55° POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



passed away. Muscular Christianity is now the rule and not the ex- 

 ception. A weak, stunted and famished body is no longer regarded as 

 a sure abode, not even as a promise, of a purified, robust spirit. The 

 Eoman motto of a sound mind only in a sound body is in universal 

 favor. 



Again, a continually diminishing proportion of the people are 

 engaged in reducing the wilderness, in raising the crops and in rearing 

 the stock which are needed for food; and as for the rest of us, we are 

 walled up in great cities, roofed in from the sunlight and pure air, 

 and then given a maximum of brain work with as little as possible 

 of physical exercise. This state of things can not long endure without 

 serious injury to our manhood. Close observers of the American peo- 

 ple state that nervous diseases and all complaints arising from exces- 

 sive brain work, combined with a lack of physical health and vigor, are 

 steadily increasing, and if we would avert the threatened physical 

 degeneracy of our nation we must consciously introduce physical cul- 

 ture and athletic games which shall strengthen our bodies and invig- 

 orate our minds. 



The army and navy draw but a very small fraction of our youth 

 to the fascinations of military or marine life, and even the cadets must 

 have their sports and games in addition to the routine of drill. 



Perhaps we can leave mere fun to the children, but contests which 

 tax one's strength and skill have perpetual charm for young men who 

 are at an age to be delightfully conscious of their strength, and in- 

 creasingly ambitious to exhibit their skill. Now, more than ever in 

 history, opportunities for exhibiting strength and skill in competi- 

 tion must be manufactured. In primitive days the young farmer, the 

 builder, the hunter, the soldier, found abundant opportunity to ex- 

 hibit his prowess without modern athletics. The marked development 

 of athletics during the last four years is due to no change in the 

 mental, moral and physical tastes and appetites of young men, but to 

 a social development which renders necessary special provision for the 

 gratification of those normal tastes and appetites. 



Manly Sports vs. Gymnastics. 



I find it necessary to make a distinction between manly sports 

 and gymnastics. They agree generally in affording athletic culture, 

 but they differ in the order of importance they attach to exercise and 

 to sport. Gymnastic training makes the exercise the main thing, while 

 the pleasure and passion for competition and victory are secondary. 

 It is just the other way with athletic games; with them the game is 

 foremost, while the physical and moral benefits are incidental. 



' Athletics begin where gymnastics leave off.' There is no antag- 



