580 



GYMNASTICS. 



GYPSIES. 



590 



indigestion of studious persons, and clerks long confined to the desk 

 and the counting-house, arises not so much from the exhaustion of the 

 nervous energy, as from a deficiency of fuot-exrrcisc. The peculiar 

 construction of the veins of the lower extremities, which lose the 

 valves connected with them while passing up the limbs, the moment 

 they enter the cavity of the abdomen, and thereby become dependent 

 on the motion of the abdominal muscles, and those of the chest con- 

 cerned in respiration, for the propulsion of the blood to the liver, 



the frame. Skating, when not too prolonged, is, apart from the risk 

 of accidents, a highly salutary recreation. 



Bacon, Milton, Locke, the greatest authorities on education among 

 the moderns, are unanimous in commending out of door exercise as 

 constituting a portion of scholastic discipline. Milton enforces it thus : 

 " Besides these constant exercises at home, there is another opportu- 

 nity of gaining experience to be wou from pleasure itself abroad ; in 



there to be converted into bile, explains the injurious effects resulting 

 from too sedentary a position. Rest and foot-exercise should be made 

 to duly alternate ; and thus the bodily powers and the proper mental 

 energy would be ensured. The mere change of posture from sitting to 

 standing, by reading or writing for a time in the upright position, is 

 an advantage. Besides, for either singing or reading aloud, the erect 

 position is the best. It is invariably observed by all the greatest 

 singers, as allowing much fuller inspirations to be taken. Whatever 

 increases the capacity of the chest improves the health ; and the 

 greatest attention is invariably given to this point by all skilful 

 trainers who undertake to prepare anyone for athletic feats, whether 

 pugilism, walking, or wrestling. Unless the candidate for such honours 

 as the ring can bestow has good wind, or can have his breath aug- 

 mented by appropriate measures, success cannot be expected. Walk- 

 ing some distance at a moderate pace, and running up-hill for about 

 half a mile at the top of his speed, before breakfast, form a preliminary 

 step of prime importance. (See Captain Barclay ' On Training in 

 Pedestrianism," by Walter Thorn, Aberdeen, 1813.) By perseverance 

 in these means, a comparatively feeble person may be brought up to a 

 very high condition of bodily vigour. Such extreme measures cannot 

 be adopted by private individuals, but the principles, properly modified, 

 can be observed. The expansion of the chest may be accomplished by 

 easier means. On first rising in the morning, before an open window, 

 or better still, where there is a garden, practising drawing full breaths, 

 at first cautiously, afterwards more freely for two, three, or ultimately 

 ten minutes, will impart a buoyancy and elasticity which will endure 

 throughout the day. As a means of warding off consumption, few 

 agents are more useful. (See Sir Henry Holland's ' Medical Notes 

 and Reflections,' chapter on the Exercise of the Respiration, and art. 

 Human Longevity, in ' Edinburgh Review,' vol. 105, p. 70.) The 

 beneficial effects of greater expansion of the chest from the kind of 

 occupation are shown in the observations of Dr. Guy, who found that 

 among compositors and pressmen in printing-offices, compositors were 

 liable to consumption in the proportion of one-fourth out of a given 

 number of patients, while pressmen were liable in the proportion of 

 only one-fifth. (From ' Quarterly Journal of Statistical Society,' vol. vi., 

 pp. 197, 283, quoted by Dr. Theophilus Thompson in his ' Clinical 

 Lectures on Pulmonary Consumption," p. 179.) The advantage of 

 mechanical exercise after study, is well shown in the results of the. 

 trials instituted by the Mechanical Association of Andover Theological 

 Seminary, in the United States. (See Dr. Reynolds, ' On the Neces- 

 sity of Physical Culture to Literary Men, and especially Clergymen,' 

 reprinted from the American edition in ' The Student's Cabinet of 

 Useful Tracts,' vol. i., p. 2SO, Edinburgh, 1835.) A gymnasium 

 now exists at the University of Oxford, but whether it be resorted to 

 by those who most need it, those most apt to be " sicklied o'er with 

 the pale cast of thought," is doubtful. The teachers of gymnastic, or 

 as they are termed calisthenic exercises, are often incompetent to the 

 task, and either neglect important points, or require excessive efforts 

 from those under their direction. Few things employed to expand the 

 chest are more hurtful than dumb-bells. Where anything beyond the 

 'f drawing full breaths in the open air, as mentioned above, is 

 required, the use of the systolic and diastolic cano, invented by Mr. 

 Tenniel, is the best that can be resorted to. It is light, expansible, and 

 can never overstrain the muscles of those using it. Another serviceable 

 agent in expanding the chest is to cultivate the habit of reading 

 aloud. 



" The pott's or hintorion's page, bjr one 

 Made vocal for the amusement of the rest," 



is an exercise markedly conducive to health and happiness. In the 

 ' Quarterly Journal of Education,' October, 1834, it is justly said : 

 '* one of th* accomplishments which we wish to see cultivated among 

 females, and which U greatly neglected or wholly overlooked, is the art 

 of reading aloud. It U a most healthy employment when used 

 discreetly, since exercise to the lunga is as advantageous to the longs as 

 to all other parts of the human frame. The ability to read aloud 

 agreeably is also a truly domestic acquirement ; it will be another link 

 in the chain which binds men to their hearths ; it will amuse the 

 young, cheer the old, and instruct the ignorant." Where rircum- 

 stanc,es prevent the use of foot-exercise, riding on horseback comes 

 nearest in excellence ; riding in a carriage is an inferior substitute. 

 Dr. Parry in his ' Therapeutics ' observes, that if it were sufficient, it 

 would be as reasonable to give our race-horses an airing on the 

 backs of elephant* ; they would then have small chance of winning 

 in the contest. Swimming is among the most healthful of recreations 

 wlien nothing forbids ita use, such as great delicacy, [BATHING] 

 tendency to fits or other spasmodic diseases, or diseased heart or 

 lungs. Rowing, when restrained to proper limits, is useful, but ex- 

 ercises the upper extremities to excess and stint* the lower. The 

 Thames watermen were striking instances of unequal development ol 



those vernal seasons of the year, when the ah- is calm and pleasant, it 

 were an injury and sullenness against Nature, not to go out and see her 

 riches, and partake in her rejoicing between heaven and earth." 

 Tractate, ' on Education,' 22. But all writers with uniform consent 

 admit, 



" That he whom toil hath braced, or manly play, 

 Has light as air each limb, each thought as clear as day." 



Castle of Indolence. 



(Strutt'a Sports and Pastimes of Ike People of Enrjland, 8vo, London, 

 1831. Dr. Andrew Combe, The Principles of Physiology applied to the 

 preservation of Health. Dr. Southwood Smith's Philvsop/iy of Health ; 

 and The Laid of Life, icitlt special reference to the Physical Education 

 ifGirls,by Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., English ed., 1859.) 



GYPSIES, a word corrupted from Egyptians, is the name given in 

 England to a wandering race of people who are found scattered over 

 many countries of Europe, whither they migrated from the East about 

 the beginning of the 15th century. Pasquier, in his ' Recherches 

 Historiques,' says that they first appeared at Paris in the character of 

 penitents, or pilgrims, in August, 1427, in a troop of more than 100, 

 under some chiefs who styled themselves counts, and that they repre- 

 sented themselves as Christians driven out of Egypt by the Mussul- 

 mans. They obtained permission to remain in the kingdom ; other 

 troops followed, and they wandered about in all directions, unmolested 

 for many years, committing petty depredations, and their women 

 assuming the calling of fortune-tellers. In 1560 an ordonnance of the 

 states of Orleans enjoined all impostors and vagabonds styled " Bohe- 

 mians," or " Egyptians," to quit the kingdom under pain of the galleys. 

 The name of Bohemians, given to them by the French, may be owing 

 to the circumstance of some of them having come to France from 

 Bohemia, for they are mentioned as having appeared in various parts 

 of Germany previous to their entering France ; others derive the word 

 from " Boe'm," an old French word signifying a sorcerer. (Moreri, 

 art. " Bohemiens ; " and Ducange's ' Glossary,' art. " ^Egyptiaci.") 

 The Germans gave them the name of " Zigeuner," or wanderers ; the 

 Russians, " Zigani ; " the Turks and Persians, " Zingarri ; " the Dutch 

 called them " Hciden," or heathens ; the Danes and Swedes, " Tartars." 



In Italy they are called ' ' Zingari ; " in Turkey and the Levant, 

 " Tchingenes ; " in Spain they are called " Gitanos," or " Zincali ; " in 

 "~ ngary and Transylvania, where they are very numerous, tliey are 

 .ed " Czigany ; " but they call themselves either " Ronimany," a 

 iscrit word for husband or head of a family, or " Zincali," meaning 



HunR 

 calle 



Sanscrit word for husband or head of a family, or " /.incali," meaning 

 black men of Ind. The notion of their being Egyptians is probably 

 derived from the circumstance that many of them came immediately 

 [rom Egypt into Europe, but it seems proved that they are not origin- 

 ally from that country, their appearance, manners, and language being 

 totally different from those of either the Copts or Fellahs. 



It is now generally believed that the gypsies migrated originally from 

 India at the time of the great Mohammedan invasion of Timur Beg ; 

 that in their own country they belonged to one of the lowest castes, 

 which resemble them in their appearance, habits, and especially in their 

 fondness for carrion and other unclean food. Pottinger, in his ' Travels,' 

 saw some tribes resembling them in Beloochistan. There is a tribe 

 near the mouths of the Indus called Tchinganes. 



The language of the Gypsies seems everywhere to be mixed with 

 the slang of the country they inhabit; but there is no doubt that it 

 contains many Sanscrit words, and it has been found to resemble some o 

 the dialects of India. (' Bombay Transactions,' 1820.) They have no 

 traditions or records concerning their origin ; no religion of their own, 

 but they adopt the outward forms of the people among whom they 

 live, whether Christians or Mussulmans. Everywhere they exhibit tho 

 same roving habits, a dislike to a fixed settlement and to the arts of 

 husbandry, uncleanness in their food, licentiousness, ignorance and 

 intellectual apathy, a disposition to pilfer, and to impose on the credulity 

 of others. They seldom commit violent robbery or other heinous 

 crimes, being fearful of punishment. Maria Theresa ordered those in 

 her states to be instructed in agriculture, with a view to their permanent 

 settlement ; but her endeavours were not very successful. In Hungary 

 and Transylvania, however, many of them have fixed habitations, and 

 follow some regular trade ; they wash gold from the sand of the rivers, 

 and they work iron or copper ; some are carpenters and turners, others 

 are horse-dealers, and even keep wine-shops or public-houses. They 

 abound in Wallachia, Moldavia, and Bessarabia, and they are found in 

 Russia as far as Tobolsk. Grellman, in his ' Veifeuch uber die Zigeuner,' 

 Gbttingen, 1787, conjectured that there were then between 700,000 

 and 800,000 in Europe, of whom 40,000 were in Spain, chiefly in the 

 southern provinces. In England and Scotland, in both of which they 

 were formerly numerous and troublesome, and many Acts of Parlia- 

 ment were passed in vain for their suppression, they have much 

 diminished of late years, in consequence chiefly of the inclosure of land 

 and the more effective execution of the laws against vagrants. J 

 Hoyland published the best information that could then be procured 



