Athletic Sports (extract)

Physical Characteristics of the Athlete which he isengaged, and the time devoted to it. There is, however, a general devel­ opment which distinguishes the athletic from the non-athletic class. The tracings given in Chart I.* (p. 54) were made from the measurements of twenty-three hundred Harvard students, of whom seventeen hun­ dred had never practised athletics system­ atically, while six hundred had been active members of college athletic organizations from one to four years. Many of the for­ mer class, however, were accustomed to some form of physical exercise, and the athletic career of many in the second class was limited to a single season. It may be said, also, that men are often selected for athletics on account of their height and weight, so that the increased size exhibited in such cases cannot always be attributed to the practice of athletic exercises. The chances are, however, that every member of a college team has had more or less previous experience in ath­ letics. Knowing, as we do, the influence of physical activity upon the development * In orderto understand the constructionof the charts used in this article, seepreceding chapter, " The PhysicalProportions of the TypicalMan." It shouldalso be noted that the records herein citedall date to 1887only. 52