34 THE MUSCLES. 



or, perchance, have lost their health from intense and pro- 

 tracted mental application. 



24. Were gymnastics more common in our educational 

 institutions we should not so often witness the sad spectacle 

 of young men and women leaving our colleges and semi- 

 naries, with finished educations it may be, but with consti- 

 tutions so impaired, that the life which should be devoted 

 to the accomplishment of noble purposes must be spent in 

 search of health. Spinal curvatures, which, according to 

 the experience of physicians, are now extremely frequent, 

 especially among ladies, would give place to the steady 

 gait and erect carriage which God designed his human 

 creatures should maintain. 



25. All the exercises necessary for the proper develop- 

 ment of the body may be obtained from the use of a few 

 simple contrivances that every one can have at home, at 

 little cost less by far than is spent for useless toys. Many 

 of these may be made available in the parlor or chamber, 

 though all exercises are far more useful in the open air. A 

 small portion of the day thus spent will afford agreeable 

 recreation as well as useful exercise. The Indian club, the 

 wand, the ring, and the dumb-bells answer ordinary pur- 

 poses very well. Illustrations are here introduced of a few 

 simple contrivances that may be useful for general exer- 

 cises, and are specially suitable for persons with weak 

 spines , or with spines that are the subject of lateral curva- 

 ture. 



26. One of the simplest appliances for strengthening 

 the muscles of the spine, designed chiefly to exercise the 

 muscles on either side of the spine, consists of two wooden 

 handles attached to india-rubber cords, one of which is 

 attached to a hook made fast in the ceiling, or in the top 

 of the door-case ; and the other to another hook fastened 

 in the wall, door-post, or window-casing, about the height 



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



