The place where the image appears to lie, differs much.  Most persons see it in an indefinable sort of way, others see it in front of the eye, others at a distance corresponding to reality.  There exists a power which is rare naturally, but can, I believe, be acquired without much difficulty, of projecting a mental picture upon a piece of paper, and of holding it fast there, so that it can be outlined with a pencil.  To this I shall recur.

Images usually do not become stronger by dwelling on them; the first idea is commonly the most vigorous, but this is not always the case.  Sometimes the mental view of a locality is inseparably connected with the sense of its position as regards the points of the compass, real or imaginary.  I have received full and curious descriptions from very different sources of this strong geographical tendency, and in one or two cases I have reason to think it allied to a considerable faculty of geographical comprehension.

The power of visualising is higher in the female sex than in the male, and is somewhat, but not much, higher in public schoolboys than in men.  After maturity is reached, the further advance of age does not seem to dim the faculty, but rather the reverse, judging from numerous statements to that effect; but advancing years are sometimes accompanied by a growing habit of hard abstract thinking, and in these cases—­not uncommon among those whom I have questioned—­the faculty undoubtedly becomes impaired.  There is reason to believe that it is very high in some young children, who seem to spend years of difficulty in distinguishing between the subjective and objective world.  Language and book-learning certainly tend to dull it.

The visualising faculty is a natural gift, and, like all natural gifts, has a tendency to be inherited.  In this faculty the tendency to inheritance is exceptionally strong, as I have abundant evidence to prove, especially in respect to certain rather rare peculiarities, of which I shall speak in the next chapter, and which, when they exist at all, are usually found among two, three, or more brothers and sisters, parents, children, uncles and aunts, and cousins.

Since families differ so much in respect to this gift, we may suppose that races would also differ, and there can be no doubt that such is the case.  I hardly like to refer to civilised nations, because their natural faculties are too much modified by education to allow of their being appraised in an off-hand fashion.  I may, however, speak of the French, who appear to possess the visualising faculty in a high degree.  The peculiar ability they show in prearranging ceremonials fetes of all kinds, and their undoubted genius for tactics and strategy, show that they are able to foresee effects with unusual clearness.  Their ingenuity in all technical contrivances is an additional testimony in the same direction, and so is their singular clearness of expression.  Their phrase, “figurez-vous,” or “picture to yourself,” seems to express their dominant mode of perception.  Our equivalent of “imagine” is ambiguous.