prise and success later in life as well as in municipal progress. It is during the period of public school life that the body is most in need of the strengthening and invigorating effect of suitable muscular activity. Recent investigations in a large number of schools have shown that twenty-five out of twenty-eight children are physically defective. A definite health program therefore should be made a conspicuous part of every public school curriculum, and the acquisition of health among children demands ample provision for play in the open.

Recreation is of value not only in preserving the health of individuals, but also in the treatment of physical and mental ailments. The effects of the garden city movement in Great Britain, already given in tabular form, will serve to emphasize the value to a race or nation of ample opportunity for our growing girls and boys to play out of doors. Moreover, regular and well-supervised recreation exercises are potent preventives of the great white plague and other chronic diseases. Said the International Congress on Tuberculosis recently, "Playgrounds constitute one of the most effective methods for the prevention of tuberculosis and should be put to the fore in the world-wide propaganda for the diminution of its unnecessary destruction of human life." One of the objects of playgrounds is to make them centers of hygienic instruction and to teach proper habits of living and create a love of wholesome outdoor games and sports, with a view to habitually stimulating the normal physiological processes of the body.

Obviously the largest measure of success in carrying out this health-giving measure is to be attained by a study of the needs of the individual. It is not too much to claim that sufficient play, properly supervised, would successfully overcome a large percentage of the physical defects of childhood. Obviously playgrounds must be supplied with suitable apparatus (which is not always the case), if good results are to be expected.

Here mention should be made of the fact that thoroughfares are being set aside as "play streets" in many of our large municipalities. These are to be advised and encouraged as part of a scheme for the physical development of children, but do not compare with especially built recreation or play centers as means to strengthen the nation's youth. The need of more attractive, supervised play spaces with proper equipment is only emphasized by making the most of inherent existing possibilities, as shown by the utilization of our thoroughfares as "play streets."

There would seem to be immediate urgency in the matter of a careful survey of our leading cities with reference to this question. of playgrounds. It is well known that Chicago and Philadelphia

lead with respect to the number of children's playgrounds, but up to now we have not this aid to a full appreciation of the status of the subject in an immense majority of American cities. The playground problem is easily one of the most vital questions of our municipal governments to-day, and while the demand of these sources of strength and national reserve outstrip the financial resources in most cases at least, it is time that our best efforts be directed toward the solution of the problem.

It is a present-day axiom that all must work and play; hence playgrounds should also be provided for those of mature age. Says Dr. Hall aptly, "We do not stop play because we grow old, but we grow old because we stop play." We may not agree with those modern experts who contend that out of every twenty-four hours eight are to be devoted to work, eight to sleep and eight to play, but it is a recognized fact that plenty of daily play or recreation exercise is indispensably necessary to avert staleness, inefficiency and even illness. It is not denied that play can take various forms with good effect, as will be pointed out presently. After play we re-enter the fray serene, clear-eyed and confirmed.

The fundamental principle to be borne in mind in the application of recreation exercise or play in the mature adult is that the needs in this respect differ in different classes of individuals. For example, the mental worker requires diversion for the mind into. other than the usual channels, but he requires above all else systematic daily muscular activity while at play. Per contra, those engaged in manual, laborious pursuits may get sufficient muscular exercise; they are, however, in need of mental relaxation and recreation.

During the late war Uncle Sam was actively engaged in planning playgrounds for the soldier boys during their hours of relaxation. The armistice came, and these playgrounds were not created. The need of a place and opportunity to play, not only for soldier boys, but for the entire mature population is quite as important during peace times as during war times. There is no reason why adults should not utilize the school recreation centers and children's playgrounds at certain periods of time, but they must not be allowed to crowd out the young. The social and industrial life of an urban community would be vastly improved by the building of an adequate number of playgrounds for the use of parents and of older brothers and sisters of our school children, in short for the whole adult population. While play for children. of school and pre-school age is an important factor in the making of future generations of men and women, it would be profitable indeed for the general public to maintain its interest in, and im

prove every opportunity to dedicate itself seriously to, healthful forms of recreation in the open, such as can be arranged for in appropriate open play spaces.

A campaign for the purpose of arousing public sentiment for the better protection of our national parks would be timely, since these with their natural scenic and historic features should at all hazards be preserved as great and unique public playgrounds. Unquestionably, they should be withdrawn from commercial and industrial developments, which have been permitted in recent times. It is to be hoped that the government will formulate a definite policy that would be in conformity with an effective, broad program calculated to gratify every friend of the national park system and thus protect our actual and vital public interests. The country stands in need of the development of more abundant recreation opportunities.

VOL. XV-4

FINNISH POETRY-NATURE'S MIRROR

By Professor EUGENE VAN CLEEF

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

UT of the mêlée of the world's masses of struggling humanity

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the sun," there has been born a new republic-the Republic of Finland. The birth of this republic was the signal for a glorious Finnish celebration, for it marked the termination of century-old efforts to throw off the yoke of a Russian autocracy. The Finnish declaration of independence attracted the entire world. The great powers affixed their stamp of approval and turned to other world affairs perhaps of greater significance. However, for the Finn the event was notable. He may now and for generations to come, with justifiable pride, tell to his children the story of the "Declaration of Independence" of December 6, 1917, and of the Constitutional law of June 14, 1919, whereby Finland officially declared herself a member of the world family of republics.

The Finns are a unique people. The development of their nationalistic spirit is likewise unique. This spirit was crystallized by the conversion of their folk-song into a national epic-the Kalevala, an epic ranking in quality and originality with the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Niebelunge. The Finns are an imaginative folk, a characteristic they owe to their oriental ancestry. There is little doubt that the first settlers in Finland migrated from central Asia, probably from the region of the Altai mountains. They brought with them a high regard for the controlling influences of the laws of nature and an unequalled devotion to the out-of-doors. They deify the elements of nature, and list among their gods, the God of Waters, God of Forests, God of Fire, God of Breezes and numerous others. Their mythology is essentially a nature worship. In the Kalevala it finds its best expression.

For the composition of the folk-songs into epic form, the Finns are indebted to Elias Lönnrot, first a physician and later a professor of the Finnish language. He appreciated the beauty, the charm and the rare culture expressed by the Finnish folk-songs and resolved that they should be preserved to posterity. These verses, sung through the ages, had never been recorded, so Lönnrot determined to collect them. He traveled to the remotest parts of

Finland where modernisms had not yet penetrated and as he listened hour after hour to the singing of the peasantry, faithfully recorded each canto. Most of the songs were collected in the remote northern portions of the province of East Karelia. Returning home with his note-books bulging with invaluable records, Lönnrot knitted the verses into a homogeneous whole of some 27,000 lines, and in 1835 gave to the world the results of his years of untiring efforts the Kalevala.

The Kalevala brought home to the Finns the realization of a common language. For the first time did they appreciate the possession of a language meriting the same consideration as Russian, German, Swedish or other recognized national tongues. They further saw the basis for a sympathetic bond among all the Finns and so, almost as soon as Lönnrot's magnificent work made its appearance, it was hailed as the epic of the Finnish people. The Kalevala marked the virtual beginning of an intensive spirit of nationalism throughout Finland.

While all writers do not credit the Kalevala as a true epic, nor wholly discredit it as such, nevertheless they regard the production as extraordinary and certainly approaching closely to an epic. In any event, be it an epic or nearly so, there is agreement as to the uniqueness in its style, in the beauty of its conceptions and in its dramatic presentation of the struggle for existence among a people never known to flinch under the stress of nature's most discouraging environment.

Before detailing the content of the Kalevala, it is of interest to note the peasant's manner of singing the runes. The singers seat themselves upon low benches or stools, and facing each other with outstretched arms, take hold hands; then, as they sway their bodies to and fro in see-saw fashion, first one sings a song and then the other. The singing and see-sawing continue until one or the other runs out of verses. Sometimes others in the party take the places of those who have just finished and either repeat verses or begin a new series constituting a new rune. The meter is unrhymed. It is like that in Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha." In fact, Longfellow was so impressed with the Kalevala that he admittedly patterned his song after it and it is said even borrowed some of the characters and incidents. The singing is accompanied by the playing of the kantele, an instrument similar to the dulcimer. The music itself is in a minor key and as it is sung resembles more nearly a chant than a melodious air.

The Kalevala, composed as it is of the folk-songs of a people largely if not wholly dependent upon their own ingenuity for the gaining of a livelihood, is really the story of the struggle of the