ISO 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



[Aug. 11, 1882. 



nrmpiU when he stands upright But on a sloping shore 

 (and even then he must be well assured that the slope is 

 uniform and gradual, and the l>ottom such as he can stand 

 on firmly) he should be content to stand in water some 

 three or four inches below the armpits. If there is a 

 stream, he will do well to fast«n round his waist a stout 

 cord, attached to some thoroughly trustworthy post on the 

 bank. The same also at sea, if there is any tide or current, 

 or any but the gentlest undulations. It is l>etter also to 

 l>e with persons who can swim. In fact, avoid all danger. 

 You will not learn the worse for being safe, 



.So much premised, note that the first thing to be learned 

 — the first, but after it is learned everything else conies 

 "■^ily — is the art of retaining the balance in the water. 

 It is better, if you want eventually to be a really good 

 swimmer — that is to have good style and pace — to avoid 

 at first all attempts at actual swimming : it is essential 

 if your opportunities do not allow you to be so ambitious, 

 and you want chiefly to learn confidence in the water. 



Ij^an gently forward, with the face towards the shore, 

 extending the arms forward and outwards, with the palms 

 down, fingers and thumb close, and the hand, thumb, and 

 lingers hollowed so as to form a sort of shallow cup. In this 

 shape the hands have great power to help you in balancing 

 yourself. Lean further and further forward — moving your 

 hands alx>ut a little, so as to feel the water and also their 

 power on the water, until your feet begin to be no longer 

 able to support you. By this time your shoulders are 

 immersed, and you feel the lifting power of the water, but 

 you are not properly balanced right and left. One shoulder 

 •iT the other dips as you tumble forward, and as your feet 

 Irave the ground your head goes under, which is not what 

 you want After a flounder or so (which itself has a good 

 efleot in teaching you, unconsciously, how water acts on a 

 floating body) j-ou are ready for another trial. This time, 

 re.solve that, on whichever side you find your body dipping, 

 you will use your cup-shaped paddle (the hand held as 

 describetl) on that side, with strong downward and 

 rather outward action. You will find this very efiect- 

 ive in tipping you up the other way : and you will 

 flounder quite as badly as before. After doing this a 

 few times, now one now the other side dipping first, and 

 being too efTectively stopped, resolve to use both your 

 hand paddles, first the one first needed to save its side 

 from going down, then, as the other side begins to dip, 

 the other, and then — if you have time (most probably you 

 ■won't, but that, a.s our Editor say.s, is a detail) the one 

 first used. You will now rather wobble than flounder. 

 You finally come to grief, of course, because your n.ethod 

 of u.sing your hand-paddles is too energetic. You put out 

 too much strength to save you from your first dip on one 

 side, and so you dip over to the other side ; you correct 

 that dip too strongly, and so dip the other way. Your 

 next care then is to moderate your balancing movements. 

 You resolve that as you dip over you will make only a slight 

 effort for recovery. To your surprise you find even this 

 reduced efTort tips you over ; but now, if you still keep your 

 attention direct*?d to the altfjmation of the paddling action, 

 you make more wobbles than before, before finally floun- 

 dering over. You continue these experiment"!, reducing 

 the action at each new trial, and learning more and more 

 how very slight is the prop<:r action for correcting the ten- 

 dency to dip for want of true balancing. At la-st it dawns 

 upon you that balancing in the water is very different 

 from balancing in the air. The slightest movement of the 

 hand serves to restore the balance, when disturbed ; any- 

 thing t^eyond df^stroys the balance. So soon as this lesson 

 has Ijeen h-ame'l — most likely this will not be till aft/r 

 several days — the beginner can balance himself readily. 



without at first advancing, or turning, or using his legSi 

 which as they leave the ground in these experiments may 

 be It^ft in any position they may naturally assume, while 

 the learner gives all his attention to acquire ease and 

 readiness in balancing the body by gentle movements of 

 the arms and hands. After that will come the time for 

 learning other things — amongst them the art of swimming, 

 which is something more than balancing the body afloat 

 in the water. 



{To be continued.) 



HOW TO GET STRONG. 



T(1 EXr.VND AXI) 1)1:EPEX TlIK CHEST. 

 rpilE contrivance illustrated in Fig. 1 is due to the 

 J_ ingenuity of Dr. Sargent, of P>oston, Mass. It is 

 an excellent chestexpander. Over the pulleys PP cords 

 pass from the w(>ights to the handles A and B. The 

 ropes are just long enough to let the handles be about a 

 foot above the head when the weights are on the ground. 

 Standing now between and directly under the handles, 

 erect, the chest well filled, and the arms straight, grasp the 

 handles, and slowly draw the hands along the course 

 shown by dotted curves, raising the weights about 2ft 

 from the ground. Let the weight slowly return to the 

 ground, and repeat the process ad libilmii. 



The weight can bo graduated to suit the strength of the 

 person using this apparatus. The exercise should in no 

 degree strain the strength, while it is continued say for 

 about five minutes. Mr. Blackie remarks that no better 

 present could well be devised for one of weak or narrow 

 chest than one of these appliances. Note, however, that 

 though the picture shows a somewhat elaborate arrange- 

 ment, this is not at all essential to the efrcctivo nature o£ 

 this method. Two pulleys will serve as well as four, the 

 weights may be anything whatever, dumb-bells, clubs, bags 

 or straps with books in them — anything. No pulleys at 

 all need be used if none can be conveniently obtained, 

 but a couple of short stout reels, with long brass-headed 

 nails passing easily through the holes of the reels, will serve 

 very well, the nails being driven about an inch into a 

 suitable wall. In all these matU^rs, a little ingenuity will 



