EDUCATION OF YOUTH 259 



of poor Caspar Hauser, who was confined from his infancy 

 in a small dungeon, and whose story is everywhere known, 

 presented a still more striking and miserable example of 

 the same principle. 



814. On the contrary, if relaxation gradually destroys 

 tlie strength of the muscles, so are their powers most 

 rapidly exhausted by continued contraction. This indeed 

 appears to be impossible for any considerable length of 

 time. To hold the arm in a horizontal position, for ten 

 minutes, even without any weight in the hand, is what no 

 one can do without pain. To stand perfectly still on both 

 feet, is also a most fatiguing position, because, in this pos- 

 ture the muscles of the limbs are under continual tension. 

 Hence it is, that soldiers, who are capable of enduring 

 great exertions in marching, soon become impatient and 

 tired, if kept beyond a certain length of time in the line, 

 on parade ; and hence, also, the necessity that the drill- 

 officer, who would have his men appear well on parade, 

 should often employ the word " rest" in its military sense, 

 it being impossible for them to keep the line in the atti- 

 tude of soldiers more than a few minutes at a time. 



815. If, then, men, and soldiers too, are incapable, from 

 their organization, of avoiding the relaxation of their mus- 

 cles, how much more difficult it must be for children and 

 youth, whose limbs are instinctively in perpetual motion, 

 to restrain themselves from this natural propensity. Rest, 

 to these young creatures, after a time, undoubtedly becomes 

 much more painful than any degree of hunger or thirst 

 they have ever felt ; for these wants it would be consider- 

 ed the highest cruelty not to supply. But the child, often, 

 as every parent may have observed, after coming out of 

 school, prefers the exercise of his muscles, for a while, to 

 the gratification of his hunger. 



816. Consequences of the confined Position of Females 

 at School. " The Principles of Physiology, applied to 

 the Preservation of Health," by Dr. Combe, of Edinburgh, 

 contains some capital remarks on the subject of muscular 

 action in youth, and which are undoubtedly applicable, 

 though it is hoped only in a limited degree, to our own 

 country. 



