154 Brain-Work and Hand-Work, [March, 
invariably stands in need of delicacy, nicety of touch and 
movement, bodily or, if you will, muscular, attributes to be 
reached only by training. 
It is the same in the fine arts. The painter needs not 
merely an exquisite perception of form and colour, an instinc- 
tive — as it appears to outsiders — appreciation of their rela- 
tions and harmonies ; unless he possesses in addition to all 
this the requisite nicety of touch, he must fail to embody in 
visible form the conceptions present in his brain. Precisely 
the same is it with the musician. The orator and the adtor 
must also, in addition to their mere mental gifts, have vocal 
organs thoroughly developed and disciplined. Thus we see 
that in the highest walks of science and art, brain-work and 
muscle-work exist, I might say, in a state of interpenetration. 
Again, at a work-table in Y Street, sits a microscopist, 
carefully studying the peculiarities of a newly detected 
microbion, or dissecting the larva of the Phylloxera. What 
is he ? Brain-worker, or muscle-worker ? You pronounce 
him a brain-worker ; his brain, in your opinion, doing the 
larger — the essential part of his task. So be it. I convey 
you to X Street, where at another work-table sits a 
microscope-maker. He is accurately adjusting an objective 
of high power. What is he ? Like the user of the micro- 
scope just mentioned, he requires the utmost delicacy of 
touch, the highest manipulative skill. Like the micro- 
scopist, also, his brain performs the essential part of the 
task. But you will probably call him a hand-worker or 
muscle-worker, because he is a mechanic ! 
Surely, then, we must admit that there is no hard and 
fast boundary between the brain-worker and the muscle- 
worker. There is no muscle-work without brain-work; 
there is little brain-work of a high order without muscle- 
work. 
There are, however, gradations. There , are kinds of 
muscle-work, so simple, so monotonous or uniform in their 
character, that they are, with very little practice, performed 
automatically, with no conscious effort of the brain. Such, 
for instance, is the work of the agricultural labourer in 
digging, mowing, thrashing, &c., or of the hodman carrying 
bricks and mortar up a ladder. All such work, it is generally 
found, can be performed by means of machinery. Perhaps 
this may enable us to find a definition, or rather a limit for 
muscle-work. 
I must now ask what classes of society can rank as brain- 
workers. Dr. Beard seems to include here, clergymen, 
lawyers, physicians, merchants, scientists, and men of letters. 
