New Strength Test.

Dr. Sargent, director of the Hemenway Gymnasium, has recently issued a pamphlet entitled, "A Universal Test for Strength, Speed and Endurance," in which he describes the new strength test which he has devised to take the place of the one now in use.

Although the present intercollegiate strength test has done much to raise the standard of strength and physical efficiency in the colleges participating, it is open to several serious objections. In the first place, the expense of the dynamometers and other instruments used in making it, restricts its use to the few colleges--and institutions which can afford the necessary apparatus. Other objections are the great strain brought to bear in the lifting tests upon small groups of muscles, and the increased blood pressure caused by holding the breath during the effort of lifting. An even more serious objection to the present test is that it does not try the heart and lungs sufficiently to afford a good trial of endurance.

In trying to meet these objections Dr. Sargent has devised a series of exercises, which form a trial more economical and less straining, and which in addition to being a test for strength will also furnish a test for speed and endurance. These exercises are six in number, each being a simple gymnastic movement designed to exercise a particular set of muscles. They are the result of several months experiments at the Gymnasium, and will now be offered as an optional substitute for the old test. In official trials each man is required to complete his total test within thirty minutes, a premium thus being put on speed. To make the trial a criterion of general physical efficiency it is provided that no man shall score more than a certain maximum or less than a certain minimum on any one exercise.

One of the most attractive features of the new test is that it consists of exercises which do not require expert supervision or special apparatus and may be practiced as a method of physical training. Dr. Sargent's descriptive pamphlet will soon be placed on sale at the Co-operative.