Page:The rights of women and the sexual relations.djvu/384

368 body with sound organs, to which must be added—in contrast to woman—broad shoulders, with a corresponding chest, and narrow hips over legs which are neither too long nor bowed, that is the necessary material substratum for a manly intellect and character, for endurance and energy; but physical size as well as physical strength becomes doubtful as soon as they exceed the general standard to a marked degree. The usual outcome in such a case is that the animal and aggressive element predominates, and that the intellectual and humane element does not suffice to spiritualize the bodily organism correspondingly. How many physical giants have there been who were also intellectual giants? The human brain does not seem to grow beyond a certain measure. The largest male skulls that have been measured were twenty-four inches in circumference. If a skull of twenty-four inches can make a genius of a man six feet and less, then a skull of twenty-two inches on a seven-footer would stamp him as a partial idiot. I actually feel like warning people against men that are too tall as well as against those that are too stout. Tall men rarely are great men. In short, no one, desirous of entering the lists in a review of manliness, ought to be taller than six feet, and if any one can lift a weight of a thousand pounds it would be wise for him not to mention it, and if he can throw six opponents, he ought to be satisfied with two, so as not be banished from the ranks of respectable men and classed