Human Physio Logy. 227 



exercise, strengthen, harmonise, adapt, and perfect all mental 

 and physical powers for his or her vocation. 



In some things it is necessary to begin young. The nerves 

 and muscles have a suppleness, a pliancy, a power of forming 

 habits of action in early childhood which they never have 

 afterwards. Many teachers of music insist upon a child begin- 

 ning regular practice as early as six years of age. And every 

 one sees how easily young children learn languages, and how 

 hard it is for many to learn them after they have arrived at 

 maturity. At Smyrna, a Babel of tongues, children five or six 

 years old can speak as many languages. The parts of educa- 

 tion which depend upon imitation and memory of words and 

 things should begin early ; and those which depend upon 

 thought and judgment left until these faculties have developed. 

 A child learns to dance, and to behave gracefully, with little 

 effort. An adult learns with difficulty, with an intellectual 

 effort, and never acquires the suppleness and unconscious ease 

 of one trained in childhood. 



And the same may be said of language. With a little trouble, 

 chiefly in setting good examples, and the daily correction of 

 slovenly habits, children can be trained to clear, distinct articu- 

 lation, a refined pronunciation, simple and elegant forms of 

 expression, and all that is nice and charming in conversation, 

 >and that most useful of all accomplishments, the art of reading 

 aloud, which scarcely one person in a hundred now possesses 

 in any satisfactory degree. A large proportion even of our 

 professional readers read very badly. It is painful to hear 

 them in the pulpit and on the platform. But it is certain that 

 almost every person with the necessary understanding might 

 learn to speak and read gracefully and effectively. 



Exercise strengthens nerve and muscle, and by that means 

 brings the vital organs of the body into more vigorous action. 

 Exercise wastes the material of the tissues. The watchful 

 serves are cognisant of this waste, and call upon the heart and 



