i88 3 J 
On Brain-Work and Hand-Work , l 
155 
He does not make any mention of artists, teachers of different 
branches of knowledge, manufacturers, &c. Now, if the 
merchant, the man who distributes, fetches, and carries, is 
to rank as a brain-worker, surely must the producer, who 
much more frequently originates out of his own mind some- 
thing new to. the world. We may also ask, Does the term 
merchant include the retail dealer, the clerk, and the com- 
mercial assistant ? If so, we find the brain-working class re- 
inforced by a number of persons who certainly have little need 
for muscular exertion, but little also for brain-work, and many 
of whose tasks and duties might be performed by machinery. 
Again, where are we to place the speculator, the gambler, 
and the forger ? Muscle-workers they are only to a very 
small extent, though the forger requires a wonderful amount 
of manipulative skill. He must, however, be regarded as a 
doomed species, since the Nesbit patent safety-cheque carries 
in it the germs of his destruction. 
It becomes very difficult to say with accuracy who are to 
be classed as brain-workers, and who as muscle-workers, 
and, still more, who are to be referred to Dr. Beard’s third 
class, “ those who follow occupations that call both muscle 
and brain into exercise.” This class, as I have endeavoured 
to show, includes almost everyone who works at all. Until 
we are able to furnish a correct classification of mankind as 
brain-workers and muscle-workers, it will be very difficult 
to enunciate any true and valuable proposition concerning 
either group. 
Twenty years ago, Dr. Beard laid down among others the 
following set of propositions : — That the brain-working 
classes — clergymen,' lawyers, physicians, merchants, scien- 
tists, and men of letters — live very much longer than the 
muscle-working classes. That the greatest and hardest 
brain-workers of history have lived longer on the average 
than brain-workers of ordinary ability and industry. That 
clergymen are longer-lived than any other great class of 
brain-workers. 
The first of these propositions admits of statistical proof 
or disproof. The life-lengths of the classes of men above 
mentioned can be ascertained, and their average duration 
compared with the mean length of life prevalent in their 
times and countries. But is the superior longevity of these 
classes due to the fadt that they are brain-workers, or must 
it not be traced to a complication of causes ? If brain-work 
is per se salutary and conducive to long life — which I do not 
deny — and if, as we may gather from Dr. Beard’s second 
proposition here given, its beneficial influence is proportionate 
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