330 On Gymnastic Exercises* 



may, in some degree, result from the dancer being so much 

 accustomed to move on the tips of his toes, that it has become 

 almost unnatural for him to bring his heel to the ground. In-* 

 deed the gait of an opera-dancer in walking may be said to 

 resemble, in some respects, that of a bear dancing; for this 

 animal, which, like all other quadmpeds, walks on the tips of 

 his toes, when obliged to dance, must bring his heel, or os 

 calcis, to the ground. 



Some facts important to the question of the propriety of 

 young persons performing gymnastics, may be learnt by ob- 

 serving the manner dancers prepare for exhibition on the stage. 

 The many hours engaged in practice during the day is not suf- 

 ficient, but they find it necessary to bring their muscles and 

 ligaments into a certain condition, by gradually exerting and 

 stretching them for an hour or more, immediately before 

 appearing. All who have gone behind the scenes in the Opera 

 must have observed the dancers in the green-room pass from 

 simple postures and gentle exercises to those requiring the 

 greatest exertion. By thus gradually suppling the joints, and 

 exciting the muscles, the dancer is enabled, without danger of 

 breaking a tendon, to enter with a bounding leap upon the 

 stage, and to spring at once into full activity. But, notwith- 

 standing all these preparations, dancers after a time appear 

 lame ; they seldom suffer from the violent sprain which is im- 

 mediately attended with pain and swelling, but their ligaments 

 become gradually over-extended. There is little danger of 

 boys or girls falling into this state ; but is it to be expected 

 that thoughtless boys running out of school will submit to go 

 through the necessary preparatory exercises, before entering 

 on those more violent ones, which they consider more manly, 

 and to be really gymnastics? If they do not submit to them, 

 is there not danger of a tendon or the sheath of a muscle 

 being ruptured, and thus render them uncomfortable for life*? 



♦ Every surgeon knows that in young persons the epiphysis is not 

 firmly united to the shaft of the bone, and that it is liable to be detached 

 by the sudden wrench of a joint. This accident lately occurred to a 

 young lady, at a school near town, while practising some of these exer- 

 cises. The consequences were violent inflammation of the joint, and, 

 notwithstanding the greatest care, death in three weeks. 



