15 

 SOME REASONS FOR THIS POWER TO PROGRESS. 



It is not. unfortunately, possible to give here in detail the reasons for 

 the facts just stated; but. briefly, it may be said that capacity for education, 

 and. by means of education, to make progress, depends upon the quality of the 

 nervous system; that is. of the special part of the body set apart to direct its 

 activities. The nervous system consists of the brain, the spinal cord, and of the 

 thread-like nerves by which every part of the body is Connected with the 

 brain. That the lives of the lower animals are guided by a few deeply seated 

 instincts only is the consequence of their very simple nervous systems. The 

 few powers they exercise are wrought deeply and unchangeably into their 



Domed Tent. (Turcoman.) 



Framework of Domed Tent. (Turcoman.) 



nature. They cannot learn by experience, consequently they cannot be 

 educated. Incapable of progress, their capacity for self-support is necessarily 

 almost complete at birth, and the instinct to perpetuate their kind develops 

 automatically; whereas, gradual development of the brain and nervous 

 system after birth is associated with power to learn by imitation and to profit 

 by experience, to a more or less extensive degree. Among all the higher 

 animals, where this capacity for progress is present, the brain is incompletely 

 developed at birth, and takes a longer or shorter time to develop subsequently, 

 in response to instruction and to what is known as " stimulus " or " suggestion." 

 which calls its latent powers into activity. 



THE PURPOSE OF THE FAMILY. 



Now, during this time of brain-growth, young animals must be sheltered 

 and protected from harm. They mrst be trained in self-protection; they must 

 be supplied with suitable food until they know how to select it ; they must 

 be given opportunities to use their hidden powers or they will not be aware 

 that they possess them i.e., they depend upon parental care and loving 

 discipline, ui>on shelter, and the educational opportunities offered by family 

 life, for their full development. 



FACTORS IN THE BABY'S FUTURE. 



The most helpless thing in the world is a new-born infant blind, deaf, 

 defenceless. It is hard to realize that, concealed within that tiny form, are 

 the promise, the seeds, so to speak, of all its future moral powers, intellectual 

 growth, and physical beauty. But and here is another reason not only for 

 parental care, but for the intelligence of that care the bright promise for the 

 future may never be fulfilled, the precious seeds may never ripen. 



