Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-04-25

OuI WITHOUT our CuIlSl, Ludl 49, HACICiy
accepting the morality taught In the BIZ
BILE. This is accounted for by the fact
that many today reject the reincarna-
tion of Brahma and as a natural Sc
quence it is difficult to get them to ac-
cept the reincarnation of Christ. A few
years ago a prominent HindoO said in.
my presence: 4 ave read the Bible
myself, ave noted it's system of moral
ity and I say unhesitatingly that / know
of nothing at all comparable to it. W ~
STUDY OF BRAINS OF CHILDREN,
The brains of children are at present
the subject of anxious study byo the,
authorities of the District of Columbia,
who are trying in this way to reach sat-.
isfactory conclusions as to the age at
which young folk ought to begin TO go,
: to school. 1t is beginning to be Thought
that schooling nay perhaps be started
too early for the health and welfare of
the little ones and this idea seems plau--
sible when it is considered that infants
of six years are compelled to seek book
learning at lie public cost in the Dis
trict of and In wyoming,
while mere Dratlers of four are allow
I'd to take advantage of educational
opportunities in Connecticut, Wisconsin
and Oregon if their parents so desire.
In thirteen other states of the union the
minimum age of voluntary attendance Is
five years.
! Light is thrown upon this interesting
subject by a study of the growth and
development of the mind organ in chill
dren. In this line the most important
work has been lone by DIR. w. w. john
ston, who calls attention to he fact
that the human brain ,attains practical
ly it's full weight when the individual
IS only about eight years of age. At
birth the brain weighs approximately
a pound, but it's development is so rapid
that at the end of the first year it would
tip the scales at two and a half pounds.
AT four years it has reached nearly three
pounds, but from that time ON it's
ing to what is to all intents n par
poses it's full size at eight years, it does
not alter apreciably after twelve years,
and after t~wenty-four years it begins
to diminish slowly but steadily in avoir-
dupois.
These facts, obviously, have a very
important bearing upon questions of
school training. So far as brain de-
years are by far the most important of
a child's life, the main growth of the
organ taking place during that period.
1t is evident that the stature attained
upon the perfection of brain growth dur
ing this epoch. DR.. Johnston urges that
education ought not to begin during this
period of train growth, and that chill
dren that are sent to school before they
are eight years of are threatened
with serious injury. Also, he contends
that, in view of the facts above stated
regarding brain development. instruction
during the first years should not be too
exacting or to stimulating. Precocity
ought to be checked, furthermore, and
not fostered. I'll
Not until recently, has serious atten.
tton been called to the evils which may
be said to spring from unscientific
schooling. Recently, however, expeeAs
have been making a study of thes subject.
and matter to which they point lis
the extensive propagation of what may
be termed school diseases-that is to
rected efforts to train the minds of
youth. 1t Is asserted that large mum
bers of pupils in the schools die annual
ly from the effects Of mental overfa-
tigue in one shape or another; that
much greater numbers are more or less
permanently invaded by the same
cause, and that a very considerable frac-
ton of the whole number of pupils enter
ed in the public schools drop out through
inability to keep up. In short, the con-
~clusion drawn is that school life favors
decidedly the development of i'll health
among young folks.
DR.. Johnston says that Iervous trou-
bles n affections of sight are the most
common of school diseases. Insomnia,
st. Vitus' dance and palpitation of the
ANaIl VI AicNOCul. OuCu dIEIlcIlOnS IN
crease steadily from class to class, as the
pupils go up higher and the studies in
crease in difficulty: they grow with the
number of hours of study per diem. A
special Investigation of the subject in
) the public schools of Sweden showed that
) near sight increased from six per cent
in the lowest classes to thirty-seven per
cent. in the highest. The same progress
sive impairment of vision in school chill
dren has been noted in Russia, England,
Germany (where it reaches fifty per sent
in the higher schools and in our own
country.
In nature precocity is a sign of in
! feriority. If proof of this is desired,
one may point to the negro infant, which
In it's early years is far superior to the
white child of like age in mental develop
!sment. But after that time the white
child passes the negro very rapidly, and
!, henceforth there is no comparison be-
tween them, Travellers in equatorial
Africa have described the native pick
a%nfnnies as "absurdly precocious." The
more perfect the organism the slower its
development, is one of the rules of animal
. creation.
, AS the brain of the child grows. the
! case that holds it, which is called the
! skull. nus develop p~roportionately.
. Represent the length of the newborn
!, infants skull by . 10, and by the time
) the twenty-second month is reached 1t
will be Is. and at the age of fourteen
. years it will be 20. After middle life the
: skull steadily diminishes in thickness,
! so that In a very old man it has become
!, anite thip and brittle.-Taooma News.
$3.50