Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 68.djvu/366

362 whole, inasmuch as the more energetic and vigorous members of the community are consumed more rapidly than the rest of the population." "The country community," remarks Professor Ripley, "grows from its own loins; the city community grows almost entirely by immigration." The country community, mentally as well as physically, develops from within. It is conservative, strong, steady, tenacious, and transmits its mental characteristics, little altered, to the next generation. The city community, on the other hand, accretes largely from without. It is progressive, mobile, fickle, of unstable equilibrium, and under the stress of competition, undergoes mental modifications, which (Pace Weismann) it passes on to its successors. And the consequences of the increased instability of the city community are patent enough. Insanity and suicide, both essentially characteristic of industrialism, are far more frequent in business centers than in the homes of agriculture. This does not, however, signify that the mental powers are really more active in the one than in the other. The notion, indeed, that the country laborer is duller in intellect than the man of the same class in the town is untenable. "It is a common assumption," says Professor Wright, "that the country-man is of so limited capacity that he makes use of no more than 300 words. What a libel! The number of words in dialects at the most moderate estimate is over one hundred thousand. In Yorkshire alone, I can call to mind 30,000 different words. If we take the whole of the dialects and put them together, as representing the vocabulary of the working class of this country, and exclude from the English dictionary all technical terms and obsolete words, I venture to say that the number of dialect words will far outnumber the words of the dictionary."

And not less untenable than the notion that the agricultural laborer is dull of intellect is the idea that the city urchin is cleverer and better endowed mentally than the little yokel. Some years ago, Mr. Horsfall asked the opinions of the head masters of two large pupil teacher centers on this point. In both centers there were a number of pupil teachers from the schools of a large town and others who had been taught in country schools. "Both the masters said, that though as a rule, the urban young people were at first brighter and quicker, those from the country, in the long run, showed more staying power, and that their knowledge of country things gave them a great advantage over their town comrades." The conclusion of these masters is in complete accord with that which I arrived at a number of years ago. After a comparative examination of some London Board and Scotch Parish Schools, I found the London children much sharper, more vivacious, and, it must be admitted, more attractive in demeanor than the Scotch children, but the latter, although somewhat stolid and awkward, had decidedly more grasp of intellect and more sound knowledge.