EDUCATION OP YOUTH. 263 



tern. The deplorable case of poor Caspar Hauser 

 who was confined from his infancy in a small dungeon, 

 and whose story is every where known, presented a still 

 more striking, and miserable example of the same prin- 

 ciple. 



On the contrary, if relaxation gradually destroys the 

 strength of the muscles, so are their powers most rap- 

 idly exhausted by continued contraction. This indeed 

 appears to be impossible for any considerable length of 

 time. To hold the arm in a horizontal position for ten 

 minutes, even without any weight in the hand, is what 

 no one can do without pain. To stand perfectly still on 

 both feet, is also a most fatiguing position, because in 

 this posture the muscles of the limbs are under continu- 

 al tension. Hence it is, that soldiers, who are capable 

 of enduring great exertions in marching, soon become 

 impatient and tired, if kept beyond a certain length of 

 time in the line, on parade ; and hence also, the neces- 

 sity that the drill officer, who would have his men ap- 

 pear well on parade, should often employ the word 

 " rest" in its military sense, it being impossible for them 

 to keep the line in the attitude of soldiers, more than a 

 few minutes at a time. 



If then men, and soldiers too, are incapable from their 

 organization of avoiding the relaxation of their muscles, 

 how much more difficult it must be, for children and 

 youth, whose limbs are instinctively in perpetual motion, 

 to restrain themselves from this natural propensity. 

 Rest, to these young creatures, after a time, undoubted- 

 ly becomes much more painful than any degree of hun- 

 ger, or thirst they have ever felt ; for these wants, it 

 would be considered the highest cruelty not to supply. 

 But the child, often, as every parent may have observ- 

 ed, after coming out of school, prefers the exercise of 

 his muscles, for a while, to the gratification of his hun- 

 ger. 



Consequences of the confined position of Females at 

 School. " The Principles of Physiology, applied to the 

 Preservation of Health," by Dr. Combe, of Edinburgh, 

 contains some capital remarks, on the subject of muscu- 

 lar action in youth, and which are undoubtedly applica- 



