Good chest and lung development, a strong heart, well-developed and firm muscles are the tripod on which rests physical endurance and resistance to disease. And this was just where the entire class was found to be gravely subnormal. Physical training consists primarily of heart training; in increasing the breathing capacity; in strengthening and developing the heart and other muscles of the body. As the muscles become stronger the body is held more erect, and this favors, as we have seen, all of its functions. And it is not generally understood how great is the effect of physical training on the brain and mental activities. With a strong and vigorous action of the heart there is a feeling of courage and general exaltation; whereas with a weak heart and feeble circulation fear and impaired mental activity predominate. The charge is constantly laid at the door of women that they seldom rise above the mediocre, and have never been leaders in the world of art, literature, the drama, science, or the learned professions; that it is men who have invented devices for the home! According to statistics, of the 25,000,000 wage earners in the United States, 8,000,000 are women, of whom 1,250,000 are over forty-five years of age and 637,000 under fifteen years of age. From an economic point of view, anything which will raise the working efficiency of one-third of our producing population, whose average wage is now the paltry sum of $6 per week, must be welcomed, because it not only prevents loss of time from work, but also the cost of illness. The study of the above statistics demonstrates the fact that the physical efficiency of women can easily be doubled; that should mean that the average wage should be raised to $12 per week, which would be a vast economic gain to the individual, the home, and to the state. FOOTNOTES: [1] See page 330. [2] Similar records for the classes of 1915 and 1916 were not preserved. [3] As the physical examinations are made during the time of the Annual Conference, in order to shorten the time as much as possible the Board requested that the tests of endurance be omitted. CHAPTER II HYDROTHERAPY Description of the Skin; Functions of the Skin; the Physiologic Effects of Water, Hot and Cold; the Chief Varieties of Baths; Ablutions; the Tub Bath; the Alcohol Rub; the Cold Dip; Alkaline and Saline Baths; the Rain Douche or Shower Bath; the Hot Foot-bath; the Sitz Bath; Salt Ablution; the Turkish Bath; the Electric-light Bath; Indications for the Use of Turkish Bath, and Contraindications; the Douche; Rationale of the Douche; Contraindications. The Internal Use of Water; Its Action on the Heart and Blood, on the Digestion; Therapeutic Indications for the Use of Water; Contraindications for Drinking Cold Water. Enemas; Vaginal Douche; Douching the Ear.