46 THE KINGDOM OF MAN 



one case as in the other, it is impossible for him to trust 

 to the imperfect analysis made by ancient races of men 

 and the traditions and fancies handed down in old 

 writings produced by generations who had not arrived 

 at the method of investigation which we now can apply. 

 Experiment upon the mental processes of animals and of 

 Man is greatly needed. Only here and there has anything 

 been done in this direction. Most promising results have 

 been obtained by such observations as those on hypnotism 

 and on various diseased and abnormal states of the brain. 

 But the subject is so little explored that wild and un- 

 tested assertions as to the powers of the mind are current 

 and have given rise to strange beliefs, accepted by many 

 seriously-intentioned men and women. We boldly operate 

 upon the minds of children in our systems of education 

 without really knowing what we are doing. We blindly 

 assume that the owners of certain minds, traditionally 

 trained in amusing elegancies, are fit to govern their 

 fellow-men and administer vast provinces ; we assume 

 that the discovery and comprehension of Nature's pro- 

 cesses must be the work of very few and peculiar minds ; 

 that if we take care of the body the mind will take care 

 of itself. We know really nothing of the heredity of 

 mental qualities, nor how to estimate their presence or 

 absence in the young so as to develop the mind to 

 greatest advantage. We know the pain and the penalty 

 of muscular fatigue, but we play with the brains of young 

 and old as though they were indestructible machinery. 

 What is called experimental psychology is only in its 

 infancy, but it is of urgent necessity that it should be 

 systematically pursued by the application of public 

 funds in order that Man may know how to make the 

 best use of his only weapon in his struggle to control 

 Nature. 



