THE POTULAE EDUCATOE. 



and legs perfectly straight, bend the body forward, with the 

 head towards the ground, and touch the feet with the points of 

 the fingers. When this can be done with ease, touch the floor 

 In the same position. This will be difficult at first, but it will 

 Boon be accomplished with a little practice. 



6. Place the arms "akimbo;" that is, with the elbows out 

 and the hands resting on the hips. Sink down to the floor 

 until you sit upon your heels, and then rise to the erect position. 

 Repeat this several times in succession. 



7. Bring the right arm level with the shoulder ; then throw 

 it bwk, and whirl it round at full length from the body. Exercise 

 the left arm and shoulder in the same way. Then begin by 

 throwing the arm forward, and whirl it as before. Practise the 

 same movements with both arms- simultaneously. 



8. With the hands OH the hips, raise each knee as high as 

 you can, keeping the other leg perfectly straight. Then extend 

 each leg sideways as far as possible, remaining a few seconds in 

 that position. 



9. Hop on one foot several times successively, then on the 

 other, keeping the body erect. 



These exercises will do much for the beginner in gymnastics, 

 and will also suggest others of a similar description which he 

 may practise with advantage. 



We would remark here that the importance of regular walking 

 exercise as a means of strengthening the frame and keeping the 

 system in health must not be lost sight of, in the attention given 

 to purely gymnastic pursuits. No exercise is more salutary in 



its effects, and it has 

 the additional recom- 

 mendation of taking 

 the pedestrian into 

 the fresh air, which 

 is as necessary to the 

 preservation of life 

 and health as a pro- 

 per supply of food. 



Wo now come to 

 the various kinds of 

 gymnastic exercises 

 which are practised 

 with the aid of appa- 

 ratus, and will men- 

 tion first those which 

 require only the sim- 

 plest appliances, but 

 are still of high utility. 

 For the introduc- 

 tion of two of these 

 we are indebted to an 

 American physician, 

 Dr. Dio Lewis, who has bestowed great attention on gymnastics 

 from a physiological point of view, and whose teaching and 

 principles are being widely adopted in Europe as well as in 

 America. These are the Bag and the King exercises, which we 

 shall now describe. 



The Bag Exercises, which may be used in families with great 

 benefit, are practised simply with bags filled with beans, the 

 directions for making which are given as follows by Dr. Lewis .- 

 The material is a strong bed-ticking 1 . Bags for young children 

 should be, before sewing, seven inches square ; for ladies, nine 

 inches ; for ladies and gentlemen exercising together, ten inches ; 

 for gentlemen alone, twelve inches. Sew them with strong linen 

 or silk thread, doubled, nearly three-quarters of an inch from 

 the edge, leaving a small opening at one corner to pour in the 

 beans. Fill the bags three-quarters full, and they are ready for 

 use. If used daily, once in two weeks they should be emptied 

 and washed. To allow them to be played with after they are 

 soiled is pretty sure to furnish much dust for the lungs of the 

 players, beside soiling the hands and clothes. There cannot be 

 too much care exercised in regard to this point of cleanliness. 

 Before the beans are used the first time they should be rinsed 

 with water until it runs from them quite clean, when they must 

 be clried; and every month or two afterwards this cleansing 

 should be repeated. 



The Bag Exercises should be performed by two persons prac- 

 tising together ; and it is an advantage, when the practice is 

 in-duors, to have suspended from the ceiling a hoop or rings, 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



through which the bags may be thrown. This, however, is not 

 necessary, although it tends to increase the interest of the 

 players in the exercise. 



The design of the exercise is to give freedom to the muscles 

 of the chest and arms, and promote a healthy movement of the 

 body generally. For this purpose the bags are thrown from 

 one player to the other, in a 

 variety of positions, which 

 may be left in some measure 

 to their own taste and in- 

 clination, provided it be re- 

 membered, as a rule, to keep 

 the legs perfectly straight, the 

 body upright, and the chest 

 well thrown forward. This 

 position is exemplified in Fig.. 

 1. Standing thus, the bag may 

 be thrown first with the right 

 arm, then with the left, then 

 with left and right alternately; 

 now, with both hands brought 

 back behind the neck, throw 

 the bag over the head; or, 

 with the bag in the right hand, 

 throw it from behind round 

 the left arm, which is kept 

 straight to the body ; throw Fig. 3. 



with the left hand in the 



same manner; and so on. Fig. 2 represents a more difficult 

 position, from which the bag is thrown over Aie head. This 

 will come easy to the learner with a little practice. 



We pass on now to the Ring Exercises, which have received 

 very high eulogium, and prove highly amusing as well as bene- 

 ficial to the players. The ring is made of wood, usually cherry, 

 and is one inch in thickness and six inches in diameter. Thia 

 is sufficient to enable two persons to grasp it and use it with 

 freedom. All the ring exercises are for two players, who should 

 be of equal or nearly equal strength. Two rings are required 

 in the course of the exercises, each player grasping one in 

 either hand. The rings should be well polished. They are 

 inexpensive articles, being sold occasionally as low aa one shil- 

 ling per pair ; and any wood-turner will supply them at a little 

 more than this sum. 



We give two figures as examples of the exercises that may be 

 practised with either one or both hands. In the first, the players, 

 standing in the position shown in Fig. 3, both pull hard with 

 the right hand, and draw the right arm from right to left and 

 from left to right ; afterwards performing the same movements 

 with the ring held in their left hands. Remember to keep the 

 head well up and the shoulders 

 back, with the feet placed at 

 right angles, in all these move- 

 ments. In the second example, 

 the players first stand back to 

 back, with the rings held down- 

 wards; then each lunges for- 

 ward with the right leg, and the 

 hands are raised over the head, 

 as shown in Fig. 4. They re- 

 turn to the back-to-back posi- 

 tion, and step forward with the 

 left leg in the same manner. 



Among other ring exercises 

 may be mentioned the following : 

 The players, standing face to 

 face, and with one foot well ad- 

 vanced, the other thrown back, 

 both pull with one hand and 

 push with the other, alternately; 

 one arm thus being extended to Fig. 4. 



its full length, and the other 



drawn back as far as possible, at each movement. Then, stand- 

 ing in the same way, draw back with both arms, your partner 

 pushing his as far forward as he can, and each doing this alter- 

 nately. Standing in an erect position, each raise one hand and 

 lower the other as far as possible, being careful not to bend the 

 elbows. Raise and lower the arms alternately from the position 

 represented in Fig. 4. 



