Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 1.djvu/140

130 forgetfulness of those which lie at every man's door; and, by bringing into prominence the stupidity which is irremediable, they lead us to neglect examination of that which may be prevented.

In truth, the varieties of hebetude are numerous. It must be admitted that some of them are displayed by persons whose intellects are obscured by organic defect, "native and to the manner born," in the nervous apparatus—by continuing deficiency, or excess, in the composition or quantity of the circulating fluid; and it is probable that, in many cases of this nature, the scalpel, or the microscope and test-tube, would fail to disclose the cause of the infirmity. Inherited diathesis, or hereditary disease, may doubtless weaken the faculties of the mind, as they evidently weaken the physical powers of the body, and may produce effects varying in degree from idiocy to mere dullness of apprehension. We are far from saying that in these instances stupidity can neither be alleviated by judicious, nor confirmed by improper treatment; but we indicate them as affording a substratum of truth to popular prejudices touching the general invincibility of the state in question, and as giving evidence of its centric rather than eccentric origin.

But leaving this subdivision of the stupid entirely out of consideration, and remarking, by-the-way, that the word stupidity is misapplied when used to denote the mere absence of brilliant talent, we would call attention to the large class of persons who are dull and obtuse, not by reason of any probable congenital deficiency, nor by an unfair comparison with great wits or geniuses, but by comparison with what the individuals themselves clearly ought to be—with what they would have been had their faculties been developed in the right way. And this comparison is not so difficult as it may appear; for the simple reason that the human capabilities do not greatly depart, save in exceptional cases, from the standard of mediocrity. Among a score of men taken at random, but approaching to equality in point of conformation, we may observe that physical strength or endurance will vary only within very narrow limits: there being perhaps a single athlete, or a single weakling, and a remainder composed of individuals whose powers are not precisely on a level, but nearly so.

Let us suppose, however, that among the twenty men there were a certain number who had been employed from their early years in pursuits calculated to produce muscular vigor and hardihood, and who had observed all rules and precautions likely to insure to such pursuits their most favorable effects. It is certain that, whatever differences might exist among themselves, these men would surpass all their competitors. Bendigo, the champion of the prize-ring, was one of a triple birth, and was the weakliest child of the family in which, by reason of diligent training, he became the strongest man.

So universally has this principle been recognized and acted upon, that in every barbarous or half-civilized community, or under all