investigation and study, with a general group discussion
of these problems.

Unfortunately, college classes are large and the number of teachers
employed in the department of physical training, or in those
departments from which physical training draws its science and its
philosophy, is small, so that it is impractical to plan to give this
instruction to small groups of students covering this range of subject
matter.

As a result, the lecture method with its obvious defects and
shortcomings is the common medium for the health instruction of
college students organized into classes. The more intimate and
detailed instruction in these subjects is secured in special courses
and in professional schools.

In the College of the City of New York, we expect that students who
come to us from high schools and preparatory schools have had the
elements of anatomy and physiology either in courses on those subjects
or in courses in biology.[13] Our health instruction, therefore, has
been developed along the lines of lectures on general hygiene,
individual hygiene, group hygiene, and intergroup hygiene running
through the four terms of the freshman and sophomore years.

These lectures are given in periods of from ten to fifteen minutes
each, preceding class work in various forms of physical exercise. They
are often called "floor talks." The shortness of the presentation
favors vigor of address; necessitates a concise organization of
material and a clarity and brevity of statement; and is more likely to
command student attention and concentration. It has, however, its
obvious defects. In these lectures persistent effort is made to
influence the daily habits of the student. The lecture content is
selected with reference to the practical problems of the daily life of
the individual and of the community of which he is a part. It is
obvious that the amount of time devoted to the presentation of the subject
matter is utterly inadequate.

Short written tests are given once each month, and a longer written
test is given at the end of each term. These examinations stimulate
the student to organize his information and make it more completely
his own property. The classes are too large[14] and the instructional
force relatively too small to permit the assignment of references,
presentation of reports, and the conduct of investigations.

Further instruction in physiology and bacteriology is secured in this
institution through elective cour