March 6, 1885.] 



♦ KNOAVLEDGE 



203 



his theory was that great mental power rises " from the harmony 

 which exists between the several parts of the brain rather than 

 from tho size and weight of the brain. Let 7 represent the 

 maximnm development of any of the jiartsof tho brain. Wonlil not 

 a man, all tho parts of whose brain marked 5, produce greater 

 effect, be a greater genins, in fact, than the man whoso brain had 

 3 parts each equal to 7, but all the rest varying from 1 to 1 y " 



Now. however, he allows that it is possible that " the man whose 

 brain had 3 parts each equal to 7 " woald be a greater 

 genius than the other ; but, he adds, those 3 parts must be in 

 harmony. Of course. But I did not for a single moment main- 

 tain the contrary. If the part denoting foolliardine.'is is equal to 

 that denoting caution, the two will counteract, and tho result will 

 be nil. And this, it seems to me, is an insuperable olistable to Mr. 

 Jones's theory as first stated ; for if all the parts of the brain mark 

 5, the opposite faculties of the mind will all counteract one another, 

 and the result will be ni7. Will a man who is endowed with such 

 a mind as this be a great genius ? I trow not. 



To turn now to the main point. If tho size of the brain and tho 

 compleiity of its parts lias nothing to do with great mental power, 

 how comes it that " the human brain greatly exceeds tho animal 

 brain ; and the most advanced races of men have the largest 

 brains; and that "men distinguished for mental forces have, as a 

 general rule, brains of an unusual size ? " (Bain). 



Or how comes it that, in the natural order of tho primates, " the 

 series of brains show a remarkable rise or development," the lemur 

 having a small and comparatively smooth brain, while the brain of 

 the chimpanzee or orang-atan is far larger and more intricate ? 

 And if we compare the brain of a man with that of one of the 

 higher apes, we find that the former far exceeds the latter in 

 quantity, and it is also "seen that in the ape-brain the lobes or 

 hemispheres have fewer and simpler windings than the more com- 

 plex convolutions of the human brain." 



These facts, it seems to me, tend to prove that the size and com- 

 plexity of a man's brain have a great deal to do with his mental 

 power. When Mr. Jones can bring forward any similar facts which 

 support his theory, he may expect us to believe in it ; but, until 

 that time arrives, our belief in the superiority of man's mind to 

 that of womankind will not be shaken. A. F. Osborne. 



THOUGHT AXD LANGUAGE. 



[1626] — After posting my letter (1589), it occurred to me as 

 being (in the latter part) so deficient in courtesy, that I fervently 

 hoped the Editor would expunge that, if he did not burke the 

 whole. I am glad Miss Ballin's rejoinder (1604) has given me an 

 opportunity of expressing my regret. Even towards men that sort 

 of writing is objectionable. 



As to the question of /acf, I do not see the rejoinder corrects 

 me. Her contention is that man managed to make head against 

 the beasts by dint of language, association, and weapons ; I say 

 that is entirely wrong, because much feebler animals have survived 

 without any such aids. 



It was an army surgeon of large experience who made the state- 

 ment that severe wounds often heal in open air, but kill in hospital. 

 I am sorry I have forgotten the reference. 



I never said " primitive man may have been muscled like a lion, 

 hecaxise David," &c. Contra, I meant. If David, not a primitive, 

 ic, A fortiori, Ac. 



As to clothes, all nurses know that children's legs and arms begin 

 to " pine " and dwindle as soon as they are covered, even in our 

 inclement climate. Ergo, clotheless man must have ieeii {casteris 

 parilus) stronger than clothed man. One obvious reason of this 

 is that clothes prevent the poisonous exhalations of the skin from 

 being dissipated in the air. The Arabs never bandage a wound ; 

 they say the air is needed (despite its " germs") to effect healing. 

 If yon ehnt up half of a lot of meat soup in a vessel, and leave the 

 other half open, yon will find the covered half sour and spoilt long 

 before the other. Also, the more bare skin the more breathing 

 power, which is life. 



My object not being victory or controversy (still less abuse), but 

 truth, I ask again leave to protest against the conclusion of Miss 

 Ballin's second article, " Man's mind was developed by the struggle 

 for existence." Ex hyp. evolut. All other races are older than 

 man. So other races have developed mentally like man, though 

 all have been struggling (and successfully) for existence longer 

 than he has. Eroo, man's mental superiority is not the result of 

 these circumstances, bnt is itself the eflEcient cause of his use of 

 firearms, language, and of his domination over all other animals. 



Miss Ballin calls me " your anonymous correspondent," as if 

 there were something mean or suspicious in a pseudonym. Even 

 in these days of signed articles, I think that all who are not 

 absolute authorities on this subject show most modesty by keeping 

 their names dark. IIalltaed.s. 



THE NEED OF CLOTHES. 



[1627] — I have read with interest the letter of " llallyards," 

 No. 160,S, and I agree with his conclusions. I lived seven years in 

 Colorado, and have herded sheep in weather so cold that the food 

 I took out for lunch froze hard in my pockets— thermometer some- 

 times 15° or 20" below zero — and I used to wear less clothing than 

 I now do here, although naturally sensitive to cold, owing to weak 

 circulation. I well reiiiemlier a half-witted man, Marvin by name 

 (who has since then committed a dreadful crime), who used to get a 

 precarious living by hunting in the niounlaitis, and who, in tho 

 coldest winter weather, went about in rags— practically unclothed. 

 Another "old-timer," who was a teamster, invariably went about in 

 the severest weather and most biting winds, with his coat open and 

 his chest perfectly naked and exposed. Surely the London street- 

 Arabs, who are at once half-starved and lialf-naked, prove that the 

 power to resist cold is merely a matter of habit, and that we might 

 make ourselves " all face " if we liked, though doubtless a modicum 

 of clothing is comfortable, if of doubtful sanitary value. I firmly 

 believe that overcoats are tho most fruitful cause of winter colds, 

 and that tho best and safest plan is to make little or no difference 

 between summer and winter clothing. J. W. Bootbroyd. 



TERMITES. 



[1628] — I have read Dr. Hutchinson's article on Termites, 

 p. 1-12, with great iuterest, but one sentence is so puzzling that I 

 feel sure many readers of Knowledge would like a little further 

 explanation. He says : " But, then, what is the use of the wings ?" 

 " What, then, the necessity of tlie swarm ? I believe it to be a 

 provision of nature for lessening the species by bringing it into 

 contact with the host of devourers ready to hasten to the feast 

 either by day or night." This appears to me quite opposed to the 

 theory of evolution, for surely those individuals which first took 

 to flight would have but little chance of handing down such a 

 peculiarity to future generations, without reaping some corre- 

 sponding advantage. 



Bnt if we fall back on direct creation, the difficulty is not 

 lessened. Would an intelligent Creator adopt such a clumsy and 

 roundabout means of keeping down the number of individuals of 

 the species, when the object could be attained by creating them less 

 prolific to the required extent, or by other simple means ? I should 

 like to know what Mr. Grant Allen has to say on the subject. 



George H.\nx. 



LETTERS RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 



Thomas Avers. What is solar heat itself but a form or mode of 

 motion ? This being so, if I rub a brass button upon a wooden 

 plank until it becomes so hot that it will ignite phosphorus, in 

 what sense can such heat be held to have its origin in " processes 

 of chemical change ? " — E. A. Tindall. I must differ from you, 

 foto coslo, as to the origin of ideas of the spiritual or immaterial in 

 nature being " entirely devoid of any scientific .... explanation or 

 interest;" inasmuch as the investigation of the inception of such 

 ideas in the mind of primitive man is replete with interest of the 

 most absorbing character to the psychologist and anthropologist. 

 With reference to your really interesting account of the measure- 

 ment of a myopic pupil by Mr. Gorham's photometer, and the 

 discovery that its diameter' was less than '05 inch, I can scarcely 

 accept your hypothesis that short-sight is due to an inability of the 

 ciliary muscles to dilate or contract the opening of the pupil. And 

 for this reason, that all short-sighted people will tell you that when 

 their pupils are caused to contract by a strong light, their sight is 

 quite notably lengthened. At any rate this disposes of the idea 

 that the subject of Mr. Gorham's experiment was myopic because 

 of the small diameter of his pupil. — T. Common". You are mis- 

 taken. Romford and Davy both disproved the possibility of the 

 existence of caloric. So again with your idea that the corpuscular 

 theory of light is not susceptible of disproof. LTndulations may 

 and do, as we know, extinguish each other, material particles never. 

 Did yon ever hear of the phenomena of interference ? But the crucial 

 test of the validity of the corpuscular hypothesis, under which it broke 

 down, is this. Were it true, light must travel faster through a 

 refracting medium than through empty space ; while, on the other 

 hand, if light consists of undulations or vibrations, it must be 

 retarded by refraction, which, as a matter of experimental fact, it 

 is found to be. — Commentator. Your fallacy lies in regarding the 

 desert region of South-West Australia and that of the interior of 

 Zanguebar as in any sense " primeval." Why, great and notable 

 alterations of level, and successions of fauna and flora may well 

 have occurred in both localities within a period quite (geologically) 



