176 BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 



curate co-ordinations of the fingers. He said to me frequently 

 that he never undertook such cases except in the morning hours 

 when he was at his best; and after a relatively short period he 

 generally was greatly fatigued, so that he felt it necessary to 

 secure rest before continuing with his duties. On the other 

 hand, a half day's work in his general practice which did not 

 involve such exact co-ordinations would not overtax him. In 

 my own case, writing with a fine pen, which must be handled 

 tenderly in order to avoid catastrophes, soon exhausts my store 

 of energy and of patience; and I foimd during the past year, 

 while experimenting with writing pens, that an assistant and a 

 member of my own family had experiences similar to my own. 



This phenomenon is especially apparent in the case of younger 

 people. Put a child of eight or nine to writing with a fine 

 pointed pen and in a short time you will observe tensions in 

 various parts of the body not employed <in the writing. Soon 

 the tongue will be extended, the hand not engaged will become 

 clinched, the head will begin to keep time with the arm; the 

 whole showing plainly to my mind that the co-ordinations de- 

 manded in the writing have liberated energy which is escaping 

 into channels which should have been closed up. On the other 

 hand, permit such a pupil to write with chalk at the blackboard 

 and he will continue for hours without apparent over-strain. 

 One who has opportunity to study developing children in the 

 home will be impressed with this wastefulness of too co-ordinated 

 activities. 1 It is recognized, of course, that with the develop- 

 ment of the nervous organism greater delicacy and complexity 

 of co-ordinations are possible with less of waste; but yet I be- 

 lieve that at no time does the average individual reach a point 

 where he can economically practice the most exact adjustments 

 where coarser ones would answer just as well. 2 



This leads to a few practical suggestions respecting some of 

 the implements which are used extensively in student life. And 

 first the writing pen. Many of our students write a great deal, 



x See O'Shea: When Character Is Formed, Popular Science Monthly, Sept., 

 1899. 



*Cf. Hancock : A Study of Motor Ability ; Ped. Sem., Vol. 3, pp. 9-29. 



