The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-03-12
THE PSYCHOLOGY
OF WHICH AA|NT"
Reverend Plato Durham,
Master of Science
TRUTH OF THE FALSE
When You Know How IL l. Easy
An Iiiustra ton From College Life
and the Way Things Work
When the Wheels Go
Hound.

once wnen an ndulgent parent
thought the time and the money sell
spent the writer had the advantage
Of mingling with a certain favored
class OF the youth in what we are
pleased TO call classic halls" In "a
very real Way-outSde OF the curgi-
cullm-the opportunity was ptiuca-
tional The things that u man learns
at college-in the receptive age Of
boyhood when he hatters himself that
he is 4 man are invaluable. There
he meets friends who afterwards be-
come great. SO, he has an intimate
knowledge OF greatness which iS be-
%Ond all price. He is in ut the begin
ming. as il We're. and he knows. Others
see parsonage Of the platform. The
fellow who has made intimate ac-
tEc bleachcrs. or otherwise, and on
the other 1elds essential to a college
education. may, perhaps, envy. But he
does not kOW-t0W. 1t is largely a
game, and he knows that the running
is largely q matter of spiked shoes,
1t is this judgment OF entries which
makes q college education an essential,
instead Of an accomplishment. Non
college men succeed, II IS true. Their
success lacks the vital ointment Of
appreciation of causes.
SO much of college by way Of in
Producing Il subject which is 4 great
81 SubJect-pcrhapS the greatest in thl
catalogue. l refer to 'psycholcgy.'
In psychology everybody has fair
course and q iree rein. Ii is the
paradise Of wheels. 10 BE Il
psychologist one has only t0 take Il
scat III Il sunshint corner and think.
What he gets out OF his own head.
he has the assurance IF being matter
fit for the class. \ psNchOID2iat du'-
fcrs irom 4 phTe1o!ogist in this: that
the one observe the bumps, and tile
other wonders what they near
Fae phrenologist has the more eX-
act science lie lives by u deduction
counter With better man ana dis
cover !; latent talent The Psychologist
looks at what has 0Cen going on inside
The impression that has been rgsSur-
reCted for YOU after late dinner in
the early morning has vital siGnj-
ligance iii his eyes. He does nOt Worry
about the bumps but examines the
wheels. II you have made q thousand
revolutions, the psychologist puts it
down as d discovery. If YOU have re-
Voluted only once. he makes i note If
II. Ia the sum total, the psXchoicg-
iSt takes out ni5 book, records nis i'm
pressiOnS. and constructs Il rule Of
action y hich is subject only to the
variation of thc indiyidua! mind The
fact that 40 indiViduaI mind is like an
other does not worry the professor.
1t merely gives him new fields Is con
quer. The beauty Of psychology is
that it is never surprised. 1t IS in d
constant state Of being prepared for
the worst rs generally gets it.
The writer speaks on this subject by
authority 81 having once entered q
room where psychology was being
taught He wishes it understood that
he is a psychological writer Welding
IL, L.
experience was brief he digested the
course Here is what took place
\ number OF young men
sat on hard benches looking
q their books. At the open window
stood the Professor, looking out on
the Landscape. said the Professors
Gentlemen. have YOU observed that
d man rolling . WheeIbaTroW spit~
on his hands This is a rery interest
ing thought Have YOU eyer thought
of Why the gentleman spits on his
hands? Can you imagine Why he feels
the need OF saliva 10 aid in the per
formaDce Of menial task Nhat
-cogitation runs through the brain
of that man
The class frowned. ono or two
looked hastilr at their BOOKS. No
body answered. The Professor con-
tinued.
Now. Of course We know that spit
ting on the hand does not really
strengthen The grip. That il d pop
ular misapprehenSiOn. But the prae-
tice is instructive. It does not grow
entirely out Of usage or custom. Here
it seems to me.-the PrOfc5s9r could
not have he'd his chair had he been
certain Of anything-''lt seems 10 mo
that We have an eXtTcmety Illuminating
example of prenatal influence upon the
brain of man. TG be sure. it *
not 4 cultivated brain 1t is an nn-
developed brain capable nevertheless
of actuatjng and putting in motion
certain clamentarE impulses. There
is the impulse OF hunger. there j. the
impulse Of drink: there j. the impulse
Of fudng a soft place in which u liz
dONnt Now. observe the different
methods by U hi Tor instance. I and
the man who X rolling the WheeihaI-
row apUroach a. fellow human beings
these Fundamental needs /. I say it
modeStly hdve learned now to uosFy
my brain 50 5hat il produces me COM
forts Of I, sort. hich - tn. man who
rolls the WhceibarTOW. would bc lux
urics: Ia the man who rolls
III" whcclbarrow 10 slimUse ~
this higher and nobs.r metiod nf
SuStenanrc las occurred His food Isl
not 50 good as mine, lie drink ISL
stronger. but not 50 delicate. - far|
we are in ii sense. as ono. t{c rolls
tho tphecIbarseu use nay brain. tsui
uhv does i, spit ou his hJud+2"
4 voice from Che cl.s@ TO get q
grip