194 THE OPEN AIR. 



stiffens the limbs, gymnastic exercises render them 

 supple. Thus he would obtain immense strength 

 from simple hard work, and agility from exercise. 

 Here, then, is a sound constitution, a powerful 

 frame, well knit, hardened — an almost perfect 

 physical existence. 



He would marry, if fortunate, at thirty or thirty- 

 five, naturally choosing the most charming of his 

 acquaintances. She would be equally healthy and 

 proportionally as strong, for the ladies of those days 

 were accustomed to work from childhood. By cus- 

 tom soon after marriage she would work harder than 

 before, notwithstanding her husband's fair store of 

 guineas in the iron-bound box. The house, the 

 dairy, the cheese-loft, would keep her arms in train- 

 ing. Even since I recollect, the work done by ladies 

 in country houses was something astonishing, ladies 

 by right of well-to-do parents, by right of education 

 and manners. Eeally, it seems that there is no work 

 a woman cannot do with the best results for her- 

 self, always provided that it does not throw a strain 

 upon the loins. Healthy children sprung from such 

 parents, while continuing the general type, usually 

 tend towards a refinement of the features. Under 

 such natural and healthy conditions, if the mother 

 have a good shape, the daughter is finer ; if the 

 father be of good height, the son is taller. These 

 children in their turn go through the same open-air 

 training. In the course of years, the family guineas 

 increasing, home comforts increase, and manners 

 are polished. Another generation sees the cast of 

 countenance smoothed of its original ruggedness, 



