Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1880-04-19
SOMETHING MORE ABOUT BRAINS.
o,a u.e,. pa.isI Hes . Few words
% SAY Upen she sehjeess

-- D..U X4mM
0"- - IT.. 70 sshIees.
-. n.,,., MA. n.
Yesterday oid ono
writer, and remafked that IL IN ordsr'
=. Ia vouId ike 10 say q few words
,.v.z.,u.,n.. ;a =.
aoous Drains.
''while 1t 10 doubtless uue' - imPneo IN
the recently published article In the
Nv, thai brsins ara the soarosst com.
N..,..,. h.n.,,., .rd th.. . Iact NJ
"oe' 49,
brains IN man u nins'
still Il may DO said In favor OF the ms.
,.,,,,-ns,,vl.,s nine.tantbs-that the
'" u-.-L... AZ.
masses OF NJ PeoP.
civilized world. especially In The United
statss. can boast Of having made .
,-.,.,,,. -;,,.,,.otn.I advance dur.
S.I-.s".s...-.,h. n h.,.,hs
ing me aS'
leaders OF thought; n III 10 quite prop.
able thatA the gsp between the Two
classes closes a. rapidly during the
coming hundred years aait nss ouring
the last hundred there VIII tnen % %.
few hewers OF wood and drawer OF wafer
to minister to the wants OF the Uafiyies
Of that day, and that u WILL men Do
necessary 10 recast the ungensrous INC
cynical assertion Of Carlyle, % whion
you refer. that 'nine.tenths Of the human
race are FOOLS During the last hundred
years the masses OF the people OF inc
civilized world have advanced win rapio
strides from . lower TO q higher plane Of
knowledge, and now possess q greater
degree Of intellectual culture than tney
have at any period known TO history,
while the leaders OF thought the men OF
higher intsllsotuai power who are IN
the van OF scientific investigation and
research, have made. c~omparativoly
speaking. but little progress. Inc Gus.
tanss intellectually between the Newton
and Shakespeare class OF men and the
lower order Of minds OF their time was
almest Unreasonable. while today the
gap between the two classes represented,
although far from being bridged over, 10
much less than It was then.
"Itis true that practical adaptations OF
some Of the forces OF nature-stssm
and sleetricity. for instance-have been
made within the last hundred years, Tor
which credit 10 due to Watts and Ste.
phenson and Morse; but to the minds OF
older times the credit OF the discovery
Of these then hidden forces Of nature IL
due. And when the fact is taken into
consideration that scientific investiga.
ton and research are nov untrammsied
Il seems strange that NO greater progress
In the way 81 practical adaptations oil
the forces Of nature to mans use has
been made during the last 1nir1y Year,;
The present age evidently LACKS original
thinkers. men Of the Roger Bacon ana
the Calico and the Newton order.
ITO show how little proGrssst the giited
men, the men Of brains, have made for
centuries past In some directions, u
may DO said that In sculpture and
painting the Greeks and the Italian
masters OF centuries ago reached point
which IN later years mas NOT oeeo
surpassed; that IN arcnilecture inc
Egyptian pyramids ana temples, inc
aqueducts OF the Romans and many OF
their works OF art arc looked upon TO-DAY
with feelings OF wonder and admiration;
that in literature ths Had OF homsr. tne
GRAFTON OF Demosthenes on Inc CroWn,
the poetry OF Virgil, Of Snakespeato ana
OF Milton are still hello up - mooels 70
the rising generation; that In 1urispru'
dencs and law We still borrow from inc
Romans, and that while In the channels
Of religious thought the masses have TO
Q considerable extent broken loose from
supsrstition's chains and have become
imbusd with liberal ideas, most Of the
great lights Of orthodoxy are today as
narrow.minded and bigoted a. were Cal
vim and Luther.
Judging from your essay. you appear
to think that there II NO limit 10 the
possible expansion OF the human MIND
that BY the transmission and con.
tipusd development Of accumulated
brain force from generation TO gener'
alton, there will be, some time In the
future, men who will know all there
IL 10 know IN this world, who will be-
come a. gods In point OF wisdom. Do
you think that. BY careful breeding,
raoe-horses can ever be produced that
will trot Q mile In thirty seconds2 Can
men, BY careful attention to physical
conditions. be produced twenty feet In
heishtf II not, II there 10 o limit to the
speed Of the horse, beyond which he
cannot 20, and Q limit to the physical
stature OF man, why not Q limit to
to the development OF mans brain
power and ospssity7 Suppose I should
say that In . few cases the limit has
already BEEN reached; that in Newton
and Shakespeare and Daniel Webster
The extreme limit OF brain development
nossible 10 man was attainsd7 II the
limit was not reached In those cases