PHYSIOLOGY AS A SUBJECT OF GENERAL EDUCATION 479 



the two, and this can surely best be attained when the individual possesses 

 a knowledge of the operations and capabilities of both. Knowledge of the 

 body and how it functions may be considered an end in itself. Thus the 

 experimental physiologist who spends his time trying to reveal the secrets 

 of the bodies of living animals is primarily concerned with discovery of 

 facts and the interpretation of their significance rather than with mere 

 material reward. The thrill of having added to knowledge is his chief 

 satisfaction and is an inspiration to further efforts. If this were not so, 

 few, if any, would choose a way of life fraught with so many difficulties and 

 disappointments. Only a small minority can be experimental physiologists ; 

 people in general cannot participate in the satisfaction which a new discovery 

 gives to the scientist. Are people in general then likely to derive any 

 intellectual benefits from the study of physiology ? The answer to this is 

 that physiology is a branch of knowledge and that the various branches of 

 knowledge, although each of them is incomplete in itself, together form a 

 whole which is nowhere contradictory provided it is based throughout on 

 objective reality. The study of physiology, therefore, in common with 

 other branches of learning, cannot but help to promote the orderly develop- 

 ment of the human mind. To know something about our bodies, the 

 purpose of the various organs and how they function, are objects worth 

 pursuing for themselves, in that they go to satisfy our inherent desire for 

 knowledge. It is a good thing to satisfy this desire, for only through an 

 understanding of the laws of his nature can man hope to use his body 

 properly and to avoid abusing it. I refer here especially to the physiology 

 of reproduction. In this instance, ignorance is not a virtue but a danger, 

 and it is better that young people should be properly taught to understand 

 the himian organism than that they should be left to inform themselves from 

 undesirable sources or that they should risk moral damage through prurient 

 curiosity. 



The practical end is and will probably remain the chief reason for 

 teaching physiology because, ' as the master-key of medicine, its practical 

 value is self-evident.' But examination of the relationships between 

 physiology and other branches of medicine is not the purpose of this 

 discussion, it is the practical value which an elementary knowledge of the 

 subject would have for the community. There can only be one practical 

 aim in educating the public in physiology, namely, that through a better 

 understanding of the functions of the human body habits of healthy living 

 may be established which would result in the raising of the general level of 

 health and physique. There are few activities of our daily lives on which a 

 knowledge of physiology could not be brought to bear, but I must confine 

 my remarks to certain aspects of life selected on account of their importance 

 to the individual and the community. I shall therefore deal mainly with 

 those periods of life which are the most important for national well-being, 

 and I shall indicate the errors in some popular practices by way of illustration 

 of the dangers to health attendant on misapplication of scientific knowledge. 



There is or was a disposition on the part of many to regard mothercraft 

 and housecraft as occupations demanding little intelligence and education 

 and of lesser importance than other careers opened up to women to an 

 increasing extent in recent years. Those who hold this view ignore the 

 great truth there still is in the old adage — ' The hand that rocks the cradle 

 rules the world.' The dominant role played by parents in laying down the 

 foundations for health of our future citizens needs no proof. The child is 

 so completely dependent on its parents, and particularly on its mother, 

 that it is true to say that the future of the nation depends more on the in- 

 fluence of the home than on any other factor. These grave responsibilities 



