DISCOVERY 



277 



sonianism, namely, that in a cross-section of our popu- 

 lation at any given time one will find social and 

 economic strata which are indicative of differences in 

 intellectual endowment more than of family connection. 

 I said, since Jefferson, for the Revolutionary fathers — 

 as we have generally forgotten, thanks to high-school 

 textbooks of American history — took this intellectual 

 Stratification for granted, assuming that an intellec- 

 tually upper class would rule the country to the coun- 

 try's good. A great deal of contemporary political 

 philosophy goes out of its way to denounce this view 

 as well as all other social structures to the point where 

 some of our Bolshevik friends seem to advocate a 

 government by, of, and for the feeble-minded. 



FuTCRE OF Psychological Testing 



Many, if not all, psychologists entertain no delusions 

 as to the intrinsic value of the mental tests now in use. 

 The tests are in an embryonic state and the results as 

 applied to any particular individual are always open 

 to question. Their use in educational institutions is, 

 nevertheless, continually on the increase, not only for 

 the detection of feeble-minded and backward children 

 in the grades, but for determining specific qualifications. 

 Witness the optional substitution at Columbia Univer- 

 sity of psychological ratings in lieu of the customary 

 entrance examinations in the case of applicants coming 

 with acceptable papers from secondary schools. 



The problem of the psychologist, however, in co- 

 operation with the anthropologist, is much larger than 

 mental tests. It is for him, if possible, to mark the 

 limits and limitations of the classes (not necessarily 

 the present classes) of our population, so that social and 

 poUtical reform can deal with something besides 

 sentiment and humanitarianism. In what directions 

 the results may point it is neither my purpose nor 

 power to indicate, but, to take an example, reformers 

 have failed to recognise that an argument for Govern- 

 ment control (or protection) over the relations between 

 employer and employee may be based on the relative 

 mental inability of the latter to deal with the economic 

 situation on a par with the " captain of industry," as 

 well as on the basis of general " cussedness " and class 

 hatred. 



Not the least of the psychologist's duties is an eugenic 

 problem, the determination of the causes of feeble- 

 mindedness, its relation to other diseases (such as 

 tuberculosis) in the parents, and its inheritability. 

 In this way he may assist in its elimination or possible 

 allegation. Our present knowledge on these points 

 is most fragmentary and inaccurate. Psychologists 

 may contribute much towards a better knowledge of 

 the human race, without which reform becomes riot 

 and progress a whirUgig. 



The Study of Athletics and 

 Sports by the Movies 



By Ernest A. Dench 



Author 0/ " Making the Movies " 



In real life athletes accomplish their feats at such a 

 rapid pace that a close study of their movements is 

 out of the question. 



Photographs have been suggested and tried as a 

 way out of the difficulty, but it is seldom possible to 

 catch a motion at the psychological time, while the 

 motions themselves would not be of the continuous 

 variety. 



Motion pictures offer an effective solution. To 

 obtain films true to life, they must be taken at the 

 rate of sLxteen "frames" — or pictures — to the 

 second. There are sLxteen of these frames on a single 

 foot of film, or sixteen thousand in the case of a one-reel 

 production. 



Therefore, under these conditions, the study of 

 athletics is just as far off as before. The only solution 

 is to slow up the movements, which may seem an 

 impossible task were not the motion picture so ver- 

 satile. 



Cinematography reverses many things, so a number 

 of athletic games like running, jumping, and throwing 

 the weights, were filmed at the rate of one hundred 

 frames to the second — a feat accomphshed by a motor 

 attachment to the camera. In the studio is a peculiar 

 kind of clock called a " chronoscope," and it is intro- 

 duced in order to show the time which elapsed between 

 each motion. It contains but one dial, which is 

 operated by clockwork. The face is divided up into 

 twenty sections, each one of which represents one- 

 twentieth part of a second. The chronoscope is set 

 in motion immediately the camera man turns the 

 crank, and continues until the motion has been com- 

 pleted. The film, when seen on the screen, is projected 

 at the normal speed. The results amaze, when the 

 two methods are contrasted ; although the hurdler 

 travels as fast as an express train, he is made to walk 

 along at the pace of an old man. When he leaps the 

 hurdle, he is as graceful as a bird. 



Harvard CoUege, U.S.A., has adopted the film as 

 part of its athletic training. The work is in charge 

 of Percy Haughton, the football coach, who has had 

 films taken of the teams at work. He has already 

 been able to trace the weak points of his men to their 

 source. 



In baseball, the New York National League has 

 utilised the motion picture to stamp out aU useless 

 motions. With this object in view, pictures of the 



