kuovv as an)' physical data. Another difficult}^ is that many of the tests have not been made on a sufficient number of persons to form any basis for comparison. Such results will be of more value in the future, when the study of living men shall have reached a more de veloped stage. SENSATION AND PERCEPTION. Sensation from one point of view is physiological, from an- other standpoint, it is psychical ; that is, it is perception. The tac- tile perceptions, like the sensations, are generally acute in Zola. Thus tests were made in the perception of surface, of form, of thickness, and of weight. Visual perceptions are feeble, owing to near-sightedness ; they consisted in distinguishing length, surface, muscular movements, and color. In perceptions of hearing Zola shows a very poor musical ear. He has neither colored audition nor any ps5^chical analogue. Per- ceptions of smell are not quantitative, but in comparing and distin- guishing odors he shows the finest precision. One of his distrac- tions is to tell what he is to have for dinner ; he can distinguish tomatoes, chicken, mutton, and different species of fish. His mem- ory of olfactory sensations is very strong. Odors play a prominent role in his writings as w^ell as his life. There is nothing peculiar in his perception of taste, of time, or of space. The nature of his mental images is auditive, that is, in the art of verbal thinking he tends to make use of the auditive imaj^es of the word. In speaking he has no qualities of an oratorical nature ; he is verj^ nervous and timid, and emotion inhibits or paralyzes him. He also has a poor memory of words, phrases, or constructions. He has never been able to learn another language. He has tried to commit his discourses to memory, but he has only increased his difficulties. His handwriting varies very much. In copies, the small l€ti.ers are normal, inclined to the right and not higher than two millime- tres ; in his note book, the letters reach five millimetres in height and vary continualh' in inclination, corresponding to the intensity of his thought. MEMORY. •• Zola remembers one or two events that occurred when he was two years old. As a boy, he had an excellent memory. After his 480 THE OPEN COURT. third year his memory became less rehable. Tests were made on his tactile and visual sensations, on his memory of objects, of form, of surface, color, movement, of ideas, of letters, of words, phrases, and figures. As a result of these experiments in memory, his involuntary memory is much more feeble than his voluntary memory. The de- gree of his power of retention depends much upon the utility of the thsng to be remembered, thus enabling him to employ his memory to the be.st advantage and with the lea.st loss. He user auditive images rather than visual images. While sight is the door to mem- ory, the ear fixes and reveals memory. Zola is a visualist for objects and an auditive for words. ATTENTION. Concentration of attention with Zola is not long. He does not study with success longer than three hours at a time ; during most of this time he can hold his attention to work in hand without wan- dering on subjects that have nothing to do with the task before him. While, then, his attention is short, it is intense and is like to his mus- cular effort. He easily becomes oblivious to all surroundings when studying. Thus when coming down to breakfast he finds that the bell has been ringing many times, the dog barking a long time, and that the weather has suddenly changed. At table, in the street, or in an ordinar}' conversation his power of attention is small ; he is often absorbed in reflection, meeting acquaintances, apparently looking at them and yet not recognizing them. His facult}^ of observation is very much developed, in addition to being greatly exercised. REACTION TIME. His reaction time is 136 thousandths of a second, which is less than the general average, but its extreme regularity indicates power of attention and assimilation. The motor reactions are shorter than the sensorial. The reactions of choice are little shorter than the normal. IDEAS OF ZOLA. His knowledge is extensive if not profound ; he was attracted to the natural and medical sciences. Genius according to Zola is not rarity nor perfection ; its three characteristics are creation of being, power, and fecundity ; genius- reproduces nature with intensity'. EMILE ZOLA. 48 I Right is the apphcation of justice. There is an antithesis be- tween natural law and written law, which is a bad application of justice to society. Justice is a social idea ; it does not exist in nature ; equalit}' is not in the nature of things. Woman has less equilibrium and initiative than man and in general she is inferior to man ; yet in little things she is superior to her husband. Zola does not respond to metaphysical ideas ; he is a positivist ; yet he believes in complete annihilation after death.' God for him is a naive hypothesis and all affirmations of religious dogma seem in- consistent and without common sense. He bases morality on observation of moral laws. He has a pagan conception of life ; that which is healthful does not injure; that which is outside of nature is incomprehensible. His ideas of order and method are ver}' developed ; he is a slave to them ; they extend from the care of his toilet to the composition of his works. Everything has its place in his apartment ; disorder pains him ; his stud}' table is so well arranged that one w^ould not know that he used it ; he classifies his work in envelopes. He keeps the letters he receives, although the most of them are of no use to him. EMOTIVITY. While phj'sically Zola is somewhat abnormal in his sensations, yet not so in all his manifestations of sensibilit}'. The simple emo- tions of joy and sadness are intense. Health, self-control, and an eas}' functioning of his organism give him great pleasure. Moral pain depresses him, but without causing violent reaction. His sym- pathy is with natural things ; it is not quickly aroused. He does not make acquaintances easily. As to his taste, there are three things most beautiful — youth, health, and goodness. He loves jewels and steam engines, that is, the fineness and solidity of labor. He loves city scenes and land- scapes. In the world of colors, he prefers red, j^ellow, and green, and faded shades. In odors, he prefers the natural ones, the flowers, but never artificial ones. He likes sweet things. Fear is the principal emotion in him connected with the instinct of self-preservation. He has not much fear of the bicycle, but he does fear to ride through a forest at night. He has no fear of dying suddenly. He has no fear of being buried alive, yet sometimes when in a tunnel on a railroad train, he has been beset with the idea of the two ends of the tunnel falling in and bur3'ing him. 482 THE OPEN COURT. He never has had aii}^ ideas of suicide. He sometimes becomes angry at illogical things. The motives which provoke him most easily are not, as with the majority of men, personal assaults ; but au}^ injury to his moral feeling, especially if he is accused of injus- tice, arouses him. Zola likes the young woman ; that which he likes in her most is freshness, health, phj'sical and moral harmony, gentleness and charm ; he attaches no importance to style of dress. He has no fetishisms in love. In his jealousies he retires within himself, re- acting little and suffering in silence. SENTIMENTS. Zola does not have the religious sentiment, although he is * given to certain superstitions. His aesthetical preferences are in literature ; he is fond of Balzac, as creator of beings, and Flaubert as writer. The modern theatre displeases him ; he prefers a tragedy of Racine or Corneille. In music, he does not like symphony, which he does not understand, but he likes opera, but wants to hear the words, without which all music seems obscure to him. He prefers simple airs, but operetta and cafe concerts disgust him. Zola is domestic, his indulgencies are restrained. He does not like any game of chance ; neither cards nor billiards interest him. He likes chess, but it fatigues him ver}^ much. MORBID IDE.^S. Zola's tendenc)' for order is so strong that it sometimes reaches a morbid stage, for it provokes a certain suffering in cases of dis- order. From about the age of thirty certain morbid ideas have devel- oped, but the}' do not cause him pain when not satisfied ; he lets them run into " their manias," as he says, and he is then contented. The idea of dotibt is one ; he is always in fear of not being able to do his daily task ; or of being incapable of completing a book. He never re-reads his novels' for fear of making bad discoveries ; he has no confidence in himself in this respect. Another morbid idea is arithmetical mania. He .says this is a result of his instinct for order. When in the street, he counts the gas-jets, the number of doors, and especially the number of hacks. In his home, he counts the steps of the staircases, the different things on his bureau ; he must touch the same pieces of furniture a certain number of times before he goes to sleep. EMILE ZOLA. 483 From this desire to count arise superstitions ; certain numbers have a bad influence for him: if by adding to the number of a hack he obtains a superstitious number, he will not hire the hack ; or if he :s obliged to, he fears some evil will befall him, as not to suc- ceed in the errand he is upon. For some time, "3" was a good number, to-day "7" reassures him; thus in the night, he opens his eyes seven times to prove that he is not going to die. But the number 17, which reminds him of an important date that fate has willed, disturbs him. But Zola has superstitious ideas outside of his arithmetical mania. He accomplishes certain things from fear if he should not, disagreeable experiences would fall to his lot. Zola appreciates the absurd side of these morbid ideas, which nevertheless are accompanied by slight emotions. He can resist these impulses with success, and it costs him neither .struggle nor pain. It is curious how little morbid ideas affect his mental equi- librium. LITERARY EXPERIMENT. Passages were read to Zola from a number of well-known au- thors, as Balzac, Pascal, Moliere, Rousseau, and Hugo, and he did not recognize the author in a single instance. Thus a great writer may read very little, both for want of time and through fear that he might lo.se his individuality in style and thought. Exten.sive knowledge and culture are not necessary to origi- nalit}^ of thought. The intellectual sentiment that causes Zola to work is not a pleasure, but the necessity of accomplishing the task he has imposed upon himself. The emotional language of Zola is feeble ; he cannot imitate a voice or gesture, and he knows that he could not be an actor. WILL. His chief characteristic is tenacity. When at work and a diffi- culty arises, he does not stop, he does not get up to distract his mind ; he remains at his table ; difficulties develop him. His acts are guided more by reason than sentiment. When pushed by pas- sion, he reflects, weighs the consequences, and he is conscious of being master of himself. He never feels constrained in spite of himself to commit an act which he would deem unjust. He does not comprehend the violent passions of Hugot in fiction, nor those feelings which pushed General Boulanger to suicide. Zola is a 484 THE OPEN COURT. type of mind that has contributed to the hypothesis that man is a master of his actions. ZOLA A NEUROPATH. As to the relation of intellectuahty to neuropathy, compara- tively little is positively known. Zola is neither epileptic nor hys- terical, nor is there the least sign of mental alienation. Although he has many nervous troubles, the term ' ' degeneracy ' ' does not apply to him wholly. Magnan classes him among those degener- ates who, though possessing brilliant faculties, have more or less mental defects. It is true, as we have seen, that Zola has orbicu- lar contraction, cardiac spasms, thoracic cramps, false angina pec- toris, sensory hypersesthesia, obsessions, and impulsive ideas ; his emotivity is defective, and certain of his ideas are morbid, but all this is not sufficient to affect in any appreciable manner his intel- lectual processes. His strong and harmonious constitution give him immunity, his intellect is not contaminated. Toulouse says he has never seen an obsessed or impulsive person who was so well balanced. Yet Zola is a neuropath, that is, a man whose nervous system is painful. Heredity seems to have caused this tendency, and con- stant intellectual work to have affected the health of his nervous tissues. Now, it is a question whether this neuropathical condition is not an excitation that has given rise to the intellectual ability of Zola. Whether a diseased nervous system is a jiecessary cause of great talent or genius, is quite another question ; yet pathological facts have been such constant concomitants of great talent and genius that the relation seems to be more than a temporal one and suggests the idea of cause and effect. In brief, the qualities of Zola are fineness and exactitude of perception, clearness of conception, power of attention, sureness in judgment, sense of order, power of co-ordination, extraordinary tenacity of effort, and above all a great practical utilitarian sense. With these qualifications he would have succeeded in whatever path in life he might have chosen. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Toulouse, E. Emile Zola 'Pa.r'\s, ii<^.— Toulouse, E. Les causes de la folie, 1896. Binet ei Jacques Passy. Etudes de psychologic sur les auteurs dramatiques. AnniJe psychologique, 1894-1895, page (>\. — Lombroso, C. L'Homme de giSnie, 1896. The Man of Genius, in Euglish.— Moreau (de Tours). La psj'chologie morbide dans ses rapports avec la philosophic del'histoire, z85<).—J?ivei!li-Pa>ise. Physiologic des homines livre aux travaux de I'esprit, 184S. — Manou- vrier. Essai sur lesqualites intellectucllcs consideriScs en function de la superiorite cerebrale ^uantative. Revue de I'Ecole d'authrop, Tome IV, Mars, 1894 — Ribot. L'h6redite psycho- logique. \%-]},.— Gallon. Hereditary O^wxws.—Lemailre, Jules. Nos contemporains.— A/izc- Donald, A. Abnormal Man. APPENDIX This study of Zola is one among the recent studies that have direct appHcation to a human being. It is given not as an example, but rather as a suggestion that may lead other specialists to go much further into the greatest of all studies — that of man himself as he is today. If we are ever to have sufficient definite knowledge of living human beings that may become a science, it can only be done by the careful study of large numbers of individuals. The more thorough the study and the larger the number, the more useful such investigation can be made to society. As in machinery we must first repair the little wheels out of gear, so in society we must first study the criminal, crank, insane, or pauper who can seriously injure both individual and community. Thus a worthless crank by killing a prominent citizen can paralyze the com- munity. The injury from such action is often beyond calculation. Our government pays out millions to catch, try, and care for criminals, but gives very little to study the causes that lead to crime. The study of man, to be of most utility, must be directed yfr^/ to the causes of crime, pauperism, and other forms of abnormality. To do this the individuals themselves must be studied. As the seeds of evil are usually sown in childhood and youth, it is here that all investiga- tion should commence, for there is little hope of making the world better if we do not seek the causes of social evils at their beginnings. The most rigid and best method of study of both children and adults is that of the laboratory with instruments of precision in connection with sociological data. Such inquiry consists in gathering sociological, pathological, and abnormal data as found in children, in criminal, pauper, and defective classes and in hospitals. Such experiments or measurements should be made as are of interest not only to sociolo- gists, psycho-physicists, and anthropologists, but also to physiologists and pathologists Since the field is necessarily very large, the investigation should be in those parts of it which promise to be productive of most practical re- sults in the way of amelioration or prevention of social evils. 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