FROM FOURTEEN TO TWENTY 131 



the era opens, the person is a simple child with childish 

 thoughts, childish interests and ambitions. When the era 

 ends, the person has become a man with his greatest de- 

 cisions of life already made, with the destiny of the rest 

 of his life practically settled. And this spiritual development 

 goes parallel with a development of the body. 



Each organ, bone, and muscle now speeds its growing. 

 Arms and legs stretch out so far that sometimes they seem 

 altogether too long. For boys the shoulders broaden, the 

 back grows stronger, the jaw is firmer, the biceps and 

 other muscles grow bigger. In every physical direction of 

 height, weight, and strength, the body clearly indicates that 

 it is preparing for maturity. 



All these changes are, in point of fact, the physical gate- 

 way to manhood. Nature is developing a man, the highest 

 product of evolution, one who will become the ancestor of 

 others like himself. 



The transformation is just as real for a girl. Her form 

 grows rounder ; her voice becomes sweeter and richer. Every- 

 thing points to maturity. Her cells too are preparing them- 

 selves for a next generation. 



In the meantime, for boys and girls alike, the emotional 

 nature keeps step with the physical. Every sense grows more 

 keen, more alert. New sensations are at hand, new ambi- 

 tions, new hopes, new fears. Some are so intense that the 

 youth hardly knows himself, while imagination seems to lead 

 the way with a naming torch. Nothing is beyond its reach. 



Boys now read tales of great adventure and count them- 

 selves the equal of the heroes. They study science with 

 enthusiasm. Machinery of every sort fascinates them — wire- 

 less telegraphy and the telephone, steam engines, and the 

 aeroplane. They wish to know where life comes from, what 



