July 7, 1882.] 



• KNOWLEDGE • 



95 



TRICYCLE RIDIXG FOR LADIES.* 



THE opinions of society, at least English society, are changing, 

 not slowly and surely, but quickly and surely, as to what 

 women may or may not do. 



This is observable more especially in the matter of sports. Hardly 

 any athletic game is now brought fonvard but women can take part 

 in 'it with men, if they please. And let me say this is a privilege 

 and a benefit to both men and women, for nothing is more healthful 

 to both than their joining together in their amusements. Men have 

 a great respect for those, be they whom they may, who can play a 

 good game with them. It produces a kindly, hearty feeling ; and 

 when called forth by women, brings with it the addition of a 

 •chivalric honesty. He really does wish to give her a " fair field," 

 while she really does wish to receive " no favour." This was very 

 pleasantly shown in a lawn tennis match which Major Wingfield 

 (who introduced lawn tennis to the English public) and a lady, 

 some little time ago. The lady proved such a formidable opponent, 

 that he declared that he had the greatest difficulty in beating her, 

 and that if she had not been unduly handicapped by the weight of 

 her dress, the issue of the game would, no doubt, have been 

 different. To test the truth of his conclusions, he begged that the 

 lady might have her clothes weighed, while he would also have his 

 ■weighed. His were found to weigh -ti lb., while hers weighed 10 lb. 

 This disproportion of weight to carry, as any one acquainted with 



sport " well knows, is enough to make either man or horse lose a 

 race. 



In a similar way women allow themselves to be over-weighted 

 throughout the whole of their lives, whether at work or at 



In the matter of "play," tricycle riding affords another very 

 striking example. Nothing in modem times which has been offered 

 them can be reckoned a greater boon. Something to vary the 

 <lull uniformity of their lives — the daily monotonons walk, the per- 

 l>etual sauntering along the same streets, gazing vacantly into the 

 same shop windows. 



The Sanitary Record for this month has a short article recom- 

 mending tricycles to its readers. It says : — " Tricycles have over 

 bicycles the great advantage that they .ire suited to every age, to 

 both sexes, and the most varied physical conditions. Every one in 

 ♦•rdinary health, and possessing the use of his limbs, can, without 

 offort, and without previous instruction, learn to ride a tricycle. 

 Very little practice enables the tricyclist to traverse considerable 

 ■•listances with ease, comfort, and safety, and at a very adequate and 

 satisfactory pace. A pace of from seven to ten miles per hour is 

 •easily attained on the tricycle, and maintained for several hours in 

 succession without effort. The exercise is distinctly healthful, and 

 the mere rapid motion through the air is of itself invigorating and 

 refreshing. Moreover, it is so much more pleasurable to many 

 than the slower exercise of walking, and the facilities for covering an 

 ■extent of ground and getting quickly out into the countrj-, or the 

 most pleasant suburbs of great cities, are so great, that we cannot 

 too strongly recommend our readers generally to try for thercselvcs 

 the advantages of the tricycle." 



But here, again, women's clothes are a hindrance and impedi- 

 ment—a constant and unnecessary tax upon their strength and 

 -endurance. 



It is not in this case, as in la^vn tenrus, the li/ling weight of them 

 which tells, but the resiiting weight. The Sanitary RecorO says, 

 <-vcryone " possessing the use of his limbs " can learn to rido a 

 tricycle, but can a woman tied up in petticoats be said to possess 

 the use of her lim'js f Every time she lifts her legs to move the 

 treadles they have to encounter, resist, and battle with the weight 

 of the overhanging skirts, while in going against the wind tliey 

 offer about four times as much resistance as the man's trousers, and 

 every tricycle rider knows how that extra labour tells in working 

 the machine. Moreover, the really unprotected, unclothed con- 

 • lition of the lower part of a woman's body requires that the 

 -Teater part of her attention and efforts should bo directed towards 

 ;i feuding herself against ridiculous and indecent exposure. 



Women naturally sensitive on these points hold aloof from 

 attempting tricycle riding on this account, and will continue to do 

 so till a more suitable and safe garment is provided for them. A 

 lady who is now a member of our Rational Dress Society wrote to 

 mo from Scotland, asking for a pattern of our divided skirt. She 

 said that ladies in her part of the country had to drive about a good 

 <lcnl in dog-carts, that she had often longed for some sort of dress 

 like the one we had introduced, because getting up and down in 

 these vehicles was "something too dreadfully awful." 



It is this fear of making a " too dreadfully awful" exhibition of 

 herself which deters many a woman from tricycle riding, so that it 



* From the ilonthlv Gazette of the Bicvcio Touring Club for 

 May, 1SS2. 



is mostly confined to those who can indulge in it in the privacy of 

 their own grounds. But these are the women who least require the 

 exercise — they usually have carriages and horses, for riding or 

 driving anywhere they please — or they can transport themselves to 

 " foreign parts " whenever so inclined. With women of this class, 

 too, any amusement, however good and healthy, is but the fashion 

 of the hom-— to be indulged in for one season, and forsaken the 

 next. But if tricycle makers wish to secure a large and constant 

 sale of their machines, they must make them popular with that 

 much larger class of women whoso only mode of quick locomotion 

 would be a tricycle ; and when they bad once experienced its 

 lileasure and health-giving power, they would not lightly relinfjuish 

 the use of it. 



Those who are interested in seeing lady tricycle riders the rule 

 instead of the exception, as at present, should turn their attention 

 to inducing them to adopt a dress suitable to it — namely, one that 

 clothes them properly and decently, and one that docs not, by unduly 

 handicapping them, overtask their strength and energj-. 



I shall be only too pleased to assist any of the lady members of 

 the B.T.C. with suggestions, as well as to aid them in forming a 

 Ladies' Committee at any time. — Mrs. E. M. King, Hon. See., 

 Bational Dress Society, 31, Curnwall-road, Bayswater, London. 



BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 

 Bv W. J. U. CL.^RK. 



THERE is one branch of entomology which we are sorry to say 

 has not received the amount of attention that its ini|KPrtanco 

 deserves; we refer to breeding from the egg. The method of accu- 

 mulating a good collection is far more satisfactory and profitable 

 than either catching the imago or breeding from the larra. 



It is true that egg-hunting presents many difficulties to the 

 beginner, owing to the extreme minuteness, in some cases, of the 

 egg, but these will be got over with a little time and practice. 



It is an nndispnted fact that a very large percentage of the eggs 

 laid annually by butterflies and moths do not dcvelojio into the 

 perfect insect, the reason for which must be looked for in the 

 ravages of birds, and other causes which destroy the caterpillar 

 soon after its exit from the ova, and also in ichneumon flies, which 

 kill the insect when in the pupal state. 



When bred up in the house, all these destructive influences are 

 done away with, and a large number of the eggs will hatch out, and 

 finally become ]>erfect insects. 



When hunting for egg-», a few shallow boxes made of thin wood 

 or card-board should be taken, in which the eggs can be carried 

 home. 



A very careful search among the leaves (especially the under 

 sides) and twigs of trees, stalks, and leaves of grasses, fences, and 

 numberless other places will probably yield good results, and the 

 leaf or twig should bo cut off and placed in one of the Wforc- 

 mentioned boxes, as by this means they will not become broken by 

 touching one another. 



If the eggs are attached to a wooden fence or railinir. the piece 

 on which they are deposited must, if possible, be carefully cut away 

 with them, as scra])ing or brushing off mujt ncrcr bo attompteti, 

 owing to the exceedingly fragile nature of the i xtenial covering 

 membrane. 



Also take notice what trees are in the immediate vicinity, as one 

 of them will in all probability form the foo«l of the future caterpillar. 



When the eggs are taken home, place flicra in a shallow box 

 without a lid, carefully noting down particulars about each hatch 

 of eggs— such as timo'of year and where found, whether laid singly 

 or in clusters, and any other circumstance connecte<l with them — 

 as these notes form a vcrv useful reference for future years. 



Five D.ws' Uihe ox a Teicycle.— First day. Uornsey. , ■ i llon.lon- 

 Acton, llounalow. and Basingstoke to .\ndover. 7;tJ miles. Stx^)n<l 

 dav. Andover to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Wliiloparish to 

 Koinsev, 43 miles— von- hilly, and strong head wind. Thinl day. 

 Komsev to Hotlev, Wickham, Southwiik. over V.rtsdown Hill, 

 llavant, Chichester, ond Anind.l. 501 raile.'i-hilly lo UavTint. and 

 strong head wind all the day. Fourth day. .\nind.l t.. W ortlunjif 

 (morning) ; in thcevcning Worthing to IIor.-ham. :U>| miles, t ifth 

 dav. Horsham, Crnwlcv. Krigate, Cn.ydon. Strcatham, Bnxton, 

 Wistminstor Bridge, Th.unes Embankment to llolU-rn Niaduct, 

 ■Wi miles, .\vomge, 17 oiM miles a day ; luggage carried, over two 

 stone. Lovely weather, ditto scenery, and most enjoyable fatigue- 

 less ride— Ex'-BicvcLisT. 



