146 PHYSIOLOGY AND NATIONAL NEEDS 



or nurse. It suckles and takes its food according 

 to its needs, not, as the modern nurse thinks it 

 should, according to the clock. It breathes through 

 its nose because there is less effort required to keep 

 the mouth closed than open, and when it suckles 

 it must breathe through the nose. As the infant 

 grows it learns to control the muscles of its limbs, 

 it crawls and walks, and is not taught, notwith- 

 standing the claims advanced by many a fond 

 mother. The capacity is within itself in the same 

 measure as in the young of other animals. Still 

 later the child begins to play and thus trains not 

 only its muscles and its senses, but all parts of the 

 body. By exposure to the open air and changes 

 of temperature it learns unconsciously to regulate 

 its production of heat and acquires control over 

 the vascularity of its skin. Its fondness for play- 

 ing in the dirt and total disregard of every dogma 

 about germs will increase gradually its resistance 

 and raise its immunity. 



When boyhood is reached the games and sports 

 become more complicated and strenuous, involve 

 the training of all the senses and the co-ordinated 

 working of all the systems of the body. Team- 

 work produces discipline, healthy competition and 

 endurance ; at the same time games give ample 

 scope for individuality. There is the great advan- 

 tage that the muscular work is done with pleasure 

 and, in the vast majority of cases, with no ulterior 



