Manchester Memoirs, Vol. hi. (19 12), Xo. 5. 5 



influence on health. A high rainfall I do not regard as 

 detrimental to health. In Manchester, at lea.st, it i.s bene- 

 ficial by wa.shing the air and freeing it from germs, while 

 the improved drainage has made the houses much drier. 

 Buxton, with a high rainfall, has a particularly invigorating 

 atmosphere, though it probably possesses a drier climate 

 than Manchester by the rapid withdrawal of moisture 

 from the atmosphere by winds, etc., and free drainage 

 from the soil. 



2nd. Bodily activity. There has certainly been much 

 increased attention paid to the organisation of games, 

 exercises, etc., in school life at Manchester Grammar School. 

 The Gymnasium was extensively used in the earlier period 

 with the definite endeavour to produce increased de- 

 velopment of the chest and arms, and it is possible that 

 the greater upper arm development of the earlier period 

 is due to this. But I do not think that the general 

 development of all parts of the body as carried out in the 

 period covered by the earlier record was as good as that 

 secured by the modified Swedish drill at present in use, 

 which is compulsory to all boys, and is superadded to 

 apparatus work which was the sole compulsory school 

 exercise in the earlier period. Heavy dumb-bells are now 

 abolished. Of all the physical measurements in adoles- 

 cence, Weight is probably the most important since the 

 muscles comprise 43 per cent, of the body weight. In- 

 crease in the total weight, therefore, implies increase in 

 total muscular development. The school games are more 

 general to-day, and one hour a week is given to all classes 

 for out-of-door games. Open-air camps and longer hours 

 of sleep in the better-organised homes, owing to lessened 

 home-work, have, perhaps, also exerted an influence on 

 the health of the boys. In fact, life to-day is probably 

 more uniform and more hygienic in most directions. 



