The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-08-18
ABSENCE OF NERVES.
A DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC
OF THE MONGOlAN.

Tho Chinnman an Automatic Workman.
His Capacity for Sleep Under Adverss
, Copditions-aireatfaDg and Ventilation.
wttl.nt Worry and Anxiety-A Puzzle.
10 Is not very common b dissect dead
Cinnamon, though IL has doubtless been
done; but VIZ do not hear Of any reasons for
suppOsing that the nervous anatomy of the
dark haired race differs in any essential
respect from that Of the CaucaSAn But
though the nerves Of a Chinese, as compared
with tEose of the Occidental, may be, as the
geometricians say, similar and similarly
situated nothing is palmer than that they
are nerves Of very different sort from those
with which we are familiar. 10 seems %
mako NO particular difference to Chinese
how long he remains in one position He
will write all day like an automaton II he
is handnyaftsman he will stand all day in
ono place from dewy morn till dusky eve,
working away at his weaving, his gold
beating, or whatever it may be, and do it
every day, without any variation in the
monotony, and apparently with no special
consciousness that there is any monotony to
be varied. In the same way Chinese school
children are subjected to an amount Of con-
finement, unrelieved by any recess or change
of work, which would soon drive western pu-
pills TO the verge Of insanity. The very infants
In arms, instead of squirming and wriggling
rs our children begin to do as soon rs they
are born, lie as impassive as so many mud
gods And ate more advanced age, when
western children would vie with the monkey
in its widest antics, Chinese children will
often stand, sit or squat in the same posture
for great length Of time.
It seems to be a physiological fact that to
the Chinese exercise is superfuous They can
not understand the mania which seems to
possess all classes of foreigners alike to walk
when there is no desire to 60 anywhere,
much less can they comprehend the impulse
TO race over the country, at the risk of ones
life, in such.a singular performance as that
known as a paper boat" or tho motive
which impels men OF good social position to
stand all the afternoon in the sun trying to
knock O base ball to some spot where it shall
be inaccessible to some other persons, or, on
the other hand, struggling to catch the same
ball with CELEBRITY 80 as to "kill" another per-
son on his ''baser' Why any mortal should
do acts hike these when he is abundantly able
TO hire coolies to do them for him is, We re-
peat, essentially incomprehensible to
Chinaman, nor is it any more comprehensi-
BILE because he has heard it explained many
times.
In the item of sleep, the Chinese establishes
the same difference between himself and the
Occidental as in the directions already speci-
fled. Generally speaking, he is able to sleep
anywhere None of the trifing disturbances
which drive us to despair annoy him. With
a brick for a pillow, he can lie down on his
bed of stalks, or mud bricks, or rattan, and
sleep the sleep Of the just, with no reference
TO the rest of creation. He does not want
his room darkened, nor does~he require
Others to be still The infant crying in the
night may continue to cry for all he cares,
for it does not disturb him. In some regions
the entire population seems to fall asleep, as
by common instinct dixie that Of the hiber-
mating bear during the first two hours Of
summer afternoons, and they do this with
regularity, no matter where they may be.
At two hours after noon the universe at
such seasons is as still as two hours after
midnight. In the case Of most working
people at least, and also in that of many
others, position in sleep is of no sort of con.
sequence. 1t would be easy to raise in China
al army Of l, 900 900 men-nay, Of 10, 100000
tested by their capacity to go to sleep
across three wheel barrows, with head down.
ward, like spider, their mouths wide open
and fly inside.
Besides this, we must take account OF the
fact that in China breathing seems to be
optional. There is nowhere any ventilation
worth the name, except when q typhoon
blows the roof from a building, or when
famine compels the owner to pull the house
down to sell the timbers We hear much of
Chinese overcrowding, but ovelcrowding is
the normal condition Of the Chinese, and
they do not appear to be Inconvenience by
it at all, or i'll so trifflng degree that it
scarcely deserves mention If they had an
outfit Of Anglo-Saxon nerves they would be
as wretched as we frequently suppose them to
be. The same freedom from the tyranny of
nerves is exhibited in the Chinese endurance
of physical pain. Those who have any ac-
quaintance with the operations in hospitals
i'll China know how common, or rather how
almost universal, it is for the patient to bear
without hinching a degree of pain from
which the stoutest of us would shrink in
terror
1t would be easy to expand this topic alone
into an essay, but we must pass it by,
merely calling attention to a remark Of
George Eliot in one of her letters. 1.-THE
highest calling and election" she says-irri-
tated, no doubt, by theological formulas, for
which she had no taste-'is TO do without
opium and to bear pain with clear eyed en-.
duranoe." II she is right, there can DO no
little doubt that most Chinese at least have
made their calling and election safe 1t
remains to speak Of the worries and ankle
ties to which humanity Is everywhere sub.
jected In this distracted world The Chinese
are not only as accessible to these evils as
any other people, but far more so. The con-
ditions of their social life are such that in
any given region there Is large proportion
who are always on the ragged edge Of ruin.
A slight diminution Of the rainfall means
to hundreds Of thousands. A
slight Increase in the rainfall means the de-
vastation of their homes by destructive
foods, for which there is no known remedy.
No Chinese is safe from the ENHANCEMENT Of
. lawsuit, which, though he be perfectly in
nocent nnay work his ruin. Many Of these
disasters are not only seen, but their stealthy
and steady approach is perceived, like the
gradual sinking of the Iron Stroud.
To us nothing is more dreadful than the
expectation of calamity, which
cannot be forfended, and which may bring
had 10, k.xx IL. H.,