The Wilmingtonian., 1886-05-22
OVERLOADED BRAINS,
Will Civilization Run a Certain
ROund, and Disappear

| VIII Civilization Run Certain
Round, and Disappear?
In no way is the brain work doing SC
much damage as to itself. the power OF
memory is unquestionably less OH the aver
age in men of to-day than in the Greeks and
our other Aryan predecessors The Hindoos
of this day can repeat volumes of the Vedas
Our brains are overloaded and stalled in the
slough. We forget nine-tenths of what we
learn. large amount of accumulation
finds no place to write its records on the
brain. The effort is exhausting. The
struggle to menorize breaks down the nj
tritiye powers aud makes dyspeptics the
exeretive powers, and apoplexy and Brght's
disease follow. The diseases of civilization
are for the most pat biair diseases. or those
brought on by the brain. Is civilization a
failure? VIII it always run a c srtain round
and disappear whcre the As~yriau, Egyptian
aud Grcciau culture went-self slain?
THE MAXIMUM OF BRAIN-PowER.
Crowded in its case, or skull, the brain
has perhaps come near It's iinality Of bulk
But it has long since adopted the plan of
folding itself in al d in, and by myriad OF
convulsiunS, coutrived to increase its surface
power, The brain Of a savage, if spread out
would cover some fifty squire fe, II; the
brain of du educated American covers in
like conditions 200 square feet. Here is four
times the supe fetal brain area, or -four
times the recording and directing power.
The skull case is thnnad, and the iufirm
faculties crowded out, SO that the dominant
iegality of reason may be increased. Has
brain-power reached its maximum? Can we
look for any further increase of intellectual
power? 1t IS clear that no poet has ever
surpassed, nay, none has equaled, Homer.
With the advantages in the way of data at
command, no naturalist has ever cquaied,
certainly not surpassed, Aristotle. No NOR
al philosophers have excslled Jesus, and
those of the fifth century earlier, Buldha,
Socrates and Confucius. The average power
of to-day is vastly ahead of the average Of
any preceding age, hut brain-power seems
to have touched its height in Plato, Homer
and Shakespeare.
The general tendency is, as you see for
the brain in ruling the body, to go to such
extremes as to take the body down, to dis
integrate it, and so subvert her own pur-
p ,ses. The senses weakened, our relation
to the outer UNIV .rse is dulled. Whatever
may be the vulgarity of gross body, that
the brain dos not govern, is equally true,
in feeble way, Of an abJrted body, that
high civiliz ltion has dropped through the
cracks of the car of progress. Physiological
ethics are our present need gospel of legs
and and arms as well as brain; but a gospel
Of good eyes, ears, and most as well.
BRAIN AND BODY-MANUAL TRAINING.
Spenser, the poet, says "For of the soul
the body form doth take" This is equally
true that of the body the soul takes its form.
If one desires a long life for noble ends, if
his ambition is to be of the utmost possible
value in the world We must have an honest
opinion about his flesh and a sincere conserv-
atism in the use of it. The Old-fashioned
trinity Of evil vas ''the world, the flesh, and
the devil" Nowadays to make good use
uf she word we must honor the body Good
aims make a healthy body; sound body
aids good aimS. Temperance, honesty puri-
ty--Il g cd graces and virtues-build mp
not only the soul but the body.
What shall we do with the brain under
the circumstances? By what means can we
s't up couute"poise, or how can we divide
an authority that is getting to be Oaneful
We know that evolution in separating man
fon his ancestry of mammals differenced
him mainly in two points, the head and the
bands. So far as the rest of The body is CON
concerned it is very old-fashiuned. But the
hand is marvelolsly human, type of our
distinct power. No animal has hand-a
tool-making and t1ol-using organ. Its deli
cacy of touch, Its power to use, its univer-
salty is something new. There seems to be
no more feasible plan to set up the hand as
the rival of the brain in other words, to
turn Que 81 cation mere to art and less to
memori2ug aud speculating The brain lets
go in crisis ; the hand g"p, lie tighter. |
do not know any more hopeful tendency
now entering n'o educatiol than the growth
Of manual training, training the hand to do
the masters cunning.-'E T.. r." M St.
L III Gl BE- d mocrat.