1320 



The Cornell Reading-Courses 



direct them to render their rightful service, namely, to lift, to carry, to 

 scrub, to wash, to walk, to stoop, to mount stairs, to sweep, to reach, to 

 write, to sew. She should command them to save in every way possible 

 the smaller, more essential and delicate muscles of the trunk, from labor 

 unfitted for them. 



Make the legs do the work in walking and running. — Women who have 

 formed the habit of standing in a bent-back-burdened attitude exaggerate 



that bad position of the body 

 when they walk, especially if 

 there is a sense of hurry in the 

 brain. Recall the mental pic- 

 ture of some neighbor hurrying 

 about her work, in a sort of 

 dogtrot gait, with body bent 

 forward nearly one third from 

 the upright, with head and 

 shoulders quite in advance of 

 the rest of the body, as if the 

 legs could not, or would not, 

 go fast enough for the impa- 

 tient brain and body. Such is 

 the " haste that makes waste." Such a position means straining and 

 enfeebling the poor back, and it means interference with breathing, circu- 

 lation, and digestion. It courts heaviness of movement, heaviness of 

 spirit, and oldness of body. It announces that the woman is not master 

 of her work; rather that her work masters and drives her. All must 

 acknowledge that such a condition of things is wrong. A woman with 

 much depending on her should be able wisely to direct her body in her 

 work, and not allow her work to own her. When one is well-poised, and 

 free and buoyant in bodily movement, one can walk rapidly, or even 

 run, while doing one's work and suffer none of the exhaustive effects 

 that always attend the spirit of hurry. An Arab proverb well puts it that 

 " hurry is the devil." Shall we not keep ourselves serene and free from 

 his malign influence? 



(a) 



Fig. 17' (6) (c) 



DAILY EXERCISES FOR ACQUIRING STRENGTH 



One-minute exercises for rest from the strain of work and for keeping the body 



young 



I. Stand erect, as nearly as possible in the position shown in Figs. 5 

 and 8. Raise the arms level with the shoulders, turn them so that the 

 palm of the hand shall face directly forward. Stretch the arms well out- 

 ward and at the same time push vigorously backward. Care should be 



