58 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



been due to that general tendency to give up the study of particulars, 

 and as Bacon puts it, " to view nature as from an eminence." It was 

 this tendency which induced Kant, after having started in the right 

 direction, to aflBrm that the development of man's moral and intellec- 

 tual nature lies beyond the problems of natural science. 



SuflBcient has been said to emphasize the great importance of the 

 study of the brain and nervous system as the only effective way of 

 establishing a more rational system of education. The most important 

 consideration in the whole field of education is not the discussion of 

 methods for conferring the present opportunities indiscriminately, so 

 that all may avail themselves of them, but rather to determine how the 

 educational system may be modified to meet the needs of each indi- 

 vidual. Gradually the public is beginning to awaken to the fact that a 

 so-called higher education may not only fail to act as a panacea for all 

 human ills, but may become a potent factor in increasing the mental 

 and physical degeneration of the race. An overtaxed brain and ner- 

 vous system may not only be followed by a nervous breakdown, but it 

 may expose its possessor to temptations which seriously interfere with 

 his morality. It will be a fortunate day for the community when it 

 appreciates that a sound morality depends not so much upon an indi- 

 vidual obeying the dictates of philosopher or priest as in following out 

 the injunctions of the physician. 



So far as I am aware. Dr. Adolf Meyer was the first to offer the sug- 

 gestion that departments of mental hygiene should be established in 

 all our universities where advice could be given to teacher and student 

 upon questions relating to the training of the brain and nervous system 

 to the limit of the individual capacity as estimated by competent per- 

 sons, so that these limits should not be exceeded. In this way it would 

 become possible to gradually train teachers who would be competent to 

 form a correct judgment as to the quality of each student's mind and 

 the futility of attempting to estimate the mental capacity by the 

 amount of information acquired would be more generally recognized. 

 The present system of tests generally represented by written examina- 

 tions is an incentive to encourage memorizing, but is a serious obstacle 

 to logical thinking. The mechanical memory is frequently an evidence 

 not of intelligence, but of certain forms of imbecility. An examination 

 conducted along the lines suggested leading to a qualitative estimate 

 of a particular student's mental capacity would not be a difficult task 

 for those who have had the proper training. Any intelligent physician 

 skilled in the methods of modem psychiatry could in a comparatively 

 short time form a relatively accurate conception of the qualitative char- 

 acter of the mental processes of an individual under observation. 

 Frequently common sense alone, but more often when combined with 

 a desire to profit by the financial aid given by life-insurance companies. 



