33% THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



one series of data and some another. In the item of "try outs" six 

 institutions reported on 210 men; in the item of "smokers or non- 

 smokers" fourteen institutions reported on 248 men; in the item of 

 "weight" fourteen institutions reported on 237 men; six institutions 

 reported 108 men with respect to "lung capacity"; while fourteen 

 institutions reported on 182 men in the item of "average scholarship 

 mark." In each of the items following the number of men involved 

 will be designated and also the number of institutions from which they 

 are reported. 



As just stated, six institutions furnished data relating to the " try 

 outs." A total of 210 men contested for positions on the first teams; 

 of this number 93 were smokers and 117 were non-smokers. Of those 

 who were successful 31 were smokers and 77 were non-smokers. The 

 following tabulation will make this matter clear. 



Per Cent. 

 Successful 



33.3 



65.8 



It will be observed that only half as many smokers were successful 

 as non-smokers. At first thought this point may appear to be at var- 

 iance with the findings of Dr. Meylan at Columbia University. Under 

 the title " The Effects of Smoking on College Students/' published in 

 this magazine for August, 1910, Dr. Meylan makes the statement "that 

 41 per cent, of the smokers and only 34 per cent, of the non-smokers 

 achieved success in varsity athletics." This statement of course tells 

 nothing unless the exact number of smokers and non-smokers who 

 actually tried for places in the "varsity athletics" be given. It may 

 be that only a very small percentage of the non-smokers contested for 

 positions and that practically all who did so were successful, while on 

 the other hand that a much larger percentage of the smokers made the 

 effort and a comparatively few were successful. In such a case the 

 actual number of successful smokers might be larger than that of the 

 non-smokers, and at the same time the percentage of the successful 

 smoking contestants might be very much smaller than that of the non- 

 smoking contestants. Consider the following case. Suppose an institu- 

 tion in which there are 400 men, 200 smokers and 200 non-smokers. 

 Suppose that 150 of the smokers contest for positions and that 33.3 per 

 cent. (50 men) are successful. Suppose further that only 50 of the 

 non-smokers contest for positions and that 66.6 per cent. (33 men) are 

 successful. In this case 25 per cent, of the total number of smokers 



