teeth are set on edge.”  Had the eating of sour grapes in the past been more restricted, the present generation would stand less in need of dentistry.  When we take an inventory of the people of the present who are defective in body, in mind, or in spirit, it seems obvious that the consumption of sour grapes, in the past, must have been quite extensive.  If the blood of the grandfather was tainted, it is probable that the blood of the grandchild is impure.

The defects of the present would seem to constitute a valid indictment against the educational agencies of the past.  These agencies are not confined to the school but include law, medicine, civics, sociology, government, hygiene, eugenics, home life, and physical training.  Had all these phases of education done their perfect work in the past, the present would be in better case.  It seems a great pity that it required a world war to render us conscious of many of the defects of society.  The draft board made discoveries of facts that seem to have eluded the home, the school, the family physician, and the boards of health.  Many of these discoveries are most disquieting and reflect unfavorably upon some of the educational practices of the past.  The many cases of physical unfitness and the fewer cases of athletic hearts seem to have escaped the attention of physical directors and athletic coaches, not to mention parents and physicians.  Seeing that one fourth of our young men have been pronounced physically unsound, it behooves us to turn our gaze toward the past to determine, if possible, wherein our educational processes have been at fault.

The thoughtful person who stands on the street-corner watching the promiscuous throng pass by and making a careful appraisement of their physical, mental, and spiritual qualities, will not find the experience particularly edifying.  He will note many facts that will depress rather than encourage and inspire.  In the throng he will see many men and women, young and old, who, as specimens of physical manhood and womanhood, are far from perfect.  He will see many who are young in years but who are old in looks and physical bearing.  They creep or shuffle along as if bowed down with the weight of years, lacking the graces of buoyancy and abounding youth.  They are bent, gnarled, shriveled, faded, weak, and wizened.  Their faces reveal the absence of the looks that betoken hope, courage, aspiration, and high purpose.  Their lineaments and their gait show forth a ghastly forlornness that excites pity and despair.  They seem the veriest derelicts, tossed to and fro by the currents of life without hope of redemption.