622 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



PHYSICAL TRAINING IN THE COLLEGES.* 



By FRED E. LEONARD, M. D., 



PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY AND DIRECTOR OF THE MEN'S GYMNASIUM IN OBERLIN COLLEGE. 



IT is a conspicuous fact that within the last two decades of the 

 present century our foremost colleges and universities, with few 

 exceptions, have been providing for the physical training of their 

 students by the erection of gymnasia which in many instances rival 

 the other buildings on the campus in size and cost, and by assigning 

 the direction of the work done in them to some officer supposed to 

 possess special qualifications for his position. In such recently 

 founded institutions as Leland Stanford and Chicago Universities, 

 the chair of physical training has been among the first to be filled, 

 and the gymnasium has followed close upon the library. 



The wisdom of this new departure in college education is ap- 

 parent. Many a student is physically defective when he enters upon 

 the course of study. The general muscular development of thirteen 

 out of the last one hundred men examined at Oberlin was noticeably 

 poor, eighteen were flat-chested, more than a third stood with head 

 and shoulders drooping forward and abdomen protruding, an equal 

 number were flat-footed, and nearly as many carried one shoulder 

 considerably lower than the other. Deficient mobility of the chest 

 walls, irregularities in the heart's action after exertion, nutritive 

 disorders, abnormal susceptibility to colds, evidences of exaggerated 

 nervous irritability and of faulty muscular control are frequently 

 observed. 



The conditions of college life, too, favor physical carelessness. 

 The current sets strongly in the direction of mental effort. The 

 scholar's ambition is aroused, his circle of interests widens, he realizes 

 the need and the possibilities of intellectual attainment. Under the 

 urging of teachers the successful student is likely to apply himself 

 too continuously to his books; the poor student, or the one who is 

 unused to study, may be compelled to exert himself to the utmost 

 in order to keep up with his mates. Social distractions make their 

 demands upon spare moments, and outside interests multiply as the 

 end of the course approaches. The claims of the body for a reason- 

 able share of care and training are easily overlooked, unless there 

 is some organized attempt to enforce them. 



It is during these very years of student life, moreover, that the 

 growth period of the body comes to an end. This growing period is 



* Read before the Physical Education Department of the National Educational Associa- 

 tion, Milwaukee, July 9, 189*7. 



