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gazes intently at an imagined something up in the air, or else on

the roof of a sky-scraper. In a few moments others stop and gaze
upward; then others; and so on until the policemen come to
disperse the crowd. We follow the motion of a tight rope walker,
swaying in unison with him. We imitate the facial expression of
the actor on the stage, frowning or smiling as he does. We catch
ourselves imitating the walk or physical motions of persons in
whose company we are, and there are but few persons who are
immune to the intonation or brogue of those with whom
they associate. The New Englander falls into the localisms and
accent of the West or South if he lives there for a time. The
Southerner loses his soft accent when he lives away from home,
and is only aware of the change in himself when he happens to
return home for a visit, when his folks notice how Yankeefied
he has become, and he notices the extreme Southern accent
among his friends and relatives.
We have a personal knowledge of a young physician, of
English-Scotch ancestry (not a drop of German blood in his
veins) who spent several years in Germany in the universities
and hospitals. When he returned to America he was a German
in accent, habits, appearance and tastes. So marked was the
change, that he finally settled in a German quarter of the town
in which he lived, and practiced exclusively among Germans
and persons of German descent, preferring their company
and customs, and fitting closely into their requirements and
preferences. Contrast the children of foreign parents in this
countrysee how different they are from their parents in
every way. Sometimes the change is an improvementand
sometimes it is a throwing away of the good old qualities and
an acquiring of the new objectionable ones. Environment plays
a very important part in our lives. And Environment is largely
the effect of Suggestion of Imitationthat tendency of the race
to level itself up or down; to get into line; to be in the fashion.
Have you ever noticed the contagiousness of mental states,
or actions, as evidenced in the daily press. Let there be an
Suggestion and Auto-Suggestion
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