Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VI, November 1850, Vol. IVarious
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VI, November 1850, Vol. I
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
When the Professor landed at Liverpool, he would, on no account, suffer
the carpet-bag, containing his calculations, to be taken out of his
sight. Several inquisitive persons, however, made the best use of their
own eyes, to ascertain the name of the extraordinary observer, and found
it to be legibly inscribed with the well-known name of Scoresby.
That his investigations may be the more readily impressed on the
reader's mind, we conclude with a summary of them. It would seem from
Dr. Scoresby's intrepid investigations, that the highest waves of the
Atlantic average in
Altitude 43 feet
Mean Distance between each Wave 559 "
Width from Crest to Crest 600 "
Interval of Time between each wave 16 seconds
Velocity of each Wave per hour 32-1/2 miles.
HOW TO KILL CLEVER CHILDREN.[24]
At any time in life, excessive and continued mental exertion is hurtful;
but in infancy and early youth, when the structure of the brain is still
immature and delicate, permanent injury is more easily produced by
injudicious treatment than at any subsequent period. In this respect,
the analogy is complete between the brain and the other parts of the
body, as is exemplified in the injurious effects of premature exercise
of the bones and muscles. Scrofulous and rickety children are the most
usual sufferers in this way. They are generally remarkable for large
heads, great precocity of understanding, and small, delicate bodies. But
in such instances, the great size of the brain, and the acuteness of the
mind, are the results of morbid growth, and even with the best
management, the child passes the first years of its life constantly on
the brink of active disease. Instead, however, of trying to repress its
mental activity, as they should, the fond parents, misled by the promise
of genius, too often excite it still further by unceasing cultivation
and the never-failing stimulus of praise; and finding its progress, for
a time, equal to their warmest wishes, they look forward with ecstasy to
the day when its talents will break forth and shed a lustre on their
name. But in exact proportion as the picture becomes brighter to their
fancy, the probability of its becoming realized becomes less; for the
brain, worn out by premature exertion, either becomes diseased or loses
its tone, leaving the mental powers feeble and depressed for the
remainder of life. The expected prodigy is thus, in the end, easily
outstripped in the social race by many whose dull outset promised him an
easy victory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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