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prehistoric times, man formed these traits by reacting to situations
where action was demanded. The successful response was often necessary
to survival; but the relative success, and the satisfaction or
annoyance proceeding from it, determined the direction of future
reaction, and eventually crystallized into the individual's character
and personality. Physical education was the sole form of

education in those days; it was a project-laboratory course in
character and personality. Our psycho-motor instinct patterns are
still tuned in on this racial wave-length and we "get" the educational
character and personality response best by seeking it through the
physical approach.

In the situation of the twentieth century city civilization,
factual education, or what may be called intellectual content-education,
has developed with amazing speed. We have developed many devices
for giving a laboratory education in mental skills. From the labora-
‘tory work in handwriting, the carefully elaborated systems of problem~
solving in arithmetic, and the drill amd repetition of reading ~ a type
of laboratory work - in the elementary school, through the sciace
laboratory work of the high school, to the experimental research
of the college and university, these devices for efficiently attaining
the mental educational content-objectives have been carefully and
systematically sought; but we have given much less thought to
evolving a physical educational laboratory curriculum of such
physical activities as will insure the development of character and
personality as well as assist in the development of a strong body
and organic health. The educator of today is too often content to
rely upon occasional exhortations to "be manly," to "be a real
American," - whatever that may be ~ given in “that peculiarly un-
successful method of instruction," the lecture. Others pass on the
responsibility to the home, which all~too-often has no system at all,
leaving it to the mercies of an all-wise Providence, which if not totally
negligent in the matter, is at least wholly inexpert in the devising of an
educational method with which to attain results in character and
personality. The school system of today devotes years of time and
thousands of dollars to reformulate an arithmetic curriculum which
will be a five per cent improvement on what was used in the past,
and then dismisses the task of developing a curriculum in character
and personality to the ministrations of someone without a vestige of
training in the educational fundamentals involved, and gives no
thought to the result, or depends upon the incidental overflow
of such results from the general situation. It is not meant to imply
that character and personality are not developed or given attention
in general education, for it not infrequently is given a large
place, It is-believed, however, by the writer that the physical
education emtent gives a mech better opportunity ta develop this
phase of the individual than does the mental educational content, and
that physical education should stress this much more than it does,
even now. It would seem that this situation in physical education
should be given more urgent attention. Physical education should be
educationally recognized for what it can be, not for what it seems
to be now. It should be organized as a laboratory course of natural
big-muscle activities, formulated and taught in such a manner as
will give abounding health and organic vigor, and by demanding suit-
able expression, will insure the exercise and development of such
traits and characteristics essential to a well-rounded character and
personality as can be developed through physical education. Such a

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