December 24, 1886.] 



SCIEN'CB. 



581 



the schoolmasters, and how anxious they are for 

 changes to be made. 



A constitution was adopted by the teachers 

 present, and it was decided to hold quarterly 

 meetings. The Rev. Dr. Robins was elected 

 president, and Mr. George F. Martin, secretary. 



The meeting was eminently satisfactory, and 

 the organization has come to fill a real want in 

 our educational system. 



PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 

 The American association for the advancement 

 of physical education held its second annual meet- 

 ing at the Adelphi academy, Brooklyn, on Nov. 

 26. This association was organized one year ago 

 under the auspices of such well-known men as 

 Professor Hitchcock of Amherst, Dr. D. A. Sar- 

 gent of Harvard, Dr. Hartwell of Johns Hopkins, 

 Mr. William Blaikie, and others. By the terms 

 of its constitution, it consists of active members 

 who are directly engaged in physical education, 

 of associate members including all who are inter- 

 ested in the cause of physical education, and 

 desire to be associated with the society, and of 

 honorary members, who shall be well known as 

 patrons of the cause of physical education. Its 

 membership is nearly one hundred, and is con- 

 stantly and largely increasing. The general in- 

 terest which it has aroused is shown by the fact 

 that delegations from various societies throughout 

 the west, including St. Louis and Milwaukee, 

 were present, and took an active part in the pro- 

 ceedings. At the opening of the session, Mr. 

 Charles Pratt read an address of welcome, in 

 which he said that the ten thousand teachers of 

 JSTew York and Brooklyn had one of the most 

 magnificent promenades in the world, and that, 

 if they would walk the length of the Brooklyn 

 bridge both ways every day, their health would 

 be much benefited. He would have every one 

 sign a pledge that he would solemnly observe all 

 the laws of health, and do what he could to lead 

 others. to do the same. He believes that if each 

 individual should take proper care of himself, not 

 only in matters of exercise, but in other respects, 

 the work done in five hours would be of more 

 value than that now done in ten. Prof. E. Hitch- 

 cock of Amherst college followed with a paper on 

 ' The need of anthropometi-y in physical training.' 

 From the earliest times an effort had been made 

 to establish some foundation upon which observa- 

 tions could be scientifically made. Such an at- 

 tempt could be traced back to India. The same 

 was true of the Greeks. . Thus we have the vari- 

 ous systems, some regarding one foot of the 

 height as a standard, and others the length of 

 the hand and the vertebrae. The basis of all 



must be a knowledge of the human body, what 

 it can do, its various temperaments, and how it 

 can be kept up to the most perfect condition. 

 The largest men are not necessarily the men who 

 can endure the most fatigue, or who best resist 

 disease. Into the problem many things enter, — 

 the pedigree, including parents and grand-par- 

 ents ; did they live to old age, and did they die 

 of disease or accident? what is the condition of 

 the individual's heart? of his lungs, his eyes, his 

 ears? It is a very difficult matter to ascertain 

 just what a typical or ideal man should be, and 

 therefore it is difficult to select a standard of 

 comparison. The author thinks, however, that 

 the height of individuals is the best basis, and 

 would suggest a centimetre or one-half inch as the 

 unit for charts of anthropometry. At Amherst 

 accurate measurements are taken of each student 

 who enters college ; and these are repeated occa- 

 sionally, so that now there are records of one thou- 

 sand students. It is the practice at this institu- 

 tion to examine each man with great care, and to 

 advise him as to the exercise which he should 

 take. Professor Hitchcock, in closing, said that 

 every instructor should take such measurements, 

 and be satisfied with simply recording them. The 

 data which we have now are very crude and in- 

 complete, and no deductions can be made from 

 them. We must continue our observations as op- 

 portunity offers ; and, though we may not live to 

 obtain much that is practical from them, let 

 us nevertheless do our work accurately and 

 well, that succeeding generations may profit 

 from what we have done. The next paper on 

 the programme was 'The physiology of exercise,' 

 by E. M. Hartwell of Johns Hopkins university. 

 Dr. HartweU laid great stress on the point that 

 exercise had more in view than the simple devel- 

 opment of muscle. While this was in a sense im- 

 portant, it was only half the truth. Proper exer- 

 cise trains the nerve-centres, the brain and the 

 spinal cord, as well as the muscles. And this is 

 exceedingly important, and should never be lost 

 sight of. The following papers were read at the 

 afternoon session : Physical training of public 

 school children, by W. C. JosUn of Staten Island 

 academy ; Educational gymnastics, by Prof. Carl 

 Betz of Kansas City, Mo. ; German system of 

 training teachers at the Milwaukee normal 

 school, by C. G. Rathmann, St. Louis, Mo. ; and 

 Physical training from a medical stand-point, by 

 A. M. Starkloff, president N. A. Turnerbund, St. 

 Louis, Mo. Very interesting exhibitions of gym- 

 nastics were given by classes from the Brooklyn 

 normal school of physical training, the turnve- 

 reins of New York and Brooklyn, and the Adelphi 

 academy. 



