How best to secure physical culture is undoubtedly the question of greatest importance in education at the present time?"

And Dr. Scudder, Boston, states: "The tendency in schools generally is to over-emphasize intellectual development and the acquirement of recorded knowledge by filling every available minute of the school programme with requirements designed to accomplish this end," and Sir Frederick Treves, writing upon physical education, says: "If one watches the stream of men, boys and girls which pours out daily at the close of day from a city factory, the question may well be asked, are they superior to the savage in all things, and are there no points in which the barbarian could claim some advantage over his modern descendant? In the face of a marvellous social, moral and intellectual development, we are apt to lose sight of the fact that man is an animal, that he cannot yet do without a body, and that a strong receptacle for the mind is better than a frail one." This fact has recently been emphasized, not only throughout the British Empire, but also in the United States. When large and sudden demands were made for men to engage in active warfare, it was found that many of the young men were not able to comply with the standards of the War Office Department. It was not a case of young men lacking in intellect, but being found unsuitable even to assume the duties of a soldier for home service.

The following extracts from the report of Sir Wm. Taylor, Director-General of the R. A. M. S., as also extracts from the report of the Inspector-General of Recruiting of Great Britain, indicate the physical condition of the young men of that country:

Only two out of five men enlisting remain in the army as effective soldiers at the end of two years' service, or 60 per cent. of the men offering themselves for enlistment are physically unfit for service. The want of physique thus shown to exist with regard to a large section of the community, is not only serious from its military aspect, it is serious also from its civil standpoint, for if these men are unfit for military service, what are they good for? As Lauder Brunton says: 'Poor in physique as they all are, and poor in mental capacity and power of application, as many of them must be, what becomes of them? Many of them probably marry girls as weak as themselves and have children, some of them go to swell the lists of infant mortality, some join the criminal classes, while others grow up more weak and incompetent than their parents.""

"The general deterioration of the physique of the working classes from which recruits must always be drawn, is causing much anxiety.

"From 1893 to 1902, 679,703 recruits were medically examined, and of this number 34.6 per cent. (234,912) were re

jected as medically unfit for service, and 0.9 per cent. (5,849) broke down within three months after enlistment, while 2.1 per cent. (14,259) were discharged as invalids before completing two years of service; and as Sir F. Maurice says, as 60 per cent. are rejected of those who offer themselves to the recruiting officers, the number turned away must be appallingly large. And what can we say of their physical condition? Just think of it— only 25 per cent. of those willing to enter the regular service of the British army are found physically fit for service; the remaining 75 per cent. are rejected for being 'under chest measurements,' and 'under height measurements,' and 'under weight,' as well as for decay of teeth.' All are causes which clearly indicate the operation of agencies antagonistic to a healthy, physical development."

So alarmed at the statistics presented have the leading men of the country become that the National League for Physical Education has been formed, under the presidency of Sir Lauder Brunton, and, amongst other proposals made by him, is the reduction of each hour of study to forty or forty-five minutes, the remaining fifteen or twenty minutes of each hour to be devoted to play and physical drill.

We have, perhaps, not reached the same serious condition of affairs in Ontario as apparently exists in England; but we are certainly confronted with the fact that gradually our rural population is becoming urban, with the inevitable result that physical degeneration must sooner or later ensue.

Turning again to the child we may briefly discuss the effects upon him of physical exercise. If a child of ordinary mental capacity were permitted to live in the association of educated people without systematic teaching of any kind, we would naturally expect when he reached manhood some intellectual development. The knowledge would have been gained by observation, experience and example. To be brief, he would be imperfectly developed mentally. What is true of the mental child is precisely true of the physical. We can leave neither the one nor the other nature," for he is not born into, nor does he ever live in a natural condition. There are ever present the evils of environment. Therefore, to leave a child to his own devices when not engaged in school work is not to provide him with a sound or efficient education of the body."

to

What, then, are the effects of such an education upon the child? First, those upon the body:

1. Increase of size and muscle.

2. Strengthening of his tendons and aponeuroses.
3. Increases size and strength of bones.

4. Invigorates respiration.

5. Augments size of thorax.

6. Increases size of heart.

7. Accelerates circulation.

An

In short, exercise means "growth and functional vigor and the maintenance of a high standard of organic life," and the truth of these statements has been demonstrated by many. interesting case is that given by Lord Brabazon, in a paper on Open Spaces and Physical Education," read before the Sanitary Institution at York, 1886, which gives a report of the effects of six months' drill and gymnastic training given to twelve boys in the Much Wenlock National School from August 21st, 1871, to February 26th, 1872, when it was found that the average chest increase for drill was only eleven-twenty-fourths of an inch, while the combined training of drill and gymnastics gave an increase of 1 5-6 inches.

In addition to the organic improvements, it is found that "he who has been well trained physically possesses not only a complete, but an intelligent use of his muscles. His movements are powerful and under absolute control, are precise, and capable of the freest and most elaborate adjustment."

The Effect upon the Mind.-When the exercise is carefully systematized, and is both regular and moderate, it stimulates the circulation both of the body and of the brain, and cerebral movements are materially aided; besides this, the general health is improved and strength increased, and the capabilities for mental work enhanced.

Having briefly considered the effects of physical education upon the child, I would next refer to the chief elements of this form of education:

(a) The exercises should be carefully devised, systematically arranged, and suitably graduated.

(b) They should be carried out under guidance and with suitable and efficient apparatus.

(c) The time for the exercise should be carefully selected. (d) The exercises should, if possible, be taken in the open air, or in a large and well-ventilated room, and the subjects properly clad.

From a consideration of these four elements, it is quite apparent that this branch of education cannot be carried out under the present staff of teachers. A new staff of teachers must be employed. These can most effectively be engaged from the various officers and non-commissioned officers of the permanent corps of the militia of Canada, all those who wish to qualify for commissions or certificates of instruction from the infantry schools, being required after training at these schools to put in a certain period of time instructing the boys of the Public and other schools

before receiving their commission or certificate. Further, this staff of teachers can be considerably augmented by the undergraduates of all our universities, who should be required to give some of their spare time to this branch of education, so that in turn they may be able to give some service to the State by instructing our boys and girls. By some such method the work could be carried on with small cost, and greater efficiency would result to militia officers of all ranks. The officers of the permanent corps might constitute the permanent staff of instructors, and they should have the supervision of detailing instructors, either to different sections or schools as the case might be.

The time for physical drill should certainly be taken from the present school hours; and I fully agree with the suggestion of Sir Lauder Brunton, that at least fifteen minutes off each hour should be given either to sport or drill, and both of these should be carried on as far as possible in the open air. In this country where buildings are necessary during the winter months, the rooms should be well lighted, roomy, well ventilated and warmed.

So far my remarks have been directed to physical drill during the school periods; but there is every year in the schoolboy's life a vacation during the months of July and August, when the opportunity is afforded for the gathering of the boys in camps on somewhat similar lines to those adopted by the "boys' brigade." While in attendance at these camps, the time of the boys should be divided up between military drill, physical exercises, rifle practice, boating, swimming, and sport generally, and all under the careful supervision of qualified instructors. I can imagine no better training ground for the youth of our country than the well-regulated camps of instruction, where physical instruction can be given to its fullest extent, and under the best sanitary conditions.

The cost of this branch of education would be comparatively small if a system such as suggested is followed out. The maintenance of camps of instruction would be less than the present cost of militia camps, and all expenses should, I think, be borne by the Dominion authorities, the provinces being paid a per capita grant according to efficiency. This suggestion may at first seem to be going too far, but under this system the Militia Department would be saved a great portion of the cost it now incurs in trying to train those of maturer years in similar work; and it can never reach the same standard of efficiency so long as it begins its training at the period of life when the youth is least adapted by nature to receive it. For the improvement of ourselves as a nation, physically and mentally, some such system of instruction as outlined must be adopted.

MARMOREK'S SERUM FOR THE PREVENTION AND CURE OF TUBERCULOSIS.

BY ANDREW EADIE, M.D., TORONTO.

DR. ALEXANDER MARMOREK, of the Pasteur Institute, Paris, has for some years been experimenting with the bacillus of tuberculosis, and has been trying to produce an antituberculous serum, for the cure and for the prevention of this most dreaded disease— tuberculosis. In the New York Independent he gives a detailed description of his efforts in search of a serum, and tells of the success he has obtained. After much labor with the methods adopted by Robert Koch, he became convinced that the tuberculin produced by this distinguished pathologist is not the true toxin that is made by the bacilli of tuberculosis in an individual affected with this disease. He, therefore, concluded that there must be some other chemical substance secreted by the bacilli which causes the destructive pathological lesions in the lungs and other organs.

One of his reasons for believing that tuberculin is not the true toxin of tuberculosis is the unequal effects which the same dose of tuberculin produces in various persons. It was found that tuberculin, when injected into healthy persons, produced no reaction. It, therefore, is not a true toxin. When injected into those suffering from a mild form of tuberculosis, it often produces a very severe reaction, while in those suffering from the most serious forms of tuberculosis, and with extensive lesions, it does not always produce a great reaction. He then began to search for some other substance which might prove to be the true toxin.

It was soon found that perfectly healthy colonies of the tubercle bacilli do not secrete any toxin in the ordinary media employed in bacteriological research. He concluded that the reason why bacteriologists had failed to produce this toxin outside of animal bodies was, because the conditions under which it had been cultivated were not sufficiently like those which exist in the tissues where it is usually formed. The bacilli in the animal organism are usually found in the interior of white blood cells, and it is while they are in this situation that their specific toxic substance is formed. Dr. Marmorek's first idea, then, was to grow the bacilli in contact with freshly obtained white blood cells. All his efforts to do this, however, were unsuccessful. But he found that the serum of animals, into which he had previously injected white blood cells, was a more favorable medium, and