CHAPTER VII. 



EXERCISE. 



Man possesses many great truths that he is slow to 

 reduce to practice, and very strangely no small proportion 

 of them bear on his physical welfare. He wishes to be 

 well and dreads to be sick, yet for some unaccountable 

 reason he insists upon indulging his inclination in viola- 

 tion of what he knows to be right, and scarcely any sub- 

 ject is more unwelcome to him than that of organic law 

 which he holds so lightly. 



Among his many shortcomings but few are more pro- 

 nounced than failure to give due attention to muscular 

 exercise. He recognizes that it is beneficial, and theo- 

 retically he is in favor of it, but of enthusiasm, as a rule 

 he is surprisingly destitute. His notions of the good it 

 does are also decidedly hazy, and when pressed to define 

 them he usually indulges in vague generalities, among 

 which appear opening the pores, getting up a muscle, 

 brightening the spirits, etc. Usually, also, he is content 

 with his indifferent knowledge of the subject, and his 

 methods of applying what little he has are quite as 

 erratic and incomprehensive as his definition. 



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