THE INFLUENCE OF EXERCISE UPON HEALTH. 333 



exercise will keep a person in healthy working order till near the age 

 of forty. 



The age of forty to fifty is the period of life during which, accord- 

 ing to the best authorities, the need of exercise is the greatest. " At 

 no time of life is the necessity of exercise so imperative.* ... At that 

 time the circulation becomes defective, unless continually quickened 

 by exercise " ; there is a tendency to passive congestion and functional 

 derangements of various organs, especially the liver. At this time, 

 though needing less food, we are apt to eat more than in the periods of 

 life immediately adjacent. Consequently, the products of disintegrated 

 food and tissue are not eliminated. Accumulating in the blood, they 

 form the materies morbi, the matter on which death feeds. 



Tiding over the period of middle life, by using appropriate exer- 

 cise, and by care to see that all the excretory organs do their proper 

 work at proper times, we ought to find the following years the best 

 years of life, especially for brain- work. If we lived rightly, the words 

 of the poet ought to be true for us all : 



" Grow old along with me ! 

 The best is yet to be, 



The last of life for which the first was made; 

 Our times are in his hand 

 "Who saith, ' A whole I planned,' 



Youth shows but half: trust God; see all, nor be afraid." t 



As to kinds of exercise, each person must be thrown on his own 

 judgment with regard to his own case. In McLaren's "Physical Edu- 

 cation," and in Blaikie's " How to Get Strong and How to Stay So," 

 most excellent hints will be found for all cases. In beginning a 

 course of systematic exercise, it is wise to err on the side of doing too 

 little rather than too much. Increase the amount of exercise very 

 slowly. No discouragement should be felt if it is hard work at first. 

 It will become easier and easier. It may be a long time before it can 

 be taken joyfully, yet, if any person will persevere, he will be certain 

 to rejoice in the work, and will come to feel that he can not do with- 

 out it. There is no royal road to health any more than there is to 

 learning. Like all things made precious and to be really enjoyed, 

 health must be earned. 



It may be said that, for all persons whose regular occupation is 

 sedentary, exercise in the open air is to be preferred. The oxygen of 

 the air is essential to the life of the blood. It is well also to take ex- 

 ercise as much as possible in company. One person encourages another. 

 A man will often take part in exercise with a companion so as not to 

 disappoint him, even if he would not exercise for his own sake. Hence 

 one valuable feature of games or athletic sports. They must be car- 

 ried on in company and by system. Another valuable feature of games 



* " Exercise and Training," Ralfe. f " Rabbi Ben Ezra/' Robert Browning. 



