Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-16

project into the canals give notice to the
brain Of turnings and changes in the bal
ance OF the body. The hairs. at their roots.
are connected with sense organs. The
sense of direction is more highly developed
In lower animals than in man, particularly
in fishes. A fish never gets lost in the
dark.
1t must be realized that every thought
which enters the mind Is registered in the
brain by a change in the structure of Its
cells. The change Is q physical change,
more or less permanent. Bad thoughts
build up structures Of cells which engender
evil ideas. and good thoughts contrariwise.
Cheerful thinking makes q happy disposi-
ton, while indulgence in melancholy has an
opposite effect.
Apply this idea to morals:
Take an ill-tempered child. Its evil pro-
pensity springs from the overdevelopmeut
Of certain brain structures Too much blood
goes to those parts Of the mind machinery,
and excessive nutrition causes overgrowth:
Every time the child Is angry the blood
flows to that portion Of the thinking organ.
The remedy for this or for any other In
fantile vice. Is to teach the child to contem-
plate other things, such as are calculated TO
uplift the mind and to distract attention
each day In calling up agreeable memories
and In thinking Of good and pleasant things.
This process. pursued under proper teach
er. Is likely to effect a permanent reform.
There will be moral kindergartens some
day, says Prof. Gates. Consider the case OF
q man who is unhappy and depressed, dis
couraged with life; who has lost ambition;
and walks the streets stoop-shouldered and
with slouching gait. The psycho-physicist
can take such a person and within six
weeks transform him to such an extent that
every friend Of his will notice the dinerence:
The alteration will be accomplished without
communicating to the individual any sug-
gestions as to desirable improvements In
his gait or outward aspect. He will simply
be put through a course OF mental lessons.
To begin with, he will be taught to rehearse
for one hour each day all the pleasurable
memories he can summon up. he VIII de-
liberately devote more time to cheerful and
agreeable thoughts. BY this means more
blood and nourshment will be directed to
those parts of the brain which produce such
pleasant ideas. Correspondingiy, the parts
that give birth to unpleasant feelings and
recollections will be deprived of nutrition
and at length will become atrophied. Fol-
lowing this plan, the man Is transformed
from a victim Of melancholy and despair
into a happy citizen. a Joy to himself and to
others.
Can Build Up the Mind.
Anybody may go into the business of
building his own mind. The thinking organ
undergoes perpetual changes in cell struc-
! ture and is never finished. Whereas every
| one is in a manner the architect Of his
own brain: he may begin alterations at
any time. Even In old age ii is not too
| late.
Let the esoteric mind builder system
atically devote an hour each day to calling
| up pleasant ideas and memories. Let him
summon those finer feelings of benevolence
| and unselfishness, which are called up in
| ordinary life only now and then. Let him
| make this a regular exercise. like swinging
| dumb bells. Let him gradually increase the
| time devoted to these psychical gymnastics.
giving to them co or 80 minutes per diem.
At the end of a month he will find the
change in himself surprising. The altera-
| ton Will be apparent In his actions and
| thoughts. II will have been registered in
| the cell structure of his brain. Cells use
full for good thinking will have been de-
veloped. while others productive Of evil will
have shrunk Morally speaking. the man
! will be a great improvement on his former
| self. Such training is most profitably con-
Quoted under the instruction of a skilled
psycho-physicist.
The principles already laid down show
how habits are formed. II one does a
| thing many times there is a tendency to
| go on repeating ii. That part OF The brain
| structure which does the thinking In con-
nection with the act has been nourished
| and developed by blood flowing into It,
Accordingly 1t continues to engender the
| same IMPULSE with increased strength.
One must starve these particular cells by
| directing the mental attention 10 other
quarters In order to get rid OF the habit
1t Is easy to understand how a stingy
and avartcious young person develops IN to
/
mulating money has developed in the cell
| structure Of the brain until 1t dominates
| all things else. The same result is some
what differently illustrated in the more
man who has devoted his life to the getting
of dollars. Too often does II happcn thai
| by the time he has made his pile he Ia s
lost the power to play. Rational amuse-
finds no fun In merry company, and at the
| theater his attention wsnders from the
| play to the market for stocks or provisions
On the other hand. by the exercise of gen.
| crosby one becomes more generous Every
good action makes one better
| however. the prime object held in view
ny the psycho-physicist is to cultivate the
| thinking powers Of the brain How can
man get more mind? That is the Question
BY constructing the thinking organ svs-
tema tically from early childhood, saws the
rev sclence-not as the schools do, throw
| ing knowledge in with a shovel bur nv
building up the brain bit by bit until every
part Is properly developed
one result Will be to increase and Quick en-
the power Of original thinking Nearly an
or the thinking that anybody does IS m
conscious. IL you will set down a row OF
dots with wide spaces between them the
dots will represent conscious thoughts while
me tne spaces VIII stand for unconscious cere-
oration. Ideas frequently leap into the
mind as IL from nowhere, and they are ant
to be the best ideas. They are the fruit ~
unconscious thinking: the mind has ground
|
| about. Active brain cells have worked them
out on their own hook, as ii " ere
| properly educated brain cells will do this
| work In superior fashion. Thus minds
can be cultivated to produce original ideas
| In other words, Inventors can be made TO
order and discovery can be promoted. Cen
| ius has been an accident hitherto: in the
future 1t will be created artificially
! What Has Been Learned the Inst Few
| Years.
| Ever SO much has been learned within the
| last few years about the structure of the
| mind organ. The thinking is done by a
coat of gray cellular matter that covers the
brain as its rind does an orange This coat
| Is called the "cortex." 1t is about one
| twelfth of an inch thick and consists of
| several layers of cells. Each layer has its
| own special functions, and each part of the
| cortical area likewise.
| typical brain cell has a shape either
| pyramidal or globular, with a nucleus and
a stem-like process projecting upward. The
| stem has fronds which branch out through
| the cortex like the interlaced boughs of
trees in a forest touching each other These
| are sense organs, by which each cell learns
| what other cells are doing; they increase in
| number and compleXity with mental deyel-
| wardly with some part of the body through
| q fiber.
| For example, II you touch the end of your
1 Ia Rv,A ale tha Dgx.t -