Maech 26, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



485 



although he must have an important share 

 in their answer. 



Returning to the strictly hygienic side 

 of the question, I am simply trying to get 

 clear in your minds the fact that there are 

 these two ideals and that one of them in- 

 volves the necessity of training for and, at 

 times, the making of a supreme physical 

 effort on the part of the contestant. The 

 other does not involve this element ; on the 

 contrary, perhaps it generally seeks to 

 avoid it, thus leaving the individual free to 

 concentrate his effort on some other object. 



Now, whether we attempt or do not at- 

 tempt to include these elements of moral 

 education in our efforts at physical train- 

 ing, it is of first importance that we se- 

 cure the hygienic ends and that our work 

 be successful with the masses and not 

 solely with those who finally engage in 

 athletic contests. Not only this, but, 

 viewing physical training as a part of edu- 

 cation as a whole, it is even fair to de- 

 mand of it that it do more than provide 

 the physical capital for the work of life by 

 securing the proper development of the 

 body during the period of youth ; it should 

 also lay the foundation of correct habits; 

 it should leave the student with the ability 

 to enjoy those forms of physical activity 

 which are possible amid the more serious 

 concerns of adult life, and with a com- 

 pelling belief in the necessity, even the 

 obligation, of maintaining the physical 

 man. 



With this in mind, let us review rapidly 

 the biological requirements of the human 

 body for muscular activity as an essential 

 factor in health. In this audience, it 

 would be only to state a truism to say that 

 the human frame is constructed for a life 

 of muscular activity; that the fact that, 

 until very recently, mankind has sup- 

 ported itself by physical rather than by 

 mental exertion must have led to the sur- 



vival of those with bodies adapted to 

 physical exertion. So essential was it 

 that this adaptation should be of a very 

 high order, that we are not surprised to 

 find that it went to the extent of produ- 

 cing a body not only capable of sustaining, 

 but even of profiting by, physical exertion. 



Assuming that this adaptation of the 

 organism for muscular activity is the re- 

 sult of a hard process of natural selection, 

 we should expect to find that the extent of 

 the adaptation is detennined by its sur- 

 vival value ; that is to say, it would not be 

 reasonable to expect adaptation of the race 

 as a whole to degrees or forms of muscular 

 exertion which formed no part of the daily 

 life of the average man or woman, and 

 we may assume to-day that the race as a 

 whole is not likely to profit by forms of 

 activity distinctly more strenuous than 

 those to which it has been accustomed in 

 the past. 



"The muscular activity which thus 

 formed part of the life of our ancestors 

 may be described as generally moderate, 

 though at times it was vigorous or hard; 

 only exceptionally did it involve extreme 

 endurance or great muscular strain. . . . 

 Where work of this kind had to be done 

 it was left to those who, by reason of ex- 

 ceptional strength, were especially fitted 

 for it."^ It would seem that it is to such 

 work that the race, as a whole, is adapted 

 and there is thus a strong a priori theo- 

 retical probability that it is by such work 

 that it is most benefited. In using the 

 term "moderate muscular activity" in 

 this discussion, you will understand that 

 I am referring to work of this kind. And 

 it is sufficiently obvious that the training 

 for beating a record, or for rowing, or 

 football is something distinctly in excess 

 of this. 



Through what physiological channels 



' Hough and Sedgwick, " The Human Mechan- 

 ism," p. 312. 



