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Thoughts on the true mode of improving the condition of man / Charles Caldwell. Caldwell, Charles, 1772-1853. 400dpi TIFF G4 page images University of Kentucky, Electronic Information Access & Management Center Lexington, Kentucky 2002 b92-187-30608152 Electronic reproduction. 2002. (Beyond the shelf, serving historic Kentuckiana through virtual access (IMLS LG-03-02-0012-02) ; These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Thoughts on the true mode of improving the condition of man / Charles Caldwell. Caldwell, Charles, 1772-1853. Printed by H. Savary, Lexington, Ky. : 1833. 44 p. ; 22 cm. Coleman "Read to the Lexington Medical Society, and printed at its request." -- on t.p. Microfilm. Atlanta, Ga. : SOLINET, 1994. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (SOLINET/ASERL Cooperative Microfilming Project (NEH PS-20317) ; SOL MN04381.02 KUK) Printing Master B92-187. IMLS This electronic text file was created by Optical Character Recognition (OCR). No corrections have been made to the OCR-ed text and no editing has been done to the content of the original document. Encoding has been done through an automated process using the recommendations for Level 1 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file. CALDWELL ON til; TRITE MOD1. (f IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF MTIAi. This page in the original text is blank. THOUG HTS O.N THE TRUE AMODE 1 IMIPROVING THE CONDITION OF X11AN. BY CHARLES CALDWELL, NM. D. RHAD TO THE LEXINGTON MEDICAL SOCIETYT, AND PURITED AT 13,8 RMftUIST., LEXINGTON, KY. OftQITYD BY H. SAVA.R CO. BOOK AND JOB PrINTERS. ...... . This page in the original text is blank. THOUGH TS, kc. To improve in some way the condition of man, and thus enlarge the general stock of human happiness, is the pro- fessed object of every one who appears in a public capacity. A declaration to that effect is a sort of standing preface to all enterprises, in which the interest of the community is concerned. Every one who acts on a broad scale, whether in civil or military life-in church or state affairs, in com- merce, agriculture or the arts, in the conquest of nations. or in defence of their rights-endeavors to persuade others as well perhaps as himself, that his design is to prove a benefactor of his race. Nor is this true of those alone who more directly serve the public. Others of humbler standing, and in narrower spheres, indulge in the same philanthropic pretension. Even the day-labourer at his task, the fisher- maii at his net, and the solitary huntsman, as he strays through the forest, flatter themselves with the persuasion, that their toils have not an exclusive bearing on themselves; but that the condition of others will be in some shape amended by them. Each one, moreover, if interrogated on the sub- ject, will offer a plausible reason for his belief. Such, I say. and so multiplied are the schemes and the modes of accomplishing them, that have, from time immemorial, been devised and practised, with a view to the improvement of the condition of man. But has the success of the exper- iment equalled the pomp and parade that have attended it, -and the number and talents of those that have been engaged in it Has the condition of the human family been actually improved. in proportion to the extent of the effort made to ( 4 ) that effect If history and observation furnish the reply, it will be decidedly negative. I do not say that the state of society throughout the civilized world is not improving. On the contrary, I admit that it is. In its extent and depth neither misery nor crime is comparable now to what it was at the commencement of the revival of letters. But it can- not be denied tha: the march of improvement is exceedingly slow. In several countries, not excepting those that rank with the riost enl ghtened and the wisest, it would seem, for some time past, t(. have been, in certain respects, retrogade. Whole classes of their inhabitants are not a little deteriora- ted in botli mind and body; and, among no inconsiderable portion of them, misery appears as deep, and prospects as disheartening, as adversity coupled with despair can render them. Since it is true, then, that the improvement in the condi- tion of man is greatly disproportioned to the united and long continued efforts of so many millions of individuals for the promotion of it, the failure must be owing to some powerful and deep-iooted cause. For, that he is a being highly sus- ceptible of improvement, cannot be doubted. To detect that cause, then, and point out the means, by which it may be successfullv counteracted or removed, would constitute a memorable, not to call it a glorious epoch, in the history and progress of human happiness. While philanthropy would rejoice at z.n event so auspicious, and a liberal philos- ophy hail it as a Soon of peculiar value, even stoicism itself could scarcely fail to bid it welcome. Let me invite your at- tention, thin, to a few thoughts on this important subject. As respects the cause why the efforts hitherto made for the amelioration of the condition of man have proved unsuccess- ful, it may be easily rendered. They have been instituted on fallacious grounds. Neither has science directed nor na- ture sanctioned them. On the contrary, both have con- curred in pronouncing them wrong, and in dissuading from the prosecution of them. That the end aimed at by them, then, should be attained, was impossible. It is an axiom in ( 5 ) philosophy, that nothing in opposition to nature, or apart from it, shall succeed. The authors of the efforts referred to lad not a correct knowledge of the human system, the complicated machine which it was their object to improve. Of all earthly things that are highly important, men would seem to be least acquainted with themselves and their ex- ternal relations. Under such circumstances, to look for human amendment as the result of their labours, is unrea sonable; not to use a more condemnatory term, and pro- notice it absurd. That man should be deteriorated by the ignorance and mismanagement of those who attempt to bet- ter his condition. is much more probable. I have employed the phrase "human system," as indica- ting the subject to be acted on, in all attempts at human amendment. And I mean by it the material fabric of man, possessed of life and its numerous attributes. To improve that, in a suitable manner, is all that can be done, and all that is requisite for the end contemplated. Let that be brought to the highest perfection of which it is susceptible, and the work will be complete. The condition of man will be as felicitous as the laws of his nature admit. I allude to his earthly condition. But the subject must be treated more circumstantiallv. The human family is made up of individuals. Its pros- perity therefore, in the aggregate, is composed of that of all its sepjarate members. The greater the number of its mem- bers, and the more prosperous the condition of each, the high- er will be the prosperity and comfort of the whole. These postulates will not be denied. The questions, therefore, to be solved in the present case are, "In what does individual pl)rosperity consist" and "In what way can it be promoted most cemtainly, and in the higlhest degree" Satisfactory answer's to these questions will be tantamount to directions for the best mode of improving the condition of the human race. The first of them, being simple and limited, can be briefly answerel . The latter is more complicated, and must be answered in detail. ( 6 ) Apart from wealth, station, and other incidental considera- tions, which cannot be embraced in the present discussion, individual prosperity, when as perfect as it can be made, con- sists in a capacity for the highest degree of personal efficien- cv and rational enjoyment. In plainer terms, it is a fitness in man to be as happy in himself, and as useful to others, as the laws of his being admit. And that fitness is the result of a fair de-elopement and sound condition of all the various organs of "he syotem; of that which constitutes man's great- est good; a souni mind in a sound body. And to a certain extent these are inseparable. Let the corporeal condition be as here set forth; and the intellectual will correspond with it as certairly, as, in any other case, the effect harmonizes with the cause. I have Ihere again spoken of the organized system, as consti- tuting the real st bject of improvement. This I have done in- tentionall) and with a precise meaning, which I wish to be dis- tinctly understood. It is as follows. All that we practically are, and therefore all that we can do, in our present state is the result of our organization. If well organized and in health, we are in a condition to be comfortable, prosperous, and useful; but 'f our organization be defective or unsound, the reverse is true. To this not a single exception can be adduced. in the gealities of the present, or the history of the past. Op-position to this assertion may be safely challenged. To our organization we are as exclusively indebted for the character and amount of our intellectual and moral facul- ties, as our phbrsical; as positively so for the strength and activity cf our reason and virtue, as of our muscles and joints. However paradoxical this may appear to some, or perhaps heteradoxical to others, a thorough knowledge of man as he is tes ifies to its truth. None doubt it but those who look at human nature through the perverting medium of theory, or prejudice, and endeavor to fashion it to ther own conceptions. The brain is as truly and obviously the organ of feeling, sentiment, and thought, as the glands are of se- cretion, a.nd the muscles of motion. A large, healthy, well toned, and well formed brain, therefore, gives strength of intellect and soundness of virtue to the philosopher and statesman, as certainly and directly, as large, healthy, and well formed muscles and nerves do to the arm of the black- smith or the leg of the dancer. The wisdom of Ulysses was no less the resul of organization than the swiftness of Achilles, and the morality of Seneca equally so with the strength of Milo. To Homer this truth appears to have been familiar. Hence he has given a large and finely formed head to the Prince of Ithica. and great volume and symmetry of muscles to the son of Peleus. All that is re- quisite to be learnt, therefore, to insure the highest improve- ment of the human race, is, how to bestow on individuals the best organization. It must not be forgotten that I mean the organization of every portion of the system. On this I say depend strength, activity, elegance, grace, beauty, genius, and moral worth, and every other excellence corporeal and mental. To the truth of this, all times both ancient and modern, and every country on earth bear testimony. Other things being equal, that community whose individuals are best organized, is most powerful, prosperous, and happy. In proof of this, I refer, in ancient times, to the Greeks and Romans, and in modern, to the inhabitants of Great Brit- ain, France, and the United States. To the superior organ- ization of the two ancient nations, every fact in history re- lating to the subject, and numerous productions of sculpture and painting amply testify; and they were indebted to it alike for their splendour in peace, and their glory in war. And as to the latter, the reference to them is equally correct, and equally calculated to sustain my position. They are the best organized people in modern times. A fair comnpari- son of them with the natives of other countries proves the fact. Some portions of the Germans, Spaniards and Ital- Owing to the forms of discipline they pursue, there is reason to be- lieve, that certain orders of the Germans are at present improving more rap- idly in their organization, than any other people. Should they persevere in this course of improvement, for another half-century, with the same zeal and steadiness they have manifested during the past, they will be equal to the in- habitants of any other nation, in all the higher qualities of man. ( 8 ) ians came nearest to them, but are still inferior. To this superiority of organization are the British, French, and Americansindebted for preeminence in their intellect and morals, prosperity and power. In referring to these points, it must not be forgotten, that the power and efficiency of every description of organized matter are increased by the proper kind arid degree of excitement and exercise. Is any one inclined to question the ground I have as- sumed, aind to ask me whether real human superiority does not detend more on superiority of mental constitution than of material oi ganization I answer, no. At least we have no goo6 reason to think so. Of "mental constitution," ina the abstract, -we know nothing. We cannot even affix to the expression an intelligible meaning. To us, therefore, it has no r1ieaning,and mightas wellhave no existence. Perhaps better. Its operation on us is unfavorable to accuracy in knowledge. It palms on us sound instead of sense, and in- duces us to pursue a fallacious process in our efforts to im- prove ourselves. To discuss the difference between the mind or spirit of one individual and that of another, is to toy with wo-'ds. As well might we attempt to ascertain the difference between the circumference and weight of one moon-beam arl another. Each inquiry would be alike fu- tile in ts character and unsuccessful in its issue. One per- son differs from another in his intellect, not because his spirit isi differeat; but because he differs in his organization. Nor do persons differ in figure or muscular power for any other reason, Two nmen strike with the same weapon; an action which ;.s directed by the intellect; or, if the term be prefer- red, by the wiJl. One strikes with great force, the other fee- bly. To what is this difference attributable To a mere difference in the strength of the mind or will Assuredly not; but to a difference in the size and organization of bone, muscle, and nerve. The truth of this no one will contro- vert, because the organic difference is visible, while that of the wi',l or spirit is not. Again; two men think and reason on the same subject, one deeply and powerfully, the other' ( 9 ) superficially and without power. Why should this difference be derived from a difference of mind or spirit, any more than the other No one can render even an intelligible and plausible, much less a solid reason for thus deriving it. No difference of spirit is perceptible here, any more than in the case of muscular action. But a competent examination dis- covers as real an organic difference between the two latter individuals, as between the two former. True; they do not differ in the same parts of the body; nor is the difference so palpable to the common eye. But, to the practised eye, they liffer perceptibly, not to say strikingly, in a much more impor- tant part; I mean the brain. And, their training being alike, to this difference alone can their difference in the power of thought be ascribed. Is the existing difference seated in any other faculty of the intellect It can still be traced to a difference in organization. Do two females differ in grace of attitude and motion, beauty of feature, animation and loveliness of expression, or delicacy or brilliancy of complex- ion This again can be clearly shown to arise exclusively from organic difference. In fine, I repeat, that as organiza- tiou makes man what he is, every difference that exists be- tween one human being and another, arises from that alone. It must still be borne in mind, that tone or intensity makes an important element in organic efficiency. Improve organ- ization, then, especially in certain parts to be hereafter de signated, and you improve the race in every excellence; irn intellect and morality as well as in animal power. Carry this improvement to the highest attainable pitch, and man is as perfect as he can be made. But that it may be rendered more certainly intelligible, and the truth or falsity of my sentiments respecting it be the more easily perceived, this subject must be considered in further detail. I shall pit- ceed, therefore, to state, with as much succintness and per- spicuity as I can, some of the means by which the organizea tion of man may be so changed as to improve his condition. Is any one ready to allege that I am about to engage in a liscussion fanciful in its nature, and which can never eitLer ( 10) develope a truth, settle a principle, or lead to any practical good If so, he will permit me to ask him, why it should be deemed more visionary to believe in the practicability of iuproviug the race of man, in all their attributes, mental as well as corporeal, than in that of improving, to the same oextent, the breed of our domestic animals and why an at- tempt io produce the former result should be held less 3seful i n its object, than one to produce the latter Is there, ir, the nature of things, any impediment, either physical or moral, to render an effort to the one effect more hopeless than ar, effort to the other No cultivated physiologist will reply affirmatively. Nor would a reply from any othersource be worth listening to. The two cases are strictly analogous; the end the same, and the means of attaining it precisely alike. This is true, however reluctant false pride may ren- der the superficial and the unthinking to believe it. We are, in the literal sense of the expression, much more assimilated o the worm, than most of us would be willing to admit. Cour organization, consisting of similar materials united in a Similar wanner, is as susceptible of being changed, for either wsetter or worse, as that of the inferior animals; and it can be changed on the same principles. We have an organiza- tion superior to theirs in degree, but not in kind, a few por- tions of the brain excepted; and even they can be altered avid amended only on the same ground. Every enlight- ened and practical agriculturist knows that he can, by proper feeding, exercise, and training, ameliorate his breed of horses and cows, hogs, sheep, and dogs. And he does so. Be renders them not only larger and better formed, strong- er and deeter, but more intellectual, mild, and docile. He improves them in all the attributes of their races. But pre- viously to suggesting any means for the attainment of the same end, as relates to man, I must offer a brief physi- o'ogical exposition. It has been already observed, that the human body is a 'very complicated apparatus. It consists of many different organs which are again made up of other organs,each perform- ( 11) ing its specific functions. But these organs, instead of acting, every one for itself alone, act also for each other, individ- ually and collectively, and are united in a system, by function and sympathy. The condition of one organ, therefore, whether sound or unsound, influences and modifies that of many others. If it be a principal organ it influences the whole machine. There are three great sets of organs, which, while they are intimately and indispensably con- nected with each other, control all the rest, and assimilate their condition, in no small degree, to their own. These are the chylopoetic organs, the blood-making and blood-cir- culating organs, consisting of the lungs and the heart, and the brain, spinal cord, and nerves, which, as already men- tioned, are the instruments of intellect and feeling, and are essential also to voluntary motion. To the heart must be ad- ded its appendages, the bloodvessels. These three sets of organs have been said to control all the others; and this they do chiefly, by mutually controlling themselves; by exercising, I mean, such a reciprocal influence, as to be all, at the same time, somewhat assimilated in condition. They are as ne- cessary to each other, as they are to the whole. Is one of them materially deranged in its action The two others suffer immediately, and all the rest of the system in its turn. Is the brain diseased Its healthy influence, which is in- dispensable to the well-being of the two other sets of asso- ciated organs, is withheld from them, and they also fail in their action, as well as in their sound and sustaining sym- pathies. The chyle and blood are deteriorated. This proves a source of further injury to the brain, which, unless it be supplied with well prepared blood, is neither itself in good condition, nor capable of contributing to the health and efficiency of the other parts of the body. It cannot pre- pare, from a scanty and bad material, the substance, or agent, of its own influence, whatever it may be, in sufficient quantity, and of sound qualities. The general mischief, arising from a primary morbid affection of either of the two other sets of controlling organs, is equally demonstrable, and depends OL similar principles. But it is needless to dwell longer on this subject. To every physiologist it is already familiar. It is known to him, that out of chyle of bad qualities, or deficient in quantity, a sufficient amount of good blood cannot be prepared; that if respiration be de- fective, the latter fluid cannot be duly vitalized; and that if the heart be efeebled, it cannot throw the blood with the requisite force i!.to every part of the system. Of the three leading sets of organs, the functions of two are comparatively simple; the chylopoetic, and those that prepare and ci culate the blood. But, as respects the brain, the reverse is true. Its functions are as numerous and di- versifie6 in kind, as they are important in their bearing and character. Besides throwing its influence on every part of the system, to sistain it in a state of common fitness for ac- tion, and performing the great work of voluntary motion, it is the imrnrediatc seat of every form of sensation, and the instrument of every intellectual faculty. The brain is not. therefore, a single organ. In the necessity of things it can- not be s.. Throughout nature no single organ performs more thain asingle function. Were the case otherwise, cre- ation would be a scene of confusion and chance, every thing future uncertain, and reason but a name. The beauty, or- der, and harmony that now pervade the universe, and render it so suitable and delightful a dwelling to man, consist in that well adjusted relation of things, according to which every caise produces its own specific and single effect, and nothing more. Destroy that relation, and chaos will have returned, and 'he earth be uninhabitable, except by a new order of being.3. But I must proceed in my preliminary analysis one step further. And here I am compelled to become the phrenolo- gist. In no other capacity can I speak rationally of the hu- man intellect. On that topic, every thing said apart from phrenology, or in opposition to it, is to me but the language of conjecture cr prejudice. I leave it therefore to the in- cumbents of schools and cloisters, where much of it origin- ated. ( 13) 1 have represented the brain as the instrument of the in- tellectual faculties. These, besides the external senses and the power of voluntary motion, are thirty-five in number. Nor are they less diversified than numerous. No two of them bear to each other any more resemblance, than vision does to hearing, or tasting to touch. And they are all effects or modes of action. But it has been already observed, that no two effects different from each other can proceed from the same cause, nor two sorts of action from the same piece of machinery; a truth to which nature every where testifies. Nor is the evidence she offers less decisive in the functions of animals, than in the other departments of her works. The samne nerve cannot be instrumental to sensation and muscular motion; nor can the same one minister to voluntary and in- voluntary motion. Each of these modes of action requires a different nerve. The same is true of the several func- tions of sense. They also are the results of the action of dif- ferent kinds of organic matter. The visual nerve cannot perform the function of the auditory, the auditory of the olfactory, nor the gustatory of the tactual. Each function requires a different nerve, precisely as any other specific form of action requires a specific cause. Of the intellectual faculties the same is true, else must they be anomalous and unintelligible. But they are neither the one nor the other. As respects the point I am consid- ering, they are subject to the same principles that govern all other earthly things, and therefore, like them, susceptible of illustration. They also are the result of the action of or- ganic matter. Being specifically different from each other, the kinds of action producing them must be equally different. This is common sense, as well as philosophy, and cannot therefore be questioned. It follows necessarily, that such differences of action must be the producL of instruments equally different. By no law of nature can the same instru- ment produce them all. Each peculiar intellectual faculty, then, must have its own specific cerebral organ; and one of these organs can no more perform the function of another, ( 14) than thc ear can see, or the tongue hear. Hence the brain, instead of being single, consists of as many organs as the intellect possesses of faculties; and all these are as different from each oither, as a nerve of sensation is from a nerve of motion, or a nerve of taste from one of touch. If these positions are true, as all things seem to testify they are, the inferences deduc ible from them are peculiarly important, and, as widl presently appear, have a direct bearing on the subject I ann discussing. The organs which compose the brain, with the faculties dependent on them, are divided into three classes; the ani- mal, the moral, and the intellectual strictly so denominated. The latter class is subdivided into the knowing and the re- fecting organs; o., as they are sometimes called, the percep- tive organs and those of relation. For the comfort and hap- piness, as well as for the efficiency of man, and his useful- ness as a mromer of society, it is requisite that these three sets of organs be well balanced in power and action. If one or two of them preponderate, especially in a high degree, some deficiency, irregularity, or impropriety of conduct will occur, to the inconvenience, injury, or ruin of the individual. In proof of this many striking examples might be cited. But the truth is already so palpable, that it would scarcely be extravagant to pronounce it self-evident. In attempting therefore to improve the condition of man, a point of pecul- iar mome it is, to produce and maintain, in his mentalpowers, the requisite balance. Let each class of organs and its de- pendent facultie3 have a full measure of power, but suffer neither of them greatly to predominate over the others. Should the animal class be too feeble, the individual will be defective In practical energy; he will want general vigour and activity of character; and should it be too strong, the danger is great, 'hat he will indulge in practices indecorous and degrading, i. not vicious. He will be too much of the animal, in forgetfulness of the man. If the intellectual or- gans be too feeble, the individual will want both knowledge and the power t( use it. If any one, two, or more of them ( 15 ) be disproportionately strong, he will be likely to attach hinid self inordinately to some favourite pursuit, to the neglect of other requisite ones, or to engage in study with an ardour and intensity ruinous to health, and perhaps productive of mental derangement. Excessive weakness in the moral or- gans is tantamount to too much strength in the animal, and may become a source of crime; while excessive strength and activity in some of them produce a stern and inflexible res- olution, or an ungovernable enthusiasm, in relation to the ob- jects of them, which misleads the judgement, subverts dis- cretion, and prevents usefulness. An individual thus organ- ized, however virtuous and praiseworthy his intentions may be, can never be practically virtuous in a high degree; can never, I mean, do much good to his fellow men. Should the' bent of his character be in that direction, he will be a bigot, if not a fanatic in religion. And should it be toward philan- thropy, his schemes will be quixotic, and his benefactions misapplied. LIe will be ultra in every thing which conforms to his "ruling passion;" and he will be the more irreclaima- ble, from fancying that he perseveres for "conscience' sake."' But to establish the balance of the intellect alone is not sufficient to constitute the highest degree of improvement, of which the human condition is susceptible. The whole man must be balanced; the organs of his body in general, no less than his cerebral organs. Nor is this all. The due bal- ance must be established between the other parts of his system and his brain. Neither must inordinately prepon- derate. Any striking defect of balance, whatever may be its nature or seat, is a constitutional evil, and must necessa- rily do mischief. To produce therefore the highest perfec- tion, of which man is susceptible, a fair equilibrium must be established in his system, and the whole rendered as powerful It is now known that a great preponderance of one or more of the cere- bral organs constitutes a strong predisposition to madness. An examination of the insane also testifies, that, in a large majority of cases, the mental faculties first deranged, and which often continue to be alIne deranged, are those belong- ing to organs inordinately developed-inordinately I mean, in proportion to the other organs of the same brain. (16) as may 1'e pract cable. Weak organs must be strengthened and too vigorous ones reduced, if not actually, at least com- paratively, until the requisite balance be attained. In one point, of great moment, the living body of man resembles not a little the body politic. The stronger parts of it have a prevalent tet.dency to oppress and injure the weaker. Hence local debility, of whatever description, is an invita- tion to disease. or some kind of discomfort. In every scheme, therefoie, for human improvement, to prevent or re- move it Fhould be a leading object. Is any one inclined to ask me how this is to be done- by what means, and in what mode of employing them, this constitutional Larmony is to be established The question is a fair one; and, were it proposed, I should be bound to reply to it. Without further preface, therefore, I shall pro- ceed to answer Jt, as if it were proposed. It is a law of nature that the offspring resemble their pa- rents. As rel tes to leading points, this is a truism fa- miliar to every one, and is uniformly and successfully acted on, in the breeding of inferior animals. That all constitu- tional qualities are transmitted from parents to their chil- dren, aimits not of a doubt. Apparent exceptions are only apparent, not real. Are parents perfectly sound and vigor- ous in bohiy So are their children, when they first see the light. Is the reverse true Are the former constitutionally unsound and debilitated The evil descends, in some de- gree, to the latzer. Respecting intellect, the same is true. According as it -s weak or strong, sound, unsound, or peculiar in the parents, so are its character and condition in the chil- dren. I speak in general terms, and refer only to general results, without meaning to entangle myself in the difficul- ties of abnormal cases. And thus far all testimony con- curs to sustain me. The descendants of a community, sound, vigorous, and hardy in mind and body, will be themselves a communitZ: of ti e same description, unless they are changed by adventitious causes. To this, neither does history con- tain, nor can observation adduce, a single exception Spar- ( 17) tan children were like their Spartan parents, and Baeotian children like their Bceotian parents. And, in our times, the descendants of the hill-country and of the valley are very dissimilar. As relates to the standing and welfare of the human race, this principle is much more extensively and powerfully ope- rative than it is generally supposed to be. It is the reason why children born at different periods of the lives of their pa- rents, and under the influence of different circumstances, es- pecially different degrees of parental health and vigour, are often so unlike each other. It is also the most probable source of the very frequent an(l strong resemblance of twins, which receive the impress of exactly the same parental con- dition. Children partake of the constitutional qualities of their parents, for the time being. Years and circumstances alter those qualities, and the offspring produced under the influence of them thus modified, are correspondingly altered. Even the present predominance of any particular faculty of the intellect in the parents, would seem to transmit that fa- culty to the child in greater vigour than it would be trans- mitted under the predominance of any other faculty. To il- lustrate this subject by examples. The first-born children of parents, who marry when very young, are rarely if ever equal, in either body or intellect, to those born at a subsequent period, provided the parents con- tinue healthy. Hence the younger sons of noblemen so gen- erally surpass, in all the higher attributes of our race, their elder brothers, whose only preeminence depends on the privi- leges attached to primogeniture. I know that an attempt has been made to explain this on a different ground; that of education, expectancy, and habit. But I also know that the attempt has failed. The difference is too great to be thus accounted for. It often occurs, moreover, when the cause just referred to is wanting. The following is believed to be the true explanation. Very young parents are, in constitution, immature and comparatively feeble; and that constitutional imperfection 3 ( 18) descends to their early oflfspring. As years pass on, their be- ing ripens, arid their strength increases. As a natural ef- fect of this, the constitutions of their children become amelior- ated. It was a knowledge of this, derived from observa- tion, that induced the Spartans to prohibit marriage, until the parti s had attained entire maturity; the females the age of twenty -two or twenty-five, and the males that of twenty-seven or thirty. I X eed scarcely add, that they were personally the hardiest and most powerful people of Greece, and, as a com- munity the most warlike. For reason; well known to phrenologists, the animal or- gans and faculties predominate during early life. Parents, therefore, who marry, at that period, communicate in a high- er degree to heir first children the same unfortunate pre- dominance, which renders them less intellectual and moral, and more sensual; less capable, as well as less ambitious of preeminence In knowledge and virtue, and more inclined to animal indulgences. If I am not mistaken, history and ob- servat.on sustain this view of the subject, and philosophy ex- pounds it. Again. T.te sons of soldiers and military leaders, born during periods of war and peril, are believed to be constitu- tiona ly brave. Under such circumstances, a coward has been raiely ushered into the world. The reason would seem plain. Ir) the parents,' the organs and faculties pertaining to 1" It is here understood that the females must be intrepid, as well as the males. 7 he chidiren of timid mothers, begotten and born in the midst of dan- ger, where vcenes of alarm are of frequent occurrence, are rarely, if ever, possessed of firrr.ness or constitutional vigour. On the contrary, they usually inherit an abundant share of the nervous and cerebral irritabil- ity and weakness, which their mothers experienced, during the time of gesta- tion. The reason is plain. The organs of Cautiousness of the mothers, which are large dnd powerful, being kept in a state of preternatural and ex- hausting excitement, created for the time a constitutional bias, or "ruling passiona' which was, therefore, in obedience to a law of nature, communicated to their efspring. The medical annals of the "reign of terror," in Paris, during the ;Irst French Revolution, are fruitful in facts corroborative of this. The children of timid mothers became irresolute and feeble adults, and wvere in many instances subject to convulsive complaints. ( 19) war, excited to inordinate action by scenes congenial to them, predominate for the time, and bravery becomes the native in- heritance of their sons. Hence also the phrase "soldier's daughter" means a heroic woman. During the early and warlike age of our frontier States, when the rifle and the tommahock were constantly employed in the work of havock, every child was born an Indian-fighter. The cause, I say, is obvious. In the whole population, which was composed of warriors, the organs and faculties suited to the occasion bore sway, and gave to the constitution of the offspring of the community a corresponding character. For the same reason children born in France, during the revolution, were consti- tutionally soldiers. The late spectacle of heroism in Paris testifies strongly to this effect. Those who defeated the vet- erans of Charles X., and wrested from him the sceptre and the sword, were chiefly the sons of the- preceding revolution. And neverdid combatants display valour more firm and re- splendent. Efrorts are again made to explain these and all similar events, on the single ground of education and example. But they are made in vain: or rather worse than in vain. They in- culcate error. That education and example do much, is not denied. And the principles of their operation will be stated hereafter. But they cannot do everything. Children born un- der the shade ofthe laurel become brave soldiers and heroic lea- ders more readily, than those who inhale, with their first breath, the perfume of the olive. This is in accordance with nature; and observation, as far as it has been directed to the subject, tes- tifies to its truth. It is on similar ground, that the superior bravery of the Spartans and Lacedemonians may be most ra- tionally explained. I mean the active predominance of the warlike organs in their parents. On the same principle are we to explain the fact, that the children of Arabs and Tartars are born with propensities to pillage and theft. For centuries, their progenitors have been a pilfering and a "robber-race." The consequence is obvi- outs. The organs of the brain inclining to those vices have ( 20 been predomiiant. They have formed the constitutional bi- as and ruling 1,assion of their possessors and have, no doubt, been e!larged iy perpetual exercise. For exercise as cer- tainly enlarges particular portions of the brain, as it does par- ticular muscles. By a law of nature, therefore, their excess in both size and action has descended to posterity. And this excess has beeu augmented by example and practice. The Arab and Tarfi r character, therefore, is the product of the combined influence of parentage and education. The first suggestion I shall offer as a means toward the im- provementof cur race,is the prohibition or voluntary aban- donmeat of too early marriages. Before the parties form a compact fraught with consequences so infinitely weighty, let the constitution and education of both be matured. They will then not only transmitto their offspring a better organi- zation, but be themselves, from the knowledge and experi- ence thay have attained, better prepared to improve it by cultivation. For I shall endeavour to inalke it appear that cultivation can improve it. When a skilful agriculturist wishes to amen6 his breed of cattle, he does not employ, for that purpose, immature animals. On the contrary, he care- fully prevents their intercourse. Experience moreover tea- ches him not to expect fruit of the best quality from imma- ture fr iit-trees or vines. The product of such crudeness is always defective. In like manner, marriages between boar- ding-school girls and striplings in, or just out of college, ought to be prohibited. In such cases, prohibition is a duty, no less to the parties themselves, than to their offspring and soci- ety. Marriage2 of the kind are rarely productive of any thing desirable. Mischief and unhappiness of some sort are their natural fruit. Patriotism, therefore, philanthropy, and every feeling of kindness to human nature call for their prevention. Objections resting on ground not altogether dissimilar may be justly urged against young women marrying men far ad- vanced irn years. Old men should in no case contract mar- riages likely to prove fruitful. Age has impaired their con- stitutional qualities, which descending to their offspring, the (21 ) practice tends to deteriorate our race. It is rare for the descendants of men far advanced in years to be distinguished for high qualities of either body ormind. As respects persons seriously deformed, or in any way con- stitutionally enfeebled-the rickety and club-footed, for in- stance, and those with distorted spinesor who are predisposed to insanity, scrophula, pulmonary consumption, gout, or epilep- sy-all persons of this description should conscientiously ab- stain from matrimony. In a special manner, where both the male and female labour under a hereditary taint, they should make it a part of their duty to God and their posterity, never to be thus united. Marriage in such individuals cannot be defended on moral ground, much less on that of public use fulness. It is selfish to an extent but little short of crime. Its abandonment or prevention would tend, in a high degree, to the improvement of mankind. As relates to the present, in common with all other subjects, facts alone are worthy of our attention. A single one, that may be here adduced, is preferable to all the theories that can be framed. It confirms so fully the principle I am con- tending for, as to render opposition to it hopeless. In Turkey and Persia, men of rank and wealth marry none but well formed and beautiful women. They procure many of their wives from Georgia and Circassia, the Asiatic para- dise of female beauty. Such has been their practice for ages. The consequence is what all enlightened individuals are pre- pared to expect. As regards their persons, the Turks and Persians of the higher casts are among the finest people on earth. Compared to the lower orders of their countrymen, who marry without such selection, and for whose personal im- provement therefore no provision is made, their superiority, in all points of elegance, is as striking, as is that of the English hunter, contrasted with the cart-horse. Through- out the world a similar custom would produce a similar effect. It is to be lamented, however, that the practice in Turkey and Persia, of so secluding females as to prevent them from using the proper amount of exercise, operates as a barrier to the improvemert of mankind. I need scarcely add, that it does this by debilitating' the female constitution, and en- tailing cornparative feebleness on the offspring. Let it be borne in mind that, in speaking of the fine forms of the Turks and Persians, I allude to their "persons" only; by which I mean their limbs and trunks. In the developement and figure f their heads, they are inferior to the Europeans, and the inhabitants of the United States. The reason is plain. Being less devoted to intellectual pursuits, their brains exE erience less excitement and exercise, and are therefore smaller, and probably also inferior in tone. To illustrate tbis subject further, and fortify the senti- ments just advanced, the citation of another practice of skilful agriculturi-ts may be useful. It is that of selecting the largest, best formed, and sprightliest of their domestic animals, as breeders, when they wish to improve their stock. The same is true of their efforts to improve even their vege- table productions. Whether they propagate by seeds, roots, or cuttings, they silect the largest, best looking, and best conditioned, as the parent race. This practice is founded on experience, an. the end aimed at by it, except it be pre- vented by smnister -auses, is always attained. Its relevancy to the subject I am considering is too plain to need any com- ment. The practice of Frederick Il. of Prussia, on this point, is well known. He was inordinately attached to a gigantic stature in his grenadiers. To form this corps there- fore he selected tLe largest men in his kingdom. Nor did his solicitude on the subject suffer him to stop here. That the race might not degenerate, he also selected, as wives for his grenadiers, the largest women in his kingdom. The consequence is, that Pottsdaam and its neighborhood, where Frederick's grenad er-corps was stationed, furnish even now a greater number o0 persons of gigantic size, than any other place of the same amount of population in Europe-perhaps in the world. In consequence of an unfortunate cerebral organization, some persons who are reared in virtuous society, under the (23 influence of the best example, possess an incontrollable pro- pensity to vice-to lying, treachery, theft, robbery, and even murder. Instances of this description are much more nu- merous than they are thought to be. In case of the mar- riage of such individuals, the probability is strong that their offspring will inherit their constitutional infirmity. The issue indeed can scarcely be otherwise, unless it be prevented by a better organization in the other parent, or counteracted by education, of whose influence in amending mankind I shall speak hereafter. To refrain from marriage, therefore, would be, in those persons, a redeeming virtue. Of indi- viduals dwarfish in stature, the same is true. All such acts of self-denial would be praiseworthy in them, in as much as they would tend to ameliorate the condition of man. Another source of human deterioration is a long series of family intermarriages. Be the cause what it may, both history and observation testify to the fact, that the issue of marriages between parties related by consanguinity always degenerate. They become enfeebled in time both mentally and cor- poreally. This practice, which is fostered chiefly by the false Pride of rank, has reduced almost to dwarfishness the nobility of several nations, especially of Portugal. It has likewise aided not a little in not only deteriorating, but nearly extinguishing most of the roval families of Europe. This case is strengthened and rendered the more impressive by the fact, that the ancestors of those families were the real proceres or natural nobles of the land; men peculiarly distin- guished in their day, as wvell for corporeal stature, strength, and comeliness, as for mental excellence. Yet, I repeat, that a long line of family intermarriages has contributed much to reduce below the average of mankind the descendants of those ancient nobles, whose high qualities alone gave them station and influence. In this the human race are analo- gous to our domestic animals, which are deteriorated by breeding constantly from the same stock. Even among the people of certain sects in religion, much mischief is done by the continued intermarriages of the mnleml)ers with each other. ( 24 ) The condition of the Jews and the Quakers affords proof of this. Those two societies are more afflicted with some form of mental derangement, in proportion to their numbers, than any others in Christendom. They are also unusually defi- ficient in distinguished men. This is no doubt attributable, in no small de2gree, to their so seldom marrying out of their own sects. The last source of degeneracy I shall specify, under this head, is the marriage of the indigent; of those, I mean, who are destitute of a competent supply of wholesome food for themselves and their children. This is a fearful cause of deterioration. Reason assures us that it must be so. A sound and powerfu machine cannot be constructed out of a scanty stock of damaged materials. And to the decision of reason, obsecvation unites its testimony. A glance at the in- digent of all naticns furnishes incontestible proof of the fact. Monuments of faT-gone degeneracy every where present themselves. Witness the large manufacturing towns of Eu- rope. Stinted and unwholesome fare acts on mankind as it does on other forx:,s of living matter. It injures organiza- tion and checks developement. Both the vegetables of a barren soil, and the animals scantily nourished by them are diminutive and feeble. as well as unsightly. So is man, when pinched and dispirited by poverty and its concomit- ants. Ever. the United States furnish many examples con- firmatory of this, while other countries furnish a hundred- fold more. Such ar-e a few of the most prominent and fruit- ful sources of human degeneracy. The remedy for the evil is, abstinence frorm marriage in the cases referred to. But, in no count'y, perhaps, and least of all in our own, are we to look for the speedy adoption, to any useful extent, of this preventive measure. People will marry and have issue, whether their figures and developments be good or bad, whether they are poor or rich, akin or aliens in blood, and whether their constitutions be sound or otherwise. They will also continue to marry, in many instances, at too early a period of life, as long as subsistence for a family can be ( 95 ) easily procured. Our only practicable remedy, therefore, consists in removing, as far as possible, the evils of improper parentage and other causes, by subsequent treatment. And this can be done by education alone, judiciously adapted, in its principles and administration, to the constitution of man. But by the term education I would indicate a process ex- ceedingly different from that which is usually so denomina- ted. I do not limit it to the mere attainments made by the youthful in seats of instruction, whether they be primary schools or academies, colleges or universities. I mean by it the training of the whole man, by a suitable course of dis- cipline, during the greater portion of his life. It must begin in infancy and terminate only in advanced age, when the con- stitution has become so rigid and the habits so confirmed as to be no longer improveable. And even then great care is necessary to preserve the amount of good that has been gain- ed. A process of education short of this is defective in its nature, and must prove alike defective in its issue. As all men are formed on the same plan, and possess, in different degrees, the same faculties, susceptibilities, and pow- ers of action, the proper training of one will serve as a mo- del for the training of the race. The principles being in every case the same, the slight modifications requisite to suit individual peculiarities can be easily made, and constitute no exception to the general rule. I shall endeavour therefore to sketch a mere outline of the process, as the limits to which I must confine myself forbid the accomplishment of a finish- ed picture. Education, I say, must begin in infancy, and be adminis- tered by means of suitable impressions made on certain rul- ing organs of the system. The corporeal effects resulting from these, and the corresponding habits established by their continuance, constitute the only improvement to be attained, and therefore the only one to be aimed at. They form in- deed the only one we should desire; because it is sufficient for all our purposes. It is moreover the only one we can conceive of, and must therefore satisfy us as reasonable be- 4 2 26 ) ings. TYc talk of operating immediately on or exclusively with the mind or spirit, and improving it, is an abuse of words. When speaking thus, no one understands himself, and, of course, is understood by nobody else. We might as well talk of operating, by our schemes of education, on the inhabitants of the planet Jupiter. As already mention- ed, the o:gans to be chiefly acted on are, the chylopoetic vis- cera-the lungs and heart as the arbiters of the blood-and the nerves and brain. To these may be added, the mus- cles and skin, which, although subordinate in standing, are nevertheless instruments of great influence in a system of general discipline. In the proper management of these por- tions of the body does education chiefly consist. The skin is to be kept free from impurity, and in a state of healthy excitement and action, by bathing, a well regulated temperature, and suitable clothing. Let no one deem light- ly of this measure, or think the practice it is intended to es- tablish unworthy to constitute an element of education. Be- sides being a soarce of health and vigour, it contributes to mental purity s certainly as to corporeal. To be voluntari- ly covered with external filth is not only unseemly, and inju- rious to health; it testifies that all is not right within, and tends to make i, worse. Cleanliness is of great importance at every period of life, but more especially during infancy. Without it neither can health be promoted, nor organization improved, or even maintained in a sound condition. The sympathetic cornnexion of the skin with all the other parts of the body, and tue powerful influence it exercises over them, are familiar to physiologists, and might be illustrated by nu- merous and striking examples. That organ, being the great out-post of the system, receives first, from the external world, several classes of strong impressions, both salutary and dele- terious. It is indispensable, therefore, that it be in a condi- tion to receive them with due sensibility, to maintain its har- mony with them as well as with the body it covers, to resist them if they tend to mischief, and to act, in all respects, as a suitable medium between them and the parts within. ( 27 ) But, as relates to the subject under consideration, the chy- lopoetic viscera are of still higher moment, because their con- trol over the other parts of the system is more powerful. They are impressed chiefly by food and drink. Nothing else can directly reach them; and, to the welfare and per- fection of the individual, it is of infinite importance that they be impressed suitably. No violence of any kind must be done to them. To irritate them by improper articles of diet or drink, or exhaust them by excessive action of any sort, is highly pernicious. Unless a strict regard be paid to this, organization and vigour will be inevitably deficient, and the general condition of health always feeble and precari- ous, and often deranged. It would be scarcely extravagant to call the chylopoetic viscera the arbiters of man's being. If they be in any way diseased, they injure the system on a twofold ground. They supply it with chyle unwholesome in quality, as well perhaps as deficient in quantity, and derange it by means of morbid sympathy. These causes will soon transfer disease to other organs, and fix it there. The brain is apt to be a primary and principal sufferer from this condi- tion of things, and to be be thus converted into a powerful source of constitutional injury. To a certain extent, there- fore, the individual must wither, like a plant, whose sap- juice is poisoned, and its roots enfeebled in their nutritive functions. It is through the medium of the organs I am considering that children are most frequently and seriously injured, and the foundation of constitutional feebleness in them laid. This is effected in several ways; by giving them aliment delete- rious in its qualities, and excessive quantities of that which is wholesome. In either case the stomach is unsuitably im- pressed, and morbid action necessarily ensues. Add to this, the feeding of them at improper hours, and administering to them irritating or anodyne potions, under the character of medicines, to remove or palliate complaints induced by pre- vious improprieties in food. Do infants exhibit any degree of uneasiness It is attributed to hunger; and the supposed ( 28 ) remedy is instanmly administered. Their mouths are closed up, their fretting silenced, and their stomachs gorged to sa- tiety with food. By these causes the chylopoetic viscera are often so deeply crippled in their powers, and deranged in their fun tions, as to be unfitted to contribute their part to- ward the perfect organization and vigour of the body. Per- haps there exists not an individual in our country who has not, on some occasion, suffered from them. Excess and im- propriety in easing, and feeding children, are among the most pernicious evils of the land. No one, I repeat, is en- tirely exempt from their mischievous influence. The indis- cretions practised in supplying them with food is the chief reason why infants are less healthy than the young of the in- ferior anibals. We call ourselves rational beings, and yet take our lood, an act on which so much of our comfort and efficiency depends, like beings of mere appetite. In com- mon with many of the animals below us, we swallow food as long as we can, pass a few hours in dreamy dullness, and then shake off ur torpor to surfeit ourselves again. Such is the constant practice of millions of the human race; and it is the occasicnal practice of almost every one. The refc)rmers of these unrighteous times have waged a crusade against the Saracen, intemperance in drinking; and they have done it from correct motives, and, to a certain ex- tent, wisely. if they have committed a few errors and ex- travaga aces, it i3 what all men do, when they engage in new and difficult enterprises. But those knights of the water- cup have as yet broken no lance with the modern Briareus, Intempe-ance il eating. On the contrary, many of them might pass for his covenanted votaries, doing homage to him with a degree of zeal that would be honorable to pilgrims, whether of the Cross or the Crescent. Yet he does tenfold as much mischief to frail humanity, as his kinsman and ally, Intemperance in drinking. To drop the metaphor. Before man can attain to the highest and happiest condition of which he is susceptible, this fountain of evil, excess and im- propriety in ea-Zing, must be dried up. Of all single causes, ( 29 ) it is perhaps the most powerful in retarding our improvement. Yet we make no serious efforts to remove it. We confine our young domestic animals to simple fare, and supply them with it in measured quantities; and they remain healthy, thrive on it, and attain perfection. But we allow, and even entice our children to eat every thing; and the only limit imposed, as to quantity, is the extent of their craving. Nor do we even fail to augment that, by giving them provocatives; stomachics, to re-excite their sated appetites. Such at least is the procedure of millions, in every quarter of chris- tendom where food is abundant. The practice can scarcely be called less than criminal; and the record of its effects, in the history of our race, is appalling to humanity. Feeble health, severe and often loathsome disease, vacant idiocy, raving madness, death, and degeneracy make but a part of the account. All acknowledge that human beings die in myriadsp from improper feedng; but it does not seem to be understood, that the race degenerate from the same cause. Yet the latter result is as certain as the former. That which kills many, and sickens a still larger number, must take from the perfection of all who indulge in it. An excessive devotion to the pleasures of the table, con- tinued through a line of several generations, never fails to produce degeneracy. It gives to animality a preponderance in the constitution. Hence the descendants of royal and imperial houses, accustomed from the cradle to luxurious liv- ing, lose in time all the higher attributes of humanity, and become pampered animals. The reason is plain. They are exercised chiefly in animal practices, eating and drinking being one of them. Hence their animal organs gain an as- cendency over those of a nobler order. Even female beauty, one of the boons of Heaven most highly valued, is recklessly sacrificed on the altar of ap- petite. However harshly and ungallantly this assertion may sound, it is notwithstanding true. Neither red eyes, a fiery complexion, nor a pimpled nose are elements in the composition of a queen of romance. Yet they are the pro- (s30) ducts of intemperance in eating, no less certainly than of intemperance in drinking. The enlightened agriculturist, I repeat, never forgets the propriety, nor neglects the practice of feeding the young of his domestic animals, according to rules derived from ex- perience; experience, I mean, of their suitability and use- fulness. This he does, because he knows it will contribute to the health and perfection of the objects of his care, and gratify his love of gain, by improving his stock, and aug- menting their value. Were he to watch with equal solici- tude over the diet of his children, his attention would be equally beneficial tI them. Their organization would be better, their powers generally of a higher order, and their condition happier. But, instead of doing this, he often con- signs them to the feeding of nurses, to whose skill and care he would not entrust a pig or a calf. The issue is, that man remains stationary, if he does not degenerate; while the breed of our domestic animals is improved. Let the pro- ceeding be reversed, and so will the result. Man will im- prove, and cattle degenerate. Let all receive the requisite attention, and amendment will be general. Let the chylo- poetic organs, then. be skilfully attended to, as an essential ingredient in a sound education. The measure, by giving health to therm, will contribute to the perfection of the en- tire system. The lungs are another viscus, whose influence is great in the organization, developement, and strength of the body. In the rearing and training of the individual, therefore, to give healthy organization and vigor to them, should be a leading object. They bestow character on the blood, by preparing it, and communicating life to it, while it again, in its round of circulation, gives character to the whole system, by im- parting to it Nourishment, life and energy. According to their perfection and -igour will be the extent and excellence of their work, in forming the blood, and conferring on it vi- tality. But, unless saipplied with blood suitably vitalized, and possessing all other requisite qualities, no organ of the ( 31 ) body can either attain its most perfect condition, or perform its duty with soundness and competency. This is as true of the brain, as of a common gland or muscle. Deprive it of arterial blood, its functions cease, and intellect is supended. Asphyxia from unrespirabl1'gases and from haemorrhagy tes- tifies to this. Supply it again with that fluid, and intellect returns. And, other things being alike, the more perfect the blood, the brighter is perception, and the more vigorous every mental operation. These assertions are susceptible of proof. Shall I be told, in opposition to this sentiment, that men of the most brilliant and powerful minds, have often very feeble and shattered health, and that therefore their brains are not supplied with wellprepared blood I reply that the objection has no weight. The intellects of the individuals referred to are always in the best condition, and work most powerfully when corporeal health and vigour are least impaired. In other words, the more perfect the blood that goes to the brain, and the better that organ is sustained by the sound sym- pathies of other parts, the more healthfully and vigorously does it perform its functions. Though on account of their cerebral organization, such men are great without very good blood, they would be greater with it. That which is intended and peculiarly suited to impress the lungs, and maintain them in a healthy and efficient con- dition, is atmospherical air. But that it may do this fully, two things are necessary. It must be free from pollution, and in a state of motion. At least it must be in a condition to move. Stagnation injures air as certainly as water. In what way it does this is not now the question. The fact is sufficient for my present purpose, and that is indubitable. The atmosphere may be adulterated by various substances. The most common and deleterious are secreted exhalations from living, and chemical ones from dead organic matter. The first prove highly injurious to children that are compell- ed to breathe the atmosphere of close and crowded apart- ments. And such is too often the condition of school-rooms, manufactories, foundling and other charitable institutions, ( 32 ) and even of domestic nurseries. Children long confined in such places are destitute of well arterialized blood. Their circulation is also defective, because blood not thus arterial- ized is unfit to awakeni the heart. to vigorous action. They are therefore pale, languid, an- spiritless. That their or- ganization is faulty, appears from the unnatural softness of their flesh. And this laxness pervades every portion of their systems. Th it their brain is not in a healthy tone, but pro- bably partakes of the general flaccidity, is manifested by the dulness and feebleness of their intellects. Their appetites are also defective or unnatural, in common with the func- tions of the digestive organs generally, an evidence that they are deranged by sympathy. For the systems of such children to attain perfection, or for even a single organ to become perfect in them, is impossible. Their entire char- acter, mental arid ccrporeal, must be enfeebled and deterior- ated. To other evil is here also added a want of exercise, which is itself a source of infinite mischief. For children thus shut up are necessarily debarred from sufficient action. When they arc compelled to pass the night also in apart- ments crowded by their number, two or perhaps three of them occupying the same bed, with the doors and windows closed, the evil is gre.atly increased. The human system is more easily injured by deleterious agents in the atmosphere during the ina.:tion of sleep, than in the hours of wakeful- ness. Nor is this all. Persons when asleep, adulterate, in a given time, a larger volume of air, than they do when they are awake. During the former condition, therefore, they are more liable to injury on a twofold ground; they are more susceptible of it; and the matter producing it is more abundant in the atmosphere around them. The remedy for these evils is plain. It consists in large and well ventilated apartments, perfectly clean and not crowded, short periods of confinement in them, and much exercise and free respiration in the open air. Children en- joying these privileges have blood well arterialized, abun- dant in life, and in high circulation. And every manifesta- ( 33 ) tion in their aspects and deportment demonstrates the fact. Their complexions are ruddy, their flesh firm, their spirits buoyant, their eyes sparkling, their appetites keen, their movements elastic, and their intellects sprightly and vigor- ous. Such beings may attain, under suitable training, a fine organization, with a high intellectual and moral standing. Theirs may be rens sana in corpore sano, the summnum bonum of human existence. And much of the precious boon is de- rived from the health and vigoiir of the lungs and heart. The pollution of the air produced by exhalation from dead matter, can be avoided only by a choice of situation. It is in vain to look for perfection in man, in marshy and alluvial districts not thoroughly cultivated, or in any districts abound- ing in vegetable and animal matter in a state of dissolution. This truth rests alike on reason and observation. Proofs of it may be derived abundantly from many portions of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and England. The same is true of certain districts of the United States. The inhabitants of those places show clearly, in their whole aspect and char- acter, that man cannot, at present, attain there the perfec- tion of his nature. Nor will he ever be able to do it, until the sources of deleterious exhalation shall have been dried up. All this enjoins the maintenance of strict cleanliness in places where human beings reside. It even raises cleanli- ness above mere neatness and convenience, and enrols it among the virtues. Whatever ministers to the improvement of man is worthy of such a station. Under this head I might, without an inadmissible depar- ture from my subject, speak of the muscles, the close alli- ance of their condition with the perfection of man, and the importance of training them, as a part of education. By their action they minister materially to general health. In a particular manner, they contribute much to the vigorous and thorough circulation of the blood, which is no less essen- tial to human perfection than its arterialization. But, when in free exercise, they assist also to arterialize it, by quicken- ing its motion, and making it pass more frequanrti tHrtvA1 ( 34 ) the lungs in a given time. This increases also the frequen- cy of respiration, which always bears a certain ratio to the pulsations of the heart, strengthens the lungs, and thus in a twofold way promotes sanguitication. Hence the fine florid appearance vhich tae blood derives from competent exercise, and the darker hue it receives from inaction. Add to these considerations, that much of the practical efficiency and use- fulness of m in arises from that personal force and dexterity, which are attained only by the training of the muscles. No one, then, whose mntscular system is neglected, receives the education calculated to bestow on him his highest perfection. Nor does any one doubt that the entire advantage derived from bodily erercisu consists exclusively in the improvement it produces iP organization. These remarks apply to females, as well as to males. The degree of confinement imposed on the former, in the course of their education, enfeebles their constitutions, and renders them, in after life, the mothers of a less robust and vigorous race, than they would be, under an improved scheme o' training. That their intellects also suf- fer from the same cause, cannot be doubted. Whatever im- pairs the bod.iy constitution cannot fail to injure the mind. But the most important organ of the human system remains to be considered. It is the brain, of which it may be said that it makes man what he is, whether for good or evil. If well developed and :orrespondingly trained, it confers on him knowledge and virtue; and, under circumstances the reverse of these, it entails oni him ignorance, and gives him a prone- ness to vice. According therefore to its native character and cultivation it i3 the source of human exaltation or de- basement. I have already spoken of the control of the brain over the condition and destiry of the other parts of the system. And I need scarcely repeat, that it is universal and absolute. Facts familiar to all physiologists prove it so. To the per- formance of every function and movement of the body cere- bral influence is essential. In evidence of this, destroy the connexion between "he brain and any other organ or part 35 of the system, by dividing the nerves, and the action of the separated portion ceases. Are the lungs thus separated Respiration is suspended. The stomach Digestion is paral- yzed, and the food remains in the viscus unchanged. The liver, or any other gland Its fluid is no longer secreted. The heart, or any other muscle, voluntary or involuntary Its action is arrested. And the more powerful and cultiva- ted the brain is, in all its compartments, the more abundant- ly will it send out its influence, and the more steadily and effectually aid in maintaining the healthy condition of the entire system. It is with the brain, then, as with the lungs, stomach, and heart. Exercise gives it strength and habits of ready and dexterous action, not merely for the purposes of its own economy, but to subserve the economy of the parts with which it is connected. I know that the ganglionic system may be said to lie between the brain and some of the organs here specified, and to be the immediate source of their in- nervation. But I also know that that system itself depends on the brain for its influence and efficiency. In proof of this, let it be detached, by a division of the nervous cords which form its cerebro-spinal connexions, and its power is de- stroyed. By inaction the organic condition of the brain suif- fers, and its energy and adroitness are lessened, as certainly, as a muscle is weakened by the same cause. It is a law of nature, from which no portion of living matter is absolved, that a want of action enfeebles it. The converse is equally true. Appropriate action strengthens every portion of liv- ing matter. That the brain, then, may be healthy and vigor- ous throughout, and be instrumental in impartinga similar con- dition to the other parts of the system, it should be suitably exercised in each of its organs. Inaction in any one of them, except its native vigour be excessive, is prejudicial to the others. And a brain thoroughly disciplined and active in every portion of it, is more favourable, in its functions, to general health, than one that is disciplined only in part. The healthiest men, and those that attain most frequently an advanced age, have well balanced systems and active ( 36 , brains. :aclh, xnoreover. is the connexion between the ce- rebral organs, that their health and fitness for action are, to a certain exvent, iL common to them; and the reverse; the condition o' one or more of them being communicated to the others by the Jaws of sympathy. That the brain, then, may be rendered powerful in all its organs, every one of them should be duly exercised. It has been alre. dy stated that the human brain consists of three compartmenis, the animal, the moral, and the intellect- ual; and that to raise the mental character to the highest perfection, each of these must be large, well organized and healthy, and that a correct balance must subsist between them. To a solid and infallible foundation for strength and activity of intellect, sound morality, and energy of charac- ter, nothing else is necessary. Skilful training, by turning to the proper account these high gifts of nature, and in that way engrafting improvement on capacity, will finish the work. Wert the ;vhole human race thus happily tempered, the condition of ma'n would be as perfect as it could be ren- dered, and the state of society correspondingly prosperous. Talent and knowledge would prevail and be respected, mo- rality and active virtue would predominate over profligacy and vice, and that every one should be happy in himself and useful to others, would be the ambition and earnest endeav- our of all. This would be a millennium, brought into exis- tence by means of education, and in conformity to the con- stitution of human nature. And let that state of improved being occur when it may, the perfect organization of man, more especially of his brain, will constitute its basis. Let me not be mirunder3tood in this assertion; in a special man- ner, let it not be imagined that I intend by it any irreverence toward the Christian religion. Far from it. My meaning is, that whatever agency, divine or human, may bring about, in man, the change productive of a millennial condition, that change will consist in an improved organization-an organi- zation madeperfect-by influence FROM ABOVE, if it he so or- dained, and f that be the only source from which such in- ( 37 ) fluence can proceed-or by means of education, perfect in its principles, and suitably administered. To me the latter appears most probable; because it is most in accordance with the grounds of other changes and improvements in the great dispensation, under which we live. It is the amendment of man's earthly condition by his own exertions; and there is no reason to believe that it is amended at present, or intend- ed to be hereafter, in any other wav ,. Nor ought it to be. If, possessing, as he does, the capacity and the means, man will not labour for the improvement of his nature, he is un- worthy of it; nor, as I confidently believe, will he ever re- ceive it as a gratuity. But, come the amending power from what quarter it may, men, to be fit members of the millenni- um, must have the fine organization of John, the beloved disciple, rather than that of Judas, which rendered him no less unsightly than treacherous. If all men signalized by virtue are fully developed in their moral organs now, there is good reason to believe that the same law will be in force, during that more felicitous period, when peace and concord shall every where prevail, and righteousness and piety cover the earth. In the mean time, it will not be denied, that it is our duty, both as moralists and christians, to make, by hu- man means, as near an approach as practicable to millennial perfection. And an approach of great value to our race can be made, by a well concerted and well administered scheme of education. Progress in virtue and morality is as much the result of practical and proper training, as dexterous horsemanship, or skill in arms. By suitable measures, the former is as easily and certainly attainable as the latter. Is any one inclined to propose the question, "Can the organs of the brain be increased in size, as well as ren- dered more adroit and vigorous in action, by any process of training" I answer, yes, with as much certainty as the muscles of the extremities can be increased in size, provid- ed the process be commenced in childhood. On this princi- ple depends the perfectibility of man; I mean his susceptibil- ity of the highest improvement compatible with the laws ( 38 ) imposed on I's nature. Abrogate the principle, and his case is hopeless. Take two ehildre.l of the same sex and age, formed and or- ganized as nearly ailke as possible. Educate one skilfully, and the other unskillfully; or do not educate the latter at all, and, by the time of their maturity, they wvill differ in figure, size, organization, a-nd faculties. And each point of differ- ence will prove the power and the advantage of education. Have the lower extremities of the one been exercised by walking, runaing, and leaping, much more than those of the other They will se larger and more powerful, and much less easily exhausted by fatigue. Have the hands and arms been the subjects of training They will surpass the untrain- ed ones in bulk and strength. Has the brain of one of the individuals be rn exercised more than that of the other The same will be tLrue of it. Its size, figure, and force will be augmented. Has the animal compartment of one party been highly excited and fcd by vicious indulgences, and the moral compartment of the other been equally trained in sentiments leading to practica; virtue Here will be ground for an- other differeDce. In the latter, the moral organs will be en- larged, and the animal diminished, at least comparatively; while, in the former. the reverse will occur; the animal com- partment will be Augmented at the expense of the moral. Cultivate the knowing and reflecting compartment, to the neglect of the other two, and in it will be the increase in size and vigour. Thus, as relates to augmentation and diminution, power and weakness, the brain is governed by the same laws with other portions of organic matter. I do not say that it can be increased. in bulk, by exercise, as much as muscles; but it can as certainly. Another principle of great importance invites our atten- tion. Other things bring equal, in proportion to the size of ei- ther compartment of the brain, is its proneness to action, and the gratification which that action bestows on the individual. Does the animal compartment preponderate The taste for animal indulgences is keen, the pleasure derived from them, ( 39 ) intense, and the danger of lawless devotion to them great, Does the moral compartment surpass in size A wish to comply with moral obligation constitutes the ruling passion of the party thus organized, and his chief delight is to do his duty. To him each act of well doing is its own reward. He "follows virtue even for virtue's sake." This he does from moral instinct, without the influence of human laws, or any positive divine command. The law he obeys is that of his own constitution. He has a law in himself. The per- son whose intellectual department predominates, is devoted to inquiry, if not to study. He delights in knowledge, deems it a valuable possession, and devises and practises some mode of attaining it. The kind of knowledge most agreeable to him is determined by the intellectual organs most developed. As relates to education and the improvement it produces, these views are important and encouraging. They point out a plain and easy process by which the condition of man may be improved. If the moral and intellectual compartments of a child be small, they may be enlarged by training; and, in proportion as they grow, will its taste for knowledge and virtue increase. By maturity in years this taste will be con- firmed, and, in organization and its effects. the amended con- dition of the adult will surpass not a little the promise of the child. By the law of inheritance heretofore referred to, the children of this individual, resembling himself in his mature condition, will be better organized than he was in his childhood. Train them and their descendants as he was trained, and organic improvement will go on in them, until in time, the highest perfection of their nature shall be at- tained. Extend this treatment to the whole human race, and universal improvement in organization will be the issue. Then will be completed, on grounds that nothing can shake, the triumph of the intellectual and moral over the animal character of man. Am I asked in what way the moral compartment of the brain is to be cultivated, strengthened, and enlarged Ian- swer, by all sorts of moral excitement; inculcating moral ( 40 ) precepts, presenting moral examples, eliciting moral senti- ments, but rnore especially by associating with companions strictly moral, and engaging early in the moral practice of doing good. Reading the biographies of men remarkable for high and practical morality, and well written works of moral fiction, contributes materially to the same end. This course, skilfully and inflexibly pursued, will infallibly strengthen an] enlarge the moral organs, and confirm those persons subjected to its influence in habits of virtue, The advantages or the mode of training the brain, to which 1 have referred, do not consist alone in its improving the taste and capacity of the individual for morality and knowledge. That viscus, as already stated, is improved also in its fitness for superintending generally the functions of the system. Its powers il the aggregate are increased Ly the judicious and salutary exercice it sustains. No portion of it is suffer- ed to be idle; nor is any one exhausted by excessive labour. Each does its work, :o a fair and reasonable extent, and thus, by directly strengthening and benefitting itself, does the same, by sympathy, io the entire organ. But, other things be- ing equal, the more hiealthy and vigorous the brain is the high- er is the health, andl the greater the efficiency of the whole system. In a special manner, great advantage, on the score of general health, is derived from the cultivation and strengthening of the moral portion of the brain. The ex- citement produced on the system by that compartment is comparatively mild, and its influence in a corresponding de- gree benignant and salutary. When sufficiently powerful it controls tbe animal compartment, and moderates that ve- hemence of propensity and storminess of passion, which, like all other excesses, are injurious to health. It is like the cool Etesiai ',rinds mitigating the fervours of a southern sky, and restoring health and strength to the exhausted inhabi- tants. Hence, as a very general rule, those who enjoy the greatest exemption from disease, and attain the most advanc- ed age, are men whose moral deportment is correct. Fre- quent and boisterous paroxysms of animal feeling are almost ( 41 ) as bad as fits of inebriety. They tend, by their intensity, to debilitate the system, invite sickness, and deteriorate the race. By the mode of training here indicated, then, man is improved in his whole nature. But may not the brain, by suitable discipline, be amended in another very important point May not such a happy change be produced in it, as to efface its tendency, when it exists, to hereditary madness From this question no phy- siologist will be likely to withhold an affirmative answer. And, although he may be unwilling to speak confidently, be- cause the experiment has never yet been fairly made, he will not deny that all analogy favours the belief. Individually, I verily believe it will be made, and prove successful. A pre- disposition to madness consists in faulty organization; at least in a condition of the brain destitute of soundness. But the fault has not existed through all generations. It had a be- ginning; and that beginning was the product of a series of deleterious impressions. Another series of counter-impres- sions, therefore, may remove the mischief. Changes thus pro- duced, may thus be done away. Of this no reasonable doubt can be entertained. Daily occurrences convince us of its truth. Every thing indeed that bears on it testifies to that effect. No one has ever yet been predisposed to madness in every organ of his brain. The mischief is always local; often, perhaps generally, confined at first to a single organ. Let its seat be ascertained (and the ascertainment is practi- cable) and proper training will in time remove it. But the process niust be commenced in childhood. Should it fail to eradicate entilely the predisposition from the son or daugh- ter of the insane, it will at least weaken it. In his grand- children it will further weaken it, and in a future generation completely efface it. But to attain the end, the means must be skilfully and steadily applied. Am I asked for a recital of them I reply, that they must differ in different cases: and time does not permit me to refer to any of them. The enlightened phrenologist will have no difficulty in discover- ingand employing them. And noue but a phrenologist can 6 ( 4t ) have a just conception of the philosophy, prevention, or treatment of madness. Nor ought any other to pretend to them. As well may a tyro, who never witnessed a dissec- tion, or liste-ned to a lecture on anatomy, attempt the most difficult operation io surgery. But if the brain can be thus changed and amended by ed- ucation, may not similar benefits be extended, on similar principles, to other organs-to the lungs and the chylopoet- ic viscera Unquestionably they may; and thus may pre- disposition to pulmonary consumption, gout, dyspepsia, scrof- ula, and all other maladies transmitted by ancestors, be re- moved from j;osteri y. The enfeebled organ may be strength- ened and placed o:e a par with the others, and thus the bal- ance of the system be restored. But here again the preven- tive treatment must begin in childhood, and be steadily per- severed in, if not to the close of life, at least to an advanced period in its decline. In a few generations such procedure cannot fail to eradicate the evil. It is believed that, if skil- fully and perseveriagly applied, the remedy is competent to the end contemplated. Thus may hereditary disease be ef- faced. The vices, follies, and misfortunes of ancestors will be no longer visited on an amended posterity. Such are my views, briefly, but, I trust, intelligibly sketch- ed, of the true moeie of permanently improving the condition of man. T he scheme has in it nothing that is either abstract. visionary, or obscure. Or if it has, I am unable, by the strictest scrutiny, to detect it. It is founded, if I mistake not, on well know l laws of the human constitution. Nor is it in any degree impracticable. It requires but resolution. perseverance, and self-control, connected with intelligence in the use of means that are accessible, and the work is done. Its essence consists in this; let man be so reared, that his health may be sound, and so cultivated that his higher pow- ers may have due supremacy over his lower; in other words, that he may be less of an animal, and more of a human be- ing; and his standing will then be as high, and his condition as happy, E s his situation and the laws of his being admit. ( 43 Does the position, that man, with all his attributes, animal. moral, and intellectual, is the result of organization, seem, on a first view of the subject, to be unfounded Let it be thoroughly examined, and it will be found to be sustained by every consideration that bears on it, whether it be fact OF analogy. Derange the organization in any part of the hu- man system, and the function of the part is also deranged, in direct proportion to the injury received. Is it in a muscle' Its power of motion is lessened or destroyed. A gland Se- cretion ceases or is vitiated. The lungs Respiration is impeded or arrested. The eye Vision is obscured or ex- tinguished. The brain The faculty connected with the injured organ is disturbed, suspended, or annihilated. In every case, the lwsion of organization is the measure of mis- chief done to the function or faculty of the part. In other words. according to the perfection or imperfection of organi- zation, is that of the action performed. These are positions which no physiologist will think of controverting. And their language is plain and irresistible. Practically speaking, man, as he is, is the result of organization. To improve his con- dition, therefore, you must improve that on which it depends. Shall I be told that this is materialism I reply, that it is not. I have not denied, nor do I deny the existence of an indestructible and ruling principle, as the spring of action of our organized matter. On the contrary, I acknowledge it, and have always done so. But I repeat that I know nothing of that principle, as a subject of philosophy. Nor does any body else. To speak of it in the abstract, therefore, is to deal in conjecture. Separate it from organized matter, and we can form no conception of its nature or powers. Those who deny this consult their fancy, to the neglect of observation, and the perversion of judgment. An attempt to philosophize on abstract spirituality has been productive of an immensity of error and mischief. It has misdirected the efforts of the human intellect, substituted hypothesis and conjecture for fact and induction, narrowed the sphere of in- quiqy and retarded the progress of knowledge, and deeply ( 44 ) disturbed the harmnony of society. Those who pursue this course, and zealoslxy endeavour to give currency to their notions, are Airtuai'y the enemies of human improvement. In the present condtition of man, his spiritual principle mani- fests itself only in its connexion with his organized matter. Norcan any one, consistently with truth deny, thatthe bet- ter the organization is, the more perfectly does the machine work. By irrprov ng organization, then, you improve at once the machinery and its performance. Improve it to the highest pitch, and you have done all you can in aid of mind. That principle you cannot alter for better or worse. To be immortal ane continue identical, it must be immutable.