LOCOMOTION AND ITS ORGANS. 325 



five minutes is called very good running ; two miles in ten 

 minutes is but rarely accomplished. Ten miles an hour is 

 done by all the best runners. Forty miles, in four hours 

 and three quarters has been done by one individual. Some 

 Indians, it is said, will run at this rate for several hours, but 

 it is very doubtful. 



23. Swimming is very much like leaping ; at least the 

 same muscles are brought into action in the lower limbs) 

 While the hands are brought to a point before the head, the 

 legs are drawn up and suddenly extended, as in leaping. By 

 the resistance of the water, the body is projected forwards. 

 The hands are now carried, with a circular motion, the 

 palms being turned outwards, till they reach the sides of the 

 body, and thus the impulse through the water is kept up by 

 a constant succession of these movements. A boat is pro- 

 pelled on the same principle. Indeed the body may be coin- 

 pared to the boat itself, and the hands and feet to the oars. 

 A good swimmer ought to make three miles an hour. 



24. The human body is very nearly of the same specific 

 gravity as water ; (that is, it is of the same weight as a body 

 of water of the same bulk^ Dr. Franklin says if a person 

 avoids struggling and plunging, he may lie on his back with 

 his mouth and face out of water, without difficulty, even if 

 he cannot swim. As swimming therefore, is a highly useful 

 art, and an agreeable and healthy exercise, it should be made 

 a necessary part of the education of boys. 



25. The importance of gymnastic exercises will only be 

 questioned by those who are not aware that the health and 

 vigour of all the bodily organs depend on the proportioned 

 exercise of each. (Such exercises ensure the development 

 of all the locomotive organs ; and they prevent or correct 

 all the deformities to which those organs are liabl|. They 

 are the best calculated to produce strength and activity, and 

 to bestow invariable health. At the same time they confer 

 beauty of form, and contribute to impart an elegant air and 

 graceful manners. 



28 



