It is desirable, then, in the first place, that the missionary be a sound physical man. No one should be accepted by a mission board for work in Japan who cannot secure a policy in a reliable life-insurance company, and it would be well if the medical examination were made by an examiner for such company. The examinations made by a physician appointed by the mission boards are usually mere farces, for the desire to go as a missionary frequently covers up many physical weaknesses and prevents a thorough examination. The examination should therefore be made by a disinterested medical man, who will not be influenced by such motives. It seems hard to subject candidates for mission work to such rigid examinations, and perhaps refuse to send them because of some small physical defect; but the interests of the work make it imperative. Otherwise the young missionary will, in all probability, break down and have to go home in three or four years, before he has been able to do any active work. The experiment will have cost the board a large amount of money and a loss of several years, and the {196} missionary some of the best years of his life, probably making of him an incurable invalid. In so serious a matter as this the boards cannot afford to be swayed by sentiment. Nothing but sound business principles should be followed. The same physical requirements should be made for the woman as for the man. She, too, should be subjected to a medical examination, and any serious defect in her constitution should cause her immediate rejection. It seems hard to subject the wife to this test, as she is not a missionary in the strict sense of the term, and to many the requirement will be distasteful; but for their protection, and for a judicious use of consecrated funds, the boards should require it. A little thought will show that the failure of the wife's health is just as disastrous for the mission as the failure of her husband's. It cripples his efficiency while on the field, and ultimately drives him home. Most boards operating in Japan have not made this requirement, and as a consequence many missionaries' wives are in poor health, and as many men have had to return home because of the failure of their wives' health as for any other one cause. The mission boards should not appoint too young men to work in Japan. It is well known that young men cannot endure so well as older ones change of climate and hard work. Those {197} who are physically and mentally immature will very probably be unable to bear the strain. In general, no one should be sent out under twenty-five years of age, and it would be safer if all who came had attained the age of thirty. Against this it is argued that a young person will acquire the language more readily than an older one, and this is doubtless true. But health is of first importance.