376 NUTRITION. 



part of the body. Fat is regarded by trainers as inert mat- 

 ter ; and they recognize, practically at least, the fact that 

 the characteristic functions of parts depend for their activity 

 upon their nitrogenized constituents. The contraction of a 

 muscle, for example, is powerful in proportion to the amount 

 and condition of its musculine ; and it has been found, prac- 

 tically, that the muscular system can be most thoroughly de- 

 veloped by carefully graduated exercise and a diet composed 

 largely of nitrogenized matter. In the regular system of 

 training, starch, sugar, fat, and liquids are avoided ; and 

 the diet is confined almost entirely to rare meats, eggs, and 

 stale bread or toast, with oatmeal-gruel. The oatmeal has 

 been used from time immemorial, and is supposed to be 

 useful in keeping the bowels in good condition. A very 

 small amount of alcohol and other nervous stimulants, 

 chiefly in the form of home-brewed ale, sherry wine, and 

 tea, are allowed. Sexual intercourse and all unusual ner- 

 vous excitement are interdicted. 



Those who adopt absolutely the classification of food into 

 plastic, or tissue-forming, and calorific, or respiratory, would 

 regard this course of diet as eminently plastic ; but during 

 the severe habitual exercise, which is most rigid after the 

 man has been " trained down " so that his fat is reduced to 

 the minimum, the respiratory power and the exhalation of 

 carbonic acid are immensely increased, while the proportion 

 of hydro-carbons in the food is very small. 



"We do not, of course, propose to discuss from a scientific 

 point of view all of the minutiae of training. Many of its 

 traditional rules are trivial and unimportant j l but it is cer- 



1 A very curious account of training, the more interesting as it contains the 

 essentials of the methods employed at the present day, is to be found in a book 

 on pugilism, called JBoxiana. This work is attributed to the celebrated Captain 

 Barclay (T/ie Art of Training. JBoxiana ; or Sketches of Modern Pugilism, con- 

 taining all the Transactions of note connected with the Prize-Ring, during the 

 Years 1821, 1822, 1823, London (no date). The subject of training has at- 

 tracted considerable attention within the last few years in connection with 

 boating; but the brutal practice of prize-fighting affords, probably, the best 

 examples of strength, endurance, and nervous energy. 



