The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1879-11-21
PHYSICAL Education For Girls.
BY NATHAN ALLEN, NJ. D.

BY NATHAN ALLEN, NJ. D.
Fifty years ago or more. scarcely any I
attention was paid in education to the I
physical system; the body was not recog.
nized as of any account in mental inn
provement. But as the principles of
physiology became better understood in |
their practical applications, it was found
that they sustained most intimate rela-
tions to education, and the more thor |
oughly this science is understood, the |
more profoundly is one convinced OF the
importance of observing the laws of the
physical system in their connection with
mental culture.
Great advances have been made in the
physical sciences. and in the application
of sanitary law to the prevention of dis
ease, to preservation of health, and to
human welfare; but in every stage and
of physical development in its relation to
mental culture is underrated. When it
becomes fully understood that education,
| in all it's manifold parts and applications,
| is dependent upon the brain, and that
the functions of this organ are very de-
pendent upon the condition and develop
ment of the body, then it will be seen
that there is right and a wrong way in
all attempts at mental improvement, and
that, in order for the greater success, an
observance of physical laws is indispen-
sable.
In no part of female education is there
SO much need of reform as in that of
| physical culture. If the standard of
scholarship is to be raised higher and
L ,lc for rvsrtc nd
greater attention is to be paid to the laws
of health and life, grave consequences
may well be apprehended.
IF this educational pressure was con-
fined to few individuals, there would
not the same danger, but when the great
majority of our girls are thus crowded, its
effects become widely extended and far
reaching into the future. The remark has
been made, Educate woman and you
educate race" This saying is full of
meaning, and capable of different inter-
pretations. Its meaning or application
must depend upon the term educate"
how and in what way it is done. This
educating" should have reference to the
future, as well as to the present; to the
body, as well as to the mind; for the
highest developments of the brain and
nerve tissue, alone will never go far to-
wards educating race-in fact, it will in
evitably run out.
God has established most intimate rela-
tions between one generation and anoth-
er, by the laws of inheritance. AS yet
these laws are very imperfectly under
stood, but enough IS known to show that
these laws depend upon certain condi-
tions, which must be carefully studied
, and taken into account. These cOndi-
tions and laws cannot always be ignored
or set aside with impunity.
While it may require several genera
tions for the development of these laws,
J the first links in the chain seem the
, more important. IT an education that
t breaks down and impairs the physical
: energies of the system tends to defeat
the wise operations of those laws-if this
supreme devotion to mental culture
alone, combined with other influences in
society, is calculated to establish gener-
, ally standard ofliving so high and ex-
: pensive that the great majority of the
the physical strength to adopt and carry
, it out-if such is the result of this state of
: things, that it must and does interfere d.
: rectly. with the duties of domestic life
l and the objects of the marriage institu-
5 ton, is it not time to pause and consider
! whittier, as people we are drifting?
1t may be said that education is not
s the cause of such state of things or con-
, dition of society, and the evils that
! threaten, but it constitutes the leading.
: if not the most powerful, agency in
e society. This education commences ear
8 ly with the girl, shapes her character and
D habits for life; and the influence OF
: women dictates the fashions of the day,
q and mouids our domestic institutions.
! The high pressure of educational influ-
ences does not extend much farther back
. than one generation. and, as people, we
= = are just entering upon the second, but we
: and already unmistakable signs of phys
: ical degeneracy. The registration and
! census reports are bringing forth startling
facts in respect to decline in the birth
rate, to the diminution of marriages, to
the permanence of the family institution
and changes in population, etc. Should
q the same causes continue and increase as
they may, corresponding results may fol-
low, and the next generation will witness
n in those matters still greater changes
e Inasmuch as the primary cause of the
= evils that have been alluded to is, we be-
{ lieve, closely connected with the school
t system, we would earcestly call the at
tention of teachers and the friends of ed
D ucation, to consider if some reform can
! not be effected, and especially in the case
: of girls. Said President Elliot few
1 days since, in addressing the Alumni of
: Harvard University: "Now everything
, depends with US, and in the learned pro-
: fessions, upon vigor of body. The more I
see OF tne IutuTe Oi young men CnaC go OUT
from these walls, the more it is brought
home to me that professional success, and
success in all the learned callings, de-
/, pends largely upon the vigor of the body,
!, and the men who win great professional
3 distinction have that as the basis Of their
r activity"
/ Now if young men must depend for
: success in life upon the vigor of the body
r is it not equally important for young wo-
{ men, who are to be their competitors in
pr bn what
important, who are to be, in the broadest
and fullest sense, the educators of the
, racer"
DoN'r BoYs.-Dont be impatient, no