Page:Philosophical Review Volume 3.djvu/117

] act now carries with it no consciousness of the reason why it stands for a certain sentiment. We have an ideo-emotional arrest: mental, because the mind is arrested at the second step of the process just described; emotional, because the sentiments originally connected with the end to be attained are now transferred to the ceremonial act, which becomes itself the object of a peculiar veneration.

To determine the comparability of mental and physical powers, a series of measurements was made of over three thousand Cambridge students. Students were chosen, as a uniformly well developed and well nourished class. Tests were made of eyesight, of the strength exerted in bending a bow, of the power of squeeze of each hand separately, and of the lung capacity. The weight and height were taken, and also three measurements of the head at right angles to each other. The subjects were classified into three grades of mental powers, A, B, and C, on the basis of the regular examinations. It was observed that a physical superiority in one respect was almost invariably accompanied by more than average development in all others. The only marked variation of physical powers among the classes A, B, and C was in the size of the head, and strength of pull; the strength of pull decreasing and the size of the head increasing as you proceeded from C to A. In civil service examinations it would be an advantage to choose among the candidates of average mental powers, grouped in the mental examination around the passing point, reference to by physical tests. The lowest of those chosen and the highest of those rejected do not differ much in mental powers. Nothing would be lost in mental ability and much would be gained in physical power. An interesting fact in the results of the investi- gation was the low physical power shown by the natives of British India. Although often ranking high in mental powers, they were very low in physical power on nearly every test. To those believing that there is a connection between political supremacy and bodily power, this may be a fact worthy of careful investigation.