An elderly maiden sat one sunny afternoon in May engrossed with her knitting, while a crowd of boys were engaged in the great American game of baseball on the lot beneath her window. It would be superfluous to say they were noisy. From her viewpoint both noise and violent physical activity were unnecessary, disagreeable, and trying to one’s nerves. The nuisance must be suppressed. Accordingly she poked her head out of the window and directed a shrill scream at the disturbers of her peace, “Go away from here, you bad boys, and stop making that noise!” In a flash came back the retort, “G’wan away yourself!” while a boy grumbled to his companion, “She don’t know nothin’ ’bout having fun.” Both were right, judging from their respective points of view, and both were wrong when considered from the other’s viewpoint. Neither understood the other. Old age requires peace, silence, and cessation from physical activity. Youth requires noise, bustle, and violent exercise for its growth. Activity symbolizes success. Passivity spells failure. The boy in athletics, like the adult laborer in his daily toil, uses the primary muscles of his arms, legs, and torso. With the development of his mentality, he develops and employs his secondary muscles. Psychology is intimately related to athletics. For this reason, the gymnastic apparatus which is suited to adults is wholly unsuited to boys, and this is quite apart from differences due to the unequal size and strength of the users. Witness the aversion of the boy to the use of Indian clubs whose intricate manipulations require the employment of the secondary muscles of the wrist and arm, while he willingly uses dumb bells which call into play his primary muscles. His inability for sustained mental effort is coördinated with his disability for sustained physical effort. Hence he passes by, with a curiosity-satisfying trial, the chest weights and rowing machines of the adult which require the continuous expenditure of energy. So also the competitive spirit of boyhood must be gratified by the use of such gymnastic apparatus and games as develop competition. The boy will not exercise for exercise’s sake. He will not even do it to achieve the altruistic result of a strong physique. But he will exercise and play games to excel the other fellow. The boy who is alone in a gymnasium has as stupid a time as the boy who is compelled by necessity to play baseball with himself. It would be interesting to learn the boy’s opinion of certain adults if he were able to accurately analyze and express his conclusions. The crabbed demeanor of the pessimist out of touch with boy-life is as offensive to the boy as the latter’s noise and giddiness are objectionable to the former. Observe the mental rheumatics of the misanthrope in these grouchy grumblings from Beaumont and Fletcher’s “Wit Without Money”: