The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1879-10-24
a SCIENTIFIC QUESTION.
New York Times. !

SCIENTlFlC QUESTION.
New York Times.l
The progress which has been made
in our day in scientific research is
something wonderful. There seems to
ne no such thing as u contented scien-
tanc person, who feels that he has
solvea All possible problems, and hence
iorth has nothing to do but sit down
and contemplate his own excellencies.
No sooner has the modern scientific
, person solved one problem than he
hastens To attack another. As fast as
he upsets one old-fashioned belief he
, begins to undermine another. The re-
suit is that every day some new dis
covery is made, or at least some new
| topics attract the attention of the
scientific mind. 1t seems only the other
day that MIR. Darwin was investigat.
ing the nature and origin Of the once
familiar feminine habit of blushing,
and wrote his famous circular to the
British missionaries asking them, in
tho interest OF science, to observe
whether their heather acquaintances
blushed, except So far as their faces
were concerned. Aud now, close upon
the settlement of the blushing question,
we find Mr.. Darwin and his fellow
philosophers Investigating the reason
why tho female OF our species always
sits down on the floor to remove her
shoes. Tho question may not seem an
important one to light-,ninded and
ignorant persons, but the thoughtful
| man knows that all truth is precious,
and that to search for the truth con-
cerning the origin OF any custom Is a
grand anu noble work.
1t is universally known that when a
man desires to take Off his shoes he
adopts one of two methods. Either he
Sits on Il chair or sofa aud rests one
foot on his knee while untastening and
removing its shoe, or he stands up,
and, by placing his foot on u chair,
brings the shoe readily within reach OF
his hand. Neither of these methods
is ever employcd-so we are assured
on the authority of scientific persons
! by women. Mr.. Darwin asserts that
| the habit Of sitting down on the floor
in order to unlace or unbutton shoes Is
peculiarly characteristic OF women, and
is, so he believes, AN element, or, at
all events, sign of sex. 1t is not the
business OF tho public to inquire how
Mr.. Darwin and his scientific friends
acquired tho data upon which they
base their assertions as to this alleged
feminine habit. Perhaps they wrote
to the late DR.. Judson, an eminent
missionary VINO, having Occn married
four times, must have collected vast
and awful quantity of facts. How
over this may be we need not now in-
uuire, since it is with the iuyestira-
ton as to the origin of the alleged Gus
tom that we nre at present concerned
Mr. n,r,v;, hoe i, ,ro,,d;,, :, c,,,,,.
~ tho 1octrine u,h;ci, Ia ;uvantoi co,
,,ar,,;no tho .nrv;,-,I nc ,ha attest nad
naturaIiv hr;nrs - inf, sor,,;cn ,,han
ever there is an opportunity. He
claims that chairs had not been in
| vented when women began to wear
shoes, and that, hence, they were nee
essarily Obliged TO sit on the floor
| when thcy wished to take them of.
| When chairs first came into usc they
were very expensive, and were han
died with great care. The Thoughtful
young man OF course, preferred to
marry girl who would never put her
foot on a chair, and, therefore, selected
a wife whom he knew would sit on the
floor TO take Off her shoes, instead of
using ono of his precious chairs. Thus.
n was ouly the girls who practiced
that iudicious habit that secured hus
hands Thev married. bcino thc 6ttcst