CHILD STUDY 485 
been retarded may entirely make up for such retardation by a later 
period of rapid growth, but the conditions for the rapid development 
must not be supplied too late or the power to grow is likely to be lost. 
A period of rapid growth in height after eighteen and in intellectual 
ability after thirty is rare. Permanent retardation in physical develop- 
ment at an early age produces the dwarf and in mental development, 
the feeble-minded individual. Many feeble-minded are such simply 
because they retain the characteristics of childhood at a certain stage of 
development, instead of developing those of later stages. 
The natural order of development in children is very difficult to 
determine because of countless individual peculiarities. Children of 
the same age sometimes differ as much in some particulars as one group 
of children differs from another several years older or younger. ‘This 
makes it necessary in order to get reliable truths regarding changes with 
development, either to compare a large number of children of different 
ages or else to study the same child for many years. Both of these 
methods have been used and the results of detailed continuous study 
of individuals, confirm and supplement the results obtained from the 
‘study of a large number of children of different ages. In both forms 
of study care is needed to determine whether the changes that are found 
to have taken place are due to inner laws of development or are the 
result of special conditions affecting the development of the individual 
or the group. On the scientific side, it is important that the inner laws 
of development shall be determined, while on the practical side it is 
necessary, if the wisest course is to be pursued, to know what the natural 
tendencies of development are at each age and how children are modified 
by special surroundings and modes of treatment. 
According to an old view of human nature all natural tendencies 
should be opposed, while according to another extreme view they should 
all be encouraged. ‘The medium and common-sense view is that in this, 
as in other cases, we should know the nature of that with which we are 
dealing, in order that we may do what we wish with it, at least expense 
of time and effort. 
It still remains to be determined, however, as to how quickly, and 
by what means, one should seek to bring about changes that are desired. 
Some, like the gardener, believe in making the conditions favorable for 
the development of the plant, while others try to force an early develop- 
ment and even pull open the buds before they are ready to blossom. 
There is a growing belief that nothing is gained by haste and that unde- 
sirable tendencies are usually best treated, not by direct opposition and 
attempts at uprooting, but by utilizing them in harmless ways for the 
development of opposing tendencies. One illustration will make clear 
this principle. Dr. C. F. Hodge, of Worcester, found a lot of toads 
that had been killed by school boys. Although indignant, he, after a 
