PHRENOTYPICS.
It is true, and known to all, that the present generation, as a body, has made astonishing progresses in increasing the stock of human knowledge, and also in communicating that knowledge to an endless number of individuals; but what is generally overlooked, and nevertheless true, is, that the present age, with age, with all its wonders, has, as yet, not succeeded in rendering any individual, taken singly, capable of acquiring a certain given amount of knowledge in a space of time shorter than that which was expended, for a similar purpose, by individuals of younger centuries. All that the modern academies can justly triumph in, is, that their extended walls contain new and improved classes of sciences, cheaper teachers, and a vast number of students; but the school-hours of these modern academies are not shorter than those of the academies of any of the past ages. Any student of the present times, although he may exult in the reflection that he works in society with millions instead of thousands, cannot avoid acknowledging that he is bound to work, for the acquisition of a certain measure of knowledge, just as many hours as his predecessors did for the same purpose. If there be any improvement in this respect, it is almost imperceptible, and entirely unbecoming the company of the steam-engine, the rail-road, or the Nassau balloon: it
