In the inequalities exhibited by these tables, for 150 boys we find :

a. b. Two in their 16th year differing 7 inches in height, and 55 lbs. in weight; and of these two, one compared with another boy (c) of the same age, shows a difference of 9 inches in height and 50 lbs. in weight.

d. e. f. g. Four in their 15th year, show the following heights and weights respectively :

h. There are twelve boys, varying in weight 10 lbs. only, in extremes of age 30 months, and in height nothing at all, being 55 inches each.

i. j. Of two boys of the same age within a month, one is 6 inches taller and 28 lbs. heavier than the other.

k. l. Again, of two others, one is 9 inches taller and 30 lbs. heavier than the other.

There are four little boys, each 48 inches high, and all differing but slightly in weight, whilst the extremes of age vary 36 months. Many boys of very nearly the same age have the same height, whilst their weight varies from 2 lbs. to 7 lbs.

Difference in age amongst boys of the same height does not seem to produce difference in weight.

During a period of 300 days, the increase in height has varied from one inch to three; the increase in weight varies from one to eleven.

There are only a few cases in which boys below 14 have increased in height as much as boys above that age during these 300 days; the tall boys have grown more than the others have done. Of the 75 boys noticed, 7 have seemingly not grown at all; of these 7, 5 are below 12 years of age.

There is little variety in the circumference of the head measured as above stated—the extremes are 19 and 23 inches, but there is very much variety in the absolute size, and in form, and in proportion. A similar remark applies to the chest ; the extremes are 22 and 34 inches.

Of the whole 150, 2 only are of exactly the same height, weight, and age (within a month); the circumference of their heads is the same, but they differ an inch in the girth of the chest.

It is not for me to say that any of the results indicated are abnor mal, but I respectfully submit that if the most favourable specimens of stature, weight, &c., are right, others are not so; if the former afford us pleasure to contemplate, the latter may give us "serious pause," if not pain.

The absence of proper standards of comparison is much to be regretted. Canons of beauty there are for painters and sculptors, but no laws of symmetry and strength for common life. It is as though we were content to see on canvas, or to place on pedestals, our noblest conceptions of heroism and of loveliness, while the daily walks of life are encumbered by multitudes in every stage of infirmity or deformity. The King of Prussia wished to have a regiment of giants for his country's defence; Nelson avowed that "all above 5 feet was lumber on board a man-of-war." Each commander may have been correct in his estimate for the requirements of his peculiar service, but the question remains-Does stature affect bodily efficiency, and especially longevity? and apart from the consideration of height, Do strength and spirits, elasticity and energy, depend at all on regularity and symmetry of development? We all know how much they contribute to personal comfort, and that we all would, if we could, possess them.

I have lived four years in Holland, three in Switzerland, and have passed some time in Germany, France, and the South of

My opportunities for

Europe, always engaged in education. observing the young have been varied, and my convictions are strong as to the inseparability of a sound mind and a sound body. The point is a delicate one, but in my humble opinion it should be

If the fondest hopes of parents are sometimes disappointed by the apparent perversity of their children-if the comfort and independence of families are often sacrificed through the premature decline in health of those on whom they rely for support-if the strong of all ages are less liable to yield to temptation than are the weak, then the influence of organisation must be admitted, and it deserves to be attentively studied.

There is no clear or correct vision without a good eye, no accurate conception of sounds without a nice ear, nor can there be any right intuition, comparison, or conclusion arrived at, without an average brain supported by a healthy body. By health, I mean balance of bodily action; and by a healthy body, one in which there is not, and there never has been, any disturbance of natural proportions, through passion, inclination, or that minute subdivision of labour which occasions so many monstrosities.

Of the processes of growth in any of its varieties, we appear to know little, and of the laws of growth probably less. Medical writers tell us that it is dependent, first, on a proper amount of nervous excitation; and, secondly, on a due supply of healthy blood. No doubt this is true, but is it the whole truth? or will not the physical characteristics of youth be intensified in maturer years? Should not provision be made for natural growth and increase of bodily strength during the season of youth, before the cares and responsibilities of life are assumed? We hear in popular language of weakness being out-grown, and errors atoned for by additional vigilance or indulgence, yet, in reality, such seldom occurs; success would be the exception, not the rule of life.

According to M. Liharzik, growth is regular, and all deviation tends to produce disease, as disease also produces deviation. Without maintaining that function is dependent on size, he points out curious coincidences in the compass of the voice and the length of the trachea. A large head is frequently accompanied by a contracted chest. In such cases mental action is very slow and laboured, probably from deficient supply of purified blood. Boys of small frames have commonly rather large heads, and are deficient in repose of character. Town-bred children are generally distinguished by vivacity, but less so by powers of endurance. Cheerfulness and talkativeness are concomitants of growth; not so mere repartee or

sarcasm.

As a rule, the more employment can be varied, and the more joyous existence can be made, the healthier and the heartier boys become. There is literally and truly as great variety in the frames of growing boys as in the forms of human business. Peculiar trades produce corresponding bodily adaptations. We reject the notion of caste, politically, yet it prevails amongst us; illustrious or honour

able progenitors sway their descendants; we profit by the laws of hereditary descent quite as much as we suffer from their infringement. The sons of accountants grow up mostly quick at figures ; the grandsons may be less so or more. An artist, become such, possibly, through the possession of rare faculties for perception of form and colour, acquires extraordinary development of the eye. This he transmits to his offspring, wholly or partially; but should any one of his sons be as gifted as the father, and work only half as hard, blindness instead of improvement will probably ensue. cacy of taste, keenness of vision, refinement of feeling, are apt to degenerate, or if intensified, to produce disease and death. Nature seems to guard us against suffering, however, by creating a kind of repugnance to long continuance in one vocation. We see the sons of watchmakers turn money-lenders; those of sportsmen, stockjobbers; of medical men, soldiers. Soldiers themselves turn policemen or gatekeepers, but seldom shopkeepers, while sailors often do so, evincing much shrewdness and thrift. The sons of successful tailors or shoemakers are nearly always studious, but also eccentric.

Perfectly proportionate growth of the bodily and mental faculties is a rare phenomenon, and difficult to distinguish. Well-balanced minds work without effort or friction, as well-balanced bodies move easily and gracefully. They too are always averse to display. Apropos of this, the educational mania of our time, the youth who aims at carrying off prizes is often one that depends, to use a Swiss phrase, on his horns as much as his brains. He avails himself of special endowment, the result of accident rather than of judgment perhaps, and attended by corresponding deficiency somewhere else. Periodical examinations are necessary; but they should include bodily as well as mental acquirements. Proficiency in book knowledge cannot be a satisfactory test of due preparation for business, since it is sometimes accompanied by extreme debility and by habits of irregularity. "Non invita Minerva" is no excuse in countinghouse work. "Duty done" is the highest reward that can be legitimately conferred. Parade is pernicious as a motive or a recompense. Our forefathers confined severe study to adults. "Homo homini additus " was their definition of culture; "Sana mens in corpore sano "their device. Education is the training of the whole being, not merely exercise of the memory, and the season of youth is preparatory to manhood as seed-time is to harvest.

There are tropical trees that become shrubs in our zone, and the flowers of our meadows have their types in the tapering trunks of other climes; let us recognise these facts, bow to the laws of the Ruler of the Universe, and not cover the land with hot-houses.

It is certainly well for posterity that no generation has the power to stereotype itself, or errors in growth would be perpetuated. Virtue is reparative, as it is conservative. We continue to admire the noble forms of the antique, but are apt to forget some of the agencies of older civilisation. Herodotus praises the intelligence and the attainments of the Egyptians; he describes them as amongst the