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Show HARD TO LOOSEN ERROR'S GRIP ON ' POPULAR BELIEFS Two eminent S'-li'iitist-i at Atlantic City, taking stock of the state of knowledge, catalogued "eight popii-lur popii-lur belief's that arc) nut true" tli us : "A child Is Influenced by what lt- mother see;) or thinks het'ore the o I 1 1 'J Is horn; hirth marks are caused by what u mother sees or touches before her child Is born ; In former times the average length of human life was much longer than now; fat people always are good natured ; mental disorders are caused by overstudy; children of first cousins, cous-ins, though of good parentage, are likely to be feeble minded; heavy growth of hair on a person's limbs and chest Indicates great physical Htrength ; the theory of evolution Implies Im-plies that men are descended from upos." This list of beliefs unhased In fact la particularly Interesting because each of Its items Is u venerable cum-tierer cum-tierer of the human mind. .None of these widely accepted errors Is of recent re-cent origin ; none of them arises from the life of today; even the youngest of them, that concerning the theory of evolution, Is of a considerable age ; and all of thorn have been contradicted contra-dicted by authority time and again. Yet they persist In vigor apparently unimpaired, and there is no sign that any of them Is giving ground under the Impact of denial. A belief once accepted by the population pop-ulation at large lias more lives than a litter of kittens. The earnest incul-cutor incul-cutor of sound doctrine who attempts to dislodge It undertakes an almost hopeless task. Nor does this mean that truth Is mocked. The untruth Is simply, often picturesquely, dressed; the exceptional circumstances that seem to support It are vividly related and remain In the memory, while the growth of truth Is likely to be a drab garment stitched with ifs and buts. New York Sun. |
