IS A WOMAN AN UNDERDEVELOPED MAN?

Golden Bay Argus, Volume VI, Issue 62, 5 August 1897, Page 3

IS A WOMAN AN UNDERDEVELOPED MAN?

In the "Revue Scientifique " we see that the female of the lower orders of creation is superior to the male in size and in the complexity of her organs, and is thus the queen of the species, but higher in the scale she is less powerful and less variable, and finally she becomes a humble slave. So likewise in tin human race we see that before arriving at, womanhood the girl equals or surpasses the man in physical development, and often also in intellect ; bub little by little she falls behind and stays there, thus giving, even by her ephemeral superiority, proof of an atavistic phenomenon common to inferior races ; that is, precocity. So, too, tlie relative rarity of the stigmata of defeneration observed in the woman, which at first might seem a sign of superiority, is, on the contrary, related to her lesser variability, which is still a characteristic of inferiority. . . .

Finally, the rarity of the criminal type, and consequently of the born criminal, among female criminals, which seems to contradict the foundations of Lombroso’s theory, on the contrary confirms this theory, when we consider that this rarity is related to the smaller frequency of degeneration and of epileptic cortical irritation—the most frequent causes of innate crime. The co-existence in woman of cruelty and pity is also an apparent contradiction, which Lombroso explains by referring to the influence of maternity, which, being added to primitive cruelty, often counteracts it: so, too, her inferiority in genius, force, and variability explains how, being perhaps less moral, the woman is nevertheless less often criminal But, finally, even

if wo can show that a woman is intellectuals and physically a man arrested in hi 3 development, the very fact that she has more pity and is less criminal than he compensates advantageously for this inferiority, while assigning to her a very different role in the social organisation. THE CLERK’S MISTAKE. A minister in a remote part of Cornwall had a bad cold, and could not speak louder than a whisper. He tried to get someone to preach for him on the following Sunday, but was unsuccessful owing to the distance being so far. He was wandering what he should do, when his clerk came to his rescue with a good plan. It was that he, the clerk, should conceal himself in the pulpit, and say aloud for the good of the congregation what the minister whispered to him. The following Sunday the minister began his sermon in a whisper. “ Moses was an austere man.”

Clerk (who is rather hard of hearing) : " Mosea was an oy3ter man." Minister: " A.nd he made atonement for the fins of his people." Clerk: "And he made toe ointment for the shins of his people." Minister (who had by thin time detected the clerk's mistake): "You idiot, you have spoilt it all." Cleric: "And the idiots they spilt it all." OPEN CONFESSION, ETC. Client and counsel were closeted together : it was a case of murder. "Jenkins," said the barrister, "of course, I know you didn t murder the man ; but as a matter of fact, did you do it with the butt end of a revolver or with a stick ?" "Sir," said Jenkins, "I swear I am innocent." " I know that perfectly well, but you must tell me. For if you did it with the revolver, I shall say to the prosecution, ' Produce the stick !' and if you did it with the stick I shall say, ' Produce the revolver.' The client paused, and scratched his head meditatively. " lb was the butt end of the revolver, sir." "That's rij-ht J" said counsel. "I think I can pull you through now." And he did. CAN'T STOP ! An English canon of note used to tell a good story of himself. In his capacity of magistrate he was once visiting the country gaol, and expatiated to a friend who was with him on the virtues of the treadmill. Warming with his theme, he declared that he often wished he had one at home to give him the gentle exercise he required, but was too lazy to take, except under compulsion ; and, to remove his friend's scepticism, he aßked the warder to give him a turn. Round went the mill, the canon declaring that the movement was delightful; but after two minutes of it he had had quite enough, and called on the officer to stop the mill. To his horror the officer answered . " Very sorry, air ; I can't. It's timed to go thirty minutes, and won't stop before ; so you'd better knuckle down to your work." After thirty minutes laborious work the rev. gentleman was released, the perspiration running off his body like little streams ; and he was, generally speaking, in an exhausted condition. He left the gaol that day a much sadder but wiser man. The late sir henry parkes AS A POET. The late Sir Henry Parkes had a great opinion of his poetic gifts, and on one occasion, when addressing a Sydney meeting, he said : " I would rather be known as a thirdrate poet than as a fir.st-rate politician." Here he paused for breath and admiration, when "the man in the crowd," seeing his opportunity, exclaimed, in strident accents: " Well, and aren't you?"