GETTING FIT. i37 



without milk or sugar, light claret and water, or very 

 weak spirits-and-water. The weaker these are taken, the 

 better ; for tea, coffee, and alcohol check waste of tissue. 

 A man in strict training will find it judicious not to drink 

 aerated waters, for they are so refreshing that it is hard 

 to resist taking more than is advisable. As fluid of any 

 sort puts up w^eight, a man should only drink that kind 

 of which a little will quench thirst. I need hardly say 

 that the less spirits a man takes, the steadier will be his 

 nerves. If this regimen be strictly adhered to, the 

 jockey need do nothing further than to take lots of 

 exercise. By this I mean that he should not flinch 

 from doing a twenty or a twenty-five mile w^alk. Riding 

 four or five training gallops every morning will get a 

 man fitter than anything I know ; but as this is a 

 luxury in which heavy weights cannot indulge, they 

 ought to walk, play racquets, lawn tennis, or cricket, 

 and take all the healthy exercise they can get, whether 

 on horseback or on foot, short of going in for regular 

 sweats. A saline draught may be necessary now and 

 then. Lamplough's pyretic saline or Eno's fruit salt 

 is probably the most agreeable laxative, though Epsom 

 salts are by far the most effectual aperient for getting 

 off weight. 



