The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-05-24
..seienoe and the Woman Question: p

The March number of the Popular
Science Monthly contained an article by
Miss Hardaker invoking Science to prove
the natural and irrevocable mental infer
iority of the female to male. Coming from
a woman it was not cordially received or
heartily endorsed by her sisters, and Miss
Nina Morals in the May number of the
same periodical, condenses Miss Harda-
ker's argument into two propositions as
follows:
1. A large amonnt of matter represents
more force than small amount. Hence,
man is superior to woman in body and
BRAIN
2. All human energy is an exact equiva-
lent of food consumed and assimilated.
Man, by reason of his larger organs, eats
and assimilates more food than woman
does EACH Of his organs, including the
brain, Is therefore capable of acting with
proportionaily greater energy. Hence,
man win always think more than women.
and unless woman can devise some means
of reducing mans size, she must be con-
tent to revolve about him in the future as
in the past
1t is objected to as unfair, ''to reason as
to the general quality of two organs by
their different product unless our compari
sons are made under the same environ
ment Let one pair of lungs respire at sea-
level, another at the top of Mont Blanc;
their absolute product would be no esti-
mate of their relative capacity. Stiil the
physiologist would have little difficulty in
eliminating the effect of differences of cir
stances in his calculation, because his
knowledge of the lungs and of the in
fiuence of atmospheric pressure enables
him 70 allow for differences of environ
ment. But as the male and female brain
have always acted in different mental
atmospheres, the relation of structure to
function as regards brain has not been ac-
curately determined" Miss Hardaker
thinks there is no need of experiment since
1t can be determined by analogy that all
the organs work in proportion TO their size,
though she does not prove that the large
eye sees better, the large ear hears better or
more or the large nerve feels more keenly /;
forgetting to state, however, that woman's
smaller heart beats faster than mans
larger one; that her circulation is to
his in swiftness as ten to nine; and that
according to her own figures, and to some
celebrated authorities, the proportion of
brain to body is larger in woman than in
man. But reasoning upon her own prem
ises the true law must be found elsewhere
than in the grocer'sscale; not the size of
body, but the strength Of the impelling
force, is the ultimate test of power. The
avoirdupois Of the fat boy is clog 10 his
energy; the fast runner wins by his light
weight; the champion oarsman reduces
his hesh.n
Larger brsin-weight does not mean
larger thinking power.
According TO Gratiolet, the male brain can
not fall below thirty-seven ounces without
involving idiocy, while the female may
fail to thirfy-two ounces without such re-
suit" In the one case thirty-four is rat
ional thought, thirty-seven irrational, and
the small amount of matter represents
more power than large amount
Miss Hardaker's conclusion appears to
be that fhe larger brain supplied with
more blood does in q given time heavier
work. but not more work, because The
smaller brain is propelled more easily
which explains the quickness of percep
ton and lively fancy which are womanly
traits.
As matter of fact, the circumstance OF
superior muscular development seems un.
favorable to great exertion of mind. The
demands of the body itself in large per
sons are imperative, The first daughts OF
energy must go to repairing the wsste OF
the system. Afterward though the poten
tial energy represented by the food con
sumed may still be stored up,there is little
mower or Inclination to apply that energy
to thought. The college student who is
the most active in the field, who has the
greatest height in his stockings, and has
the biggest biceps, is rarely at the head
Of his class
The savage Tuetons, whose great bodies
afriehted The Romans of Caesar, have be
come the civilized possessors of less bulk
and more knowledge. Aristotle, Napo[
con, Jeffrey, Theirs were short In person.