[170] “The system which I advocate is the result of my professional life—developed and matured by every means which I could bring to bear upon it by physiological theory or practical test. The period of its preparation extends over nearly a quarter of a century, for during that period I have been, as it were, standing in the midst of a living stream of men and boys flowing in from every school, public and private, in the kingdom; youths possessing every degree of physical power—presenting every phase of physical weakness. On these, _by_ these, every exercise in the system has been tested; its nature, its character defined and its results ascertained, its place in the progressive courses slowly and carefully determined” (pp. 89 and 90). [171] Born in Kassa (Kaschau), Hungary, in 1818; studied in Vienna and Pavia, and won his medical degree at the latter university in 1839; took part in the Hungarian War of Independence (1849), and afterwards made his way to England as a political refugee. See _Tidskrift i Gymnastik_ =2=, 225-235 and =9=, 293-297. [172] Born in Skåne, south Sweden, October 7, 1849; graduated from the Central Institute of Gymnastics in Stockholm in 1881; died July 29, 1915. [173] See _Tidskrift i Gymnastik_, =6=, 687-694 (1908). [174] London, H. M. Stationery Office. [175] London, H. M. Stationery Office. [176] Report of the Royal Commission on Physical Training (Scotland), presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty. Edinburgh, H. M. Stationery. [177] London, H. M. Stationery Office. [178] Ibid. [179] The Syllabus of Physical Exercises for Schools. 1909. London, as above. CHAPTER XX. INTERNATIONAL GATHERINGS. The types or systems of physical training found in Europe can all be reduced to three elemental forms, illustrated by the _Turnverein_ or popular gymnastic society of Germany, the athletic sports and active games of the English public schools and universities, and the school gymnastics of Germany and Sweden. Corresponding to each of these, in a way, there have been international gatherings of three sorts in recent years, _i.e._, conventions and competitive meets of the European gymnastic federations, “games” and congresses held under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, and a series of congresses organized with a view to better understanding of the principles and methods of physical education.