Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                

Biological Psychology 2nd Edition Suzanne Higgs download pdf

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 65

Download the Full Version of textbook for Fast Typing at textbookfull.

com

Biological Psychology 2nd Edition Suzanne Higgs

https://textbookfull.com/product/biological-psychology-2nd-
edition-suzanne-higgs/

OR CLICK BUTTON

DOWNLOAD NOW

Download More textbook Instantly Today - Get Yours Now at textbookfull.com


Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

Biological Psychology 1st Edition Kelly G. Lambert

https://textbookfull.com/product/biological-psychology-1st-edition-
kelly-g-lambert/

textboxfull.com

Higgs Potential and Naturalness After the Higgs Discovery


1st Edition Yuta Hamada (Auth.)

https://textbookfull.com/product/higgs-potential-and-naturalness-
after-the-higgs-discovery-1st-edition-yuta-hamada-auth/

textboxfull.com

Discovering behavioral neuroscience: an introduction to


biological psychology Fourth Edition Freberg

https://textbookfull.com/product/discovering-behavioral-neuroscience-
an-introduction-to-biological-psychology-fourth-edition-freberg/

textboxfull.com

Psychology 2nd Edition Licht

https://textbookfull.com/product/psychology-2nd-edition-licht/

textboxfull.com
Discovering Behavioral Neuroscience: An Introduction to
Biological Psychology Laura A. Freberg

https://textbookfull.com/product/discovering-behavioral-neuroscience-
an-introduction-to-biological-psychology-laura-a-freberg/

textboxfull.com

Long Game Vegas Aces Book 2 1st Edition Lisa Suzanne


[Suzanne

https://textbookfull.com/product/long-game-vegas-aces-book-2-1st-
edition-lisa-suzanne-suzanne/

textboxfull.com

Fair Game Vegas Aces Book 3 1st Edition Lisa Suzanne


[Suzanne

https://textbookfull.com/product/fair-game-vegas-aces-book-3-1st-
edition-lisa-suzanne-suzanne/

textboxfull.com

Fierce Obsessions The Phoenix Pack 6 1st Edition Suzanne


Wright Wright Suzanne

https://textbookfull.com/product/fierce-obsessions-the-phoenix-
pack-6-1st-edition-suzanne-wright-wright-suzanne/

textboxfull.com

Wild Hunger The Phoenix Pack 7 1st Edition Suzanne Wright


Wright Suzanne

https://textbookfull.com/product/wild-hunger-the-phoenix-pack-7-1st-
edition-suzanne-wright-wright-suzanne/

textboxfull.com
Biological Psychology
Biological Psychology
2nd Edition

Suzanne Higgs
Alison Cooper
Jonathan Lee

Los Angeles
London
New Delhi
Singapore
Washington DC
Melbourne
SAGE Publications Ltd

1 Oliver’s Yard

55 City Road

London EC1Y 1SP

SAGE Publications Inc.

2455 Teller Road

Thousand Oaks, California 91320

SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd

B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area

Mathura Road

New Delhi 110 044

SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd

3 Church Street

#10-04 Samsung Hub

Singapore 049483

© Suzanne Higgs, Alison Cooper and Jonathan Lee 2020

First edition published 2015. Reprinted 2016 (three times) and 2017.

Second edition published 2020


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any
form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with
the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries
concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the
publishers.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019937597

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-5264-6096-7

ISBN 978-1-5264-6097-4 (pbk)

Editor: Amy Maher

Development editor: Laura Walmsley

Assistant editor: Katie Rabot

Assistant editor, digital: Sunita Patel

Production editor: Imogen Roome

Copyeditor: Sarah Bury

Proofreader: Leigh C. Smithson

Indexer: Adam Pozner

Marketing manager: Tamara Navaratnam

Cover design: Wendy Scott


Typeset by: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India

Printed in the UK

At SAGE we take sustainability seriously. Most of our products are printed


in the UK using responsibly sourced papers and boards. When we print
overseas we ensure sustainable papers are used as measured by the PREPS
grading system. We undertake an annual audit to monitor our sustainability.
This book is dedicated to the memory of Mike Harris.
Contents
1. Extended Contents
2. How to Use This Book
3. About the Authors
4. Acknowledgements
5. 1 What is Biological Psychology?
6. 2 Structure and Communication in the Nervous System
7. 3 Drugs and the Nervous System: Psychopharmacology
8. Spotlight 3a: Individual Differences in Drug Responses
9. 4 Development, Degeneration and Recovery in the Nervous System
10. Spotlight 4a: Behavioural Genetics
11. Spotlight 4b: Neurodegeneration
12. 5 The Importance of Experience: Learning and Memory
13. Spotlight 5a: Memory Persistence
14. 6 Sensory Systems
15. Spotlight 6a: Retinal Spatial Processing
16. Spotlight 6b: Pain
17. 7 Motor Control
18. Spotlight 7a: Mirror Neurons
19. 8 Emotional Behaviours
20. Spotlight 8a: The Neural Basis of Fear
21. Spotlight 8b: Too Much Emotion? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and
Drug Addiction
22. 9 Motivated Behaviours
23. Spotlight 9a: Sleep Disturbances and Implications for Health
24. Spotlight 9b: Eating Disorders and Obesity
25. 10 Psychological Disorders
26. Spotlight 10a: Schizophrenia
27. Glossary
28. References
29. Index
Extended Contents
1. How to Use This Book
2. About the Authors
3. Acknowledgements
4. 1 What is Biological Psychology?
1. What is Biological about Biological Psychology?
2. Isn’t Biological Psychology Just Neuroscience?
3. An Important Assumption in Biological Psychology
4. The Fundamentals of Biological Psychology
5. Important Topics in Biological Psychology
6. A Focus on Learning and Memory
7. Experimental Approaches Used in Biological Psychology
8. Discover Biological Psychology Yourself
5. 2 Structure and Communication in the Nervous System
1. Organisation of the Nervous System
1. Central nervous system (CNS)
2. Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
2. Cells of the Nervous System
1. Neurons
2. Glia
3. Building a Brain
1. Communication and neuronal networks
2. Structure: Function relationship
3. Electrical conduction
4. Chemical conduction at the synapse
5. Synaptic transmission: The reality
4. Chapter Summary
6. 3 Drugs and the Nervous System: Psychopharmacology
1. How Drugs are Handled by the Body: Pharmacokinetics
1. Absorption
2. Routes of administration
3. Distribution
4. Metabolism and elimination
5. The time course of drug effects
2. Effects of Drugs on Neurotransmission: Pharmacodynamics
1. Agonists
2. Antagonists
3. Inverse agonists
4. Allosteric modulators
5. Drug efficacy
3. Effects of Repeated Consumption of Drugs
4. Use of Psychoactive Drugs
5. Alcohol
1. Effects of alcohol on behaviour
2. Effects of alcohol on the brain
6. Stimulants
1. Cocaine
2. Amphetamines
3. Nicotine
4. Caffeine
7. Opiates
1. Effects of opiates on the brain and behaviour
8. Cannabis
1. Effects of cannabis on the brain and behaviour
9. Psychedelic Drugs
1. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
2. Mescaline
3. Psilocybin
4. Phencyclidine and ketamine
5. Salvinorin A
6. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)
10. Chapter Summary
7. Spotlight 3a: Individual Differences in Drug Responses
1. Introduction
2. Individual Differences in Drug Responding
1. Body size
2. Age
3. Sex differences
4. Genetic differences
3. Personality and Drug Responses
4. Stress and Drug Responses
5. Environmental Factors that Affect Drug Responses
1. Drug–drug and drug–food interactions
6. Drug Expectations and Placebo Effects
7. Conditioned Drug Responses
8. 4 Development, Degeneration and Recovery in the Nervous System
1. Development
1. Forming the foetal brain
2. Optimising brain function
3. Synaptic plasticity
4. Sex differences in brain development
2. Degeneration
1. Pathological loss
3. Repair and Recovery
1. Neurogenesis
4. Chapter Summary
9. Spotlight 4a: Behavioural Genetics
1. Introduction
2. The Genetic Sequence
1. Genes and human behaviour
2. Epigenetics
3. Finding genes linked to human behaviour
4. Studying the role of a known gene in human behaviour
5. Controversy surrounding behavioural genetics
10. Spotlight 4b: Neurodegeneration
1. Introduction
2. Parkinson’s Disease
1. Prevalence
2. Clinical characteristics
3. Cause of PD
4. Pathology
5. Other pathological and neurotransmitter changes
6. Etiology of neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease
7. Environmental factors
8. Genetics of Parkinson’s disease
3. Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease
1. Drug therapies
2. Non-drug therapies
4. Alzheimer’s Disease
1. Prevalence
2. Clinical characteristics
3. Cause of Alzheimer’s disease
4. Pathology
5. Aetiology
6. Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease
7. Sex differences in neurodegenerative disease
11. 5 The Importance of Experience: Learning and Memory
1. What is Learning and Memory?
2. Principles of Learning: The Role of Surprise
3. Unconscious Forms of Memory
4. Perceptual Memory
1. Temporal stages of perceptual memory
5. Associative Learning
1. Pavlovian conditioning
2. Sex differences
6. Where in the Brain? Research Strategies
1. Causation
2. Correlation
7. Encoding Long-Lasting Memories
8. Synaptic Plasticity and LTP
9. Procedural Memory
10. Conscious Forms of Learning and Memory
1. Episodic versus semantic memory
11. The Hippocampus and Memory
12. Systems-Level Consolidation
13. Chapter Summary
12. Spotlight 5a: Memory Persistence
1. Introduction
2. How are Memories Maintained?
3. How are Memories Kept Relevant when Circumstances Change?
1. The hippocampus – contextual modulation
2. The prefrontal cortex – source of the inhibition
3. The amygdala – target of fear inhibition
4. Do New Experiences Result in the Creation of New Memories or
the Modification of Existing Ones?
1. The case for memory modification –memory reconsolidation
2. The case for new memories – second-order conditioning
13. 6 Sensory Systems
1. What Do Sensory Systems Do?
2. The Visual System
1. The retina
3. The Pathway to the Visual Cortex
4. The Visual Cortex
1. How do we put together the fragments?
2. How do we put together information about different aspects
of the stimulus?
3. How do we interpret the sensory information?
5. The Auditory System
1. Sounds as frequencies
2. How the ear describes sounds
3. Locating sounds
6. The Auditory Cortex
1. How do we pick out individual sounds from the background?
7. The Vestibular System
8. Vestibular Interactions with Vision
9. Somatosensation
1. Touch
2. The dorsal column-medial lemniscal (DCML) pathway
3. Passive and active touch
4. Temperature and pain
10. Proprioception
11. Taste and Smell
1. Taste
2. Smell
12. Chapter Summary
14. Spotlight 6a: Retinal Spatial Processing
1. Introduction
2. The Retinal Ganglion Cell Receptive Field
1. Retinal Interneurons Form the Receptive Field
2. Retinal ganglion cells respond to luminance edges
3. Retinal ganglion cell response efficiently describes the image
4. Lateral inhibition works by making spatial comparisons
5. Receptive fields are circular because they make spatial
comparisons in all directions
6. Lightness constancy: Ratios are more useful than differences
7. At each retinal location, cells with different sized receptive
fields make spatial comparisons at different scales
8. Receptive fields use weighted averages to reduce noise
3. Some Things the Retina Cannot Do
15. Spotlight 6b: Pain
1. Introduction
1. What is the point of pain?
2. Pain and communication
3. The relationship between nociception and pain
4. Role of the brain in pain perception
5. Pain and psychological state
6. Pain and psychological disorders
7. Sex and gender differences in pain perception
16. 7 Motor Control
1. Muscles and Their Innervation
2. The Spinal Cord
3. Cortical Control of Movements and Actions
4. Primary Motor Cortex
5. Secondary Motor Cortex
6. Selecting the Appropriate Movement: The Role of the Basal
Ganglia
7. Planning: The Role of the Posterior Parietal Cortex
8. Learning and Control: The Role of the Cerebellum
9. Chapter Summary
17. Spotlight 7a: Mirror Neurons
1. Introduction
2. Mirror Neurons in Monkeys and People
3. The Possible Functions of Human Mirror Neurons
1. Imitation
2. Understanding actions
3. Social behaviour and autistic spectrum disorder
4. The Origin of Mirror Neurons
18. 8 Emotional Behaviours
1. What is Emotion?
2. What is the Function of Emotions?
3. What is the Relationship between Emotional Responses and
Feelings?
1. James–Lange theory
2. Cannon–Baird theory
3. Are bodily changes different enough to account for specific
emotional feelings?
4. Does prevention of peripheral feedback abolish emotional
feelings?
5. Does artificial stimulation of bodily responses induce
emotional feelings?
6. Schachter–Singer theory
4. What Brain Areas Mediate Emotions?
1. The limbic system
5. The Amygdala
1. Anatomy of the amygdala
2. Stimulation of the amygdala elicits emotional responses
3. Damage to the amygdala impairs normal emotional
responses
4. The amygdala and emotional memory
5. Beyond fear
6. Downstream from the Amygdala: The Periaqueductal Grey
(PAG)
7. Upstream from the Amygdala: The Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)
8. How do we Communicate Emotions?
1. Emotional expressions have an evolutionary basis
2. Emotional expressions have a biological basis
3. Sex differences
9. Chapter Summary
19. Spotlight 8a: The Neural Basis of Fear
1. Introduction
2. Is Fear Processed Serially in the Amygdala?
1. The amygdala
2. Which nuclei of the amygdala are important for fear?
3. Serial or parallel processing in the amygdala?
3. Which Area of the Prefrontal Cortex Regulates Fear?
1. Subdivisions of the mPFC
2. The infralimbic cortex inhibits fear
3. The prelimbic cortex activates fear
20. Spotlight 8b: Too Much Emotion? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and
Drug Addiction
1. Introduction
2. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
1. What makes individuals vulnerable to PTSD?
2. Is the stress response abnormal in PTSD?
3. Are stress response abnormalities pre-existing or induced?
4. Are there neural vulnerability factors for PTSD?
5. Are there overly strong fear memories in PTSD?
6. Are brain areas associated with traumatic memory
processing abnormal in PTSD?
7. What mechanisms underlie the abnormally strong amygdala
memory?
3. Do Excessively Strong Appetitive Memories Underlie Drug
Addiction?
1. What memories are formed when drugs are taken?
2. Is the amygdala abnormal in addiction?
3. Is the prefrontal cortex abnormal in addiction?
21. 9 Motivated Behaviours
1. What are Motivated Behaviours?
2. Motivational Concepts
1. Homeostasis
2. Motivational drives
3. Incentive Motivation
4. Eating
1. Why do we need food?
2. How does the body deal with food?
3. To eat or not to eat? Understanding eating patterns
4. The biological bases of eating
5. Time to eat: What factors affect when we start and stop
eating?
6. Eat this not that: Understanding food choice
7. Sensory-specific satiety
5. Mechanisms of Nutrient Monitoring
1. Signals from the gastrointestinal system
2. Signals from fat
3. Processing of metabolic signals in the brain
4. Brainstem circuits
5. Hypothalamic circuits
6. Interactions between nutrient monitoring and incentive
systems
7. Socio-cognitive processes in appetite
6. Sleep
1. What is sleep?
2. Defining sleep stages: The polysomnograph
7. The Biological Bases of Waking and Sleep States
1. Wake-promoting brain systems
2. Sleep-promoting brain systems
3. Transitions between waking and sleep
8. Circadian Influences on Sleep: The Importance of Biological
Rhythms
1. The role of the master body clock
2. Variations in circadian influences on sleep across the lifespan
9. Homeostatic Influences on Sleep: The Search for Sleep Factors
10. Emotional and Cognitive Influences on Sleep
11. The Function of Sleep
12. Chapter Summary
22. Spotlight 9a: Sleep Disturbances and Implications for Health
1. Introduction
2. Sleep Disorders
1. Insomnia
2. Narcolepsy
3. Parasomnias
3. Sleep Deprivation: A Modern Problem?
4. How Much Sleep is Enough?
5. Sleep and Health
6. Critical Analysis
1. How is sleep measured?
2. Control for confounding variables
3. Reverse causation
4. Sleep quality rather than quantity?
5. Summing up
7. Sleep and Mental Health
1. The importance of emotional memories
8. Sleep Deprivation and Cognitive Function
1. How does sleep deprivation affect cognitive function?
9. Sleep and Memory Consolidation
1. Sleep and selective memory consolidation
2. Sleep, memory and the lifespan
23. Spotlight 9b: Eating Disorders and Obesity
1. Introduction
2. Anorexia
3. Bulimia
4. Binge Eating Disorder
5. Treatments for Eating Disorders
6. Obesity
1. Consequences of obesity
2. Treatments for obesity
3. Causes of obesity
7. Food Addiction
1. Types of evidence
8. Critical Analysis
1. Overlapping clinical features
2. Overlapping neurobiological features
3. Animal models of food addiction
24. 10 Psychological Disorders
1. What are Psychological Disorders?
2. Classification of Psychological Disorders
3. Schizophrenia
1. Clinical symptoms of schizophrenia
2. Onset of clinical symptoms of schizophrenia
3. Prevalence of schizophrenia
4. Interactions between Genes and Environment in Schizophrenia
1. Genetic risk factors
2. Environmental risk factors
5. Brain Structure and Function in Schizophrenia
1. Neuroanatomical and imaging studies
6. Pharmacological Studies
1. The dopamine theory of schizophrenia
2. Evaluation of the dopamine hypothesis
3. The role of glutamate in schizophrenia
7. Depression
1. Overview
2. Clinical symptoms of major depression
3. Onset of clinical symptoms of depression
4. Prevalence of depression
5. Sex differences
8. Interactions between Genes and Environment in Depression
1. Biological bases of depression
2. The monoamine-deficiency theory of depression
3. Stress and depression: The role of the hypothalamic–
pituitary–adrenal axis
4. The neurogenic theory of depression
9. Anxiety
1. Clinical symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder
2. Prevalence of GAD
3. Biological bases of GAD
10. Chapter Summary
25. Spotlight 10a: Schizophrenia
1. Introduction
2. Cannabis Use and Schizophrenia
1. Evidence from cohort studies
3. The Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Drugs
1. First-generation or typical antipsychotics
2. Side effects of first-generation or typical antipsychotics
3. Second-generation or atypical drugs
4. Beyond the Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia
1. NMDA receptor hypofunction and schizophrenia
2. Imaging and post-mortem studies
3. Effects of NMDA receptor antagonists
4. Effects of repeated administration of NMDA antagonists
5. NMDA receptor hypofunction and excitotoxicity
6. NMDA receptor hypofunction and neurodevelopment
26. Glossary
27. References
28. Index
How To Use This Book
About the Authors
Professor Suzanne Higgs
has a degree in Psychology, Philosophy and Physiology from the
University of Oxford, UK. During her degree she became fascinated
by the effects of drugs on the brain and behaviour, which motivated
her to pursue a PhD in Psychopharmacology at the University of
Durham. After her PhD, she worked as a Postdoctoral researcher at the
University of Oxford before moving to the University of Birmingham,
UK to take up a faculty position in the School of Psychology. She has
taught at all levels on the BSc in Psychology programme at
Birmingham and has over 20 years of lecturing experience. She
specialises in teaching psychopharmacology and the biological bases
of motivated behaviours, in particular, the psychobiology of appetite,
which is the topic of her research.

Dr Alison Cooper
’s interest in Neuroscience began during her Natural Sciences degree
when she accidentally found herself studying the properties of
neurones that form the circuit that control grasshopper movement. She
pursued an interest in understanding how activity of neuronal cells
could underpin behaviour for her PhD by researching the properties
and functions of the parts of the brain that contribute to human motor
behaviour. During this time, she became interested in
neuropharmacology, and the link between synaptic neurotransmission
and human function/dysfunction has remained the focus of her
thoughts. Following various Postdoctoral positions, she took an ever-
greater role in Neuroscience education of undergraduates on various
professional and non-professional undergraduate programmes. In
recent years she has used her experience to extend her interest in
education to the general public who want to understand their own or
others’ brains through public engagement in person and, globally,
through online courses.

Dr Jonathan Lee
has a degree in Natural Sciences, specialising in Neuroscience, from
the University of Cambridge. He has always been interested in the
value of studying biological mechanisms in order to understand
behaviour. This interest has been particularly focused on unconscious
memories and their impact upon behaviour. In his PhD and
Postdoctoral research, also at the University of Cambridge, he studied
the contribution of gene expression and pharmacological mechanisms
in the processes underlying long-term fear and addictive drug
memories. He has continued these research interests since moving to
the University of Birmingham, using his research experience to teach
an introduction to Biological Psychology in the BSc Psychology
programme.
Acknowledgements
The authors and publishers would like to thank Professor Phil Terry,
Kingston University, for his contribution to the companion website
materials.

The authors and publishers would like to thank the following students
whose thoughtful feedback helped to shape the book and companion
website:

Shazia Ahmed
Torvald Ask
Abbie Allen
Oreoluwa Bademosi
Banita Chander
Fillip Ferreira Eikeseth
Myesha Haque
Jenisha Manmovanlal
Sjur Sætren
W. Shah
1 What is Biological Psychology?
Chapter Breakdown

Where does biological psychology fit within psychology in general?


What are the major topics in biological psychology?
Why are learning and memory so important to biological psychology?
What are the general approaches in biological psychology?

Roadmap

This brief introductory chapter sets the context for the textbook. Biological
Psychology is a major area in psychology and it can be difficult at times to
distinguish from the more recent discipline of neuroscience. We will briefly
consider the important historical and philosophical stance of monism that
underpins the assumptions of biological psychology before moving on to
outline the major areas covered in this textbook. The major themes of the
book begin with the more biological fundamentals of how signals are
generated and communicated within the body and brain, followed by some
major important topics in psychology, for which we have biological
understanding. We will also highlight the importance of learning and
memory to these topics, as well as some background to the research
methods that are used in biological psychology.

Each chapter will begin with a roadmap like this one, in order to put it into
the context of the rest of the textbook and point towards the major themes
covered.

What is Biological about Biological


Psychology?
You will probably be very familiar with, and have your own ideas about, the
two subjects of biology and psychology. We might define biology as the
study of living things, from animals to plants and microbes. Similarly, we
can think of psychology as the study of the human mind and its functions.
Often this is described as the study of human cognition and behaviour. So
what is biological psychology?

At one level, we can simply say that biological psychology is the biological
part of psychology. Indeed, this is the simplest definition that is relevant to
the psychology student. Alternatively, we could say that it is the
psychological part of biology. Ultimately, it is where the two disciplines
meet.

For biological psychology, we are not interested in an understanding of the


human mind and its functions from a traditional ‘black box’ perspective.
Traditional psychology assumes nothing about the hardware that
implements cognition and behaviour. It is certainly true that we can make
inferences about how the mind processes information to produce a
response. For example, in Chapter 6 we will encounter visual illusions, the
existence of which points towards the inference that the visual system is
particularly sensitive to contrasts and edges. Moreover, major advances in
our understanding of perception used approaches such as psychophysics
and the development of signal detection theory (see any good cognitive
psychology textbook). Similarly, almost all of the topics later on in this
textbook (memory, perception, movement, emotion, motivation and
psychological disorders) can be researched and studied without reference to
their biological underpinnings.

If we want a definition of biological psychology that specifically helps to


frame the scope of this textbook, it is ‘the study of the biological (both brain
and body) mechanisms of normal and abnormal behaviour’. Ultimately, the
assumption underpinning biological psychology is that biology and
behaviour are no more than different levels of the same multi-layered
phenomenon, so that every observable action has an observable underlying
biological cause. We hope that, even though the two levels require different
styles of thinking, understanding one will help us to understand the other. It
is similar, in a way, to the difference between being able to describe what a
computer does and understanding the internal processing mechanisms of
how it works.
Isn’t Biological Psychology Just
Neuroscience?
In a word, no! First, neuroscience concerns all aspects of the understanding
of the brain and wider nervous system. The nervous system supports more
than just cognitive and behavioural functions. For example, the autonomic
nervous system controls the function of the heart and circulatory system,
which is not directly relevant to an understanding of cognition and
behaviour (but see the discussion about the importance of biological
responses, including blood pressure changes, in the experience of emotion
in Chapter 8).

There are many subdisciplines of neuroscience, two of which we might


think to equate to biological psychology. These are behavioural
neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience. By their names, it is obvious that
they address the understanding of behaviour and cognition, respectively.
They certainly seek to understand both normal and abnormal function.
Moreover, they focus on the nervous system’s contribution to these
functions. So what is different? The simple answer to this question is that
biological psychology does not limit its focus to the brain and nervous
system. It is true that the brain is of critical importance to the functions
studied in this textbook. That is why we begin with an introduction to the
brain and its building blocks (neurons and other cells; Chapter 2) and also
have a focus on the development of the brain (Chapter 4).

However, there are important instances where we will cover other


biological mechanisms that influence cognition and behaviour; for example,
the link between genetics and behaviour (Spotlight 4a) and the importance
of gut responses in the regulation of motivated eating behaviour (Chapter
9). So, while there is certainly a large overlap between neuroscience and
biological psychology, they are not the same. Indeed, you will see that
biological psychology also has a tendency to frame its understanding of
cognition and behaviour within the principles derived from cognitive
psychology. In other words, we try to provide a biological/neuroscientific
explanation for our psychological understanding of the human mind, rather
than a more ‘bottom-up’ process starting with brain mechanisms to
determine their function and then try to relate to psychology.

An Important Assumption in Biological


Psychology
If we are interested in the biological understanding of the human mind,
perhaps the most influential starting point is the writing of Descartes. A
philosopher, René Descartes was a proponent of dualism, which argues that
the mind is separate from the body. In other words, we cannot understand
the mind and its functions by the study of the body and the brain. Clearly,
such a philosophical standpoint is incompatible with the entire premise of
biological psychology, and so as biological psychologists (or indeed
behavioural/cognitive neuroscientists) we are wed to the perspective of
monism. That is, the mind is a result of biological function. There could,
theoretically, be a continuum between monism and dualism, in that some
might argue that certain functions are an emergent property of the brain and
the rest of the body (e.g. visual perception), but others might be ‘special’
(e.g. personality). However, the topics covered in this textbook are largely
uncontroversial in their biological underpinnings. Perhaps one very
interesting relevant topic is the subjective experience of emotion, which we
will see in Chapter 8 is argued to be a product of the brain.
Figure 1.1 The structure of the neuron: drawing of brain neurons
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
CHAPTER XX.

SOMETHING ABOUT “MILADY.”


On the 23d of July, in the year 186—, the day remarkable as that on which
Arthur Vavasour reached his twenty-first birthday, crowds of people of
every degree, and all, as it seemed, on pleasure bent, were assembled in the
park, and along the roads that led towards the beautiful “seat” known as
belonging to the Earl of Guernsey. It was a pretty place—not “princely,”
like Fairleigh, or frowning proudly in baronial grandeur, after the fashion of
noble and time-honoured Gillingham; but, though inferior in magnificence
to its more imposing neighbours, Danescourt was, after all, a mansion and
estate not wholly unworthy the rank of its owners.
Lady Guernsey, who was country born and bred (albeit one of the most
popular women in England, and perfectly “at home” everywhere), was
greatly attached to Danescourt. She was never so happy—so said those who
knew her best, for Lady Guernsey was a person who talked very little about
herself—as when, the London season being over, she could devote herself
at “dear” Danescourt to her garden, her children, and her poor.
The Lacys were a large family, there were seven of them—“the curate’s
half-dozen,” Lord Guernsey used often to say, with a cheery laugh, which
would have sounded pleasant from any lips, but was, of course, doubly
exhilarating from a lord’s. He was a capital person altogether, that “belted
earl,” whose girdle was capable of encircling the slender waists of two
modern guardsmen, and whose face beamed so pleasantly with genuine
good-nature, to say nothing of the good things of this life, that the man must
have been morose indeed, and ingrained with mental jaundice, whose spirits
were not lightened by the glow of his genial companionship.
Between the Vavasour family and that of the Lacys, who were
comparatively new settlers in the county (their coming dating as lately as
the Restoration), there had never existed any of those ties, either of
friendship or family connection, which near neighbourhood is sometimes
known to cement. Though, as it is only natural to conclude, many brave
sons and fair daughters must, in the course of centuries, have sprung from
the respective marriage-beds of those highly distinguished families, no
intermarriages had taken place between them. The hereditary politics also
of the two races were, and always had been, diametrically opposed—one
reason probably, among many, why no closer bonds than the cold ones of
acquaintanceship had hitherto linked together the members of two of the
most ancient, as well as most respected “houses” in the county.
The Earl and Countess of Guernsey, who, as I before said, were genial,
warm-hearted people, would gladly (not for the sake of Lady Millicent,
whom they did not like, but for that of the young people at the Castle,
whom they did) have established warmer and cordial relations with their
neighbours at Gillingham Castle. They were unfeignedly sorry for the poor
girls, whose youth was blighted by Lady Millicent’s selfish adherence to a
system of seclusion—a system introduced and persevered in, as Lord
Guernsey, who was an outspoken man, did not hesitate to say, far more
from the promptings of a parsimonious spirit than from any deep and
lingering sorrow for “poor Cecil’s” death.
“Don’t tell me,” he would say, speaking almost bitterly for one so
habitually good-tempered,—“don’t tell me about Lady Mill’s being a
‘pattern widow.’ She is no more a pattern widow than she was, at any time
since I have known anything about her, a pattern wife or a pattern mother. I
never had any patience with all that flunkeyish humbug about Lady
Millicent’s perfections. Whatever good was done in that family—and a
great deal was done, that we all know—is to be attributed solely to Cecil
Vavasour. As for Lady Mill—”
“Well, well,” put in Lady Guernsey good-humouredly, “I think there is
something to be said for her. That Will of her father’s must be terribly
trying to a person of her domineering temper.”
“So are a great many wills—all wills, in short, that are antagonistic to
our own. It doesn’t follow, though, that we are justified in trying to set them
on one side. In my opinion—but then I have never been tried,” he added,
laughing, “by a similar aggravation—in my opinion, the will of a dead man,
like his last injunctions, ought to be held sacred. A curse is more likely than
a blessing to follow on its being set aside.”
“And they do say that Lady Millicent is going to try the case—against
her own son, too! It looks unnatural; but I still say, although I am anything
but fond of her, that there is some good in Lady Mill. She is fond of her
children, after a fashion; she is anxious about them when they are ill, which
isn’t often, for there never were more healthy creatures; and I really think
that but for this clause in the will—I mean, if it had been left to her to
manage that great fortune in her own way—Lady Millicent would have
given no cause for the world to say that she is neither a good mother nor a
faithful stewardess.”
“Perhaps not. You women know one another’s characters and motives
best. Lady Mill may have hidden excellences in her nature (very securely
hidden, too, I must say), which it requires a woman’s penetration to
discover. My experience of life tells me that if there be anything estimable
in a tremendously rich person like Milady Millicent, that same estimable
quality increases and magnifies itself a hundredfold in going from mouth to
mouth; while, on the contrary, the praiseworthiness of the poor is a very
unfructifying and unprofitable article indeed. For my part (mind, I expect to
be abused), now that the fashion is gone by of glorifying my Lady Millicent
—not that it would have gone by if poor Cecil had lived—for my part, and I
say it without fear of being contradicted, what I think is (and I repeat it
again), that all the talk there used to be about her being faultless, and all that
kind of thing, was totally undeserved. Like thousands of other prosperous
people, she never did anything openly bad. She was not, I daresay, much
given to breaking the ten Commandments; but then, I should be glad to ask,
where were her temptations? Ladies are not much in the habit of swearing;
she had neither father nor mother to honour or dishonour; there was nothing
for her to covet; and, God knows, no man in his senses would covet her!”
“You are not very charitable to poor Lady Mill,” said the Countess,
laughing in spite of herself at this résumé of their neighbour’s “gifts.”
“Charitable? I should think not! Who with any Christian feeling would
be charitable to one who has gained for herself such a name for hardness of
heart, while she professes to respect God’s holy law and commandments, as
Lady Millicent Vavasour? I am not, I hope, either a humbug or a prig; but I
like to see people act up to what they profess, and I should have a better
opinion than I have of our neighbour at the Castle if she talked about
religion less, and acted up to its dictates more.”
“In my opinion,” said Lady Guernsey thoughtfully, “more than half of
her pretended love of seclusion and country life, which people have said so
much about, arises from selfishness and indolence!”
“Bravo!” said his lordship in delight. “I knew it would come! Let a
woman alone, if she’s a sensible one, for arriving at the right conclusion.
Now, I’ll tell you what it is, Gertrude,” he added more seriously, and
placing his wife’s hand within his arm, as they strolled together under the
branching chestnuts of the grand old avenue leading to the house; “I’ll tell
you exactly what it is. There may be, as you say, no real harm in Lady
Millicent; but she is neither tender, nor open, nor womanly. Gad, what
should I do, and what would the children do, with such a mother as that? As
for the poor things at the Castle up there, I declare it’s a shame to see her
muddle away their existence as she does. Those two fine young men—
Arthur, particularly, who, between you and me, is a little soft, and who
required no end of judgment in his raising—are utterly ruined.”
“I hope not, poor things,” said Lady Guernsey, who was given to look,
even more than was her lord, at the bright side of every shield, “I hope not;
one never can tell how boys will turn out. I’m often really quite uneasy
about Ernest; and yet—”
“You needn’t trouble yourself, my dear Gertrude, about him. Ernest is
one of your quiet, lymphatic sort, but both those young fellows at the Castle
are of another kind of constitution; and I’m as certain that Arthur, at least,
will come to grief, as I am glad that his poor father didn’t live to see it.”
“I often thought that Mr. Vavasour wasn’t pursuing the wisest plan in the
world about his boys,” remarked Lady Guernsey pensively. “The Vavasour
children never seemed to be allowed to find their own pleasures like other
boys and girls. They were very good, I daresay, and were always well-
behaved; but I used often to fancy it would have been more natural if they
had been naughty sometimes like their neighbours.”
“Much more natural! And then the plan of sending Arthur to travel with
that kind of half-and-half gentleman tutor was very bad. For my part, I
don’t believe Lady Mill knows a gentleman when she sees him. All she
thinks of is Power, and all she dreads is the time when Arthur will be
twenty-five, and the hour for her despotism will have sounded. My own
idea is—and many people, I fancy, suspect the same—that she is making up
a purse against the evil day of dowagerhood. One thing, however, is certain,
namely, that all this—this unfortunate state of things at Gillingham—is a
sad business for the poor on the estate. Already the appearance of the
cottages, and, above all, the state of moral feeling among the labourers on
the Gillingham estate, has undergone a serious change for the worse. The
lower orders—I hate the name, but it says what I want to express—were
secure of Cecil Vavasour’s sympathy. Ay, even of his friendship, while as
for his widow—But enough of this; for our own motes, my dear Gertrude,
are, after all, not so completely eradicated that we can afford to lay so much
stress upon the beams that we may happen to discover in our neighbour’s
eyes.” He spoke only half seriously, for Lord Guernsey was one of those
who take a cheerful view of all things and subjects; but the conversation
just narrated was not without its effect, inasmuch as his wife obtained in
consequence free leave and permission that on the occasion of Arthur’s
twenty-first birthday Danescourt should be as gay as a full bevy of summer
guests could make it. Nominally, the festive week at the Court had nothing
to do with Arthur’s coming of age. The good-natured host and hostess were
too desirous of giving pleasure to each and all of the young Vavasours, for
any hint of the truth to have designedly passed their lips. But for all their
caution, it did, of course, come to be noised abroad that the Guernseys were
teaching Lady Millicent her duty, and that for once in their lives her young
daughters were to be indulged in the opportunity of enjoying themselves.
CHAPTER XXI.

MRS. BEACHAM GOES A PLEASURING.


“Well, mother, ain’t this better now than to be sitting mending stockings,
and to be bothering about pickles and preserves at home?” asked genial
John Beacham of his highly respectable parent as mother and son, sitting in
the front-seat of the most well-appointed of “traps,” were jogging quietly
along the pleasant lanes towards Danescourt.
It was somewhat against the grain, and not a little to his own
inconvenience, that John Beacham was devoting a day to amuse his
womankind on that eventful twenty-fourth of July. Danescourt was a good
five-and-twenty miles from the Paddocks. In little more than half-an-hour
the travellers could be conveyed by rail from Switcham to Gawthorpe; the
latter place being the nearest town and station—distant about three miles—
from Danescourt. But Mrs. Beacham unfortunately entertained, amongst
other immutable prejudices, a very decided one against steam locomotion.
As a rule she was not greatly troubled with “nerves;” but the exception was
when, by some extraordinary concatenation of circumstances, she found
herself whirled along in an express-train, gasping for breath, and ejaculating
piteous appeals for protection to that Power which, under the ordinary
circumstances of everyday life, we are all of us so given both to ignore and
to forget. It was a standing joke (when that lady was not present) that old
Mrs. Beacham invariably began to say her prayers the moment the pace of
the train by which she was travelling commenced to accelerate. Indeed, so
patent and unmistakable were her sufferings, that John—well-to-do, open-
handed John—who, “thank goodness, was not obliged to look twice at a
shilling before he spent it,” and who was unwilling to turn a day’s pleasure
into one of penance, decided to drive his mother and his pretty wife in the
new “trap;” services of that famous horse “Jolly Boy,” an animal who could
“trot his nine mile an hour, sir, without turning a hair,” being put into
requisition on the occasion. As a matter of course, her own personal dignity
being concerned in the matter, Mrs. Beacham had required some pressing
before she allowed herself to be persuaded to attend the gala scene at
Danescourt. She was not wanted, the old lady declared, in such gay places
as that. At her age she was better at home minding the house; while other
people, who were fond of gadding about, took their pleasure in Lord
Guernsey’s park. It was rather provoking, Honor thought, to see her
stepmother poser en victime, when she, the younger woman, was perfectly
well aware that had Mrs. Beacham been sixteen instead of sixty-five, she
could hardly have looked forward with greater satisfaction than was in fact
the case, to that day’s long-promised “outing.” That she, Honor, did not
press her stepmother to do violence to her feelings by condescending to
form one of the little party to Danescourt was a fruitful source of
aggravation; and when the old lady did eventually take her place in the
front-seat of the “trap,” attired in a wonderful new bonnet from Leigh, and a
Paisley shawl of many colours—her own choice, and worn for the first time
that day—her temper could not, with justice, be said to be above its average
standard of good humour and composure.
With a little sign of resignation Honor took her place on the back-seat,
where, for the next three hours, she was doomed to be imprisoned, her
limbs cramped by sundry bags and boxes—for they had decided to spend
the night at Gawthorpe—and her view circumscribed by John’s broad
shoulders, and by the gaudy shawl pinned with old-fashioned tightness
round his mother’s ample back. Though wanting yet two hours to noon, the
July sun was already darting its broiling rays over the travellers’ heads; and
Mrs. Beacham’s solid cotton umbrella, hoisted for that autocratic lady’s
comfort, materially interfered with that of the slight figure behind, which
was clad in the simplest of airy muslins, while there rested on the thick
braids of her fair hair a dainty hat that was, in Mrs. Beacham’s opinion,
most reprehensibly juvenile and coquettish.
“Better, ain’t it, mother?” John said, as the well-bred brown horse
dragged the heavy weight behind him through the sand of a cross-country
lane. “The country is beautiful to-day. Hold up, Jolly Boy; and, Honor, sit
close, my dear. This road is rather in a go-to-the-bad state; and it wouldn’t
do to be pitched out in the dust in that pretty get-up of yours.”
Honor laughed. She was a girl—child enough, also, you may say—to be
amused by the jolts that half shook her out of her seat, and so greatly
disturbed the old lady’s temper. In the excitement of the drive, the changing
of the scene, and the anticipation of the coming gaiety, she had forgotten
Mr. Vavasour altogether; and that gentleman would have been but ill-
pleased could he have guessed how small a share he had in young Mrs.
Beacham’s thoughts during the long drive that day.
“Well, thank goodness, here we are at last!” exclaimed the discomfited
old lady, when at length a sudden turn in the high-road brought them in
sight of a pretty ivy-covered lodge, which stood invitingly open, and which
John informed Honor was the principal entrance to the Danescourt grounds.
“Such a dusting as I’ve had to be sure! I declare to goodness that my best
silk won’t be worth five shillings when I get it home. A silk, too, that cost
me seven shillings a yard no longer ago than last May twelvemonth, and
was as good this morning as it was the day I bought it.”
“Well, mother, we must buy you another, that’s all,” said John good-
humouredly. “But, I say! if there isn’t jolly Jack Winthrop, with the old
chestnut out, I see!—How are you, Jack? and how’s the mare?”—pulling up
Jolly Boy to have a few moments horsey talk with his old acquaintance.
“Sound again, eh? Steps a little short still, don’t she, with the near foreleg?”
Jack Winthrop, who was a wiry-made sporting-looking character, in a
black cut-away and a low-crowned hat, was sitting behind a wicked-looking
“red” mare, the which animal was harnessed to a vehicle called a dog-cart,
but incapable of containing, with any degree of comfort, any creature, four-
footed or otherwise, in addition to the said wiry Jack himself. He gave a
knowing nod and wink to John, and threw an admiring glance at Honor, as
he passed, at the full swing of the wicked chestnut, the more steady-going
“family man.”
John shook his head gravely. “There he goes!” he said. “That’s just the
way with those fellows! Jack, now, has doctored up that mare of his; and
some poor devil of a muff will be stuck, I’ll answer for it, before the day is
out.”
It was scarcely, however, the place or the season for moralising. They
were by this time in the ruck of carriages and horsemen, all going in one
direction, and John Beacham’s attention was amply employed, not only on
the steering of Jolly Boy through the crowd, but in returning the cordial
greetings of his many friends and acquaintances. At length, and after sundry
exclamations of alarm, and more than one involuntary clutch at the reins on
the part of John’s agitated parent, the little party in the “trap” came in sight,
through an opening in the trees, of a great white marquee, capable—if the
voice of rumour could be believed—of containing within its canvas walls a
whole regiment of soldiers, the said marquee having been erected in a broad
and sheltered glen, at about five hundred yards’ distance from the house.
The scene that presented itself to Honor’s admiring gaze was full of life and
colour and animation. The band of an infantry regiment, at that time
stationed at Leigh, was thundering forth a popular polka, adapted to brazen
instruments in full regimental force. Groups of well-dressed people were
scattered here and there over the greensward: the branching trees lent a
delicious shelter from the fierce rays of the summer sun; and a glimpse that
could be caught by the curious of the interior of the tent disclosed an array
of plates, dishes, and glasses that would have caused the heart of a fasting
man to dance with anticipated bliss.
“Now, then, look alive! Jump out! The horse won’t stand in this row,”
said John, a little impatiently perhaps, for Jolly Boy, in spite of the five and
twenty miles’ journey, was restless with excitement, and Will Burton, one of
Mr. Beacham’s trusted “helpers,” who had been sent on by train to wait his
master’s coming, was holding him (though with some little difficulty)
steady by the bit during the “young missus’s” descent.
Honor made what haste she could, gathering together her full skirts to
save them as best she might from the dusty wheel, and feeling, she scarcely
knew why, a something in her husband’s tone that jarred against her sense
of what was delicate and becoming; jarred too against her own
consciousness of beauty, of being well-dressed; of being, in short, a little
woman worthy to be petted and admired. She was not cross—far from it—
as she shook out her ample drapery and took John’s sturdy arm, while Mrs.
Beacham held firm possession of the other; but, though not the least angry
with her husband, Honor was too habitually good-tempered, and, at the
moment too happy, to be that, she was perhaps rather more disposed than
she had been before to greet with satisfaction any appreciating words or
flattering attentions which might chance to fall to her lot. Nor were such
opportunities for the gratification of a vanity which was more natural than
harmless, likely to be wanting. Honor’s beauty was not of the kind to be
passed over in a crowd, be that crowd ever so dense or individually
preoccupied. The exquisite colouring, delicate as it was rich, of her bright
young face—the lips slightly parted, red and dewy—and the violet eyes,
half-shy, half-laughing, made up a tout ensemble that many a man turned
and turned again to look upon, as Honor Beacham flitted amongst the
throng that day, leaning on her husband’s arm.
CHAPTER XXII.

A TOUCH OF THE SPUR.


Many gentlemen, as I have just said—gentlemen, that is, by brevet and by
prescriptive right—made themselves conspicuous that day by their open
and undisguised admiration for John Beacham’s beautiful wife. Honor was,
unfortunately, precisely in the position which of all others renders a young
woman the most easy to be beset by this indelicate description of flattery.
There is something in the very name of a “horse-breeder’s wife” which at
once connects itself in the mind with what is as “fast” and “slangy” and
forward as the most fast and free and horsey among the “fine young English
ladies” of our day. Those who chanced to know Honor personally might
have proclaimed the contrary; but somehow young men in general do not
care much to assert that a beautiful girl with whom they are acquainted has
betrayed the reverse of the proclivities above alluded to; so, for lack of a
champion, those who were not acquainted with Mrs. John Beacham judged
of that young woman as it pleased them best.
Amongst the class of “gentlemen” above alluded to—messieurs qui
suivent les femmes from rule, from habit, and from inclination—the one that
stared the most at, and followed the closest on, Honor’s footsteps was the
individual with whom the reader has already made some slight
acquaintance in his character of owner of that celebrated yearling yclept
Rough Diamond.
Colonel Norcott, whose history in his native county had been for some
years “a blank,” was at this period of his life somewhere about five-and-
forty years of age. Five-and-forty, bien sonnées, nevertheless he looked
younger than his age, for his figure, which (whatever else he had lost) he
had been fortunate enough to keep, was slight and juvenile; his hair, though
less luxuriant than of yore, was still thick and glossy; and his face, which,
though always plain, even to ugliness, was singularly attractive and
intelligent, had stood so well the wear and tear of years that many
pronounced Fred Norcott a better-looking man in middle-age than he had
been in the days when a greater amount of personal beauty might fairly
have been expected of him.
Frederick Norcott, an only and over-indulged son, was barely seventeen
when he commenced his career in life as a light dragoon. He possessed
great natural shrewdness, a good memory, and a rare gift of rendering
himself agreeable to those whom he desired to please. Principles he had
none. To instil any such troublesome things into his son’s youthful mind
had been deemed by Fred’s father a work of supererogation. Fred would be
well off, had good connections, and was rather a sharp fellow than
otherwise; so the country gentleman, who knew but little of the world, and
who—his own nature being both a proud and a cold one—had himself kept
clear of scrapes, sent his only son forth into “life” with the injunctions to do
nothing dishonourable, and never to make a fool of himself.
There are some young men thus ushered into a world of trial and of
temptation, for whom the code of honour—in so many respects the
Christian code—would stand in stead of what are called higher principles,
and would keep them at least tolerably straight in the path which they were
fated to tread; but of such exceptional young men as these Frederick
Norcott did not, unfortunately for himself and his friends, happen to be one.
Cursed with the strongest passions, adoring as well as despising women,
utterly selfish, and a gambler to the backbone, who can wonder that
Frederick Norcott should very early in life have become bankrupt in
fortune, friends, and reputation,—in all, in short, that should make existence
valuable to its possessor? But for the wars, which were consecutively so
instrumental in the “keeping going” of sundry of England’s impecunious
sons and heroes, Fred Norcott would very soon have been laid on an
extremely comfortless shelf. How he contrived to live, after his paternal
inheritance had been reduced to actual nothingness, was pretty much a
secret between the Jews, his creditors, and himself. As a soldier, however,
he stood high. As fearless before the foe as he was audacious with the fair,
Fred Norcott, as long as shots were flying, and human flesh and bones were
required to stop them, kept his head above water tolerably well. But the day
of reckoning came at last. Ships came back full instead of empty of soldiers
from the East; the last rebel Pandy was scattered to the winds; the dead had
buried their dead, and hungry creditors began to think of gathering up the
fragments that remained. For a time—why does not appear, except for the
reason that some men do possess more than others the gift of softening
hearts—Colonel Norcott’s natural enemies seemed disposed to allow him
that highly improvable item, time. Perhaps seeing that the Colonel came
under the head of that large class, namely, “distinguished officers,” it would
scarcely have paid, immediately after his retirement from the service, to be
hard upon him. To have coarsely insisted upon payment—to have “taken
steps” for the “settlement” of their long-standing accounts—might have
occasioned the loss to those rapacious tradesmen of the custom of better
men; so, as I said before, they waited for a while, with what patience they
could muster, for the turning of the tide.
As is generally the case, immunity from punishment was very far from
working either reformation or improvement. The iniquities which Fred had
committed in the green tree were perpetrated by him still more villanously
in the brown. At the age of thirty-six, there were few atrocities, chiefly
under the rose, of which he had not been guilty; and it was at that age—an
age at which the wild oats are supposed to be sown, and the new leaf
lastingly turned over—that the ex-dragoon committed the act of which “old
Dub” entertained so vague a recollection, but the consequences of which
eventually drove Colonel Fred (with all his debts upon his head, and very
little money in his pockets) to Australia.
This climax in the career of the ex-dragoon took place about a dozen
years before the opening of my story; and Colonel Norcott, after spending
ten of those years in banishment, had returned to his native land a wiser if
not a better man. Nor had he, as we already know, returned alone; for there
was a Mrs. Norcott—a colonial heiress, it was said—who had taken pity on
Fred’s poverty and loneliness, and endowed him with her hand and fortune.
At the time my story opens, two years, or nearly so, had elapsed since
Colonel Norcott—gay, agreeable, but slightly under a cloud—made his
reappearance on the stage of the London world. How or at what period
terms had been made with the creditors to whose former leniency the
prodigal owed so much, history deponeth not. That they were satisfied with
the turn affairs had taken was evidenced by the fact that “the Colonel”
roamed, with a free step and jarret tendre, about his former haunts; while
for the nonce—whether such a state of things would last remained to be
seen—a veil seemed by common consent (amongst the laxest portion of
Colonel Norcott’s former acquaintances) to be thrown over his past
delinquencies, and non mi ricordo, save amongst the ultra strict, was as
regarded his errors the order of the day.
“Who is that gentleman, John?” asked Honor, her face still flushed with
the crimson tide that a prolonged stare from Colonel Norcott’s bold
insinuating eyes had thrown into it. “I fancy I have seen him before. Did not
he come to the Paddocks one day about buying a horse?”
“A great many people do that, my dear,” responded John absently.
“Came to buy a horse, did he? And which of all these gentlemen is it that
you mean?”
“Which? O, that one! there he goes—the tall man in the light coat; you
can see him now between the trees, talking to the person that you call Jack
Winthrop.”
John Beacham, who had a moment before been intensely amused by
watching an animated game at “Aunt Sally,” turned in the direction
indicated, but at first without being able to discover the object of his wife’s
curiosity. The hand that rested on his arm positively trembled with
impatience. Honor could not account for the strange interest which she
seemed to take in that middle-aged, distinguished-looking man. To her,
Colonel Norcott, erect and soldier-like, with his grand military bearing, and
his five-and-forty years so bravely carried, seemed almost an old man, or
rather an old prince. Somebody very remarkable he was—of that Honor had
no doubt; and the fact of his having noticed her did not tend to lessen the
interest that he had excited.
“O John, can’t you see him?” she said eagerly. “There, he is out of sight
now! Why wouldn’t you look before? I know he is somebody great—a
foreign prince, or something of that kind.”
John laughed gaily. “Why, child,” he said, “what do you know about
foreign princes? Do you suppose there’s anything in the cut of their jib
different from other people’s? Why, if you want to see an article of that sort,
I’ll bring you a mustachioed fellow up to lunch one of these days. There’s
plenty of all sorts come, one way or the other, to the Paddocks. They speak
pretty good English, do most of the mounseers, or there ain’t many words
would pass between me and them. But about this gent, Honey, that you’re
so anxious to know the name of. Is that him, coming back again, and
looking this way?”
By this time the tall figure of Colonel Norcott was again in sight,
swinging his cane, and sauntering slowly towards the spot where John
Beacham, with those two very different specimens of womankind—one
leaning upon either arm—was standing. It must have been evident to any
looker-on whose attention was not otherwise engrossed that the Colonel
manifested a decided inclination to haunt the spot where that beautiful face
and élancée girlish figure were to be seen and admired. Honor, perceiving
his return, felt that so it was; and the shy blush rose again to her cheek as
she answered John’s question in the affirmative.
Rather to her surprise, the latter turned away abruptly, thus avoiding the
meeting with the gallant Fred which must otherwise have taken place.
“O,” he began, and Honor knew by his heightened colour that her
husband’s naturally quick temper had received a touch of the spur, “so that’s
the party, is it? Well, Honey, I won’t promise to bring him up to the house—
that is, at least, unless I’m obliged to, which I don’t think likely. Why, my
dear, that’s Colonel Norcott, a man who—but never mind; you’ve nothing
to do with what he is, nor I neither, excepting that he bought Rough
Diamond of Arthur Vavasour, and—well, I never thought to care so little
whether a colt of my breeding proved a winning horse or not.”
“They were great people once in the county were the Norcotts,” put in
Mrs. Beacham. “I’ve heard old Mrs. Parsons—she that was mother to the
fly-away thing that keeps the shop at Leigh now—say, times and over, that
Madam Norcott—which she’s nothing better than Mrs. Baker now—used to
buy gownds of her that a duchess might have wored; and she could afford it
too; and it was a pity that this young man made ducks and drakes of
everything, for it was him, warn’t it, John, that brought the family down to
what it is?”
Before her son could answer, which he was about to do in the
affirmative, the well-known proverb having reference to a certain
gentleman in black who shall be nameless, was once more unsatisfactorily
illustrated by the reappearance on the scene of the spendthrift in question.
Coming this time totally unawares upon the unsuspecting trio, it was
impossible for John to evade, as he had before done, the meeting with a
man of whose character and principles he entertained the worst possible
opinion. The object of his dislike came forward with a dégagée air, and
after nodding in a patronising manner to John, stopped in the middle of the
broad turf-covered walk, thus effectually barring the passage.
“Fine day! Looked like rain this morning. Your wife, eh, Beacham?
Happy to be introduced. We’re kinder pardners now, as the Yankees say,
and you must wish me good luck, Mrs. Beacham, with Rough Diamond.
Ladies have all the luck in racing, and I shall expect you’ll remember me in
your prayers.”
“I hear the colt is looking well,” John said stiffly. “I’ve no interest in him
myself now he’s out of Mr. Vavasour’s hands;” and he was moving on,
when Colonel Norcott, stepping on one side, joined himself (walking on
Honor’s side) to the party.
“Been riding lately, Mrs. Beacham?” he said coolly. “That little mare of
yours is a pretty goer; but then, who should be well mounted if you are not?
Of course you had the pick of your husband’s stables, and there’s nothing
like them, I always say. Such luck, too, Beacham, your stock have. By
George! I expect to make a pot of money out of Rough Diamond.”
“I hope you won’t be disappointed, sir,” said John drily. “And now,”
stopping dead short, and looking resolutely at a turn in the road which led
(at right-angles) in another direction, “and now I believe that we must wish
you good-morning. I am a business man; and as I don’t often afford myself
a day’s leisure, I wish to make the most of it;” and having so said, he bowed
with grave civility to the Colonel, and drew his womankind away.
Fred Norcott was not the kind of man to be easily repulsed. He did not
stand in the slightest awe of John. “A low fellow of a horse-breeder, you
know,” is the way he would have described the man whose watchwords
were truth and honesty, and whose palm was as pure as a sucking child’s
from bribes. “A fellow who ought to be obliged to a gentleman for noticing
him, which one wouldn’t do, you know, except for his wife. By Jove! such a
pretty creature! Such eyes! and a foot—”
But there is no need to follow this unchartered libertine in his (imagined)
unseemly rhapsodies. That he did intensely admire the wife of the man he
affected to despise had been made quite sufficiently evident during that
short colloquy, not only to the object of that admiration, but to honest John
himself. The latter was not either of a quarrelsome or a susceptible
temperament. It was not in his nature to take umbrage at any respectfully
evinced appreciation of his wife’s beauty. Anything so pretty as Honor was
of course made to be looked at; but looked at, not with eyes of convoitise—
not with the bold, much-meaning, purity-tainting stare with which men of
the stamp of dissolute Fred Norcott bring burning blushes to the cheeks of
girlish beauty. John’s blood had boiled within him when the colour, stirred
by the bad man’s gaze, had risen to his fair wife’s brow. He could have
felled that slight, delicate-looking libertine to the ground with one blow of
his powerful right arm, and the act would have done good, perhaps, to both
men; but John had, for the moment at least, his passions under control, and
the quondam soldier was left standing scathless upon the greensward, and
gazing vacantly at Honor’s retreating figure.
The abruptness—not to call it rudeness—with which John Beacham had
given him his congé seemed to have produced very little effect in rousing
Fred Norcott’s indignation. The impression that the sight of Honor had
made upon him was far too powerful for any other emotion either to lessen
or to remove it. The fact was that in the Celtic beauty he had traced, or
fancied he could trace, one of those extraordinary resemblances which
sometimes, in our walk through life—looking back, it may be, along the
“wondrous track of dreams”—startle us into retrospective thought.
“How like! My G—d! how like!” he said to himself. “The same fair hair,
and long dark eyelashes. The same—”
“I beg your pardon, Colonel Norcott; but I believe you are thinking of
Mrs. John Beacham?” and a middle-aged woman, neatly but plainly
dressed, who had approached unperceived (so constant was the hum of
voices, and so soft and thick the turf beneath her tread), dropped a curtsey
to the gentleman, and begged to say that her name was Bridget Bainbridge.
As is the frequent case with intriguing persons, Colonel Norcott’s first
idea, when he chanced to find himself accosted by a stranger, was, that he
was about to be imposed upon; he therefore—albeit a little taken aback by
the sound of a name which he had not heard for many a bygone year—
commenced an immediate scrutiny of the woman’s features, in order the
better to secure himself against the evil of being “done.” Apparently the
investigation was corroborative, for after a moment or two he said in a
hurried whisper:
“It is a long time since we met, and you have chosen rather a public
place in which to make yourself known. If you have anything to say, go in
that direction,” and he pointed to a narrow pathway, leading to a dense
shrubbery of evergreens. “Go,” he continued authoratively; “and I will join
you in a few moments.”
The woman who had called herself Bridget Bainbridge seemed about to
speak, then stopped, hesitated a little, as if unable to make up her mind as to
the best course to be pursued, and finally decided on following the
Colonel’s directions. The latter, after waiting—with a strange look of
perplexity in his face—for a few brief moments, turned away in an opposite
direction, but in one which, for he knew the “lay” of the Danescourt
grounds well, would conduct him eventually to the place where Mrs.
Bainbridge was waiting for his coming. His step was far slower now, and
infinitely less assured, than when he had advanced with that air conquérant
of his to damage with a word and look the peace of mind of that bright
rustic beauty. There was evidence of thought in his lowered head, and of a
nameless anxiety in his knitted brow. Something had tamed his spirits since
he had caught sight of that quiet-looking middle-aged female, and as he
approached the place where she was waiting for him, the pulsations of his
heart grew quicker, and large beads of sweat stood out upon his forehead.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON:
ROBSON AND SON, GREAT NORTHERN PRINTING WORKS,
PANCRAS ROAD, N.W.
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
spent in the secluson=> spent in the seclusion {pg 18}
succesfully combated=> successfully combated {pg 101}
gossipped about=> gossiped about {pg 184}
change your gownd afore=> change your gown afore {pg
201}
She was girl=> She was a girl {pg 284}
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SINK OR SWIM?
***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S.


copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in
these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it
in the United States without permission and without paying
copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of
Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything
for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is
very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as
creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.
Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given
away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with
eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject
to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE


THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free


distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or
any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and


Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree
to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be
bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund
from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in
paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be


used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people
who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a
few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic
works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.
See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with
Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the
collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the
individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the
United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law
in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do
not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing,
performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the
work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of
course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™
mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely
sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated
with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this
agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached
full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge
with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the
United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the
terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying,
performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this
work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes
no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in
any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other


immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must
appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™
work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears,
or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is
accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived


from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a
notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright
holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the
United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must
comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through
1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted


with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted
with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning
of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project


Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a
part of this work or any other work associated with Project
Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this


electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1
with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you
provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work
in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in
the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or
expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or
a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original
“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must
include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in
paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,


performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing


access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive
from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who


notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt
that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project
Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of


any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in
the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90
days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™


electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend


considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe
and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating
the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may
be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to,
incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a
copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or
damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for


the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3,
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the
Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim
all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR
NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR
BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH
1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK
OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL
NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT,
CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF
YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you


discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving
it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by
sending a written explanation to the person you received the work
from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must
return the medium with your written explanation. The person or
entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide
a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work
electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to
give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in
lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may
demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the
problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied


warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted
by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation,


the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation,
anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with
the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or
any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission


of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.
It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and
donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the


assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a
secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help,
see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project


Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,


Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to


the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can
be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the
widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many
small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to
maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating


charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and
keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in
locations where we have not received written confirmation of
compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of
compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where


we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no
prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in
such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make


any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of
other ways including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About


Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,


including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how
to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and


personal growth!

textbookfull.com

You might also like