Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1888-05-10
WOMAN'S MENTAL STATUS,
Why DR.. Livermore Considers 1t Superior
to That OF Man.

! Why DIR. Livermore Considers 1t Superior
to That OF Man.
Though we were to cOncede all that
is claimed for difference in size of brain
between the sexes. still IN the home no
one discovers any natural infcriority of
girls to boys. As a rule. the girls in
any community are quite as intelligent
rs the boys. If we pass from child
hood to youth we still fail to discover
any mental inferiority of young women
to young men. When the two sexes
are educated together the female per.
forms her task with the same apparent
ease as the male. Young women ac-
quire languages rs readily. compre-
hend abstruse problems as quickly, and
are quite as likely to take prizes in
mathematics and othep studies rs male
students. III adult age we find the
same intellectual equality of the sexes.
And yet here We may find an excuse
for any deficiency on the part of
woman, by remembering that she has
not had the same opportunity for men
tai development that man has enjoyed
The greatest variation of brain-wei~ht
is among civilized peoples. where
women have never enjoyed equal ad-
vantages with men for mental culture,
while among the lowest races there is
but little, if any. variation in size of
brain between the sexes, showing that
education has had much to do in the
intellectual development of man. Says
MaudSley, who is authority on this SUBJ
ject: Among Europeans the average
weight of the brain is greater in edu-
Gated than in uneducated persons"
Now woman has never had equal OPP
portunitieS with man for intellectual
development. The universities and all
the best educational institutions Of the
world have been closed to her. and all
the weight of custom and prejudice have
been brought to bear upon her, to make
her rcpress all intellectual aspirations
as foreign to her sphere of activity,
which is popularity interpreted to mean
domesticity. If quality" of brain has
no bearing on this question, as Profess
sor Romanes maintains, why. then,
should 37-ounce brain in man involve
idiocy, and the same result not follow
in woman with Il S7-ounce brain? If
the brain of both sexes is the same in
all respects, why should not idiocy fol-
low in each with the same weight of
brain? If the man becomes idiotic
with 81 ounces of brain. is we are told.
and the woman is in no danger of
idiOcy with that weight of brain. it is
evident enough which has the inferior |
brain. If the 32-ounce female brain !
can 10 better intellectual work than
the 37-ounce male brain (thc point of |
idiOcy) then the argument from the |
relative weight os brain falls, or proves |
the superiority of the female brain. If |
the 57-ounce male brain goes to wreck |
and ruin, while the 37-ounce female |
brain is sound and clear and capable |
of good mental work, it legitimately
follows that the constituent properties
Of the two brains are in some respects
or that the female brain is of
quality, as many scientific
writer's teach. If both hal precisely
the same quality" of brain, both
would become idiotic with the same
viz, 81 ounces. 1t is be-
cause of this higher quality of the female
brain that little girls have an excess of
refined moral sense over boys, more
natural refinement, sweeter natures,
and diviner instincts. Of course there
are exceptions to all rules. but. gener-
ally speaking. the finer qualities of the
female nature are apparent in early
yirlhood, so that the instincts and per-
,eptionS in girls are of higher order
han in boys. Girls are more refined
n their manners and habits of life and
thought, and this indicates higher
legree of moral and spiritual sensi-
oility. Words and actions show the
quality of the soul, FOR out of the heart
he mouth speaketh, and the speech be-
rays the quality of the heart. Woman,
is rule, has II better quality of thought
md life than man.-Reu. d. P. Lircr-
more, in F0runl.