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wisely recognized the progressive nature of his eye
condition. Arturo Toscanini, conductor of the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra, has compensated for his great
short-sightedness by developing a phenomenal memory,
so that he is capable of conducting innumerable
symphonies and operas without a score. One of the most
daring flying men of to-day suffered a life-long sense of
inferiority because of his small size. Not only was aviation
a subjective compensation for his smallness (he could
look down on the world from the vantage point of his
aeroplane), but he capitalized his size by inventing a very
small and fast machine which a larger man could never
have entered or flown. With this aeroplane he won many
races and a great measure of satisfying fame.
The third method of compensation, that of seeking a
situation in which the defective organ is advantageous,
has already been touched in part in the cases of the deaf
woman who became a sculptor, and the small man who
invented the speedy aeroplane. Perhaps the best example
of this type of compensation is to be found in the case of
a man who suffered from ozaena, a degenerative disease of
the mucous membranes of the nose which produces a
constant stench from the nostrils at the same time that
it practically destroys the individual’s ability to
differentiate odours. Although this disease did not
prevent Disraeli from becoming prime minister, it is
one of the few diseases which make close social contacts
almost impossible. This man was compelled to give up
several jobs because his condition made his fellow work¬
men too uncomfortable. As foreman of a glue factory
he found a satisfying occupation which enabled him to
hold on to the sheet anchor of work when all else seemed
lost.
Compensation as a Function of the Total Personality
The fourth method of compensation is one of the
commonest in daily practice, and as a rule, offers the most
satisfying solutions of inferiority situations. In this form
of compensation the total personality assumes a pattern