THE MUSCLES 43 



23. Excessive Exercises. If neglect of exercise is injurious, 

 so also is the excess of it. Violent exertions do harm j they 

 often cause undue strain, and even lasting injury to some part 

 of the body. For this reason the spirit of rivalry which leads 

 to tests of endurance and feats of strength should be dis- 

 couraged. Those trials of the muscles, especially, which are 

 supposed to demand "training," should not be encouraged. 

 Training, it is true, can produce a remarkable muscular develop- 

 ment, so that nearly every muscle of the limbs is as large and 

 corded as the arm of a blacksmith ; but it is too often at the 

 expense of some internal, vital organ. Large muscles are not 

 a certain index of good health. It was well known by the 

 ancients that athletes of their day were short-lived, notwith- 

 standing the perfection of the physical training then employed. 

 When a person overtasks the heart, or, in other words, " gets 

 out of breath," he should regard it as a signal to take rest. It 

 is well known that both horses and men, after having been 

 brought into " condition " for competitive trials, soon lose the 

 advantages of their training after the occasion for it has 

 passed. 



24. Gymnastic Exercises for Schools and Colleges. In the 

 system of education among the ancients, physical culture pre- 

 dominated. In ancient Greece, physical exercises in schools 

 were prescribed and regulated by law, and hence these schools 

 were called gymnasia. At the present time, on the contrary, 

 this culture is almost wholly unknown, as a part of the course 

 of education, in our schools, and but to a limited extent in 



take exercise. He knew that mankind in general required to be cheated, 

 gulled, cajoled, even into doing that which is to benefit themselves. He 

 did not, therefore, tell the sultan, who consulted him, to take exercise, but 

 he said to him : ' Here is a ball, which I have stuffed with certain rare, 

 costly, and precious medicinal herbs. Your highness must take this bat, 

 and with it beat about this ball until you perspire very freely. You must 

 do this every day.' His highness did so, and in a short time the exercise 

 of playing at bat and ball with the dervish cured his malady." First Help. 



23. Physical culture among the ancients ? In Greece ? In schools and colleges at the 

 present time ? Result to the body and mind ? 



24. The result of gymnastics in our colleges and other institutions of learning ? 



