¶ "I don't know what it is but I'm against it," is the inside mental attitude of the extremely raw-boned, angular man or woman.
They often, unconsciously, refrain from making a decision about a thing till the other fellow makes his. That settles it; they take the other side.
Think back over your school-days and call to mind the visage and bodily shape of the boy who was always on the opposite side, who just naturally disagreed, who "stood out" against the others. He was a bony lad every time.
Remember the "Fatty" with a face like a full moon? Did he do such things? He did not. He was amenable, easy-going, good natured, and didn't care how the discussion came out, so long as it didn't delay the lunch hour.
Remember the boy or girl who had the pick of the school for company whenever there was a party, who danced well and was so sparkling that you always felt like a pebble competing against a diamond when they were around? That boy or girl had a high chest, or high color, or a high-bridged nose—and usually all three.
But the one you couldn't persuade, who couldn't be won over, who refused to give in, who held up all the unanimous votes till everybody was disgusted with him, and who rather gloried in the distinction—that boy had big bones and a square jaw—the proof that he was a combination of the Osseous and Muscular types.
The Human Balance Wheel
¶ To keep the rest of the world from running away with itself, to prevent precipitous changes in laws, customs and traditions, has always been one of the functions performed for society by the bony people.
These people are seldom over-persuaded, and being able to retain a perpendicular position while the rest of the world is being swayed this way and that, they act as society's balance wheel.
The Osseous changes after a while, but it is a long while, and by the time he does, the rest of the world has marched on to something new which he opposes in its turn.