The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1903-01-10
INTERESTING GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION
Dr. Arthur Mcdonald, Specialist of the Department of
Education, Reports on Child Study.
"A LABORATORY PLAN FOR THE STUDY OF MAN.
He Predicts that this Country will Lead the World
in These Investigations

Tue IacJ UnaJ Jne girls reacn maturity
earlier than the boys Children OF
American parentage are much bright
er, if the examinations made in
Washington hold good for the entire
country, than children born of foreign
parents. They are also brighter than
children born of one foreign and one
American parent, which seems to
Indicate that a mixture of natonali
ties Is not always advantageous in its
effect upon offspring. The same ex-
aminations show that children OF the
profes ional aud mercantile classes
are superior to the children of the
laborDg classes, which the author
declares "indicates that the advan-
tlges of good social conditions are
favorable to mental brightness " But
If the children Of the -laboring
classes are mentally brighter they are
less robust and healthy and show
much higher per cent Of sickness
and nervousness than children Of tile
laboring classes
From the examinations conducted
through public school teachers in
Washington City, DR.. Mcdonald
draws among Others these conclusions;
"While most all children, boys
espec ally, are lazy at times, there
are nevertheless a number of children
who seem to be chronically lazy.
From the table we see that the dun
boys have the highest per cent Of
laziness 1t may be true also that
their Incidence is one Of the causes OF
this duHuess. Comparing all girls
and boys, the boys will be seen to be
much more lazy than the girls.
"While, OF course, there Is no
standard of lazluess, yet there are
certain children whose excessive lazi-
ness is apparent to every teacher.
This is also true In regard to unruly
children. AS we might expect, the
boys are very much more uuruly than
the girls"
DR., Mcdonald does not think it
advisable to teach right handed
people frees use of their left hand
"Recent investigation, he says,
''shows that right handeduess is nat.
ural, and that its superiority over the
left hand increases with growth, also
that the brightest pupils are, so to
speak, more right handed than than
the others That suggests the mod
ern tendency to become expert 10 one
thing rather than be upon the surface
Of many things. The left hand does
oest when 1T supplements or helps
the right hand. 1t is a general
opinion that criminals have not only
more left handed people among them,
but they are also more expert with
both hands than people in general.
Sometimes the finger muscles of the
pickpocket are cut, so that be can
apply either hand with greater
dexterity.
Through examinations conducted
years ago 1t was discovered that chill
dren learn evil things much quicker
than good. Every parent will testify
to this great truth, but the Washing
ton scientist supplements this infor.
nation with the announcement that
boys say it is wrong to steal, fight,
break windows and get drunk, while
hgirls are liable to think it wrong to
get butter on ones dress or climb
trees.
Great men, we also learn from DR.
Mcdonald, are largely sprung from
parents in the prime Of life. Great
men even in early life are absent
minded and in childhood imaginative.
They are generally Influenced greatly
by some one person, but il does not
seem to make any difference whether
1t is an aunt or other relative than
the mother The average age Of the
fathers when the great man child
was born was thirty-eight aud the
mother thirty Eleven of fifty g.eat
men were only sons and sixteen,
Youngest sons
A study Of man through examina-
tions Of school children has proved
the wisdom in declaring that the