COLLEGE ATHLETICS. 727 



of the framework, such as sitting height, length of arms and feet, and 

 the breadths, which are determined by the bones as a basis of meas- 

 urement. Of eighteen bony measurements, twelve give no greater dif- 

 ference than a single millimetre, or one hundredth of one per cent 

 between the two. Of eleven of the soft or muscular measures, includ- 

 ing the variable and developmental parts of the body, the range of 

 difference is from five to forty-seven millimetres, or 3*3 per cent dif- 

 ferences between the two. And of the tests of strenr/th and capacity 

 we find an average of 7*2 per cent in favor of the athletic man. 



" Or we may group the items as in the graphic form. Here wo 

 find the increase in favor of the athletic student in weight is 6'92 per 

 cent ; in lengths, 0*14 per cent ; in breadths, 1"42 per cent ; in girths, 

 2'5G per cent ; and in tests, 10-24: per cent. 



" The grain of truth derived from these pages seems to be that 

 athletism does not seem to depend so much on physical gifts, acci- 

 dents, or circumstances, as in the energy of will which is put into the 

 muscles. The long arm and leg and the big muscle do not insure the 

 feat, but the skill in using them. It is the intelligent training, and 

 not the big measures, which determine the standards of excellence in 

 our athletic feats and sports. 



" President Garfield said : ' There is no way in which you can get 

 so much out of a man as by training ; not in pieces, but the whole of 

 him ; and the trained men, other things being equal, are to be the 

 masters of the world.' " 



At no college in the land is more careful attention given to physi- 

 cal development by means of gymnastic exercises than at Amherst. 

 If, therefore. Dr. Sargent's statements were true with respect to par- 

 tial development by athletics, the fact ought to show in these aver- 

 ages, and specially against the athletic student. The contrary fact 

 appears. 



Notice Dr. Hitchcock's conclusion, that " athletism does not seem 

 to depend so much on physical gifts, accidents, or circumstances, as 

 in the energy of will which is put into the muscles. ... It is the in- 

 telligent training, and not the big measures, which determine the 

 standard of excellence in our athletic feats and sports." This will- 

 power, guided by intelligence, makes not only successful athletes, but 

 successful men. The training which young men receive in their sports 

 possesses its highest value by virtue of the fact that it brings forth 

 some of the best powers of mind and character, not because it devel- 

 ops mere bone and muscle. 



Whether averages conceal or prove facts depends upon the inter- 

 pretation of them. Dr. Sargent's charts would be more valuable to 

 the public if he would give his data. The figures, by means of which 

 the measurements of the "typical or normal standard " are derived, 

 furnish the key to the chart. No man can test himself by the stand- 

 ard till he knows the standard measurements. The charts may be 



