45 i8 9 



This is in accordance with the general principle, that 

 high development in intellectual things is accomplished 

 by rapidity in traversing the preliminary stages of infe- 

 riority common to all, while low development signifies 

 sluggishness in that progress, and a corresponding re- 

 tention of inferiority. 



How much meaning may we not see, from this stand- 

 point, in the history of the intelligence of our little 

 ones ! First they crawl, they walk on all fours : when 

 they first assume the erect position they are generally 

 speechless, and utter only inarticulate sounds. When 

 they run about, stones and dirt, the objects that first 

 meet the eye, are the delight of their awakening powers, 

 but these are all cast aside when the boy obtains his 

 first jackknife. Soon, however, reading and writing 

 open a new world to him ; and finally as a mature man 

 he seizes the forces of nature, and steam and electricity 

 do his bidding in the active pursuit of power for still 

 better and higher ends. 



So with the history of the species : first the quadru- 

 mane then the speaking man, whose humble industry 

 was, however, confined to the objects that came first to 

 hand, this being the " stone age " of pre-historic time. 

 When the use of metals was discovered, the range of 

 industries expanded wonderfully, and the " iron age " 

 saw many striking efforts of human power. With the 

 introduction of letters it became possible to record 

 events and experiences, and the spread of knowledge 

 was thereby greatly increased, and the delays and mis- 

 takes of ignorance correspondingly diminished in the 

 fields of the world's activity. 



From the first we see in history a slow advance as 

 knowledge gained by the accumulation of tradition and 



