770 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION J. 



dogmatic." All this involves the training of the finer muscles, but 

 the " inexorable condition precedent" of their development is the de- 

 velopment of the great muscles. If a man learns to write by the use of 

 tlie finer muscles, he can wield the pen rapidly and for any length of 

 time only by the proper development of the great muscles of his arm. 



The development of the body should still go on, and in this con- 

 nection the respective merits of technical training, industrial occupa- 

 tions, gymnastics, arts and crafts, sports and games should be con- 

 sidered. Sports and games are probably best, not only for their 

 physical, but also mental and moral effects. 



With all this muscular development of early childhood there is 

 going on at the same time the development of the brain. The brain 

 weighs at birth nearly 14 oz., at maturity about 49-^ oz. It increases 

 between two and three fold in weight during the first year of life, 

 about 10 per cent, more in the second year, a little more during the 

 third, and in the fourth year it increases more than it will during all 

 the rest of life, and has nearly completed its growth by the sixth 

 year. It grows a little after eight years, but very slowly till twelve 

 or fourteen. (Changes in structure, however, proceed; certain parts 

 may diminish and others increase, and perhaps chemical changes may 

 be characteristic of increasing age.) 



By the age of fourteen the cells of the brain have about doubled 

 in number. The number at that age is approximately 3,000,000,000. 

 After fourteen it is doubtful if new cells are formed. They, however, 

 grow in volume, and are developed out of granules, many of which 

 never do develop. 



These cells as the child grows become connected one with the 

 other by millions of fibres, and they also form groups in the brain, 

 each group undertaking a special function. Different parts of the 

 brain are known as the motor, visual, auditoiy, tactile, and olfactory 

 areas. Portion of the cortex is supposed to be the physiological basis 

 of the mental processes involved in reason, and the perception of 

 moral and esthetic relations. 



The functional values of all parts of the brain therefore vary. 



Dr. Hughlings Jackson, the English neurologist, has supposed 

 there are three " levels" in the nervous system. His lowest level 

 <;onsists of the gray cells of the spinal cord and the medulla oblongata. 

 This is the oldest level, being the first established in the brain in the 

 evolutionary process. It controls the purely reflex actions of the 

 involuntary muscles, those involved in the respiratory movements, 

 the beat of the heart, movements of the intestines, and the secretion 

 of the glands. 



The intermediate level is a more complex arrangement of nerve 

 processes. These processes control nmscles which may be stimulated 

 reflexly, but which may also be controlled by the will. Breathing 

 goes on automatically, but I can hold my breath if I wish. I walk 

 without conscious deliberation, play the piano, and perform numerous 

 actions without any effort of will, though consciousness accompanies 

 these activities. Complete co-ordination of muscular movements has 

 been established, and control by will is no longer necessary. In early 

 childhood the child acquires the use of many of its gi'eat muscles by 

 conscious effort, but after a time many of its bodily movements can go 



