BY HON. W. F. TAYLOR, M.D. XXXIX 



carried out in most of our State schools, shovild be carefully 

 trained in gymnastics. In short, everything calculated to 

 develop the physical as well as the mental condition, should be 

 carefully and thoughtfully applied. 



EDUCATION. 



Our children would thus grow up into strong, well educated 

 men and women, a source of pride to their parents, and of 

 gratification to their teachers. This climate appears to have 

 a stimulating effect on the mental faculties of our youth, if we 

 ma} judge by the uniform results attained at the public 

 examinations, and subsequently at college or university by our 

 pupils. This is to a certain extent gratifying but has its dark 

 side. A precocious child generally means a dull adult. That 

 is, if we stimulate the mental faculties of our children to their 

 fullest extent, we run the risk of dulling their intellects in after 

 life. This risk is by no means an imaginary one, and 

 unfortunately the tendency of the present age is to get the best 

 possible results from children by their teachers, irrespective of 

 any consequences which may follow afterwards, when all their 

 brain power is required to meet the competition encountered in 

 every walk of life. Does the present system of teaching and 

 examniations tend to strengthen the mtellectual faculties and 

 fit one for the battle of life ? It may do so in some cases, but 

 in the majority I am afraid it does not. This question is 

 assuming serious proportions, and should be carefully 

 investigated and dealt with by our teaching and examining 

 bodies. It is one that I am not prepared to speak dogmatically 

 upon. I have not had the opportunity of following the after 

 career of many of our brilliant boys and girls, but I infer that 

 what pertains elsewhere exists also here, and we have too many 

 instances of the disappointing effects of forcing the mental 

 attributes of clever children. 



EXERCISE. 

 With respect to our young male adults, the climate offers 

 every inducement for out-door exercises which is fully availed 

 of by a large section of them. Consequently we have as a 

 rule a well developed, athletic lot of young men, who would 

 compare with those of a similar age in almost any country. In 



