SWIFT. 



SWIMMING. 



parts of the Circars in the Eut Indian. It is the tree yielding the 

 beautiful Eut Indian satin-wood, which is of a deep yellow-colour, 

 doM-grained, heavy, and durable. 



& Ckitrtutcr, now Chii-raaia talularu, us a fourth species, formed 

 into a new genus. Thii is another Indian tree which is greatly admired 

 for its beauty. The wood is very light-coloured, close-grained, and 

 most elegantly veined, and much employed for furniture and cabinet- 



\V IK. 



The moat important species, however, and that which now nearly 

 alone constitutes the genus, is & mahogany, a native of Campeachy 

 and of the West Indies. It is a lofty branching tree with a large 

 ipeading head, and pinnate shining leaves. The timber, which is so 

 well known from iU extensive employment for furniture and cabinet- 

 making, is of a reddish or yellowish-brown colour, of different degrees 

 of brightness, much mottled and streaked, very little liable to shrink 

 or warp, free from taste or smell, except when kept for some time, 

 when it acquires an agreeable odour, from the exudation of a semi- 

 resinous juice, which serves to preserve the wood from the attacks of 

 insects. It does not appear to have been imported into this country 

 before 1724. The quality of the wood varies much, according to the 

 situations in which it grows : that which is produced on rocky soil 

 and exposed situations is the best. Spanish mahogany is imported in 

 logs of about 10 feet long, and from 20 to 26 inches square. From 

 the elevated part* of the West Indies and from the Spanish Main 

 the wood is close-grained, and of a darker colour than the Honduras 

 mahogany. This is imported in logs of from 2 to 4 feet square, 

 though both kinds are no doubt produced by the same tree. Some 

 years ago the Messrs. Broadwood gave the large sum of 30002. for 

 three logs of mahogany, which were each about 15 feet long and 

 38 inches square. The wood was extremely beautiful, and capable of 

 taking the highest polish. 



SWIFT. [SWALLOW-TRIBE.] 



SWIMMING. A large number of animals transmit themselves 

 from place to place by swimming in liquids ; and when we take a 

 view of the variety of forms presented by the locomotive organs of 

 these animals, it must be apparent that they perform their move- 

 ments very differently. All those land animals which constantly 

 breathe the air, especially man and the higher orders, must float on 

 the surface of the water in swimming ; they die of suffocation when 

 water chokes up the air-tubes of the lungs, which constitutes drown- 

 ing. Of all animals, there is perhaps none so helpless in water, 

 without training, as man; and notwithstanding his vast superiority 

 in other respects to other air-breathing animals, he is inferior to 

 them in the employment of the locomotive organs for the purposes 

 of swimming. Indeed it is well known that by far the greater 

 number of persons who are precipitated into deep water, if they 

 cannot swim, are drowned. This arises from the improper use they 

 make of their limbs. 



The cause of this misapplication of the limbs by man, when 

 immersed in water, is owing to the totally different mode in which 

 they are used in walking and running on laud to that in which they 

 should be exercised in water, as we shall see. 



In preparing to swim, in man, the limbs should be arranged in 

 such a manner that they can be made to act favourably as soon as 

 the body is resting, unsupported by other media, in the water. 



In order to propel the body there must be some movement of the 

 limbs ; and it is by the flexion and abduction of the arms, and by the 

 extension and adduction of the legs, that the process of swimming is 

 performed, which movements must be produced rythmically. Suppose 

 a person standing up to his breast in water and about to strike off 

 in swimming ; the bands are placed close to each other with the 

 palms undermost near the breast, the body is thrown forward in the 

 water, the hands are thrust out, and when the arms an fully extended 

 a* in fy. 1, they diverge horizontally (the backs of the hands being 



Fig. 1. 



fig.*. 



turned towards each other), describing curves until they are brought 

 round under the armpits, and again extended. It should be observed 



that the arms must always be kept in advance of a line passing through 

 the axes of the shoulder-joints. 



Let us now advert to the action of the legs. Whilst the arms are 

 describing their curves the legs are drawn forwards under the body, 

 the knees being separated as much as possible, and the toes turned 

 outwards as in fy. 3, and whilst the arms ore regaining their extended 



rig. s. 



- 



position the legs are extended backwards and outwards with a 

 moderate degree of velocity, the soles of the feet being turned out- 

 wards, and are then brought together again, simultaneously with the 

 arms, into the attitude shown in/;/. 1.* 



It will be observed that the arms and legs have each four distinct 

 kinds of motion, namely, extension, abduction, adduction, and flexion, 

 but the effects of these motions are different The extension of the 

 arms retards the motion of the body, whilst that of the legs accelerates 

 it : the abduction of the arms accelerates, and of the legs slightly 

 retards ; the adduction of the arms slightly retards, and of the legs 

 accelerates; and the flexion of both arms and legs retards. The 

 simultaneous performance of these motions is exhibited in the following 

 tabular form : 



Arm. Legs. 



Abduction . . . Flexion 



Adduction \ f Extension 



Flexion / \ Abduction 



Extension . . . Adduction 



It is upon the rhythm with which these periodic movements aru 

 performed that the success of swimming depends, the whole being 

 seen in outline in figs. 1 and 3. 



We may also observe, that when the arms are abducted, or drawn 

 outwards and backwards, the legs are drawn forwards ; and when the 

 arms are flexed and brought together, the legs are extended out- 

 wards ; and lastly, when the arms are thrust forwards, the legs are 

 brought close together; so that whilst the force of the arms is 

 positive, that of the legs is negative, and vice versa : but it is evident 

 that the effective forces in swimming preponderate, or the body would 

 either remain stationary or move backwards, and this results from 

 the shape of the limbs and the manner iu which they can be made 

 to act. 



From what has been said, we may easily perceive how differently 

 the limbs act in swimming from what they do in walking, and that 

 the arms and legs interchange their effective strokes alternately. 

 These movements are not difficult to perform, but it requires some 

 attention and practice in order to accomplish them with precision. 

 Indeed they may be practised out of water, and sufficient habit be 

 obtained to know how to act if by chance a person were suddenly 

 immersed and in danger of being drowned. But it should also never 

 be forgotten that almost all persons will float, if the chest be kept 

 well filled whilst immersed in the water. It however requires great 

 fortitude and self-possession to keep the limbs quiet and under water, 

 and at the same time to stop the inspiratory movement until the 

 mouth rises above the surface of the water. 



Swimming on the back is usually effected by means of the legs 

 alone. The attitude preparatory to this movement is seen in Jiy. 4. 



Pig. 4. 



The head is bent backwards to far that the water may cover the 

 forehead, and reach to the level of the eyes ; the chest is elevated, 

 and the hands placed on the hips ; the motions of the legs arc indi- 

 cated by the dotted lines in fig. 2, and are tho same as those of the 

 legs in swimming on the breast. We may here state that any one 

 who can swim on his breast will experience no more difficulty in 



These figure! arc reduced from the 'Elementary Coarse of Gymnastic 

 Exercises ' by Captain Cllas. 



