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GYMNASTICS. 



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s, 4o., and certainly the gymnastic wercis** 



which funu part of Ura system of modern training present nothing in 

 the effect* which they produce, nither on the mind or body, that would 

 nuke their general adoption desirable. 



The same oaunot be laid of gymnastic exercise* practised under 

 proper control, ai a means of inauriug a robust habit of body, and 

 through it a vigorous intellect, or of curing certain chronic diannee; 

 In such estimation were they hold for tliia purpose among the ancients, 

 that both Plato and Aristotle thought no republic could be deemed perfect 

 in which gymnasia were neglected as part of the national establish- 

 menu ; nor did they estimate their value too highly. The observation 

 of every day plainly shows how great an influence the mind and body 

 mutually exert on each other, and if the care and cultivation of the 

 former be a subject deserving the especial attention of the state, the 

 proper training of the latter should undoubtedly at the same time form 

 a port of every system of education. It is however not only necessary 

 that exercises or gymnastics should be a part of education, but it in 

 also necessary to provide that the gymnastics should be proper in kind 

 and in degree, in conformity with the judicious observations of Aristotle 

 ( Polit, 1 lib. 8). 



The principle on which gymnastic exercises act is evident; their 

 immediate effect is an increase both in the size and power of the parts 

 exercised, in consequence of an admirable law which obtains iu living 

 bodies, that (within certain limits) in proportion to the exertion which 

 it 1s required to make, a part increases not only in strength and fitness, 

 but also in size. Instances of the application of this law may be seen 

 daily. A person is called on to engage in some new avocation, in 

 which muscular exertion is required, and every day he is not only 

 improved in strength and dexterity, but the muscles brought into 

 unusual action increase rapidly in size and vigour, so as soon to sur- 

 pass those of the rest of the body which have been less employed. 

 Kor does the beneficial influence stop here. If the exertion be not 

 carried so far as to produce excessive fatigue, all other parts of the 

 body sympathise with the improving condition of that which is chiefly 

 exerted ; the circulation, excited from time to time by the exercise, 

 acquires new vigour, and the blood being thrown with unusual force 

 into all parts of the system, all the functions are carried on with 

 increased activity ; an improvement in the general health is soon mani- 

 fested; and the mind (if at the same time judiciously cultivated) ac- 

 quires strength, and is rendered more capable of prolonged exertion. 

 As instances of the bad effects of a deficiency of exercise, it will be 

 sufficient merely to allude to the condition of those who, being com- 

 pelled to a sedentary occupation during the greater part of the day, 

 neglect to occupy a part of their leisure time in some active exertion, 

 as walking, riding, &c. 



But perhaps still more injurious effects are seen in large schools of 

 girls, and especially in thoee in and about the metropolis. The fashion 

 which prescribes a long list of so-called accomplishments as essential to 

 the education of ladies, each of which requires a portion of the day, 

 has left little or no time for bodily exercise of any kind ; and the want 

 of attention to this necessary condition of health has produced a great 

 part of the diseases to which young females are subject. It would be 

 difficult to say how else it is that the proportion of girls who are affected 

 by curvature of the spine and other deformities" is so much greater 

 than that of boys of the same age and condition in life. Dr. Forbes 

 (' Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine ') mentions the case from his own 

 observation of a boarding-school iu which " there was not one girl who 

 had been there two yearn that was not more or less crooked." He 

 adds, " scarcely a single girl that has been at a boarding-school for two 

 or three years returns home with unimpaired health." If the condition 

 of boys at boarding-school be compared with this statement, the con- 

 clusion is unavoidable that the exercise allowed to young females is 

 not only insufficient as regards the tune devoted to it, but of too 

 restrained a nature. Its ill effects indeed, when they first become 

 evident, are very generally increased by the use of various means for 

 supporting the parts which are supposed to be weakened, and for 

 maintaining them in a passive condition of rest; whereas the only 

 means by which their healthful vigour can be restored is their judicious 

 exercits. A system of proper exercises would undoubtedly be bene- 

 ficial, not only to the body, but to the mind ; and the loss of the time, 

 before devoted to study, would be fully compensated by the increase 

 of mental activity which the pupils, healthy and robust, would then 

 bring to their studies. 



Excessive exercise, on the other hand, should be carefully avoided : 

 for though lew frequent, instances are not uncommon where undue 

 exertion has produced effect* scarcely leas injurious than thoee which 

 result from inactivity. The existence of either clam of evils is suffi- 

 ciunt to prove that gymnastics should form a part of the education of 

 youth, a* much as " literary instruction, music, and the art of design," 

 which, with ' gymnastic," are mentioned by Aristotle (' Polit.' lib. viii.t 

 aa the four branches of instruction recognised in his diy. In order 

 that gymnastic* may produce their proper results, some general system 

 should be established in all schools, by which one sex may be prs- 

 serred from the evil* of deficiency, and the other from those of exce** 

 in exertion ; and the beneficial influences which gymnastic* exercise 

 no the mind as well as on the body, on the nnderotanding and moral 

 habits as well as on the health and strength, may be secured to both. 



A desire to reunite phyMcal with mental training is, however, now 



_ prevalent, and to aid hi this object the suggestions which 

 follow are nude. A description of peculiar games is scare. 

 quired, a* most reader* are familiar with their characterutic.- 

 hygienic rule* are equally applicable to girls a* to boys up to a certain 

 age, and the impartial adoption of them would be a benefit to subse- 

 quent generation*. .A more moderate use of the sports or game* in 

 necessary for girls, on account of their greater dulicu . o and 



leu strength. The attempts to eflect the im: 



should be commenced at the earliest period after birth. In thin 

 country, young children of both sexee have long been exempt. 

 the confinement and restraint upon the locomotive organs, as also the 

 important vital organs seated iu the Ghent, caused by the use of 

 swaddling or swathing bands, still in use in the French nurseries, but 

 recourse is had at an early period for girls to supports for the back 

 under the name of stay* or corsets, the evils resulting from which have 

 been pointed out under the latter word [COKSKT ). Were the same 

 freedom of expansion of the chest secured by the disuse of this n-li.jui- 

 of barbarism, to girls as to boys, finer figures with frequent exemption 

 from crooked spines and consumption would be the consequence. All 

 games which can be carried on solely, or beat, in the .open air, are 

 preferable to indoor amusements. This does not depend merely on the 

 free action of the respiration, but very much on the agency ol li^Kt in 

 promoting the changes of the molecular particles of the human frame. 

 The utility of light in promoting salutary changes in the human frame 

 is glanced at by Dr. Andrew Combe in his excellent work, ' Physiology 

 Applied to Health and Education,' and iu oilier w.>rk*. but it is 

 the subject of a highly instructive chapter in Dr. Bureaud K 

 ' Education Physique des Jeunc.4 Fillcs,' Paris, 1835, of which we 

 believe there is an EnglUh version. 



The propriety of conducting the education of the young as for as 

 possible in the open air is manifest Schools in the country, when 

 directed by competent masters, are therefore prefci.iM" In those in 

 towns. The alternation of bodily exercise with lessons, when cirrum 

 stances allow egress into the open air, is eminently conducive to bodily 

 development and mental energy. The system of Infant Schools, when 

 properly carried out, goes some way to ensure these conditions. The 

 system of Kindergartens, devised by Froebel in Germany, ami 

 introduced into England by Johan and Bertha Ronge (' A Practical 

 Guide to the English Kindergarten,' London, 1855), has the cha- 

 racteristic of conducting all the movements of the body in the 

 gymnastic exercises to the rhythm of musical sounds, but though 

 said to have proved successful in Germany, the system does not 

 appear likely to commend itself to English habit* and modes of 

 thought. In any system of gymnastic exercises, however, for childien, 

 it is of essential importance to provide against violent straining . : th>- 

 muscles, as not only may permanent injury be inflicted on the healthy 

 by excessive efforts, or unfit postures, but where gymnastics are 

 resorted to for the cure of distorted spines or other defonniti 

 evil sought to be remedied is aggravated from ignorance on tl. 

 of the superintendent. (See 'Lectures on Distortions of the Spine 

 not connected with Caries,' by Sir B. Brodie, London, ' .M 

 Gazette,' January, 1849.) The same objection applies to much 01 the 

 clumsy, often weighty iron apparatus employed to straighten curved 

 spines and distorted limbs. The muscles of the back, nock and arms, 

 judiciously brought into play, are the natural and most ell; 

 of correcting these deformities. The games that bring the. grasps*- 

 number of muscles into successive or harmonious play, are the best to 

 strengthen the system, during infancy an 1 adolescence, and to maintain 

 it in vigour and health during manhood. A few of the most 

 appropriate may be mentioned. 



Crtcicet. This game combines all the conditions plated above, as 

 essential to healthful recreation. But to insure this, moderation in 

 the length of time the game is pursued is above all requisite ; a point 

 apt to be neglected when victory, not health, is the object. U:h.! 

 games, such as foot-ball, rackets, tennis, and hand -Kill. > better, 

 battledore and shuttlecock, ore healthful, and tin- Litter, besides being 

 most suitable for females, can be played in doors, either iu winter or 

 during wet-weather, as a substitute for out-door exercise. Another 

 substitute for out-door exercise for females ii i v. . This 



is undoubtedly a most wholesome exercise when enjoyed in moderation, 

 at proper hours, and in proper plices. But the dancing of fashion 

 pernicious; not only from the time wln-n engaged, turning night into 

 day, but from its being practised in hot crowded apartinent- 

 which the partakers issue often thoroughly exhausted, inadequately 

 clothed, and often passing through the cold damp atmosphere of early 

 morning to encounter its depressing effects, Profcjwioiul dancers wli 

 endeavour rather to astonish than please by their extra inlin.iry efforts, 

 frequently become the victim* of aneurism, or heart disease, and not 

 sloom of consumption. 



The gome of Uulf as played in Scotland, and occasionally by Scotch- 

 men in England, is a healthful recreation, and is often joinuil in by 

 senior* a* well a* juniors. The same circumstances recommend the 

 Scotch game of Curling* termed also a bonspid, in which clergymen and 

 grave professors unite to rival cnch other in dexterity in projecting a 

 polished stone, termed a curling-stone, along the ice. This turns one 

 of the characteristics of winter into a source of health and vigour 

 counteracts the evils of a sedentary life. This is a point which deserve* 

 the greatest attention on the part of literary and professional men. The 



