THE WORLD'S CONSERVATION PROBLEM 163 



THE WORLD'S MOST IMPORTANT CONSERVATION" 



PROBLEM 



By STEWART PATON, M.D. 



PRINCETON, N. J. 



THE world's most important problem is the discovery of methods 

 of conserving and increasing the brain power of mankind. If 

 we are judged by our ignorant and reckless dissipation of energy of 

 the most complicated organ, which the process of evolution brings to 

 us as a priceless heritage, we are still in the infancy of the race. Life, 

 movement and being depend upon the activity of the brain and nervous 

 system, our superiority over the lower animals is the result of greater 

 brain power, while our relative ranking as members of the human 

 family is commonly rated by the amount of " brains " we possess. 

 Individual success no less than national greatness is proportional to 

 brain power. A victory in modern warfare is a sign of greater mental 

 efficiency than was necessary among the soldiers a century ago, while 

 the efforts to win success in peace have lined the roads leading to the 

 mountain tops with a far larger number of those who are mortally 

 wounded in spirit than ever fell on the field of battle. 



One of Napoleon's greatest errors was his failure to become inter- 

 ested in Pestalozzi's scheme of national education on the ground that 

 he had no time to trouble about the alphabet. The conqueror forgot 

 that brains and not brawn rule the world. In the great struggle of 

 modem civilization, success as well as life depends upon the functional 

 capacity of the brain and nervous system. What will the lessons of 

 history profit or the teachings of wise men avail if these organs are too 

 weak to translate precept into action? 



It is a mere truism to affirm that the ultimate destiny of our civil- 

 ization will depend upon the degree of efficiency developed by the 

 brains of the members of future generations ; but the importance of self- 

 evident truths is seldom appreciated. If human intelligence is meas- 

 ured by the interest we take in the problem of the greatest importance 

 in determining the destiny of the race, what shall we say of our igno- 

 rance and lack of forethought with regard to the most vital of all 

 human problems? Modern civilization is constantly increasing the 

 strain on the most delicate organ in the human body, while but puny 

 efforts are made to supply the opportunities for obtaining the informa- 

 tion about the brain necessary to avert disaster from overwhelming the 



