Civics and Health

Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved. Some text in this document has been moved to avoid multi-page tables being inserted mid-paragraph. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this text. For a complete list, please see the end of this document . Click on the images to see a larger version. LOUIS AGASSIZ "A natural law is as sacred as a moral principle" CIVICS AND HEALTH BY WILLIAM H. ALLEN Secretary, Bureau of Municipal Research Former Secretary of the New York Committee on Physical Welfare of School Children, Author of "Efficient Democracy" and "Rural Sanitary Administration in Pennsylvania," Joint Author of "School Reports and School Efficiency" WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY WILLIAM T. SEDGWICK Professor of Biology in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO LONDON Entered at Stationers' Hall Copyright, 1909 By WILLIAM H. ALLEN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 910.4 The Athenæum Press GINN AND COMPANY PROPRIETORS BOSTON U.S.A. INTRODUCTION It is a common weakness of mankind to be caught by an idea and captivated by a phrase. To rest therewith content and to neglect the carrying of the idea into practice is a weakness still more common. It is this frequent failure of reformers to reduce their theories to practice, their tendency to dwell in the cloudland of the ideal rather than to test it in action, that has often made them distrusted and unpopular. With our forefathers the phrase mens sana in corpore sano was a high favorite. It was constantly quoted with approval by writers on hygiene and sanitation, and used as the text or the finale of hundreds of popular lectures. And yet we shall seek in vain for any evidence of its practical usefulness. Its words are good and true, but passive and actionless, not of that dynamic type where words are "words indeed, but words that draw armed men behind them." Our age is of another temper. It yearns for reality. It no longer rests satisfied with mere ideas, or words, or phrases. The modern Ulysses would drink life to the dregs. The present age is dissatisfied with the vague assurance that the Lord will provide, and, rightly or wrongly, is beginning to expect the state to provide. And while this desire for reality has its drawbacks, it has also its advantages. Our age doubts absolutely the virtues of blind submission…