Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-01-28

Deen SHOWN tnat we naDltually use less
than onehalf of our brain for think
Ing purposes.
| The question arises as to whether or
not the left hand should be made to
develop cunning" equal to the right |
hand, not for purely business" and |
trades reasons, but for the individ- |
uals own good and efficiency as we'll. |
1.-THE school instruction of today"
says Varia Kipiani of Belgium, "is pro-
ductive of the most deplorable one
sidedness of the child's body. Through |
the exclusive teaching of the right |
hand only what might be called ped
agogical paralysis is produced in the |
child, which in later years, particular
| ly in late adult life, often becomes a
| true medical paralysis. What does
this mean? Simply this. That par
alysis of one side of the body in =
grown person is often the result Of
failing to develop equally the right !
| and left sides Of the body of the
child! That statement would be diff.
cult to disprove when considered in ak
its possible ramifcations. 1t is start
ling enough to take the breath away!
! Katscher Of Germany, though not so
radical, is equally positive. 1.-THE equal
development of the two hands would
| facilitate instruction of hand and
BRAIN" he says, "for the child so train
ed learns his LESSONS more quickly,
comprehends better, remembers longer
what he learns and executes all that
he has to do more promptly. Those
so trained show themselves in all ways
superior to those who whave learned
the use of only one hand. H. short,
they are twice as efficient"
None of us are quite so "well bal
anced" as we think we are. Prof. Van
Vierliet of the University of Client
has bro lght this fact to light just re.
Gently. He shows that we are all
"lopsided," so to speak. After making
MANY repeated tests on moro than 200
students this Belgian professor neatly
demonstrated, for Instance, that in all
who are "right-handed' the right hand
is muscularly the stronger, while in
the 'left-handed" the left possesses the
greater muscular strength.
But there's nothing extraordinary
about that, you may eXclaim. Prob
ably not, but you will have to admit
that what followed was at least sur
prising, for in experimenting to deter
mine whether or not there is any diff
ference in the acuity or sharpness"
of the nerves of hearing on the two
sides, the experiments showed that in
persons whose hearing was considered
in every way normal the right ear
hears far the better in "right-handed"
individuals, while, on the contrary, 1t
Is the left ear which detects sounds
more easily in all persons who are
"left-handed."
II such facts were demonstrable in
the case of the hearing, what could be
shown as regards the eyesight? The
professor made further tests. He
learned that as to the sharpness" of
the optic nerve, eyesight in those
whose eyes were declared normal Is
: far keener in the right eye of right
! handers," but far better in the left Of
those who happen to be "left-handed"
He later made these tests in thousands
of cases and always with the same sur
prlsing results.
Even as regards the sensitiveness Of
the touch, the results were equally con-
vincing. In this same series of eX-
periments the right-handed were found
to have a superior sense of touch on
the right side in contrast to the left
handed" in whom this sense is more
delicate on the left side.
/, Briefly, then, from the point of view
of the development of the nervous syS-
TEN, all humanity is divided into two
, parts or sides, With one.half of the
nervous system, ircluding the brain,
better developed than the other half,
and the left Sides" with an equally
half-developed nervous system the ex-
f, act opposite Of the other.
, The great fact to remember in this
, discussion, 1t is urged, is that most of
) us are using just ore-half of our brain
i. power. One-half of our brain cells are
> asleep-"subconsciou need to
be aroused into activity by some
. method and thus brought into the
: field of consciousness" and useful.
! ness.
Y For instance, complete injury OF
a the right half of the brain would cause
e a complete paralysis on the left side OF
!, the body. Now, we all have speech
a CENTER situated on one-half Of the
6 brain, on the left side in right-handed
persons, but, curiously enough, on the
o right side in all who are left-handed
9 Up to short time ago 1t was thought
r that we had only one of these "speecf
r centers." 1t was Prof. FraenSel o.
I Germany who upset this time-honoret
i belief.
S Prof Fraenkel had a patient wht
k had lost his speech through disease O
injury to his speech center in thu
r brain. The occurrence is by no mean
k an uncommon one. This patient wa
n right-handed. BY putting him through
u a systematic course of writing excl