Long Valley advocate. (Lardo, Idaho) 1904-1907, 1906-08-09
WEIGHT IS NOT ALL
MANY OTHER FACTORS IN DE-
TERMINING BRAIN POWER.
When the Cells Are So Constituted as
to Give Ability for "Team
Work." High Intelligence
Is Present.

! Other factors besides brain weigh
| are known to influence intelligence.
has long been known that the distin
gushing character of the human brazil
| Is the large number of connecting
fibers by which it's cells are co-Ordi
mated. In no other species are the.
SO numerous or complicated. The CELL
constitute but very small part OF thu
weight. There is now considerable
evidence that the same rule applies
among individual men and that those
of great intelligence have more con
nections, so that their cells can de
more and better team work"
Some Investigations have shown the
corpus callosum to have large cross
section in men who have shown great
ability. 1t is also known that the
brains of able men are likely to pre-.
sent more commissions and deeper ones
than the average, as If there were
more brain cells as we'll as more con.
nections. A few observations in the
lower races point to the fact that theil
brains are essentially different in mi.
crOscopic organization, partly account
ing for less intelligence.
All these facts will fully explain
why men Of intelligence in the higher
races may have brains not notably
heavy, but they do not disprove the
general statement that as class such
men do possess brains heavier than the
average.
The mistake arises from the failure
to recognize that noted men who have
shown intellectual power not infre-
quently were sharply limited to one OF
two directions, being very defective ir
other directions. Blind Tom was an
idiot, in fact-an extreme case of what
IRENE was Gambetta, who was not
much more than an orator, whose cere-
bral speech centers were found to be
highly developed. The rest of his
brain was small, and his general in
tellectual power and judgment were
decidedly defective. Ability in one or
two lines may make a man famous
while he is really very defective, and
his brain proves to be small
Heavy brains are not necessarily in
tellectual ones, or elephants would lie
In the class of geniuses.
The material might also be patho.
logic and the possessor an imbecila
1t often happens that men Of big
brain and great ability suffer from
early neglect and are found in lowly
employments or may remain ignorant
through life. These few facts do not
prove that large brains are worthless
and not indicative of mental power as
a rule. We cannot get away from the
fact that man as an animal is supreme
because of his large brain; that among
races the brainiest are the highest, and
that in any one race the most intel
llgent, as rule, are those who have
the most brains.
Men of small brains are not the lead.
ers, and no statistics Of the brain
weights OF a few exceptional men
noted for limited abilities can reverse
the rule. Universities do not create
brains, but merely train what EXISTS
SO that the owners are better fitted for
the battle of life. Many a man is
sent 10 college who should be handling
a pick and shovel, and he never
amounts to much, even though he
makes his living at some
very limited specially.