DIFFERENT KINDS OF EXERCISE. 135 



which case they pull down the shoulders by dint of 

 mere dragging. When this or any other exercise is 

 resorted to in the house, the windows ought to be 

 thrown open, so as to make the nearest possible ap- 

 proach to the external air. 



Reading aloud and recitation are more useful and 

 invigorating muscular exercises than is generally 

 imagined, at least when managed with due regard 

 to the natural powers of the individual, so as to 

 avoid effort and fatigue. Both require the varied 

 activity of most of the muscles of the trunk to a de- 

 gree of which few are conscious, till their attention 

 is turned to it. In forming and undulating the voice, 

 not only the chest but also the diaphragm and ab- 

 dominal muscles are in constant action, and com- 

 municate to the stomach and bowels a healthy and 

 agreeable stimulus ; and, consequently, where the 

 voice is raised and elocution rapid, as in many kinds 

 of public speaking, the muscular effort comes to be 

 Ten more fatiguing than the mental, especially to 

 Viose who are unaccustomed to it, and hence the 

 copious perspiration and bodily exhaustion of popu- 

 lar orators and preachers. When care is taken, 

 jiowever, riot to carry reading aloud or reciting so 

 far at one time as to excite the least sensation of 

 soreness or fatigue in the chest, and it is duly re- 

 peated, it is extremely useful in developing and 

 giving tone to the organs of respiration, and to the 

 general system. To the invigorating effects of this 

 kind of exercise, the celebrated and lamented Cu- 

 vier was in the habit of ascribing his own exemp- 

 tion from consumption, to which, at the time of his 

 appointment to a professorship, it was believed he 

 would otherwise have fallen a sacrifice. The exer- 

 cise of lecturing gradually strengthened his lungs, 

 and improved his health so much that he was never 

 afterward threatened with any serious pulmonary 

 disease. But, of course, this happy result followed 

 only because the exertion of lecturing was not too 



