Physical Oversight of the Undergraduate
ORGANIZED education began with the sole function of developing the mental equipment of the individual. It is not within recent years that there entered an appreciation that the efficiency of this mental development was later dependent on a sound physical background. Since the beginning of this latter thought endless articles have been written with a similarity of vocabulary, such as a sound body and a sound mind, so that the maximum effect has been lost in the repetition of these platitudes. And then the age of economic efficiency entered the field. It has been the economic loss of a physique insufficient to meet the demands of an increased intensity of living and working that has finally focused public attention on the importance of the physical oversight of the men who are to constitute the personnel of the organization which is next to carry the load. The propaganda of public health organizations, insurance companies, and similar agencies came upon the field following the World War, the enlistment examinations for which brought out in glaring fashion the incidence of physical defects and deficiencies in young America.
It is perhaps not incorrect to state that Dartmouth's interest in this function has been of comparatively long standing. Its geographic location alone would have tended, without stimulation or encouragement, to the interest of its students in things physical and out-ofdoors. The interest of its administration in this work can be briefly shown by the mere statement of the fact that the department in charge of this work until nineteen hundred and thirteen consisted of one man. At the present time the physical oversight of the undergraduates is in the hand of a division consisting of sixteen full-time members.
As has been facetiously stated in other connections, Dartmouth has had for many years that which was, at the time of its construction in 1909, the largest gymnasium in the country. With its complete facilities for the handling of many activities at the same time, it left no boy without opportunity for exercise. In addition the remarkable growth of the Outing Club has removed from Hanover the traditional physical inactivity of the student body during the winter months.
With the growth of the athletic plant in the shape of the Spaulding Pool, enclosed hockey rink, Memorial Field, and Davis Field House, the organized athletic teams of the college are well quartered. A large increase in plant and personnel was necessitated by adoption of the requirement of compulsory recreation for freshmen and sophomores, under which plan members of these two classes are required to report for recreational exercise three times a week during the entire college year. The many sports in which a man may fulfill his requirement, as has been described by others in previous articles, are each supervised by a member of the department who has had training in his special field. Recreational forms of exercise with the possibility of introducing competitive atmosphere makes the general work more attractive to the average boy; and a boy generally physically normal is allowed to select his own recreational sport, which he is allowed to change twice each semester. But it is one of the sad but logical commentaries of the work that the boy showing the greatest need of physical development has the least interest in the methods by which it can be obtained, for either his lack of interest in spoits prevented the physical development or his physical inferiority has caused him to avoid activities by which it is exhibited. It is this boy with whom we are particularly concerned.
To classify the members of any given class, each freshman is physically examined at the time of his entrance to college. This recQrd consists of a general history of previous illnesses, past athletic experience, general physical examination including blood pressure and urinalysis, notation of physical defects, and detailed physical measurements. The latter are then used for statistical purposes and to stimulate his interest by comparison of himself and the average boy. Finally, the condition of general development and nutrition are noted, and questionable cases are brought back for more detailed examination. Sources of questionable focal infection are checked up by specialists in this field and advice given as to their removal before attacking the problem of general physical improvement.
In carrying out this procedure in a class of six hundred and twenty-five men, many interesting individual situations are encountered. One is impressed first of all with the fact that in the very great majority of boys entering college, that this is their first complete examination. As a result there is always found that occasional small school athletic star who, under no medical supervision, has played in every school sport, captained several, and may even have been subjected to that youthkiller par excellence, school-boy cross-country running. This "burnt-out" school-boy athlete is not common, but one in which we have a very great interest, as he must be now limited to some schedule of temperance.
The examination of the class of 193S may be briefly summarized for what may be of interest. Six hundred and twenty-five men constituted this group. Seventeen cases of impaired heart function were disclosed, nine of which were organic, three with a past history of rheumatic fever; and eight cases which seemed definitely functional. The functional cases were placed in the special gymnastic class and examined at frequent intervals before, during, and after exercise. The organic cases were checked on further examination and placed on individual programs with varying restrictions.
Urinalyses of this class brought out fifty cases showing albumen or some question thereof (many transient), and on further analysis with microscopic examination of sediment in addition, twenty-four were found to be actual albuminuria. Many of these were among the underweight group, and those persisting after one month were referred to the medical staff of Dick's House for complete investigation. Four cases of urinary sugar were discovered, all of which were referred for medical investigation, and one of this group was found to be a true diabetes for the control of which insulin was necessary. In the course of the total physical examinations of the year, of the two lower classes at both the beginning and end of the college year, and of candidates for athletic teams, three thousand and one hundred urinalyses were made in the laboratories of the medical school under the supervision of Dr. Kingsford of the department of Pathology.
On the basis of this physical examination, a boy is advised as to his choice of recreation. As has been stated above, those boys of normal physical development and free from gross physical defects, and who constitute by far the largest group, are allowed to select their own recreational activity. Individuals whose condition require more specific oversight and whose general development requires more all-round improvement are placed in the special gymnastic class where more individual attention is possible, and in which a definitely corrective program is followed. Of the class of 1933, one hundred and two men were placed in this group, of whom eighty-eight were under normal weight. In addition to these were thirty men carried over from the class of 1932, and twenty upperclassmen who voluntarily continued in the work. Of the entire class of 1933, eighty-two men were placed in the underweight class, which was handled as a separate group from the standpoint of diet and general hygiene, reports on which have been previously published.
The group included in "special gym" consists of those men whose condition warrants special treatment and emphasis, and it is a great satisfaction to note the steadily increasing appreciation and interest that these men show in their individual problems. The work carried out with the group is general gymnastic training with the purpose of general, all-round physical development of the individual and it is to the credit of Mr. Kaney's ability to make this interesting that many upperclassmen continue with the work entirely on their own volition.
Of eighty-eight men in the special gymnastic class, thirty-two men made an average gain in weight of thirteen and one-tenth pounds, while the entire group gained an average of eight and eight-tenths pounds. Of men over normal weight, who represented a small group, all made a good reduction. The question may be asked as to why we treat these two apparently opposite types with the same methods, as it would appear both illogical and paradoxical. It is a reasonable supposition that both "underweight" and "overweight" are the result of a faulty functional balance in metabolism, and a restoration to normal tone, assimilation, and excretion with attainment of normal balance will bring each mechanism back to a normal situation. This may explain what appears as an empirical procedure. The same result may be seen in the same pair of opposite individuals with removal of foci of infection, should the latter exist as an underlying or inciting cause.
As in most fields, it is the individual with special problems who captivates our interest. There have been several instances of boys so conscious of physical inferiority as to be entirely unwilling to join in class work. Such boys have been individually handled for a short time in morning hours, and invariably turn out to be the every-day "gym fans" during their four years. Postinfantile paralysis cases have been great examples of improvement. One such case with an involvement of one leg, later as a high jumper, jumped over six feet. Another, a member of the gymnastic team for the past three years, won sixteen medals in all, eight of them gold or first place medals, in the various intercollegiate gymnastic meets, walked in steel braces on each leg and entered college with no gymnastic or physical training.
The Charles Quincy Tirrell Medal is awarded at the end of each college year to that boy showing the greatest physical improvement during the year. As is to be expected, the favorite candidates are individuals starting with a poor physical development allowing the greatest margin of possible improvement. But well distributed, all-round development is placed as the primary deciding factor. The improvement of the winner of this year's medal can be shown by reporting several of the recorded observations: Eight months elapsed between his first and final examination.
Sept. 18, '29
Weight 95.9 lbs. Height 62.2 inches Neck 11.5 inches Chest Full 30.1 inches R. Thigh 16.8 inches L. Thigh 16.7 inches R. Calf 11.5 inches L. Calf 11.5 inches R. Biceps 8.8 inches L. Biceps 8.7 inches R. Forearm 8.8 inches L. Forearm 8.5 inches Br. of Shoulders 14.1 inches Pulse Rate 92. Lung Capacity 175 cu. in.
Final examination May 17, '30 115.4 lbs. 64.7 inches 12.2 inches 34.0 inches 18.4 inches 18.3 inches 12.6 inches 12.6 inches 11.0 inches 10.3 inches 9.7 inches 9.3 inches 15.1 inches 78.
225 cu. in,
Another phase of the physical oversight has to do with examinations of all candidates for athletic teams, both varsity and freshmen, and members of organized expeditions of the Outing Club and Canoe Club. This examination is required in the case of each candidate for each team, and no examination holds over from one season to another or from one sport to another. This examination" is similar to the entrance physical examination but in less detail as to measurements, the chief interest being in the organic functions. It is a rare instance in which a man once passed as a freshman develops a condition on which he is later denied permission to compete as a candidate for a varsity team, but in the protection of all concerned, examination is required in some instances several times a year. It is a great satisfaction to record here the harmony among the rival athletic interests, the quite legitimate and meritorious desire to win and the equally legitimate and meritorious desire of the administration, instructors, and parents that no boy should be sacrificed for the success of any team.
During the first semester of freshman year, weekly lectures in Hygiene are given to the freshman class in two sections. These include a brief explanation of the anatomy and physiology of the systems of the body, discussions of the general functional disturbances to which they are prone, and the factors which incite and prevent such occurrences. In these talks, general personal hygiene is covered, and an attempt made to interest the boy in the importance of physical well-being. In discussions with individual boys in connection with their recreational activities, the material of the lectures is correlated as far as possible with the practical application in each case.
The physical oversight of the undergraduate is carried on, therefore, with three main purposes: first, to encourage each boy to use every opportunity for physical improvement; second, to correct at this, the last opportunity, physical defects which, if neglected, will soon be permanent; and third, to interest a boy in his physical condition, to establish lasting habits in that direction, that a physical background will be maintained later in life on which his college training can operate to its fullest efficiency.
DR. JOHN W. BOWLER Professor of Physical Education and Hygiene, who has con- tributed largely in developing Dartmouth's program for physical fitness.
THE FAMOUS DARTMOUTH PUMP For many years, perhaps a century and a half, the pump at the lower right-hand corner of this picture served as the master of ablu- tions to the students of Dartmouth College. The form of the pump however differed at different epochs,—the 1880 variation as shown below being a comparatively modern affair with a revolving crank. The older machine had the usual vertical hoist.
