The Logic of Evolution 



perceiving. He kicks and wriggles; he will soon 

 walk and run. The young child wishes to be 

 continually in motion. He cannot sit still long. 

 The muscular system Is the seat and center of 

 his development, as it was of his animal ances- 

 tors through long ages. This muscular exercise 

 Is lifting all his vital organs, heart, lungs, di- 

 gestive system, and is giving him the first ele- 

 ment of power — a tough body. It is tuning up 

 the nervous system and stimulating the brain. 

 His capacity for logical thought Is very small, 

 his moral and religious conceptions are dim and 

 crude. He Is still In the muscular stage, but 

 curiosity and wonder and some thought show the 

 dawn of the era of mind which quickly follows. 

 The really human powers rise at adolescence, 

 as President Hall has showed us.^ During this 

 period of youth and early manhood, boy and 

 girl struggle out of childhood WMth its concep- 

 tions and motives into true social, moral, and 

 religious life. The higher alms, motives, pur- 

 poses, character, and life must be established 

 now or never. We must seize the opportunity 



1 Hall, G. S., "Adolescence," New York, 1904. See 

 Bibliography. 



87 



