KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



171 



mediocrity ; the sister, on the contrary, raises 

 herself, in many respects, above her sex. 



But, if a case occurs of twins, whose organisa- 

 tion is different, it is in vain that diet, education, 

 examples, and circumstances are similar — there 

 results no resemblance in character. In two twin 

 girls, the head and the physical constitution differ 

 totally. In the one, nature seems to have thought 

 only of developing the bones and the muscles ; 

 in the other, she appears to have occupied her- 

 self solely with the nervous system. Thus, the 

 first is possessed of very moderate intelligence, 

 while the second is endowed with brilliant 

 qualities. 



7. When the physical Constitution is transmitted 

 from fathers to children, these participate in 

 the same proportion, in their moral qualities 

 and intellectual faculties. 



Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis ; 

 Est in juvencis, est in equis, 

 Patrum virtus. 



From the time of Horace, men have never 

 ceased to observe, that certain moral qualities are 

 often propagated for ages in the same family ; 

 which proves the close connection between the 

 organisation and the exercise of the moral and 

 intellectual forces. Hence it happens, not only 

 that certain maladies, such as gout, phthisis, 

 deafness, stone, &c, but also certain disorders 

 considered purely moral, are hereditary. Ganbius 

 speaks of a girl, whose father was possessed by 

 a violent passion for eating human flesh, which 

 induced him to commit several murders. This 

 daughter, though separated from him a long 

 time, and brought up in the midst of respectable 

 persons, was a prey, like her father, to this in- 

 conceivable desire of devouring human flesh. 

 Ganbius, in relating this anecdote, concludes with 

 me, that certain moral qualities are hereditary. I 

 shall, hereafter, cite several instances in which a 

 propensity to theft, to drunkenness, and even the 

 unhappy propensity to suicide, were hereditary. 

 Now, how could these dispositions, good and bad, 

 be transmitted from family to family, were they 

 not founded in organisation ? 



8. The state of Waking, of Sleep, and 

 Dreaming, also prove that the exercise of the 

 moral and intellectual faculties is subordinate 

 to organisation. 



If a spiritual substance, independently of orga- 

 nisation, exercised moral and intellectual func- 

 tions, how could you conceive that this pure 

 spirituality could be fatigued, exhausted; could 

 have- need of repose and of sleep ? Sleep is 

 nothing but inactivity, the perfect rest of the 

 brain in a state of health. During this suspen- 

 sion of the cerebral functions, the brain receives 

 new forces, and at waking, its functions are per- 

 formed with facility. If some cerebral organs, 

 irritated by any cause whatever, are put in 

 action, while the action of the others is suspended, 

 there result sensations and ideas which consti- 

 tute dreams. 



The nature of these dreams is almost always 

 in harmony with the physical dispositions of the 

 individual. The young man dreams of pleasure 

 and agreeable events; he swims, he flies with 



voluptuous delight; valetudinarians, male and 

 female, meet nothing in their dreams but 

 obstacles and crosses. We dream that we are 

 dying with inflammation of the bowels, and 

 awake with cruel griping. It is the same with 

 somnambulism; and hence, the dependence on 

 the organisation is manifest. 



9. Every thing which sensibly changes, either 

 weakens or irritates the organisation, and 

 especially the Nervous System, and also pro- 

 duces considerable alterations in the exercise 

 of the Mental Faculties. 



It has always been remarked that too rapid an 

 increase, or a hastened development of organs, 

 weakens their special functions.* This especially 

 happens in the climacteric years or periods of 

 development, of which physicians and physiolo- 

 gists cannot too highly appreciate the impor- 

 tance. The mind, the body, all then suffer at 

 once. The individual is incapable of steady ap- 

 plication, and instruction is at once arrested. 

 This state ceases, only, when the interval devoted 

 to this development has been passed; and we 

 readily perceive that this is the case, because the 

 intellectual faculties at once resume all their 

 energy. 



On the other hand, if the intellectual organs 

 are developed too early, and kept in a state of ex- 

 cessive activity, there will often result an incurable 

 exhaustion and paralysis of these organs ; and it 

 is thus that men of precocious genius sink into 

 mediocrity, and even below it, if the exhaustion 

 has been carried to its highest degree. I have 

 already said, that the intellectual faculties, which 

 are feeble in many children, especially in those 

 which have collections of water in the cavities of 

 the brain, often become strengthened and de- 

 veloped in a very striking manner, when the 

 brain has acquired its complete growth and 

 consistency. 



Again, it is a constant observation, that, in 

 hydrocephalic patients, the intellectual faculties 

 are weakened or regained, according as the 

 effusion is increased, or as we succeed in les- 

 sening it. 



* This is true in relation to growth in the 

 natural world. A tree is materially injured by 

 hastening its growth. It lives but a short 

 period, and it fails to bear fruit oftener than every 

 other year. 



THE IRISH SHAMROCK. 



" The more (says a writer in the Dublin 

 Review) an idea is natural, popular, and 

 traditional, the more it is accepted without 

 examination, and the more readily perpetuated 

 in error." Thus our M Green immortal Sham- 

 rock" is sung by our poets, and accepted as 

 the " chosen leaf of our country. It is re- 

 ligiously stuck in every man's hat, who is not 

 ashamed of being a " mere Hirish ;" and it is, 

 therefore, a kind of sacrilegious scepticism to 

 doubt its truth. It is really painful to check 

 such devotion, by informing the public they 



