538 APPLIED BIOLOGY 



bodies in which all the functions are properly coordinated, 

 and it should not be understood to mean that only one with 

 the muscles of a champion athlete can hope to do great 

 intellectual work. On the contrary, it is a remarkable fact 

 that some of the greatest work in literature, art, and science 

 has been accomplished by men and women who suffered 

 from lifelong physical weakness. In such examples there 

 is hope for all who are physically weak by nature. Athletic 

 constitutions commonly originate congenitally and not in 

 gymnasia. 



The average man and woman, then, should exercise for 

 health, deriving it from renewed activity of the organs that 

 are closely coordinated with muscles, and from rest and 

 recreation for the brain. This reference to the association 

 of exercise and recreation is important, for we certainly 

 derive most benefit from exercise which is at the same time 

 pleasurable and recreative. Herein is one great advantage 

 of many forms of outdoor exercise over gymnasium work. 



462. Excessive exercise is not beneficial when it leads to 

 exhaustion ; and severe over-strain may lead to injury of the 

 heart, blood-vessels, or lungs. Athletic enthusiasts often 

 answer this medical criticism against certain extra-strenuous 

 games, such as football and rowing, by claiming that the 

 moral gain from severe athletic contests overbalances the 

 recognized danger of great physical harm from excessive 

 exhaustion. That there is moral gain worth while in compell- 

 ing tired muscles to obey to the point of exhaustion is ex- 

 tremely doubtful; and those who are fond of quoting that 

 " Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Rugby " should 

 re-read history and note the victories in peace, and even in 

 battles scarcely less strenuous than Waterloo, and by men 

 whose moral fiber was certainly not directly traceable to 

 previous athletic training on any school-playground. Moral 

 qualities which make men great are inherent, not originated 

 by any one form of activity ; and hence we are not justified 



