A Jewish Theological Seminary.—The community at large is interested in a new movement to establish in this city a Jewish theological seminary. The objects of investigation contemplated by the projected institution are the Old Testament in the original Hebrew, the part played by the Jews in ancient, mediæval, and modern history, and the influence exerted upon thought and research by Jewish philosophers. The current knowledge of these subjects is almost wholly derived from the conclusions and opinions of non-Jewish inquirers, and may therefore be presumed to be more or less affected by prejudice. A rôle of such capital importance in civilization as that of the Hebrew people ought to be examined from all sides, and the friends of truth will welcome a systematic study of it from the Hebrew point of view.—N. Y. Sun.
National Death Rates.—In France, 48 per cent of the deaths are of persons over fifty years of age; and what is more remarkable, 25 per cent are of persons over seventy years of age. The French present the best showing, except, perhaps, the Irish, of any nation as regards long life. Only about 26 per cent of their deaths are of children under five years. About 6 per cent only are of persons from five to twenty years.
No nation of Europe is supposed to be more oblivious of sanitary science than the Irish, and yet a far greater percentage of the people of Ireland than of any other people, except the French, live to and beyond the age of seventy years. Nearly five in 100 of the deaths are of persons over eighty-five years of age! Only about 35 per cent of the deaths are of persons under twenty years of age. About 42 per cent of the deaths are of persons over fifty-five years. One half almost of the deaths are of persons over forty-five years. In England and Wales only 33 per cent of the deaths are of persons over forty-five years, while in the United States only 30 per cent are of persons over forty years of age.—T. S. Sozinksey, M. D., in Scientific American.
Religious Mediævalism in America.—Twelve miles from Dubuque, Ia., there stands in grim isolation, upon a blackened and desolate prairie, a monastery of the fifteenth century pattern. Every morning at 2 o’clock the monks who occupy this lugubrious dwelling-place arise from the hard planks which serve them in lieu of beds, and pray in wooden stalls, so constructed as to compel them either to stand or kneel. Their devotions completed, the next duty is for each to go into the yard and dig a part of his own grave, and when they have it once completed, they fill it up again, and repeat the operation indefinitely throughout their lives. They are not permitted to speak to each other except by special dispensation, which is very rarely given except at the close of a meal, when each one says to the other “Memento mori”—remember that you are to die. The system resembles, in all essential respects, that of the Indian fakirs and other religious enthusiasts who believe that the only way to please God is to make one’s self as miserable as possible.—Herald.
Buddhism in America.—A high caste Brahmin, Mohini Mohun Chatterjee, has arrived in the United States at New York, who has been teaching in England and on the continent. He has the approval of the brotherhood in Thibet, and has a high intellectual reputation. The Journal will endeavor to discuss this subject hereafter. Buddhism is much nearer than Christianity to modern agnosticism, but it embodies fine moral teaching, and is free from intolerance. Mohini represents, it is said, “that his visit to this country is simply in the capacity of an agent, sent by the divine Mahatmas to enlighten a materialistic barbarism with the spiritual wisdom—religion of the East. He represents a movement which has for its object the uniting of the East and West in the acceptance of a universal faith. An attempt was at first made to interest people in the subject by laying some stress upon the minor phenomena of occult science. Unfortunately, such wonders attracted disciples who cared more for thaumaturgy than for doctrine, and these fell away as soon as they discovered that the object in view was not the production of marvels. The new world has riches, and the old world has ideas. It would be to the advantage of both if an exchange could be effected. The Asiatic philosophers teach that all religions are the expressions of the Eternal Verity. Life is ephemeral, they say, its chief value consisting in the opportunities it affords of doing good and making others happy.”
Craniology and Crime.—The British Medical Journal presents at some length the results arrived at by Prof. Benedict, in his examination of the brains of criminals—some sixteen in all. Every one of these, in comparison with the healthy brain, proved to be abnormal. Not only, too, has he found that these brains deviate from the normal type, and approach that of lower animals, but he has been able to classify them, and with them the skulls in which they were contained, in three categories.
First, absence of symmetry between the two halves of the brain; Second, an obliquity of the interior part of the brain or skull—in fact, a continuation upward of what is usually termed a sloping forehead; third, a distinct lessening of the posterior cerebral lobes, so that, as in the lower animals, they are not large enough to hide the cerebellum. In all these peculiarities, the criminal’s brain and skull are distinctly of a lower type than those of normal men.
That a diminution of the posterior lobes should be recognized as a mark of inferiority, does not harmonize with the old ideas of phrenology. Nevertheless, it is true that a good development of the posterior part of the brain is essential to the superiority of man over animals.
Morphiomania in France.—In the course of the last few years the disease which the doctors call morphiomania has made formidable headway all over France. In the capital its victims almost rival those of alcoholism. At Bellevue a great hospital has been opened for the care, and, if possible, for the cure of these patients. The disease in its present form is necessarily but of recent origin. Morphia itself was only discovered in the year 1816. The cure of it is very rare. It is found that both the use and the deprivation of the drug lead the victims almost inevitably to suicide, and at Bellevue there are cushioned rooms for some of the patients and a constant watch kept on all. One is not surprised to hear that the chief sufferers are women. After women come doctors. Very many Parisian women carry about with them a small ivory syringe. In this delicate toy is contained morphia, and it may often be remarked how ladies at convenient opportunities take out this little trinket and give themselves a prick in the arm or wrist with it. But ere long these little pricks no longer suffice to stimulate the nerves of the votaries of the habit—the dose is too small. Then it is necessary to have recourse to recently established morphine institutes, where old women, under the name of “morphineuses,” carry on their profession, and give the Parisian dames pricks in the arm and breast, according to all the rules of the art.
Montana Bachelors.—There are no less than 30,000 bachelors in Montana, and every single one of them is in need of and anxious to get a wife, writes a correspondent of the New York Times. These entertaining young fellows and would-be benedicts have no time to go courting themselves, and so, much of that thing is done by proxy. They are entirely too busy amassing fortunes, either at sheep herding, cattle growing, or mining, in which at least fifty per cent of them are bound to become millionaires sooner or later. There is the greatest possible need in Montana for young girls and maidens, old women, and old maids, too, for that matter, each and every one of whom would fill a long-felt want. Domestics are in high demand. As servant girls they can command wages here that would give them comfortable competences in a short time, with very little offered in return. But the trouble with the girls who come out in this way looking for a job is that none of them remain in service for any length of time. They are soon gobbled up by young fellows in search of a wife.