760 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVni. No. 987 



cieney" to whieh so much attention is now 

 being directed is correctly valued, becoming 

 merely one phase of the great problem of 

 ' ' unsuccessful life-adjustments. ' ' 



It would be impossible, within reasonable 

 limits, to discuss all the factors which deter- 

 mine successful or unsuccessful adjustment, 

 and we shall at once dismiss from consid- 

 eration those commonly designated as 

 hereditary, but we can not refrain from ex- 

 pressing the hope that the discussions upon 

 this important point should not be ex- 

 pressed in terms of such apodictie certitude 

 as to lead a more or less credulous public to 

 believe it is futile to attempt to make the 

 lives of those whose ancestry has not re- 

 ceived eugenic sanction happier and more 

 effective. 



Successful adjustment in life depends 

 upon the character of the habit-reactions. 

 The formation of good habits predicates the 

 existence of a sound mind and sound body. 

 If an individual does not possess the latter, 

 it is the duty of the educator to give assist- 

 ance in the effort made to compensate for 

 defective reactions, the result of physical 

 deformities, by compensatory mechanisms. 

 Our sympathy is quickly aroused and we 

 readily give assistance to the cripple who 

 tries to cross a crowded thoroughfare, but 

 how little effort do we take to prevent the 

 tragedies occurring as the result of the en- 

 couragement given to the motley throngs 

 driven helter-skelter through schools, col- 

 leges and universities, stimulated by false 

 hopes and ambitions to adjust their activ- 

 ities at levels which are sure to precipitate 

 disaster. 



A recent writer in the Atlantic Monthly 

 has called attention to the enormous waste 

 of time and energy, as well as of money, due 

 to sentimentality. A large part of the 

 present educational curriculum shows 

 plainly the dangers to our national life and 

 the economic loss entailed by the perpetua- 



tion of a curriculum in schools and colleges 

 which is an expression of sentiment rather 

 than of reason. Ignorance, as well as pride 

 in our creations have led us to count the 

 successes and to disregard the failures of 

 the system. In round numbers there are 

 187,000 patients in hospitals for the insane 

 and 183,000 students in colleges and univer- 

 sities. It is known that there are a large 

 number in every community suffering from 

 well-marked psychoses. In the state of New 

 York the estimate has been made that at 

 least 1,800 or 2,000 patients aiBicted with 

 alienation should, if provisions existed, be 

 brought under supervision in hospitals. 



In other states the proportion of those in 

 need of hospital treatment is greater, so 

 that if adequate provision existed through- 

 out the country the numbers of this army 

 would be increased probably to 250,000. 

 The patients in institutions, as a rule, repre- 

 sent the severe or later stages of imperfect 

 life-adjustments. If we add to this num- 

 ber the list of those suffering from nervous 

 and mental breakdowns in incipient stages, 

 the so-called "failures" in life, and the im- 

 perfect adjustments grouped together in 

 the criminal classes, it is evident the suc- 

 cesses of our present educational system, as 

 compared with its failures, represent rela- 

 tively a very small number. In general, 

 we recognize the principle that those are 

 the best guardians of the body in health 

 who have some understanding of the nature 

 of disease. One of the chief aims of the 

 educator should be to assist students in 

 their efforts to become the possessors of 

 sound minds, in sound bodies, and therefore 

 a comprehensive understanding of the bio- 

 logical laws determining human thought 

 and behavior is necessary for every teacher. 



Progress in educational, as in all other 

 reforms, is necessarily slow, but the pro- 

 gram may be made a practical one from 

 which definite results shall be expected. 



