Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/846

830 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY equilibrium or balance between many lunacies," or that "consciousness itself is largely, and perhaps wholly, corrective in its very raison d'être" — "it may be a wart raised by the sting of sin, a product of alienation or a remedial process." The idea that thought life is the product of the mutual checkings and balancings of impulsive tendencies, any one of which, if allowed full sway, would result in abnormal development, is not so new a view as Dr. Hall seems to think it, since it has been the essential doctrine of functional psychologists for at least a score of years.)

Important changes take place also in the various sense-organs and in the voice, which at this time, due to the enlargement of the glottis, changes from the treble of childhood and becomes more rich and powerful. Puberty is also the "golden period of nascency for rhythm," and for this reason the dance ought to be a peculiarly suitable form of exercise for adolescents. But these are not the monotonous rhythms of the already matured individual. The adolescent's methods of working are more desultory. He has to learn the regularity of habits of the civilized adult, and the attempt to teach him these habits is "like trying to train a cat to work when harnessed to a dog-cart."

Adolescence is often marked by a reduced ability to resist fatigue. It is characterized by spurty rather than sustained effort, concentrative and intense activity for a brief time rather than by endurance under long-sustained endeavor. On this account there should be a reduction of certain kinds of work in school during adolescence. An adolescent pupil should not be allowed in school without nine hours of sleep and a good appetite. "Of all work-schools, a good farm is probably the very best for motor development. This is due to its great variety of occupations, healthful conditions, and the incalculable phyletic reinforcement from immemorial times."

Yet this is likewise the creative period of life. Here we have the germs of genius. It is the "age when all become geniuses for a season." Indeed, genius might be regarded as the apotheosis of adolescence. "Now impressions sink deepest. The greatest artists are usually those who paint later, when the expressive powers are developed, what they have felt deepest and known best at this age."

(Contrary to the opinion of various other writers, the author says that "adolescence is the golden period for acquiring the skill that comes by practice." Yet his own pages have shown with the greatest fulness that this is the period, rather, when the great