x FOREWORD 



which would enable young persons to choose vocational 

 work for which they are mentally adapted. The exami- 

 nation of the draft recruits also showed a poor physical 

 development, more than one-third being physically 

 incapacitated for war duty. Since many of the disa- 

 bilities are preventable, it shows a great neglect of 

 growing youth during the dependent period of life. 

 The wealth of a nation is largely concerned with the 

 health of its people; thus the problem is one for govern- 

 ment recognition and supervision. The physical fitness 

 of youth is recognized in educational institutions only 

 by the selection of those best developed for the sports. 



The importance of the physical fitness of man has 

 been only partially appreciated in the estimate of 

 prognosis by physicians in the examination of the sick 

 and in the measurement of the lung capacity by exam- 

 iners for insurance companies. Dr. Georges Dreyer has 

 shown that the estimation of vital capacity is more 

 than a mere test, that it indicates the tendency to 

 health and resistance to disease, and that in a prognosis 

 of life's duration it parallels very closely the results 

 of a general examination. 



CHARLES H. MAYO. 



ROCHESTER, MINN., 

 November 12, 1920. 



