OX BRAIX-WORK AXD HAXD-WORK. 105 



fashioned ; so, to avoid grating on the nerves of a monistic world, I will 

 say " of brain or muscle." But can we draw a sharp, well-defined 

 boundary-line between brain-work and muscle-woi'k ? Recent investi- 

 gations into the functions of the brain show that it has the task of 

 directing and co-ordinating muscular effort. The athlete, or say the 

 musical performer, has not merely to strengthen his muscles and ac- 

 quire flexibility of arm, hand, and finger ; his exercises serve at the 

 same time to develop and perfect those regions of the brain by which 

 the muscles in question are actuated and co-ordinated. 



Professor Du Bois-Reyinond, in his admirable articles on " Exer- 

 cise" ("Popular Science Monthly" for July and August, 1882), con- 

 tends that " bodily exercises are not merely muscle-gymnastics, but also 

 nerve-gymnastics," and that practice in the movements of the limbs is 

 " essentially exercise of the central nerve-system." Hence muscle-work 

 which is not at the same time brain-work is a chimera, which has no 

 existence. But it will now be asked, Is there any brain-work without 

 muscle-work ? Undoubtedly ; we may see phenomena, we may reason 

 upon them, and come to a conclusion concerning their nature without 

 any muscular action at all. But if we even wish to write down our 

 results, or to tell them to a friend, some muscular action, small though 

 it be, is needed. Or we wish to go further : not content with merely 

 observing the phenomena which chance brings before our eyes, we go 

 forth in search of facts. Here muscular-work is blended with brain- 

 work. A step further : We wish to put definite questions to Nature, 

 to perform physical, chemical, or physiological experiments. In all 

 these cases the hand has to be the inseparable companion of the brain. 

 The efficiency of the one will not compensate for inefficiency in the 

 other. Now, the work of the experimentalist rarely requires great 

 strength, but it invariably stands in need of delicacy, nicety of touch 

 and movement, bodily or, if you will, muscular, attributes to be reached 

 only by training. 



It is the same in the fine arts. The painter needs not merely an 

 exquisite perception of form and color, an instinctive as it appears to 

 outsiders appreciation of their relations and harmonies ; unless he 

 possesses in addition to all this the requisite nicety of touch, he must 

 fail to embody in visible form the conceptions present in his brain. 

 Precisely the same is it with the musician. The orator and the actor 

 must also, in addition to their mere mental gifts, have vocal organs 

 thoroughly developed and disciplined. Thus we see that in the high- 

 est walks of science and art, brain-work and muscle-work exist, I might 

 say, in a state of interpenetration. 



Again, at a work-table in Y Street sits a microscopist, care- 

 fully studying the peculiarities of a newly detected microbion, or dis- 

 secting the larva of the Phylloxera. What is he ? Brain-worker, or 

 muscle-worker ? You pronounce him a brain-worker ; his brain, in 

 your opinion, doing the larger the essential part of his task. So be 



