LU ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



intact, normal mental vigour and ordinary nerve power. Passing now 

 from minute cellular facts to general principles, I am confident you 

 will agree with me in the statement that " brains rule the world and 

 the individual." The great problem of the present day, with which 

 cur educationists as a whole, have to deal, in the midst 'of '^ varied 

 practical experience, is " how to build the best brains out of the 

 material at our disposal." Not for men only but for women as well. 

 The best possible brains for both sexes, is the surest way of strength- 

 ening the fabric of our generation. As a good brain is required for 

 the management of the home, as the guidance of the State, as in both 

 sexes, the force evolved, more than any other force in the system, 

 enables men and women, by interdependence and normal aptitude, 

 to bear the burdens of life, and perform their duties and responsibil- 

 ities with dignity, grace and home spun individuality. These are 

 the peculiarities which make a people, and crown with success their 

 efforts in life. The great social problem of the present day, is " The 

 Building of a Brain," and the influence exercised in this direction, 

 devolves largely on our teachers, the very pioneers of our educational 

 system. It must be built up with careful attention to the rest of 

 the body, as no perfect brain, crowns an imperfectly developed body. 

 As the brain furnishes the physical support of mental activity, it is 

 reasonable to expect this will vary with the precise conditiQn of this 

 organ. Excessive brain work tends to exhaust nervous energy, and 

 at the same time lower mental power and efficiency. In children 

 where the stock of brain vigour, is in proportion to structural develop- 

 ment, the indications of fatigue, crop out much sooner, and it is 

 exceedingly important, that brain energy should not be overtaxed, 

 but rather in proportion to the normal supply. As Herbert Spencer 

 has charmingly expressed it, " the development of the higher mental 

 faculties is only safe, and in fact normal, when a firm basis of physical 

 strength and well being has been laid down." To force on the func- 

 tions in advance, is likely to endanger the very structure of the brain, 

 and in time diminish seriously intellectual activity. Fabre tells us 

 that " childhood is a time of endless learning," not of " endless cram- 

 ning," and fortunately this view of the subject is gaining ground 

 rapidly. Beecher said, the power of "doing, is education, not how 

 much a man knows, but how much he can accomplish by putting his 

 faculties into operation. Many know, and know, and know, and actu- 

 ally keep on knowing until they have lost the power of doing; and so 

 with eating, some go on eating and eating, until it takes the entire 

 strength of the system to carry them along." So by excessive know- 

 ledge, the mind is liable to grow stupid and fat. True education, 

 sound brain culture, is the faculty of turning it to practical account. 



