The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-07-19

day By day must icss the subtisf sense u
proportionats harmony and must develop
an Instructive desire for harshness and
crudeness and chaos.
It Is devoutly to be hoped that tho
account of the Muensterbergian expert
ments on memory value will set some
publishers and advertisers minds Itch
ing with curiosity to ascertain pre-
cisely what the proportions OF cash
profit are in the two styles Is II
true that the newer manner Is nothing
but a fad, freak. with no actually
demonstrated superiority over the older
and more pleasing way?
Back to the land! There are millions
Of farmer folk there, and psychology
should take up AgrIcola and his busy
family, to show them where their COM
mon sense falls short Of the mark.
Physics and chemistry. botany and
zoology have blessed the farmer and
done much for his land and something
to Jog him out of his self-complaisant
adherence to old tradition. Tools and
mett-~i- ess studied and improved;
psychology must concern itself with the
human machine. 1t has helped the In
dustriai world, diverting from the inani-
mate machinery to it's operators some
part Of the attention and inventive in
telligence once concentrated upon
mechanical devices only; 1t determines
individual aptitudes for the various
kinds and departments OF work. and
with objective accuracy instead OF mere
empirical assurance the effect OF condi-
tons and surroundings upon the work.
mans brain and nerves and so upon the
quality OF his work. The usefulness Of
such study Is more apparent as well as
more direct in the factory than II can
be on the farm, where labor Is neces-
sarily so much more diversified: but
there Is no doubt that the classroom
experiments can ascertain facts about
the farm laborer's mind and his muscu-
lar responses to stimuli that the farm
laborer never dreams Of So he may
evolve true sciences of digging. chop
ping, reaping, raking, moving. spray
ing and feeding. all neatly based upon
: nicely particular measurements OF time
and nervous energy.
The farmland who never would waste
his money does waste his strength by
contracting big muscles where better
: ecohoinized system Of movement would
allow him to reach the same result
! through the contraction OF smaller
ergy and much less fatigue" There
may be more loss caused In Ruralia By
y bending at the wrong time or too fai
or by using the RICH; hand for wha
could be done with the left than is due
Il to the badness OF weather. Why. th'
: poor clodhopper in the field doesn't ever
know Just how tired he is! Common
sense cannot find The right motor will
> impulses" OF course a sudden thunder
!, storm may cause hustle on the farm
y when tho hay is ready for the NOV
=. and 80 interfere with "the ideal dis
. tribution OF pauses," which We read !
. a very different matter from the homel,
:, old way OF resting up a bit when your
tired. It will do the earth tickler goo
10 know that ne may really not be tire
D. az oil when he feels tired; tempsra
ture or humidity or the monotony o
y his work may be deluding him. Prob
ably there is less need TO tell the lahore
u that sometimes he Is tired when h
/, doesn't suspect Il.
/ For the want OF nail the shoe wa
10 lost, the horse famed, TIE rider delaye
/, and tho kingdom didn't get saved; an
J. a similar sequential disaster occurs o
IN farms innumerable. ANY wrong meth
De OF performing these simple activitle
n any method which Is not based on eXaC
scientific analysis, wastes the encrgie
l. OF the workman, and by that the ecc
r nomic means OF the farm owner an
he Indirectly the economic resources OF III
~ whole nation"
10 And the psychologist will study n
ie, idlosyncrasies of the farm animals TOT
On He will point out that the cows mus
'r, he permitted to think only cheerf
by thoughts, because emotional eXc.temel
o. IL bad for the milk; and he will ei
1g courage "A sympathetic understanding
ell the horses dispositions and temper;
nj ments. 1t must be admitted that all
I'd not as Il should be on our farms II
ne horse with artistic temperament
ed hltched TO plough while another
n strictly unitarian taste is used for u
s. blackboard. There would he nothir
~ difficult about measuring the reacti,
ma times of the horses In thousandths OF
"a second for optical and acoustical al
tactual impressions, or In studying &
he influence OF artificial color effects
n the various insects in the service
no agriculture" Few plain common sen
or agrlcu,tur,~ts would admit that inseC
,,,, are In the service OF agriculture. Wi
:, all due respect TO the professor and
"a, wonderful science we think 1t will pro
ably he quite some time before his r
NJ. mantle programme" becomes anythi
else than romantic and n programme
~ Moreover, we are not quite convlnc
~ that psychology IL the one divinely a
NV pointed instrument for the presorvati
III Cor introductory OF social sanity" If
American life. In some parts OF Il
er- book Prot. Muensterberg forgets I
nv laboratory and writes excellently
OF nuh,,c matters And Of human nat,
De- as It L.
at
ual
OF Tho 0altoA Sea-