THE SAVAGERY OF BOYHOOD. 799 





 cocious emotion is an unnatural state, produced by an unnatural and 

 therefore unhealthy development of the brain. Consider for a mo- 

 ment what the seat of the emotions the brain is. Like all the other 

 organs of the body, the brain grows from a few simple cells, and 

 reaches its fullness and complexity as the organ of mind after passing 

 through numerous simpler conditions. Like the other portions of the 

 wonderful machine in which each of us lives, moves, and has being, 

 the brain is subject to the all-embracing law of animal existence, which 

 declares the development of the individual to be an epitome of the 

 development of his race. By way of illustration, it is well to note 

 the well-established and now familiar fact that man in his prenatal 

 life goes through several stages, in which he may be successively 

 described as a moner, an ascidian, a fish, a reptile, and a mammal. 

 The entire series of forms through which he passes is so varied that 

 a description of his embryonic existence is almost an epitome of the 

 animal kingdom. And after the appearance in the world of the infant 

 poet or sculptor, he bears in his countenance the marks of his descent 

 from savage ancestors, whose low and ugly forehead, flat nose, and 

 cavernous nostrils are reproduced in his infantile lineaments. 



The brain, being merely one of the bodily organs, shares in the 

 growth of the whole organism, and must consequently be weak and 

 undeveloped in its early stages. It becomes stronger only by slow 

 degrees, and in the healthy child it is, as we should expect when we 

 consider his ancestry, the mind of a savage. The civilized child, like 

 the adult savage, has no abstract ideas, and his words number only a 

 few hundreds. One of the writers quoted by Lubbock, in speaking 

 of the intellects of savages, says, " A short conversation wearies them, 

 particularly if questions are asked that require efforts of thought or 

 memory." Such a description, as every teacher knows, is most applica- 

 ble to our own children, and illustrates how closely their mental state 

 approaches that of the savage. An extremely close observer, Mr. 

 Francis Galton, in reference to some of the lower tribes of Africans, 

 makes the striking remark that "the motives of an adult barbarian are 

 very similar to those of a civilized child." 



These facts being granted, it is most instructive to notice how our 

 every-day experience of children's ways points to analogies to the 

 emotions of savages. How complete and how savage is that disregard 

 for filth against which the careful housewife has daily to struggle to 

 accomplish the " shining morning face " she sends away to school ! 

 With what a barbarous gluttony does the boy gorge himself with 

 cake, like the Eskimo who forced his wife to stuff him with blubber 

 until he fell down unconscious ! 



Turn now from these unpleasant traits to that of cruelty, with which 

 we began this discussion. Cruelty seems to be a fundamental fact in the 

 nature of children ; but, when we recall the course and the law of man's 

 development, we find nothing depressing in the existence of this savage 



