Every Man's “Evil Genius.”

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6, 10 August 1907, Page 25

Every Man's “Evil Genius.”

Most people have observed that each human body, whether man or woman, is made in two halves. And the halves, which are put together lengthwise, never fit exactly. If you have not noted this before, take a critical look at the next person you meet, and you will find that his (or her) eyes are not exactly alike. One of them is likely to be a little higher than the other. Sometimes the difference is so marked that one eye is blue and the other brown. Alsd, you will notice, in the individual you are that the two sides of the moiith are not perfectly matched. Proceeding further, you will discover : that the two sides of the person’s face, taken as a whole, are not alike. There is a lack of symmetry very marked when you pay attention to it. Indeed, this is so far the case that the average young woman considers one side of her face as the prettier side, and always has her -picture taken from that point of view. Now, just as the body is made in two halves, so it is with the brain. If the newest scientific theory on the subject is correct, each half is the seat of a personality; and thus, while possessing only a, single identity, you yourself are two. You meet this other self often; one place is dreamland. It is the second self that is the actor of the sleep drama —a strange being, eccentric of conduct, seemingly devoid of morality, and with a minimum of common-sense, who every night, during your slumbers, walks abroad through an imaginary realm, visiting the queerest scenes, and often performing the oddest pranks. Again, if a man has been drinking rather freely, that is another occasion when the second self begins to make an unsolicited appearance and to try to get away from control. If another glass or two of wine be taken, he escaped, and presently assumes the centre of the stage just as he does in the realm of dreams. A glass or two more, and he begins to commit all sorts of follies, betraying lack of judgment and good breeding. A fool and a boor is this second self—not at all a proper person to be admitted to polite society. In earlier days if was supposed that the devil was always at one’s elbow, prompting one to commit evil acts. Nowadays nobody believes in that sort of thing; but there is no one who does not find himself, or herself, called upon to resist wicked suggestions. From what source do such suggestions come? Nobody can say with positiveness, but there is at least, reason to Suspect that they are the promptings of . this very sub-self —the unescapable companion who dwells with each of us, and who (so far as we are able to judge from occasional observation) seems to have a steady leanin* toward whatever is bad ' "