Athletic Sports (extract)

The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man lieving thatall teaching should be preceded by inquiries into the "nature, capabilities, and requirementsof the being to be taught," I began a system of independent investi­ gation with regard to the growth and de­ velopment of the body under the various conditions of life. I was moved to this undertaking by the conviction that whatever might be thena­ ture of the physical training pursued, the ultimate object should be the improvement of the individual. "The indispensable part of the experimental observation of physical facts," says a distinguished philosopher, "is the measurement ofquantities." I resolved, therefore, to widenthe range of observations, believing that on the sim­ ple factors —weight, height, and chest- girth —could not be based a true estimate of one's physical condition. I had seen weight obtained at the expense of struc­ ture, height at the expense of circumfer­ ence, and the girth of the chest increased as the girth of the lower limbs diminished. I had found that increase of stature might be largely due to great length of neck and legs, with a comparatively shortbody, and that these proportions, which would indi­ cate weakness rather than strength, could not be brought out by taking only the